10/12/08

Well, again I have been beat by the concrete structure of the high school gym that was the likely culprit of my low Internet signal. I couln't even get one strong enough to pull up Google's website. I'm going to have to look into one of those wireless repeaters for cell signals. Maybe next time...

I'm going to try and stream the tournament tomorrow via my Lenovo laptop, wireless data card from AT&T, logitech webcam and streamed online using Stickam's services. The only thing I have to worry about is the reception. You'll be able to find the link to the stream http://www.stickam.com/profile/ben10dough or here. If you want to tell someone about it, tell them to type in www.ronin20.com and they can find the link there as well.

It should be up no later than 12:00 PM PST as long as there is reception. If there is not a receivable signal, I will update the post informing so.

Thanks for checking it out!

But I do remember growing up as one of the only Asian kids in an all-white suburb of Chicago, and learning very deeply the lessons of being the Other. Even though my family was very fortunate and strong, even though my parents were the hardest working people I knew, and provided my brothers and me with every advantage and comfort they could, while instilling in us an appreciation for hard work, intelligence, reason, compassion, and joy in life, the simple fact was they could not protect me from the consequences of being half-Korean in a culture that had no room and very little tolerance for difference.

School was the place where I learned many, many wonderful things, but it was also where I learned in 4th grade that when four 5th graders beat me until I couldn't stand, and then kicked me as I lay in the snow, calling me "gook", and "nip", and "chink", that the beating was nothing compared to the shame of looking up and seeing a crowd of other kids watch and do nothing to help me. The alienation of that moment was a lesson I will never forget.

It was a lesson to be repeated and reinforced in a thousand ways, which I will not recount here, but thankfully my children have never known one day when they were derided, or ignored, or abused because of their heritage. I truly believed this lesson of my childhood has become weaker over time; that the politics of hatred have faded from the national discourse, and we were truly emerging from the long, angry night.

Until now.

This presidential campaign has been the most exciting political event I have ever seen, and I feel deeply fortunate to have been able to witness it. I was impressed by Obama from the very beginning, and I was even excited by the best candidates from both parties. They offered a clear hope for changing the disastrous course the Bush Administration has taken the country.

I had already decided that Barack Obama was by far the best candidate for president, for reasons other, far better writers than I have expressed, but, despite the closeness of the race, I felt there was little I could add to the conversation. However, since John McCain has chosen to revitalize his campain through demagoguery, anger, and specious, hateful, lies, I now have something to say.

Oliver Wendell Holmes said "A mind once stretched by a new idea never regains its original dimension." But I have found that the mind can all too easily relax into familar patterns of thought. America has matured and learned many things, but the lessons of compassion and understanding must be continually learned. I may not have understood the larger political issues of my childhood, but I know what I lived through. America has grown, but as a nation we have learned through great pain that fear, anger, and hate remain powerful forces in the world, both abroad and sadly, as the past few days of Republican campaigning have shown, at home. Out of desperation, McCain is grasping at the darkest elements of our nature, and thereby threatens to erase not only Obama's chance to be President, but decades of national growth towards the idea that we are all created equal.

Through condescending and cynical tactics, McCain and Palin have shamelessly tried to manipulate the "Joe Six-Packs" and the "Hockey Mom's" of the nation, to say that they understand "Main Street" America. But as this speech by former United Mine Workers President Richard Trumka, who is now secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO shows, this only serves to draw a false distinction between the "elite" and the "common", to exacerbate and antagonize, and create divisions.

The tactics of fear and hate must not be allowed to regain their sway. We have a chance to take a brilliant step forward as a nation, and given the current political and financial crises we face, we must call upon our highest ideals, our bravest virtues to meet them. I believe one candidate represents our best hope for leading our continued growth as a nation and a society. Please join me, and help elect Barack Obama as our next President.

The show ended a year ago (it's only now being aired here), but here be spoilers, so be warned. Also remember that all in all, I prefer technique over force and self-defense disciplines, so my opinions are not supposed to impose on anybody, and do not reflect anything regarding the Krav Maga, Marine Corp MA, and MMA episodes.

In all honesty, reading up on the hosts' past in martial arts made me wonder how well fitted they were to do this. Bill is a towering fridge of a defensive tackle, and Jason, with backgrounds only in BJJ and MMA (two disciplines I find highly questionable in my ever-the-technical-utopist-mindset), made me doubt he'd be able to utter the humility to start from blank again every time the camera started rolling.

