Author Description

This transcript is a synthesis of two remarkable Ways which have influenced me profoundly. The first and most important Way, [Do], in my mind being 'Bushido - The Way of the Warrior' for which I have held an avid interest since I was eleven years old (1971), and which I can only say I 'aspire' to make a part of my everyday Way. I believe that my interest in Bushido has not only stood me in good stead for service to the SPS, my Uji (Clan), and the Joo Heika (Her Majesty the Queen), but has also served me well in my personal life. The second significant Do, [Way], was 17 years later when I was established as an Officer into the ranks of the Scottish Prison Service, [September 1988]. I gave the SPS almost 20 years loyal service. In these Makimonos (Scrolls) I will aspire to describe the mind-set of both these warrior ways and their connection. A Samurai, by definition of his lifestyle, chose immediacy as a core principle. In close parallel, the SPS Officer also embraces the Samurai Way of 'immediacy'. For if he made a wrong decision, riotous consequences could very well be the result. In the following pages I shall aspire to capture the difficult path both the Samurai and the Warrior Officer, [chose to], tread. During the tenure I was assigned duty at HMP Shotts (Castle Shotts), staff were faced with many quiet routine days. In stark contrast, we also dealt with numerous demonstrations, sit-down protests, hunger-strikes, self-harmers, staff and prisoner (shuujin) assaults, as well as riots and staff hostage situations. For a Samurai, to know and to act are ostensibly one and the same; the Warrior Officer also faced this basic correctness of 'The Way' and, had to actually 'Act' upon it.This text is about the individual officer, how he felt, and managed to pull through the many difficulties thrust upon him daily, as well as what made him return to such an arduous duty whilst being well aware of the possibilities of what lay ahead of him. To those who have never walked th