Since I seem to still be up, and have nothing better to do, I'm going to have a rave about kendo and swordsmanship.

Now kendo is perhaps not quite as practically valuable as unarmed martial arts are, for a number of reasons. The first and most obvious is that in today's society it is highly unlikely that we will happen to have a sword tucked into our obi should we find ourselves in mortal danger. It is no longer the symbol of authority that it was in medieval Japan. The second is less obvious, but very important for a practitioner of kendo to understand. You see, when the old samurai learned swordsmanship, they learned it in order to kill. Over time, however, swordsmanship grew to be much more than simply another way to kill people. It became a way of training the mind, body and spirit to work in harmony, a way of strengthing the spirit and improving the self.
Kendo is no longer the art for killing that swordsmanship one was, indeed there is no way it could be considering the training implements. Warriors used to die in training all the time, but as the years went by this became less and less acceptable. Instead of a hard wooden sword, kendoka use a bamboo stick called a shinai. This weapon, although it can give you a nasty welt, is much less capable of dealing a fatal blow than the bokken of old were. It is also very little like a real sword. The advantage it gives is that kendoka can engage in a form of combat without risk of serious injury or death. The intensity of combat is a vital component of training, absolutely vital. There is a quote from the matrix that applies very well here: "You do not truly know someone until you fight them". This statement is very true. During combat all of a persons weaknesses and inhibitions are laid out for all to see. Fear, doubt, self-conciousness, egotism, anger, all these are as plain as day to see in a person you fight. It also works in reverse though. Combat is the time when you can find the most out about yourself. All those things I mentioned are as plain to you as they are to whoever you are fighting. If you are looking of course. Most people would just ignore such things I imagine, until it is pointed out to them that they are there.
But I seem to have diverged from my orginal ravings. Basically I'm just looking forward to training in Kendo next year. I intend to train one way or another, no matter how much driving it takes. Since I can't wander the countryside learning swordsmanship as I could have done in medieval japan I shall have to settle for training in Kendo and other sword-arts in my spare time. Maybe one of these years I'll be able to take a couple off to go wandering around japan learning swordsmanship from the masters. Here's to hoping.