Truth
What is truth? How important is truth? Truth is one of the virtues of life that we should live by, and that we must live by if we want to maintain our honor, dignity, self-respect, and respect from others. Now we can look back through time and see history repeat itself over and over and over again. Great nations have risen and fallen by the morals of its people. Time has shown that a nation that is/was a God fearing nation (whether it was a single diety or multiple dieties that they worshiped doesn't matter) tended to have people of strong moral values, and a sense of truth about themselves and their actions. These nations always seemed to be strong, self reliant, proud, and destined for a good future. But as years would pass and the beliefs in the God or Gods wavered or diminished so would the values of the people, and as the values declined the nation would decline sacrificing morals, and values for material objects, greed, and even lust. And when the societies reached these points the nation would crumble and the surrounding countries would attack and take it over, instituting its own beliefs and rituals.
Now I would say that I am a proud American, I love my country with all my heart. But as I look around I see our decline and it is gaining speed. First, we let our government get too big, which means that it now sees itself as our big brother and thinks that it knows whats best for each and every one of us. Second, we have taken God out of our lives, now I am not a bible thumper, I don't believe in cramming my beliefs down everyones throats but I do believe in God and his goodness as our forefathers did when they founded our great nation. We as a people have let others cram their beliefs down our throats so much that we go out of our way to appease them and disregard our own beliefs. Thirdly, greed has taken over, we as a nation are more concerned about money and what we can get, should get, or even what we think we deserve (not neccesarily earned) that we will stab our own family mebers and friends in the back to get it. No longer do you see people helping each other just to be helpful or friendly, nowadays we only help if it is a benefit to us first.
If we don't want to lose our nation then we need to look in the mirror and see the truth of what we have become. Once we do that, we can fix our own individual selves, and once we fix ourselves we can help our children and friends to see the right and wrongs and to see and face the truths in themselves. Then once they see the truth and make truth a part of their lives they can help their friends and families, and so on, and so forth. Until once again we are the country standing talling, shoulders back, chin up, and the leaders of the world. But it all starts with each of us looking in that mirror and making the choice to face the truth of who we are and becoming the person we were supposed to be.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
The Great Swordsmen of Japan part 3
Miyamoto Musashi
Musashi is a well known martial artist from fuedal Japan. He is considered the Kensei, sword-saint of Japan. The name "Musashi" was thought to be taken from the name of a warrior monk named MusashibÅ Benkei who served under Minamoto no Yoshitsune, but this is unconfirmed.
It's said that he may have studied at the Yoshioka ryu school, which was also said to be a school Musashi defeated single-handedly during his later years, although this is very uncertain. He did have formal training either by his father until he was 7 years old or from his uncle beginning at the age of 7. Ultimately the name was taken from his own original kanji, which can be read as Takezo or as Musashi, as stated in Eiji Yoshikawa's book Musashi.
At the age of 13 Musashi fought in his first duel killing his opponent, by the age of 60 he had been in over sixty duels with (according to legend ) only 1 ending in a draw, the rest were victories. This does not include the men that he had killed in battle. He was involved in several major battles during his time, and the number of enemies he killed from them are unknown. In April 13, 1612, Musashi fought his most famous duel, with Sasaki Kojiro, who wielded a nodachi. Musashi came late and unkempt to the appointed place — the remote island of Funajima, north of Kokura. The duel was short. Musashi killed his opponent with a bokken that he had carved from an oar while traveling to the island. Musashi fashioned it to be longer than the nodachi, making it closer to a modern suburito.
Musashi's late arrival is controversial. Sasaki's outraged supporters thought it was dishonorable and disrespectful while Musashi's supporters thought it was a fair way to unnerve his opponent. Another theory is that Musashi timed the hour of his arrival to match the turning of the tide. The tide carried him to the island. After his victory, Musashi immediately jumped back in his boat and his flight from Sasaki's vengeful allies was helped by the turning of the tide. Another theory states he waited for the sun to get in the right position. After he dodged a blow Sasaki was blinded by the sun. At this time Musashi would have delivered the killing blow to the chest of Sasaki ending the duel.
