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Get martial arts books from Amazon.com!
Posted January, 1999
Comments, ideas, thoughts? email us at wmuromoto@hotmail.com
. . .Now, if we could only sell it like Viagra. . .
I forgot to check my mail on Saturday and when I checked it on Sunday, there it was, the long awaited Furyu. I brewed a pot of coffee and set my butt down for a nice afternoon of reading.Thanks for your labor of love Wayne. I know this is a drain on your energy, not to mention finances, but there are a number of people like me who value reading Furyu like old men value Viagra.
I'll continue to tell my friends to subscribe. Best of luck on the venture.
--Neil Yamamoto
Should Westerners Train in Koryu?
Furyu #10 -- a breath of martial arts fresh air as usual. Re: the issue of Westerners given access to koryu (classical martial arts)-- why not? We are all, after all, "Things out of Season" (see Dave Lowry's Autumn Lightning, the final chapter). How far and egregiously can we stray from that which is already going and gone? Are we not, however unworthy, part of the glimmer of hope that some portion of the teachings will survive, perhaps thrive?Season's best to you.
--Tony Pfeiffer
A Technical Question. . .
Great resource of info! I am a new student of iaido and enjoy finding such a wide range of topics keep up the good work. I am having trouble while viewing the article the video clip does not
load? Any suggestion?--David Haas
--You might try making sure that you have the latest (free) version of the Quicktime Movie Player loaded in your web browser plug-ins. You can get this at several locations, such as apple.com, netscape.com, or I believe microsoft.com. All video clips on my web site are supposed to work on either Windows or Mac systems, I hope. . .Anyone else have any suggestions?
Bu Jin Sends Thanks. . .
Many thanks to you and Mr. Lowry for the wonderful reviews you gave the Bu Jin Design Women's dogi and Hiroshi's Irimi video. Wow! We really appreciate the kind words and endorsement of the products, and it's good to get feedback, since there's always room for improvement, ukemi and backlighting, included!This issue of Furyu is, as usual, full of all sorts of valuable and interesting information, a wonderful variety of stories, bio's, history...it's always a pleasure to sit down and read from cover to
cover. I know you have a million balls in the air, but I hope this is one endeavor you can manage to keep going. It's enjoyed by so many.Hope you have something special planned for holiday celebrations. Hiroshi and I wish you a very healthy and peaceful New Year (not to mention Millenium), and of course a little prosperity never hurts, either! Best wishes!
--Sincerely,
Ginger Ikeda
Quick Thanks
Loved it. Keep up the fine work!!
--Thank you,
Mark Szof
Greetings from the Mainland! Here in Portland the beginning of my new school year, along with countless useless meetings, brings rain and Seasonal Affective Disorder. I tell myself it's the weather and not my job that makes it harder to wake up in the morning. However, if I am waking up to go to the otera (toilet) or the dojo somehow my S.A.D. miraculously disappears! What's up with that?
Anyway, I'm writing to warn you that my new dojo advertisement will be premiering in Portland's November issue of the Yellow Pages and I expect to be inundated by throngs of eager, sincere, money-laden students. Naturally, due to their sincerity, they will all want to know if there is a quality magazine catering to the discriminating tastes of a bugeisha newly arrived to the true path. Of course, Furyu will be the first words uttered from my lips. Consequently, I expect that soon you will be put to the greatest test of your publishing/martial career. Only a few great figures in history have been able to withstand worldly success, fame and all of material temptations that accompany it.
This could spell the end of Furyu as we know it! If it does . . . can I be the first person on the cover wearing a phosphorescent dogi chopping a watermelon on some guy's belly with an overgrown ginsu? In the mean time, my Shingon Mikkyo honed senses tell me that it has been a while since I last laid some cash on you. I am sending you the $36 via mudra and best wishes. However, you will be relieved to here that I am hedging my bet by also sending a check.
I am, after all, relatively new to sending things esoterically so you'll have to excuse my exoteric back-up. If you get the time send me a line. Allen Beebe (a.k.a. Reverend Henjo Yuko)
P.S. I read your on-line article on mudras. Thanks for doing it. It is nice to see Esoteric Buddhism getting some historical credit. You may want to ask your friend, the Shingon Priest, about the term "salvation of the soul." Semantics can be a terrific starting place for inter-religious dialog.
--Allen Beebe
Furyu Back Issues on CD?
Let me begin by graciously saying thank you for making your "Labor of Love" accessible to the outside world. Although I am by no means a diligent martial artists now days (due to a massive work load), I still find time to read an article or two on the classic styles. I may, at the moment not
be training physically, but I'm a firm believer that knowledge and mental strength is as important if not more so then physical training. Which leads all this RAMBLING to a point. . .
I was looking around your page; reading a few articles, working on a web page layout and pretty much sitting in front of my monitor getting designer's butt when I realized I would really enjoy it if I could take these home and read them. So I went to the ordering section and noticed that a lot of issues are out of print due to small runs. So (the point), have you ever thought of taking the our of print issues and setting them up in Adobe Acrobat PDF format and selling those online. That way if someone wished they could have a PDF version they could read anytime. And hey,
they're almost as good as the Real thing. =) And if by chance you did the magazines in Quark or PageMaker, and the likes it becomes easier to save them out and supply them to people online, at a price of course. I know for one I would download them.
Thanks for your time...
