Concerning the Aims of Kendo

People believe that the reason for mastering swordsmanship is to be able to cut down one’s enemies. For myself, however, I seek to master swordsmanship because through it I seek divine principle. If once I attain this, my heart will be as still as water, calm and quiet, like a clear mirror lucid and bright, able to cope instantly with any situation. For when faced with any incident my spirit will react on its own. Of what comes to pass, my comprehension of it will be instantaneous. To truly attain to this plane is to be one with the way of heaven. Throughout earnest training and by clearing the mind (kokoro), I seek only to awaken to the one root principle of the heavens.
-Yamaoka Tesshu