Ritualized combat for the sake of mastery of one's skill is way cooler than war ngl.
War is where poor sod get drafted or press ganged into dying for a cause that might be tangentially related to theirs and hoping that they are not part of the large statistic that ends up being maimed by whatever new technology is popping off at the time.
When you choose to become a fighter instead is to perfect your body and prove you're better than other people who are also people striving for the path of mastery.
The very act of engaging in this is sacred and divine