In the year 1643 Musashi retired to a cave and began writing his "Book of Five Rings" or "Go Rin No Sho" . He finished the book in 1644 and passed its knowledge onto his closest disciple. And in June of 1645, the greatest warrior and swordsman of his time passed away leaving a legand and legacy that have since been unrivaled. His book is still read and the knowledge still continues to be used not only only the field of battle, but also the board rooms around the world of major businesses.
Musashi is a well known martial artist from fuedal Japan. He is considered the Kensei, sword-saint of Japan. The name "Musashi" was thought to be taken from the name of a warrior monk named MusashibÅ Benkei who served under Minamoto no Yoshitsune, but this is unconfirmed.
It's said that he may have studied at the Yoshioka ryu school, which was also said to be a school Musashi defeated single-handedly during his later years, although this is very uncertain. He did have formal training either by his father until he was 7 years old or from his uncle beginning at the age of 7. Ultimately the name was taken from his own original kanji, which can be read as Takezo or as Musashi, as stated in Eiji Yoshikawa's book Musashi.
At the age of 13 Musashi fought in his first duel killing his opponent, by the age of 60 he had been in over sixty duels with (according to legend ) only 1 ending in a draw, the rest were victories. This does not include the men that he had killed in battle. He was involved in several major battles during his time, and the number of enemies he killed from them are unknown. In April 13, 1612, Musashi fought his most famous duel, with Sasaki Kojiro, who wielded a nodachi. Musashi came late and unkempt to the appointed place — the remote island of Funajima, north of Kokura. The duel was short. Musashi killed his opponent with a bokken that he had carved from an oar while traveling to the island. Musashi fashioned it to be longer than the nodachi, making it closer to a modern suburito.
Musashi's late arrival is controversial. Sasaki's outraged supporters thought it was dishonorable and disrespectful while Musashi's supporters thought it was a fair way to unnerve his opponent. Another theory is that Musashi timed the hour of his arrival to match the turning of the tide. The tide carried him to the island. After his victory, Musashi immediately jumped back in his boat and his flight from Sasaki's vengeful allies was helped by the turning of the tide. Another theory states he waited for the sun to get in the right position. After he dodged a blow Sasaki was blinded by the sun. At this time Musashi would have delivered the killing blow to the chest of Sasaki ending the duel.
In the year 1643 Musashi retired to a cave and began writing his "Book of Five Rings" or "Go Rin No Sho" . He finished the book in 1644 and passed its knowledge onto his closest disciple. And in June of 1645, the greatest warrior and swordsman of his time passed away leaving a legand and legacy that have since been unrivaled. His book is still read and the knowledge still continues to be used not only only the field of battle, but also the board rooms around the world of major businesses.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
The Great Swordsmen of Japan part 1
Great Japanese Swordsmen part 1
Japan has had many great swordsmen in its rich past, but there have been a few that stand out above the rest. Most of these men have been heard of even in the Western countries outside of Japan. Their names are Tsukahara Bokuden, Yagyu Muneyoshi, Miyamoto Musashi, Ito Ittosai. Each of these men have left their mark in our world with their skill, legend, and teachings.
Tsukahara Bokuden was probably the best swordsman of all time if you look at how many men he killed in combat. He fought in between 20 and 30 duels and was in over 30 battles. As a man in his teens he had begun to wander the country looking to test and improve his skills. In his lifetime he is credited with killing over 200 enemies this was a record that was never matched by any swordsman after his time. Tsukahara died of natural causes at the age of 81. His sword style was that of Kashima and Shinto. It is supposed that he had started the Kashima school which bears a strong similarity to the Shinto style, and uses the premace of hitotsu-tachi which means "one cut" or "one stroke".