Surprisingly, Bill pulled through for me: somewhere beneath that gruff exterior, there was a happy sort of anxiety that he'd get to learn something new, the kind you normally see only in children. Bill WAS, in the end, a human wall, and therefore learning to unstick his limbs from his body was rough on him, particularly on flexible and fast martial arts like tae kwon do and muay thai, but he'd made an effort to adapt. That, if I may say so myself, is an admirable trait in any martial artist. I don't know if the shows were also recorded in the sequence they were shown in, but by the tae kwon do episode, Bill had become incredibly flexible for a guy of his complexion (although he remained mortally slow--which cost him a kick to the face and a TKO in the same episode).

Jason, however, was... in a completely different page as Bill, for lack of better description. Everything, in his opinion, was related to MMA, and he'd show it by becoming utterly useless when fighting in any discipline that did not involve falling on his back and choking his adversary or pounding his lights out. Even in judo, an art so closely related to the BJJ he started in, he did not realize that MMA routines on the floor are not an end-all, and it lost him the match. He also struck me as the kind that is all talk and no action--something closely related to the "my years of MMA training have..." line he'd say basically every show.

I found that although the show was nicely researched and produced, the things they'd demand of Bill and Jason were unreasonable in many cases; it was almost as if they purposedly ignored the basics of every martial art in favor of the showiest techniques. Bill, as a wrestler, had almost no kicking experience and could've really hurt his knees doing what it was suggested that he did--in tae kwon do, you don't start from flying kicks, you start from the floor doing roundhouses, hitting the side of the gut and the head, working on your accuracy. It wouldn't take 2 hours off their training schedules to have taught them the basics AND THEN flying kicks.

Jason, used to being on his back rather than on his feet, had many positioning mistakes that would eventually work against him. For one, they did not once show that they taught them to break a fall, the very basis of judo, and I recall Bill'd got winded once or twice.

They'd also, for sure, not get the rules of their matches drilled into them from day 1--such a mistake cost Bill the pancrateion match (as he lost point after point because of fouls he didn't know he'd had). One'd think this aspect is important, as they're holding a match on day 5, aren't they?

The funny part is, they are not bad martial artists (although I must insist Jason could use with a little humility, not to mention detachment from MMA), and the amount of stuff they'd retain from their lessons was pretty awestriking. Although Bill is primarily a grappler and was pretty bad at striking arts, he kept his ground pretty decently in karate, and although Jason was terrible with a weapon in his hands, he tried his best in ninjitsu.

The history and real life application part of every episode was really interesting, though. I learned thing after thing I did not know about pancrateion and sambo, both of which I only had a vague idea of, and definitely reinforced my knowledge about karate, tae kwon do, muay thai, and judo. Learning of all the forms of kung fu was also interesting, as the forms of it that I had never seen before came to form a slightly fuller idea of the chinese martial arts than I had before.

I'd recommend it to anybody. If not the best show ever made on the topic of martial arts, this one certainly had a respectable attempt at completeness. It is a shame it did not continue on to it's second season, but it seems you can make up by watching Fight Quest, a more recent show by the Discovery Channel which works on the same model as Human Weapon.

Kazuhiro Kazuhiro Nakamura (Japon)
Style d'origine : Judo

VS

Travis Galbraith (Canada)
Style d'origine : ?!?!

Très très beau combat !!! Les adversaires se donnent à fond pour un échange vraiment explosif ! On  s'étonnera de voir Nakamura, pourtant Judoka dans l'âme, combattre Galbraith debout avec autant d'aisance... qui ne le laisse pas en reste. Frappes, lutte au sol, projection... Un sacré combat MMA !!!

(Si vous avez des problèmes avec la vidéo, cliquez ICI)

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Un brano dal libro di Dave Lowry "Lo spirito delle arti marziali" (Oscar Mondadori 1999, senza link perchè fuori catalogo), capitolo 24, Kamae: posizioni da combattimento.

Tutte le moderne Vie marziali presentano dei Kamae, posizioni di combattimento. In ciascuna disciplina, il praticante assume un kamae concepito per mostrare forza e spirito combattivo. Nel kamae di un praticante di karate o di judo non è possibile trovare un singolo bersaglio vulnerabile. Allo stesso modo gli studenti di kendo e di aikido studiano e praticano per rendere inespugnabili i loro kamae.
Al contrario, i kamae delle arti classiche del Giappone feudale sono differenti. In queste antiche forme, i Kamae spesso mostrano evidenti brecce, aperture in cui la spalla, il torso o le mani serrate sull’arma sono esposte al pericolo. Osservando queste posizioni, si ha la tentazione di immaginare che questi guerrieri fosseo suicidi, quasi volessero farsi colpire. In un certo senso, i kamae delle arti antiche sono effettivamente un invito ad attaccare. Un’esca. Una trappola mortale è celata in questi kamae, perché le brecce nelle posizioni delle arti classiche non sono errori strategici, fanno deliberatamente parte della strategia. Il kamae del guerriero induce a un attacco che egli è in grado di controllare. Esponendo uno specifico bersaglio, egli sa da quale direzione l’assalto arriverà, e da ciò si può avvantaggiare.

