What do the sword arts teach us in modern times?

Traditional Sword training, that has been neither "civilized" nor watered down for commercial aspects, gives us three main benefits: an understanding of distance; a greater grasp of timing; and when we focus on it, the ability we call the "6th sense". When you are facing 32 inches of razor sharp steel, your understanding of distance and timing must be fine-tuned to a degree most people cannot attain. Once a major bleeder is opened up, you may have as long as 30 seconds before you lose enough blood to make it hard to stay conscious. Sword teaches you to respect the blade, but not to fear it, so that you don't freeze up simply because you are facing steel. Even commercially produced blades can be sharp enough to inflict a serious cut, so you can never take for granted what kind of steel you are facing. The training of the "6th sense" means you can predict how and where and when your enemy will attack. As time goes on and this ability increases, you will be able to sense the "intent" long before blades are drawn.

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