What the one cut or one stoke idea means is that you wait until the absolutely very last second of your opponents attack and then counter and attack. If done properly your enemy will miss you by less then an inch making this a fairly difficult application to learn. But if you understand your sword then you have a better chance of succeeding with it. Your sword is divided into 3 parts. The end 1/3rd of your blade is where you have the most power and the best cutting ability, the middle 1/3rd has a lower power strike, and the last 1/3rd is the weakest part for striking. Knowing this it is possible to be struck by the lowest 1/3rd of the blade without beng cut and allowing you to counter and strike your opponent with the first 1/3rd or the strongest part of your blade thus killing your enemy. To learn this technique takes proper training and much practice to master.
Japan has had many great swordsmen in its rich past, but there have been a few that stand out above the rest. Most of these men have been heard of even in the Western countries outside of Japan. Their names are Tsukahara Bokuden, Yagyu Muneyoshi, Miyamoto Musashi, Ito Ittosai. Each of these men have left their mark in our world with their skill, legend, and teachings.
Tsukahara Bokuden was probably the best swordsman of all time if you look at how many men he killed in combat. He fought in between 20 and 30 duels and was in over 30 battles. As a man in his teens he had begun to wander the country looking to test and improve his skills. In his lifetime he is credited with killing over 200 enemies this was a record that was never matched by any swordsman after his time. Tsukahara died of natural causes at the age of 81. His sword style was that of Kashima and Shinto. It is supposed that he had started the Kashima school which bears a strong similarity to the Shinto style, and uses the premace of hitotsu-tachi which means "one cut" or "one stroke".
What the one cut or one stoke idea means is that you wait until the absolutely very last second of your opponents attack and then counter and attack. If done properly your enemy will miss you by less then an inch making this a fairly difficult application to learn. But if you understand your sword then you have a better chance of succeeding with it. Your sword is divided into 3 parts. The end 1/3rd of your blade is where you have the most power and the best cutting ability, the middle 1/3rd has a lower power strike, and the last 1/3rd is the weakest part for striking. Knowing this it is possible to be struck by the lowest 1/3rd of the blade without beng cut and allowing you to counter and strike your opponent with the first 1/3rd or the strongest part of your blade thus killing your enemy. To learn this technique takes proper training and much practice to master.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
The Iga Ninja
Iga Ninja
Who were the best ninjas of fuedal Japan, that is a question that is not easily answered. Though virtually every clan throughout Japan had its own form of ninjitsu training, there were only a couple whose name and reputations bacame legendary. The shinobi were used as spies, sabatuers, and assasins by the most powerful and wealthy leaders in Japan and virtually every province had some form of its own ninjas so there were no shortages of the elite warriors.
In time there were two schools of ninjitsu that continued to show the excellence of their training. First were the warriors from the clans in the Iga provence. Iga is located in the central area of Japan in a mountainous region. Its location being a basin surrounded by mountains afforded it good protection from outside forces and also provided excellent terrain for the ninjas to train. As their reputation grew the need for them to prove their abilities was not needed. For in fuedal Japan before a ninja was hired for a specific mission he would be required to perform a less critical mission showing that he would be capable of executing and surviving the orginal mission that he would be hired for. But the excellence of their training and the past success of previous Iga ninjas cemented their reputation so much that just stating that you were from Iga gauranteed immediate hire for the primary missions. Now back in the late 1500's the warlord Oda Nobunaga had come to hate and fear the Iga ninjas because they would not bow down to him and perform any mission that he declared. He felt that if they would not bow to him then they should be conquered. In 1579 Oda sent his son and a force of soldiers in to Iga to dominate them, that attack however failed miserably. Two years later in 1581 Oda launched another attack this time though he sent somewhere between 40,000 and 60,000 soldiers and attacked from 6 different directions. This attack succeeded as Oda's men slaughtered a large population of this regions inhabitants. He did make one error in that he called a cease fire before everyone was killed and this allowed for some of the remaining ninjas to escape in the surrounding countryside. Though the strength of Iga never returned some believe that the teachings did and this training helped other provinces to improve their ninjas abilities.
