Attitude in (剣道稽古) kendo training

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(Original text of Kurasawa Hanshi with minor modifications made by me for clarification, as well as some Kanji)

A Zen Master named Dogen (道元), who was very famous for teaching Shikantaza (只管打坐)**, founded the Eihei-Ji (永平寺) temple in Fukui (福井). Dogen said that a person who wants to devote himself to Buddhism must practice that Buddhism and if he devotes himself to Buddhism thinking of having a big temple or becoming an important person, he becomes an improper way of practicing Buddhism. Dogen practiced it all his life.

**Shikantaza (只管打坐) is Dogen's Japanese translation of the Chinese phrase zhǐguǎn dǎzuò (只管打坐 / 祇管 打坐), "just sitting." The phrase was used by his teacher Rujing, a monk of the Caodong school of Zen Buddhism, to refer to the meditation-practice called "Silent Illumination" (Chinese: 默照禅), or "Serene Reflection," taught by the Caodong master Hongzhi Zhengjue (1091-1157). In Japan, it is associated with the Soto school. In shikantaza one does not focus attention on a specific object (such as the breath); instead, practitioners "just sit" in a state of conscious awareness.

I think that you should practice kendo only for kendo's sake, it is an improper way to practice kendo if you only think about winning, becoming famous or gaining reputation.

Winning in competitions and raising Dan are just one aspect of kendo to motivate yourself and it is not very important.

It is ideal if you can only concentrate on practicing kendo for each keiko (稽古). It is unfortunate to be embarrassed thinking “why I couldn't win, why I couldn't compete or why I couldn't pass the grade exam (段審)”.