What I heard on the hachidan video - 120 seconds ........ - is that competition fighters/players, all Japan champs, have to let go what theyve learned most of their lives and that is to let go of the will to win and focus on delivering a perfect strike.
They conclude with " The most important thing in kendo is to have a flexible mind that makes one humble enough to recognize one's own weakness, and to overcome it with practise"
Next to that I think everyone has his own reasons for doing kendo in the end - maybe to overcome your own demons.