Who were the best ninjas of fuedal Japan, that is a question that is not easily answered. Though virtually every clan throughout Japan had its own form of ninjitsu training, there were only a couple whose name and reputations bacame legendary. The shinobi were used as spies, sabatuers, and assasins by the most powerful and wealthy leaders in Japan and virtually every province had some form of its own ninjas so there were no shortages of the elite warriors.
In time there were two schools of ninjitsu that continued to show the excellence of their training. First were the warriors from the clans in the Iga provence. Iga is located in the central area of Japan in a mountainous region. Its location being a basin surrounded by mountains afforded it good protection from outside forces and also provided excellent terrain for the ninjas to train. As their reputation grew the need for them to prove their abilities was not needed. For in fuedal Japan before a ninja was hired for a specific mission he would be required to perform a less critical mission showing that he would be capable of executing and surviving the orginal mission that he would be hired for. But the excellence of their training and the past success of previous Iga ninjas cemented their reputation so much that just stating that you were from Iga gauranteed immediate hire for the primary missions. Now back in the late 1500's the warlord Oda Nobunaga had come to hate and fear the Iga ninjas because they would not bow down to him and perform any mission that he declared. He felt that if they would not bow to him then they should be conquered. In 1579 Oda sent his son and a force of soldiers in to Iga to dominate them, that attack however failed miserably. Two years later in 1581 Oda launched another attack this time though he sent somewhere between 40,000 and 60,000 soldiers and attacked from 6 different directions. This attack succeeded as Oda's men slaughtered a large population of this regions inhabitants. He did make one error in that he called a cease fire before everyone was killed and this allowed for some of the remaining ninjas to escape in the surrounding countryside. Though the strength of Iga never returned some believe that the teachings did and this training helped other provinces to improve their ninjas abilities.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Shuriken
Shuriken
The shuriken is a small hand held weapon that was designed to act as a distraction more then a killing weapon. The literal translation is "sword in hand". They were made from everyday items such as needles, nails, knives, coins, and a variety of flat plates of metal with sharpened edges. It was an inexpensive weapon to make, that would be easily hidden, and yet could be a tactical advantage in a fight or even a battle.
The shuriken was not just a ninja's weapon, but was part of the minor martial arts training for many martial arts schools back in fuedal Japan. It was a supplemental weapon to the Nihonto family of weapons, i.e. the katana sword, spear, etc.. Its exact origins are still unknown, but research is still going on. However, there is documentation showing that the shuriken and the art form of throwing it was around in the 1600's and was part of the general training. This particular school was called shurikenjutsu.
A common type of shuriken that was used was the Bo-shuriken. It was a straight piece of rod usually four-sided but sometimes round and had a single-pointed end. Their length varied from 5" to 8 1/2" in length and weighed between 1.2oz and 5.5 oz.. The Bo-shuriken was a very popular due to the many different ways it could be thrown. Overhead, underhand, sideways, and rearward, but in each case the release is about the same with the blade slidingout of the hand through the fingers to give it a smooth controlled flight.
There is a wide variety of forms of hira-shuriken and they are now usually identified by the number of points the blades possess. As with bo-shuriken, the various shapes of hira-shuriken were usually representative of a particular school or region that preferred the use of such shapes, and it is therefore possible to identify the school by the type of blade used. Hira-shuriken are constructed from thin, flat plates of metal and had a different number of points ranging from 3 points up to and including 8 points. These are sometimes called "ninja stars" or throwing stars as ninja are consistently seen throwing this which looks like a star. They often have a hole in the center and possess a fairly thin blade sharpened only at the tip. The holes provided a means of being able to secure the stars by tying them together and it affected their aerodynamics, of course the holes were originally in them because they were made from old coins, washers, and nail-removing tools.
The shuriken was not just a ninja's weapon, but was part of the minor martial arts training for many martial arts schools back in fuedal Japan. It was a supplemental weapon to the Nihonto family of weapons, i.e. the katana sword, spear, etc.. Its exact origins are still unknown, but research is still going on. However, there is documentation showing that the shuriken and the art form of throwing it was around in the 1600's and was part of the general training. This particular school was called shurikenjutsu.
