Somehow I always think that there's a strong correlation between someone's kendo and their view/perception of life. If you look at the way our sensei's (teacher's) form of kendo each of them have different styles of kendo. We have the straightforward people (those that only go for strong straight cuts), the thinkers (access the situation and only attacks when there is a very good opportunity), the hardworkers (those that have the never say die spirit in keiko), the people who just bash through everything in life (those that think that power is the only way to go! BAM!), the weirdos (those that don't fall in place, fall in here)

In fact, whatever we do reflects who we are as people. Just that in kendo, it does reflect the true nature of someone especially when they are tired out and they have to give in their 100% effort or when the training days feel sucky and they have to summon their inner strength to conjure up something. Tough times don't last tough men do.

To me looking at my miniscule journey of just four over years, I've learnt a lot of the people around me in kendo. Learnt to eat more humble pie, learnt that respect comes from within and not to show fear in the face of danger. Kendo gives me the strength to persevere in doing what I believe is right and move on in life. Whenever I feel down, training kendo sometimes doesn't give me answers but I become clearer of my goal and what I want. I guess its a psychological thing and thats the beauty of martial art when you reach a certain level i guess. You start to realise and think what the heck have I been doing for the past years? How do I move on to the next level? Like life, kendo never stops at a certain place. Yet we train to move on further, every step we take in life we do the same in kendo. There is no end to that number of steps but how we view it.

Being all so philosophical all of a sudden when I'm still so young both in terms in life and kendo, I suggest my current way of life is the best to go. Go forth doing the right thing and not worrying about what others think. Like in kendo, to go in straight without fear and to execute what you think is your best chance.