--Robert FlemingActually, Robert Fleming and I had some email back and forth about this idea later on, and he volunteered to help convert some of our old issues to PDF files, and to even help turn them into a marketable CD that we could sell to raise some money, down the line. Hey, I'm serious, Bob! Keep in touch. And anyone else out there who wants to lend a hand for at least some good karma and my thanks. I don't know if there's much money in it (Furyu really hasn't made much itself yet, either). Right now, yours truly is in the midst of struggling to impart wisdom to high school kids (in between their proms, weekend dates, sports events, fights between girlfriends and boyfriends, etc.), and trying to put out Furyu, and to make some money to support Furyu by doing some side freelance jobs. But maybe come this summer vacation, we can work on this project together. . .?
To Fight or Not to Fight, That is the Question
Wuz up? I am a 17 year old student and must congralulate you on an excellent (online) magazine. It is hard to find a magazine of quality on the net these days. However I have a query for you and would be very happy to hear your answer, It is one of those contradictions that perhaps there is no total answer to but perhaps it does from another perception. Anyway here goes. Let us say someone attacks you. According to Christanity one should turn 'the other cheek', however, according to Shi Yan Ming we sometimes must 'fight for peace'. Do you think that perhaps turning the other cheek gives the person his own sense of peace and the person who fights as well? Or 'only for the many' should one fight? Is there a universal answer to this problem? Every time I look into this question it just gets more and more confusing and I get further away from a realization. Perhaps in time. Please reply as i am very keen to hear your answer.--All the best, Alex
I sent a personal note to Alex. But anyone else want to take a stab at this?
Hello, This is a great website you have here. I am also interested in the martial arts and as I was searching through the web, your site appeared. I just wanted to comment on how wonderful your site is, and commend you on a job well done.
--Max Marston
We're Okay, Just Busy. . .
Is everything ok? Have not any thing from you in ages! I sent you an e-mail a while back with a cartoon attached, and I see the "What's New" page is getting stale. Hope all is ok, and that #10 will be soon on the way. Keep on trying, for you know the effort is worth it!By the way saw you on your art page and did not know you tried school here in NY, my son is a current sophomore at SUNY Albany. My brother is an art director for New York City Transit, and as kids we both were into DC and Marvel comics, especially Marvel. My favorites were Dr. Strange and Thor. Glad to see you had that experience and that your resume is so impressive!
--Best of Luck! Tom Militello
I sent a personal note back to Tom, but also, yeah, I did a very brief stint as a comic book penciller before I decided to focus on finishing up college. . .and then life took me away from New York City and back home to Hawai'i, and a fine arts degree. Sometimes I wonder about the path not taken, though. I remember meeting all these Marvel Comics greats like Stan Lee, John Romita, Sal Buscema, Roy Thomas, etc. Morrie Kuramoto, a colorist and production guy for Marvel, put me up and showed me the ropes. Great people, and in those days, Marvel Comics was a really funky, wonderful, crazy little office, long before it got so big.
My own favorites were Jack Kirby's Fantastic Four, Ditko's Spiderman, Bob Miller's Batman, Thor, too, and X-Men, and the mature stuff by Barry Windsor-Smith, especially his last Conan drawings. It's weird, but growing up in a small town, comics were my introduction to design, graphics and even reading, at an early age, so I have a lot of respect for the power of comic books. I moved from comics to sci-fi (Bradbury, Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, Vonnegut, Erick the Stormbringer, Colin Wilson, H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard), to classic literature such as Beowulf, Shakespeare, Roland, and the like, to Japanese literature.
I also went from those comic book artists to learning to enjoy fine art, and ended up getting a Master's degree in studio art.
On a totally separate line, I went from being an egghead kid who was pushed around and beaten up by even the tom girls in the playground to taking up judo as an elementary school kid, to karate, then aikido, naginata, yoga. . .and here I am, having lived out some wonderful experiences and fantasies, and now getting fat and middle-aged, but with lots of great memories, every bit and treasured and wonderful as any comic book, fantasy or sci-fi. Life can be shitty, life can be fantastic, but on the whole, life is okay, besides the bill collectors. . .
The Brotherhood (And Sisterhood) of Budo
I hesitate to use such familiar terms with you since I only know you through your writings, but it seems that we (like all budoka) are connected. I want you to know that all your efforts are appreciated. . .despite the fact that there will be many, many people who will do their best to convince you otherwise. You are right on target with your attitude, your modesty, and even your admitted moodiness. These are the traits of an individual that CARES about what goes on around him.I teach martial arts for a living. . .but no, I'm not one of those!!! I teach at area churches, schools, etc. and charge my students just $6.00 per week. I am 41 years old, and have been involved in the martial arts for just over 30 years so as you might guess, I am not getting rich and it can be very
difficult to make ends meet. IT IS WORTH IT!!! We each need to make whatever meaningful contribution we can to our families first, then the communities we live in, and lastly to the whole of society. About the only thing I'm good for is teaching the martial arts (some would even argue with
that) and so this is the vehicle I use to attempt to make a difference.I work with many, many kids. As you have said, it can be a huge challenge to impart ANY kind of positive influence on them. BUT WE MUST STILL TRY!!! If you do not, then who will???
You aren't alone, Wayne san. When you get discouraged, just think of the lives you have touched, both in and out of the dojo. Thank you for being an honest and dedicated martial artist and teacher.
--Yours in the spirit of Budo,
Donn Schucker
