To practice Zen or the martial arts, you must live intensely, wholeheartedly, without reserves, as if you might die in the next instant.
Better yet for the samurai was the fact that Zen offered a specific daily practice: through zazen, an unadorned form of sitting meditation, the samurai could effectively still the restless mind, perceive the ultimate harmony beneath seeming discord, and achieve the oneness of intuition and action so necessary for kenjutsu (swordfighting).
Modern martial arts such as kendo, karate, judo, and aikido go back directly to the marriage of Zen and Bushido, the medieval chivalry code of the samurai.

--this is my path, the way of samurai
PureEvil760 Reviewed by PureEvil760 on . What is Zen? I have nothing against sports, they train the body and develop stamina and endurance. But the spirit of competition and power that presides over them is not good, it reflects a distorted vision of life. The root of the martial arts is not there.... In the spirit of Zen and Budo everyday life becomes the contest. There must be awareness at every moment: getting up in the morning, working, eating, going to bed. That is the place for the mastery of self. "How many years do I have to Rating: 5