While most bugeisha sought only to perfect their physical techniques, Yagyu Muneyoshi, while still in his teens, found swordsmanship to be a means of quieting his fears and inner doubts. Instead of practicing a cut only to achieve proficiency in it, he would remain in the dojo long after his lessons were done, repeating again and again the movement he had been taught, losing himself to it until his consciousness was consumed in the action. Then, beyond the ragged breath, under the painful muscles, he discovered a peaceful flowing quiet within the violence of the swordsmanship. ...through the efforts of his own practice, he was beginning to sense... [that] ...the way of the sword was not in physical techniques, not in victory on the battlefield, but in the realm of the spiritual.
-Dave Lowry, Autumn Lightning: The Education of an American Samurai
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