Interviewer: Do you have any last words of advice?

Kato: I was not a full-time disciple of Osensei and I had a job during that time. So, I could not spend much time with him. Therefore I had to train myself and practice it. There must be many ways to do it, for example using sword and jo (staff).  If you really establish your individual style, you should practice it alone. Practicing is like that fundamentally, isn't it?  If you are young, you should practice to your physical limits. While practicing, you discover your own thoughts and world's view.  If you keep doing  that, your experience will bring you something to tell others.  You train yourself.  If you train yourself, do it alone.  That is my ideal in my practice and words to you.   Practicing Aikido is to keep believing in and searching for something. Aikido, in the   end, is belief. It is not a religion.  But while you practice it, you gain strength in that type of awareness. I believe in the founder and his words. Still now, he lives in me. If I keep practicing Aikido with that attitude, it naturally fosters spirituality in Aikido.  If it weren't there, it would end up only at the level of physical strength.  I feel it is important to practice it peacefully, without fighting each other.  Also, I do not like the concept of instructing others in what to do.  I am very adamant about that (smile).  For me, rather than teaching, I think practice is the place to begin by oneself and with comradeship. Let us practice together.  The founder told me once, "I do not have any disciples at all. There are no disciples but many comrades to accompany me.  I have companions to attain the truth of this philosophy. " Shinran (a famous Buddhist born in 1173, a founder of Jodo Shinshu) said a similar thing. I love their words. Let us practice together.