[MR] Another Tangent!!WO WO

[Chris]

The "Do it because you like it" opinion has been expounded upon at great
length, so here's my take on it, from a different perspective.

I plan on getting more into heavy combat.  I plan on getting into rapier.  I
already to A&S stuff a great deal, and I simply love going to events to
watch all of these.  But why?  Because first of all, I feel as though I am
Kinoshita no Matashichiro Yoshimori, a young samurai from 1580's Japan.
Swinging a big stick at someone in a 500 person melee is as close as I will
get to being on a battlefield in Medieval Japan.  (That's also why I want to
see more archers, but that's another rant entirely.)  The 2 main reasons I
would be in a 1-on-1 duel would be for the honor of my lady, and the feeling
of being Kinoshita in 1585.  A&S stuff is enjoyable for me because I learn
more about it and because a samurai was expected to be good at the arts as
well.  This doesn't mean that feeling like you are someone precludes having
fun with what you do.  For me, the whole experience of being Kinoshita is
fun, whether I play flute, or recite poetry, or fight for the honor of my
household and my lady.

Hopefully that was at least mildly lucid.

Kinoshita Yoshimori
Chris Gregory
-- 
A monk came to Joshu and asked in all seriousness, "Has a dog
buddha-nature?"  To this, Joshu replied, "Mu!"
  -Wu-men, Mumonkan, Koan 1