Questi contrastanti usi del kamae riflettono la differenza tra le arti di combattimento del XX secolo e quelle delle loro controparti storiche. Il praticante di oggi cerca di evitare il conflitto violento: il suo atteggiamento è difensivo, combattere è l’utlima possibilità, ed egli cerca principalmente di proteggere se stesso e gli altri. La professione del bushi consisteva nell’affrontare la battaglia. Doveva essere aggressivo in duello, o almeno doveva incoraggiare un attacco in modo che il combattimento potesse avere inizio. L’autoprotezione era sempre secondaria rispetto alla difesa del clan al quale il samurai apparteneva. L’interesse del signore veniva prima di quello del guerriero; non è una coincidenza, allora, che gli opposti atteggiamenti di guardia, kamae, dei praticanti di epoche differenti rivelino diversi scopi e caratteristiche.

Il kanji usato per indicare kamae deriva da due caratteri che significano “costruire con il legno”. Un kame marziale si costruisce, al tempo stesso, sia con la posizione fisica sia con l’atteggiamento mentale. La costruzione del kamae di un moderno bugeisha può essere considerata alla stregua di una solida fortezza, concepita per proteggere. Il kamae del bugeisha classico è più un trabocchetto, ideato per attirare l’avversario e intrappolarlo.

L'immagine è di shavanni, su flickr qui

I only posted this photo because we get to see another glimpse
of Mr. Bianchessi's cool tattoo...

(higher quality version)

Aw, man...  Gotta love two baldies rubbing their smooth, sweaty heads on each other...

]]> http://bearmythology.wordpress.com/?p=3188 Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:27:01 +0000 bearmythology http://bearmythology.net/2008/10/09/grim-vuijsters-dennis-van-der-greest-judo-bears-from-the-netherlands/

I seemed to have missed a couple of more Judo Bears from the Beijing Olympics.  Here are two handsome Dutch judokas.

The first one is the babyface Grim Vuijsters:

(higher quality version)

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Just when Grim's judogi gets fully untucked, he gives us a frontal peek
then turns sideways and closes it.  How cruel!

The other is the handsomely husky Dennis van der Geest.

(higher quality version)

• Newaza - had some success sitting my chest on turtled opponents and running around them to take their back, rolling them over; but I need to be more active when I've got someone's back.  Scissor-sweeps are higher percentage for me when I shoot the guard in fast and throw the sweep, rather than letting someone settle happily into my guard.  Had some success with a side-control pin-to-rollover where I reach over and grab the guy's pantleg.  Something I need to refine.
• Kata guruma - something that had not been in my repertoire til now.  Needs practice.  Was told it's good to use when broken down into opponent's shoulder.  Defend against by sprawling the vulnerable leg backward---lets you move around with your chest on your opponent's back, take back, etc.
• Foot sweep - this particular brand is well-applied when in opposite stances with opponent so that all four feet are aligned in a V.  The idea is to hook uke's near foot with your own, twist/budge it to loosen its contact with the mat (like you were putting out a cigarette), extend uke's foot laterally to bring his weight away from his supporting foot, then follow through with the sweep.  These are nuances I was totally unaware of, and great for if you fight in unorthodox stance.

Trata-se do quinto torneio do género levado a cabo pela Secção de Judo do Sporting Clube do Sabugal, que desde o ano de 1997 tem vindo a possibilitar aos jovens sabugalenses a prática da desta modalidade. O número de praticantes tem vindo a aumentar, havendo hoje um conjunto de adeptos do judo considerado bom.
Os judocas terão agora a possibilidade de disputar mais um torneio que certamente contribuirá para testarem a habilidade e a sua prestação na modalidade.
O V Torneio de Judo Cidade do sabugal inicia-se às 14h30 do dia 18, prolongando-se pela tarde dentro.
A iniciativa conta com os apoios da Caixa Geral de Depósitos, Banco Espírito Santo, Empresa Municipal, Câmara Municipal do Sabugal, Junta de Freguesia do Sabugal, Associação de Judo do Distrito da Guarda e também do blogue Capeia Arraiana.
plb

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Su ausencia en el reciente Campeonato Mundial de Judo por Equipos llamó la atención en los amantes del tradicional arte marcial. En un principio se afirmó que se debía a una lesión pero hoy se sabe que la razón se debió a que el deportista fue separado por haber tomado la decisión de convertirse en luchador profesional.

