Just a silly anecdote...

This happened to me the other day, I've been taking fencing classes. Last time I was practicing with another guy, you know, hitting each other with the swords and so. The exercise was more or less blocking an attack and then hitting the opponent in the arm. I was doing it once again and again and without noticing I kinda started going berserker hitting the other guy's arm kinda furiously... You know, we use a jacket protection so you never really feel anything when being hit, so the guy never said a word and I just continued blocking and hitting his arm like mad.

Then the teacher came and told me to relax and hit the other guys' arm more softly. She more or less said something like you never really need to hit the opponent, just a little touch is enough. It's a duel thing, even when this sport was created the combats were quickly finished as it usually was at first blood, and just one little touch was enough make the blood appear on you opponent's body and win.

"It's an elegant sport" she told me, and then said: "I think you've watched CONAN THE BARBARIAN too many times"...

I looked at her and smiled and said: ...maybe... huh....

"LA!"


Yea, that's pretty much why I stopped formally practicing Kendo. Touches and points are not combat.

Here is a collection of quotes that I feel capture some of the real ways to view any combat:

"Never give a sword to a man who can't dance" - Confucius

"Whenever you cross swords with an enemy, you must not think of cutting him either strongly or weakly; just think of cutting and killing him." -Miyamoto Musashi

"A man chosen to wield life and death on the battlefield must be an artist, if he isn't, he is simply a murderer." -Chaka Zulu

"The reason that Zen is necessary for soldiers is that all Japanese, especially soldiers, must live in the spirit of the unity of the sovereign and subjects, eliminating their ego and getting rid of their self. In facilitating the accomplishment of this, Zen becomes, as it is, the true spirit of the imperial military." -Sugimoto Goro

"The average age for a man in the Bronze Age was eighteen, in the Roman era, twenty-two. Heaven must have been beautiful then. Today it must look dreadful. When a man reaches forty, he has no chance to die beautifully. No matter how he tries, he will die of decay. He must compel himself to live." -Yukio Mishima

"The warrior doesn't care if he's called a beast or a dog; the main thing is winning; There is no mitigating factor for rebellion against your liege lord: Unless you win." -An Amalgamation

"By the Way of the warrior is meant death. The Way of the warrior is death. This means choosing death whenever there is a choice between life and death. It means nothing more than this. It means to see things through, being resolved." -Yamamoto Tsunetomo

"A samurai should always be prepared for death - whether his own or someone else's." -Sakai

"One who is samurai must, before all things, keep constantly in mind , by day and by night that he has to die." -Daidoji Yuzan