A common type of shuriken that was used was the Bo-shuriken. It was a straight piece of rod usually four-sided but sometimes round and had a single-pointed end. Their length varied from 5" to 8 1/2" in length and weighed between 1.2oz and 5.5 oz.. The Bo-shuriken was a very popular due to the many different ways it could be thrown. Overhead, underhand, sideways, and rearward, but in each case the release is about the same with the blade slidingout of the hand through the fingers to give it a smooth controlled flight.
There is a wide variety of forms of hira-shuriken and they are now usually identified by the number of points the blades possess. As with bo-shuriken, the various shapes of hira-shuriken were usually representative of a particular school or region that preferred the use of such shapes, and it is therefore possible to identify the school by the type of blade used. Hira-shuriken are constructed from thin, flat plates of metal and had a different number of points ranging from 3 points up to and including 8 points. These are sometimes called "ninja stars" or throwing stars as ninja are consistently seen throwing this which looks like a star. They often have a hole in the center and possess a fairly thin blade sharpened only at the tip. The holes provided a means of being able to secure the stars by tying them together and it affected their aerodynamics, of course the holes were originally in them because they were made from old coins, washers, and nail-removing tools.
Friday, November 27, 2009
The Sai
The Sai is a 3-pronged weapon used in close combat like a knife. Though the design my very from nation to nation it still maintains a central long spike with 2 shorter spikes on either side which helped to protect the hands of the individual wielding it. Now some show that the 2 shorter pronges may have 1 facing the same direction as the central spike and 1 facing down towards the handle, or that both short spikes face the same direction as the longer central spike.
Now like many of the other weapons that the ninjas would employ, this was also a tool that was used by the peasants in everyday operations. Its exact use can not be certain, some believe it was used for digging holes for rice, or measuring the stalks of plants. Others believe that this was used to lock cart wheels so the cart would not roll away. Either way in the hands of a trained martial artist this was a deadly weapon.
The side prongs allowed the wielder to block or catch the blade of a long sword and with a twist of the wrist it may have been possible to crack or break the sword blade. Though the central spike was not sharp as a sword blade would be its long tapered design would allow it to be punched into an enemy causing death or severe injury. On the back side of the Sai was a ball or knuckle which allowed for a solid blunt force that was able to break or crack bones in your enemy giving you a chance to escape or disarm and kill your enemy.
So, given the commonplace of this agriculturaltool/weapon a trained ninja would be able to carry it around and not raise suspicion from gaurds and soldiers. This allowed ninjas to travel the countryside well armed and also able to protect themselves or kill their enemies at anytime.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
What is a Japanese sword?
The Japanese sword came in varying lengths and, depending on the swordsmith that created the blade, had various degrees of curvature to the blade itself. The Katana sword is the name most commonly used by people to describe the Japanese sword. However, in truth there are several different types of swords and they are called: Katana (a single edged curved long sword favored by the Samurai starting around the 1400's, the Wakizashi is the shorter single edged sword that was usually paired with the Katana, the Tsurugi was a double edged long sword, the Nodachi or Otachi were older and longer singe edged swords. And due to the similar methods of the way they were forged the pole-mounted weapons called Naginata and Yari were part of the same family.
These weapons of a previous time are still seen, manufactured, and purchased even today. The process of making them truly dictates the value and cost of these splendid weapons. In Japan there are still a few hundred swordsmiths today that create, forge, temper, and produce these beautiful pieces of art. Japan still holds a yearly competition which allows these masters to show their wares and compare them with other swordsmiths around the country.
These weapons of a previous time are still seen, manufactured, and purchased even today. The process of making them truly dictates the value and cost of these splendid weapons. In Japan there are still a few hundred swordsmiths today that create, forge, temper, and produce these beautiful pieces of art. Japan still holds a yearly competition which allows these masters to show their wares and compare them with other swordsmiths around the country.
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