Misconception 9   (Editor's note: This text does not question the usefulness and necessity of physical exercise but its predominance and exclusiveness.)    A common misconception is to equal the quality of a training session with the quantity of its physical strain. Motto: much moved, much sweat, much winded, then it was good and useful. This might be true, but it isn't necessarily so. The mere fact that something is done under a martial art label and that the students and the instructor are dressed in white cotton with colored belts is no guarantee for contents.    There is for sure a countless number of training methods, but not everything one can do is reasonable. Among the most saddening examples are the hopping orgies: up and down, forward and backward, again and again and again, always moving and then at some time appending some technique. Of course, this is exceptionally exhausting and sweat-inducing, but is it also a sensible exercise ? Yes, it is very good for the cardiovascular system, but with respect to a martial art, in the long run it will lead in the wrong direction.    A useful kind of strain is physical toughness in terms of non-harming, non-destructive contact during attack or defense.     However, physical fitness makes up only one element of practise. Others are exercises to gain mental power through the preoccupation with such things as breathing, meditation, and ki.   The latter building blocks are more and more neglected and even ridiculed, so an inherent piece of martial arts DNA will get lost. The development to sport machines with budo dressing is presaged.   © 2004 + 2006  SWV