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through the application of the principles of the katana.

The purpose of practicing Kendo is:

To mold the mind and body,

To cultivate a vigorous spirit,

And through correct and rigid training,

To strive for improvement in the art of Kendo,

To hold in esteem human courtesy and honor,

To associate with others with sincerity,

And to forever pursue the cultivation of oneself.

Thus will one be able to love his country and society, to

contribute to the development of culture, and to promote

peace and prosperity among all peoples.

Kendo, in short, is not merely about what you can learn to do. It is about what you can learn to be.

PART TWO

WATER

The symbolism of water permeates writing about the martial arts. Liquid's yielding nature—giving way when pushed—combined with its awesome power seems to embody the adaptive fluidity we seek in martial training. Physically, we need to adapt the characteristics of water. Our minds should emulate the properties of water as well. The proper state for the trainee's mind is mizu no kokoro, "mind like water"—that is, calm, unruffled, and perfectly reflecting its surroundings. The message here is that the master martial artist's mind is not roiled with surface distractions. His focus is so perfect that no extraneous and distracting thoughts intrude. Her calm is so perfect that it permits an instantaneous reaction to whatever the opponent does—in much the same way as a calm pool of water immediately reflects whatever is around it. In training, there are a multitude of things that can create the gaps in concentration called suki. The way to overcome these gaps is through continuous practice of Kendo's basics, so that our actions and reactions become almost automatic and unthinking—they flow like water.