According to this, 'it is not Shinto, not Confucianism, not Buddhism, but the concept which mixes these three and since ancient and medieval times it has excelled only in military art; Tetsutaro (Tesshu YAMAOKA) called it bushido' and at least from the viewpoint of Tesshu YAMAOKA, it had existed since the medieval times but he said that it was not called 'bushido' until he named it.
それによると「神道にあらず儒道にあらず仏道にあらず、神儒仏三道融和の道念にして、中古以降専ら武門に於て其著しきを見る。鉄太郎（鉄舟）これを名付けて武士道と云ふ」とあり、少なくとも山岡鉄舟の認識では、中世より存在したが、自分が名付けるまでは「武士道」とは呼ばれていなかったとしている。