Ken to wa kokoro nari

Ken to wa kokoro nari.

Koroko tadashi kereba sono ken tadashi.

Kokoro tadashi karazareba sono ken mo mata tadashi karazu.

Ken wo manaban to suru mono wa subekaraku sono kokoro wo manabe

This is of course the well known saying by renowned late Edo-era Jikishinkage-ryu kenshi Shimada Toranosuke (1814-52). It translates as:

The sword is the mind.

When the mind is right, the sword it right.

When the mind is not right, the sword is also not right.

He who wishes to study kendo, must first study his mind.







http://kenshi247.net/blog/2014/08/21/sword-of-the-virtuous-sword-of-the-inferior/