Budo Bite 05: Bu'un

In this episode I get into bu’un (武運). It is often translated as “martial fortune”, but it’s less about mystical fate and more about the unpredictable edge that chance lends to skill. Samurai saw it as something worth acknowledging. It is a nod to the fact that even the best-laid plans can be overturned by weather, terrain, or the opponent having an annoyingly good day. In modern budo, bu’un still lingers in the quiet awareness that no amount of training erases uncertainty; it’s a reminder to respect the variables you can’t control while sharpening the ones you can.