It is true that we learn and practice movement and physicality, but the main effort is spiritual. A spiritual journey is a very, very difficult journey that never ends. I compare the journey to a person climbing the stairs in a multi-story building: you climb the stairs and on each floor you find a podest. Podest, in the language of architects, is the straight surface between 2 flights of stairs. Usually the podest also has an exit opening from the staircase.
One who climb the spiritual stairs of Budo arrive at Podest. At the Podest he is faced with a temptation: to stop climbing and choose the easy way (elevator for example, or just get out of this Sisyphean climb), or continue climbing. The climbing never ends and we always find a podest. There are those who break down, despair and go out. And there are those who bite their lips and choose to continue climbing.
At each floor the climber will discover a new view. Anyone who climbs the stairs sees a new landscape in front his eyes. As you climb higher, you discover a more beautiful and wider view. Those who chose to stop climbing and leave the stairwell saw a certain view. They doesn't think they lost. But the one who continued climbing sees another view and knows what lost the one who stopped climbing. The more you climb and see new and wider views, you realize that if you stop climbing you will lose and the more you climb, the easier it is for you to continue (fitness and technique increase and you also know that at the end of each move a more spectacular view will be revealed).
In Budo-Taijutsu and in Budo in general, there is no limit to climbing, but there is always a podset. You need strength to continue, you need lots and lots of mental strength not to go out on a podest. This is the real fight! That's why I say that Budo is primarily an endless spiritual journey, a journey that has many breaking points and "escape points". The fighting is not to break, we have to continue!
And here it is important to mention that the "nin" of ninjutsu means: "perseverance", Keep going! There is no "Ninjutsu" without spirit, there is no Ninjutsu without Ninpo!
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