How to Make a Bow-Kata Monk/Fighter?

[Sorinth]

What's so bad about Kensei?

The only problem with the Kensei is that people have misconceptions about it. They see the +2 AC bonus and assume that they need it active every single round. As a result they don't attack very much with their weapon and end up playing a weapon master who doesn't attack much with his weapon and are disappointing.

In reality unless you are going for some sort of max-AC build where you multiclass with Bladesinger then for the most part a Kensei shouldn't be using Agile Parry all that much. It's similar to Flurry of Blows vs Patient Defence, most of the time you'll use Flurry, but there are times that Patient Defence is really good. Agile Parry just builds on that, when you want to be defensive you are now really defensive. On top of that the times you can't decide whether Flurry or Patient Defence is better you have a middle ground option where you flurry or just martial arts attack for your BA but also increase your defence with Agile Parry. Just don't always use that middle ground option unless your character's fighting style is supposed to cautious/defensive.