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PlainDre wrote:*Snip*

4. Under philosophical Training, the form indicates Zen. Is there a detailed description of how a character with a Zen way of thinking should act? (besides me looking it up on the internet and interpreting?)

Zen is actually the Chan School of Buddhism. Basically, the Samurai's martial arts were just external kung-fu until the people in those fields found that they were lacking something. Then he would go to temples to learn. But even so, if he felt it was not enough, when he saw the suffering people endure around the world, he'd likely go to learn from a Zen Master. After training, when (if) he arrived at the state of no-mind (zazen), his steel sword would be dropped (abandoned) and his wisdom and compassion would now become his new, invisible sword.

Zen brings warriors back to their own original nature: wisdom and compassion, of which they did not realize clearly before. Now they can also realize that they already had both of them, but now they just use them in harmony in everyday activities. If one of them is absent that's not good enough, because if compassion is missing, wisdom may become cruelty; if wisdom is missing, compassion may become blindness. They have learned the way of Zen Buddhism.

Buddhism's Behavioral guidelines are the four noble truths and the eight-fold path.

The Four Noble Truths
THE TRUTH OF SUFFERING: The Buddha's discovery of the solution to the problem of suffering began with the recognition that life is suffering. This is the first of the Four Noble Truths. If people examine their own experiences or look at the world around them, they will see that life is full of suffering. Suffering may be physical or mental.
THE TRUTH THE CAUSES OF SUFFERING: The Buddha's had observed that life is suffering. Before He could find a solution to the problem of suffering in life, He had first to look for the cause of suffering. The Buddha was just like a good doctor who first observes a patient's symptoms and identifies the cause of illness before prescribing a cure. The Buddha discovered that the direct causes of suffering are desire or craving, and ignorance. This is the truth of the cause of suffering, which is the Second Noble Truth.
THE TRUTH THE END OF SUFFERING: The Buddha's realization of the end of suffering and his attainment of Nirvana at the age of thirty-five, crowned his search for Truth with success. For six years, the Bodhisattva had spared no effort to find a solution to the problems of suffering. He had tried the principal methods of ending suffering and had found them wanting. Eventually he found his own solution to the problems of life.
THE TRUTH OF THE PATH LEADING TO THE END OF SUFFERING: The Middle Path. As a youth, Prince Siddhartha enjoyed the indulgent life of pleasure in his father's palace. Later, when he renounced the worldly life and became an ascetic, he experienced the hardship of torturing his mind and body. Finally, not long before attaining Enlightenment, he realized the fruitlessness of these two extreme ways of life. He realized that the way to happiness and Enlightenment was to lead a life that avoids these extremes. He described this life as the Middle Path -- These three ways of life may be compared to the strings of different tensions on a lute. The loose string, which is like a life of indulgence, produces a poor sound when struck. The overly tight string, which is like a life of extreme asceticism, similarly produces a poor sound when struck and is, moreover, likely to break at any moment. Only the middle string, which is neither too loose nor too tight, and is like the Middle Path, produces a pleasant and harmonious sound when struck. So those who follow the Middle Path which avoids the extreme of indulging one's desires and the opposite extreme of torturing one's mind and body unreasonably, will find happiness, peace of mind and Enlightenment. This is the Fourth Noble Truth of the path leading to the end of suffering. So these who follow the Middle Path which avoid the extreme of indulging one's desires and opposite extreme of torturing one's mind and body unreasonably, will find happiness, peace of mind and Enlightenment. This is the Fourth Noble Truth of the path leading to the end of suffering.

Eight-fold Noble Path to Enlightenment
RIGHT UNDERSTANDING is the knowledge of the Four Noble Truths. In other words, it is the understanding of oneself as one really is.
RIGHT THOUGHTS are threefold. They are:
The thoughts of renunciation which are opposed to sense-pleasures.
Kind Thoughts which are opposed to ill will.
Thoughts of harmlessness which are opposed to cruelty. These tend to purify the mind.
RIGHT SPEECH deals with refraining from falsehood, stealing, slandering, harsh words and frivolous talks.
RIGHT ACTION deals with refraining from killing, stealing and lack of chastity. It helps one to develop a character that is self-controlled and mindful of rights of others.
RIGHT LIVELIHOOD means earring one's living in a way that is not harmful to others. Right livelihood deals with the five kinds of trades that should be avoided by a lay disciple. They are:
trade in deadly weapons
trade in animals for slaughter
trade in slavery
trade in intoxicants
trade in poisons
RIGHT EFFORT is needed to cultivate Good Conduct or develop one's mind, because we are often distracted or tempted to take the easy way out of things. The Buddha teaches that attaining happiness and Enlightenment depends upon one's own efforts. Effort is the root of all achievement. If one wants to get to the top of a mountain, just sitting at the foot thinking about it will not bring one there. It is by making the effort of climbing up the mountain, step by step, that eventually the summit is reached. Thus, no matter how great the Buddha's achievement may be, or how excellent His Teaching is, one must put the Teaching into practice before desired results can be obtained. It is fourfold, namely:
the endeavor to discard evil that has already arisen.
the endeavor to prevent the arising of evil.
the endeavor to develop that good which has already arisen.
the endeavor to promote that good which has not already arisen.
RIGHT MINDFULNESS is the awareness of one's deeds, words and thoughts. It is also fourfold:
mindfulness with regard to body.
mindfulness with regard to feeling.
mindfulness with regard to mind.
mindfulness with regard to mental objects.
RIGHT MEDITATION (or Right Concentration) means the gradual process of training the mind to focus on a single object and to remain fixed upon the object without wavering. The constant practice of meditation helps to develop a calm and concentrated mind and helps to prepare for the ultimate attainment of Wisdom and Enlightenment.

This would seem to say, then, that the Zanji practicioner would, over the course of his training, learn to leave his sword sheathed and work things out with wisdom and compassion, without bloodshed. He would strive to gain buddha-mind.

PlainDre wrote:Thanks for the response Whipped4073.

But I still don't understand something. IF Zanji Shinjinken-Ryu is designed to be learned wielding a sword (Katana), then why isn't the W.P. Katana skill offered at level 1? Why wait until level 3 or 4?

What is the character to do in the meantime? Wield a Bokken, Bo Staff, Spear or Naginata?

The Bokken is a wooden training sword and in expert hands a weapon in it's own right. Depending on if it's a Katana or Wakazashi lenght model you are looking at a 2 or 3 foot long carefully ballanced hardwood club. Technically you could use a carefully weighted and ballanced cane as an improvized Bokken. Heck, there was a time in Japan where they hid swords inside of canes...Thus a thick hand carved walking stick becomes a very effective weapon and it can be concealed with a plausable backstory(it also helps to conceal that cybernetic leg) and a doctor's note.