There are classic Kempo stories that Mitose included in one of his books. Briefly, one story is about a great fighter and at the end of the story he uses compassion to help a “evil” criminal rather than force and violence. Another is about being aware of danger and setting forth a cause of action to prevent you to have to use violence. Again these are stories about “enlightenment” on the nature of force and harmony with a moral that through training to fight, you can attain something “deeper?” I personally related “martial” with being military like. We train for war, and war stories are filled with the actions of a “Hero” in combat. The mythology behind the “hero” according to Joseph Campbell is the idea that one’s action is not for individual gains, but the sacrifice of one’s self for a “higher” cause or for the aide for another person. Truth is subjective to some people; for me the “true meaning of martial arts” is that it is a vessel I uses to go through life.
As my son's tell me, There goes dad with his BS
