He shrugs one shoulder, slight. "Soldiering." Which is different from combat, despite the relation - as surely Seoraj knows. "There are schools of thought that believe if you're not focused and disciplined enough to do that, you aren't going to be able to hold a line, or follow orders."

A textbook answer, of course. Bruce may be fighting his own personal 'war', but it's a far different ballgame than trenches and phalanxes. (He is assuming, for the record, that reasons like 'practice' and 'focus' are self-evident.)

"Some people just like the exercise. Others equate it to meditation."

And then it veers off into spiritualism, which Bruce attempts to avoid like a cat ducking from water.