A few years ago, when I still took part in debates in online discussion forums, I used this phrase — 'budo is a doing thing, not a talking thing'.

It was as much a reminder to myself as it was to others - my patience with and interest in what could be achieved in discussion with others online was waning and I had started to disengage from such forums.

It was becoming apparent to me that there was no real point to them. The same topics got discussed to death and it was very rare for someone really insightful to join in. It wasn’t that such people weren’t out there - they were and are, but they had gained their insight through quiet introspection and hard graft in the dojo.They knew that the most important thing to be said about our budo is said with the body, in training. It’s said in how deeply the lessons soak into their movements, how solidly they constructed kamae and how precise their taijutsu was.

In person, such people are always generous in sharing their opinions and ideas about budo, but they know to spend their time and energy, and it's generally not online. The only truth to be found in the practice of Japanese kobudo is found in deep study. It’s sore, takes years, is hard on the ego and almost none of it is found on the Internet.

You can find pointers, and make connections - but ultimately 99.9999 per cent of what’s online is a distraction from the reality of budo. Of course, nobody can train 24 hours a day, and if you’re passionately interesting in a subject, then it’s natural to want to talk about it. And for some things, such as history, theory, anecdotes etc, the net can be fun. For networking, it’s beyond compare - it’s a fantastic tool for meeting up with people who can help enrich and deepen your study.

But mistaking talking about budo for doing it is like mistaking talking about swimming for getting wet. Pointless.

At least that’s my opinion. Your mileage might vary. But I’m pretty sure I’m right and some very heavy hitters agree with me, so be sure your mileage doesn’t vary for the wrong reasons.