Nos referimos a Ishii Satoshi (21) ganador de la medalla de oro en la categoría 100 kilogramos en los últimos juegos olímpicos de Beijing y la principal carta nipona para Londres 2012 quien fue separado por las autoridades deportivas niponas por quebrar la tradición que prohibe a un luchador incursionar en la esfera profesional.

Conocida la decisión del deportista, el director de la Federación Japonesa de Judo, Yoshimura Kazuo, salio a la prensa para expresar su malestar y calificarlo como "un enemigo al que se debía separar lo más antes posible para que no contagie su mala energía a los demás deportistas".

Del mismo modo, el dirigente adelantó que Ishii Satoshi no se encuentra en sus planes para integrar el representativo japonés que participará en los Juegos Olímpicos de Londres 2012, revelando públicamente la partida de defunción a las aspiraciones olímpicas del deportista.

De otra parte, a pesar que el judoka de 1 metro 81 de estatura se ha mantenido en silencio, la prensa deportiva recordó las declaraciones que ofreciera en abril pasado cuando lograra su segundo título nacional.

"Existen algunas personas que consideran al judo como una dictadura", manifestó el joven de 21 años en clara alusión a algunos dirigentes que lo privaban de llevar una vida común y corriente y mantenerse dentro de unos patrones de conducta.

EL DATO
Ishii Satoshi junto a Uchishiba Masato fueron los únicos judokas nipones que consiguieron el título olímpico en Beijing 2008.

I've been watching this show daily.

First it was fishing without a shirt, then it was shooting a Siberian tiger with a tranquilizer, and now—Vladimir Putin is back at it again, showing off his judo skills in a new instructional DVD entitled "Let's Learn Judo with Vladimir Putin."

Putin collaborated with judo champion Yasuhiro Yamashita to create the film, and he readily admits that, although the title bears his name, it is merely an "advertising trick" and that viewers "will be learning not from your humble servant but from real geniuses." The film includes footage of Putin discussing the history and philosophy of Judo, as well as throwing an opponent, rolling, and performing joint-locks.

Although this is the first DVD release for Putin, this is not the first time that the Prime Minister has showcased his judo knowledge. In 2004, he coauthored Judo: History, Theory, Practice with Vasily Shestakov and Alexey Levitsky. The guide offers a complete history of the discipline, including Russia's contributions, and includes step-by-step techniques for break-falling, throwing, and grappling. The authors also introduce the unique Russian art of combat sambo.

CLICK HERE to see a clip from Putin's new DVD
CLICK HERE to learn more about Judo: History, Theory, Practice

There is also an article on the subject.

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia - Vladimir Putin is out on video as a judo master. Russian state-controlled media already have shown the powerful prime minister at the wheel of massive racing truck, shirtless on a fishing excursion, and tracking a tiger through the Siberian forest — just a few of the he-man presentations designed to boost his public image.

On Tuesday, he presented an instructional judo DVD that bears his name and shows him throwing an opponent to the mat.

I'm... kinda speechless.  He'd be approaching Kim Jong-Il proportions of hilarious propaganda if I wasn't somewhat sure he COULD do this.

Vladamir Putin has put out an instructional DVD on Judo.

Psshh. And he's putting all the blame for the financial crisis on America.

Maybe if he had spent some time doing something instead of writing a book on the history of Judo he wouldn't have had to deal with the Georgia mess.

Tranquilizing tigers, manning monster trucks, fly fishing, flying fighter jets are but a few of the things Putin has done, and now we can add teaching judo to the list,
Macho Putin in yet ANOTHER display of masculinity as he releases 'Let's learn judo with Vladimir' DVD

I think Volodya is ready for MMA

According to the story, Putin said,

'Without sports, it's impossible to speak of a healthy way of life, about the health of the nation as such,' he said.

Good for the 56-year-old leader for choosing not to live a sedentary lifestyle, and it does make one wonder if someone slipped him a copy of John Eldredge's Wild at Heart (below)

Unfortunately, people are still laughing at his surname in México...