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Posted August 1999
Sorry to bother you so much but I don't know where else to go with my silly little questions. A day or two ago I was wearing a shirt for my martial arts school and it had 'bujutsu' written in kanji down the sleeve. I bumped into a Japanese lady and she thought I was some master or such. I explained
that it was just a t-shirt for a martial arts school I was part of but she was adamant that it meant I was a master. She said that when you wear something with the kanji on it it means something different than when it is just written down on a piece of paper or in a book.I was just wondering if this holds any water because I really don't want to go around misrepresnting myself. Thank you for your time and keep up the good fight!!
--Tristan GieseTristan, unless you had a t-shirt that said "Big Sensei Number One Kahuna," I don't think a shirt with "bujutsu" on it down the sleeve, even, is any kind of sacrilege. I think she was either pulling your leg, didn't understand her own culture, or was simply whacko. But heck, people think I'm nuts myself. But seriously, those words on a sleeve aren't a big deal. I don't know where that lady was coming from.
My apologies as you must receive many posts such as this. A friend of mine just moved to Rockford, Illinois. Though he has his shodan in Shotokan, he has always expressed an interest in training Kenjutsu. Do you know of any groups in Illinois training in actual kenjutsu and not just iaido?
--Scott Milach (smilach@coredcs.com)Can anyone help Scott's friend out here?
You are really warped, Don. . .
This was from the cyber-dojo martial arts group I am on.
The Top 17 Signs You've Joined the Wrong Martial Arts School:
17. Your dojo's symbol is a bulls-eye target.
16. First demonstration consists of falling to the floor, curling into the fetal position, and whimpering pitifully.
15. Lesson 1: A guy who looks and sounds like Danny DeVito in a bathrobe
points to a pile of concrete blocks and says "Knock yourselves out, Grasshoppers."14. The techniques are only effective if your attacker is one of the Three Stooges.
13. You take yourself to the mat 4 out of 5 times simply trying to tie your belt on.
12. Although the Grandmaster's hands "move faster than the eye can see," you can still detect a fair amount of nose picking going on.
11. As a student is wheeled out by paramedics, the instructor says "Class, name three things Alan did wrong."
10. You practice kicks on a stage while sweaty men stuff dollar bills in your g-string.
9. Spent the first eight lessons learning to talk while moving your lips in a seemingly unrelated manner.
8. At the end of every class, your instructor says, "...or you could just buy a friggin' gun."
7. All the trophies in the display case appear to be altered bowling trophies.
6. Sensei's "ancient Chinese secret" required notifying the neighbors when he moved in.
5. Did Confucius ever really say he was "going to open up a can of whoop-ass" on someone?
4. Due to a misspelling of "Martial Arts" on the door, half the class shows up with vibrators and lotions.
3. Other students show up with sketchbooks.
2. Instead of belts, levels of prowess are denoted by colorful suspenders and co-ordinating ascots.
1. You're pretty sure "Monkey Style" does not involve masturbation and throwing feces at your attacker.
--Don Cicchetti
Did you know that on November 6, 1998, Dr. Sachio Ashida, Kodokan hachidan (8th dan), received for his contributions to the introduction and spread of judo in the United States, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, in Japan, bestowed upon Dr. Ashida the order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold Rays with Rosette, at a ceremony held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Dr. Ashida as you may know, is still a Professor of Psychology and Director/Coach of the Judo Program/Team at State University of New York College at Brockport. . .
Thought you might be interested. I know he instructed you at clinics at Cornell.
Cordially,
--Peter MacLellan
Just a quick note, firstly to thank you for the obvious time and effort you have put into your Web site. Intelligent discussion on the Martial arts is so rare whether verbal, printed or online that it is always a joy to come across something as good as this. To paraphrase Victor Kiam - "I was so
impressed - I bought the subscription.". . .Another suitably gushing thankyou for the Dave Lowry page I happen to agree that he is the best writer on the martial arts around and I always find what he says thought provoking. I have been fortunate enough to be in private e-mail contact with Mr Lowry ("Dave" seems awfully informal for a man I respect a lot, but have never met !) and he wrote me a long and fascinating reply to some questions I had about training in a koryu. . .
Please keep up the good work and I wait with spine tingly anticipation for the dead trees version to drop arrive in Gods own country - Wales.
kind regards
--Robert Wallisp.s. You have your own martial arts magazine, hang out with Dave Lowry and live in Hawaii - You're what I want to be when I grow up !!! LOL
Thanks, Robert, but my mom still thinks I haven't grown up, even though I'm five years past forty. I have a ton of bills to pay, I work my tail off teaching kids at a high school. . .but yeah, actually, now that I think about it, life's been nice. I married a gentle woman who is tough enough to tell me when I'm wrong, I am in Hawaii, and I lived my dreams, even though it cost me years of income. But I have years of great memories. Would I do it all again? Probably, because I would never have had so many great experiences. You take 'em along with the bad ones, I guess.
Since I'm waxing philosophical (or senile), I remember a friend who picked me up on a college vacation years ago. My friend and I were telling her about our recent adventures, and her father kept saying, "Oh, if I were only young again."
The deal is, you're only young once, so you have to sometimes throw things to the wind, and have an adventure. . .Like living somewhere totally elsewhere. Fall in love. Or take up a pastime, like martial arts, that will take your inner spirit to different places. Then you can turn into an old fart with crazy stories. My high school students think I'm nuts. I'm not a world traveler, but I guess I did do a lot of things compared to a lot of other teachers. Heck, from my point of view, Wales is pretty exotic! I fell in love with Scotland, by the way, when I visited there years ago.
