zen and the art of finding the right fighting style

A lot of people think of martial arts as a fascinating endeavor to get into and as far as I am concerned this could not be more correct. The practice of various martial arts will enhance your fitness, level of coordination, balance and strenght. You can release aggression in a controlled manner an you will become more confident in what you are capable of, at least physically. Martial arts are not a short time commitment though, to advance in any style of art or sport you will need to train on a regular basis, I´d say at least two times a week for a pretty long time and you will never know everything nor will you be able to apply everything you learned at all times. So far this is true for all styles of martial arts but nevertheless there are numerous discussion threads about what style might be best, what style would always beat up another style etc. mostly discussed by people whose feet never touched the surface of a training mat. I did 4 years of Judo, 2 years of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, some Karate and found my style now with the Art of Jeet Kune Do. I´m far from an expert but here are some of my thoughts on choosing a style for you.

1. . It all depends on your aims: Why exactly do you want to train? Do you want to get fit really fast (Muay Thai)? Are you comfortable with hitting and getting hit (full contact/light contact)? Is self defense your main focus (Krav Maga)? Are you interested in meditation and philosophical elements of a martial art(Aikido)? Do you want to compete in tournaments? Are you comfortable with close body contact (Judo)? Is formal or hierarchical training a problem for you (Karate)? Do you want to train with weapons like swords, knives or sticks or only with bare hands (Kali)? Ask yourself these questions and answer them honestly or you won`t be happy with your choice in the long run. Write a statement down. “I want to practice martial arts because I want to defend myself against the thugs on the street and I have no problem if this means breaking somebodies jaw” My main interest was always getting fit, having fun and learning techniques that work against a resisting opponent. Competition or philosophical interest were never much a part of my practice. If you want to fight like “in the movies” that`s ok too but realise that there is no fighting in movies only stunt-choreography, so maybe you should become a stuntman (yes I´m serious).

2. . Research and availability: There are bazzilions of different styles, originating in different countries with different aims. Research, watch some episodes of fightquest or human weapon, ask wikipedia and feed youtube. Start here. Go to different gyms, look at how they train, if you feel comfortable in class, if the people there support each other. Compare your experience with your mission statement. Talk about your aims with the coach. If there is the possibility, do some free training classes. The atmosphere is crucial, if it is too competitive you won`t be comfortable unless you are looking for this.

3. My experience: It`s not so much about the style, it`s more about the coach/teacher and the actual training. If there is no sparring at all, you will not learn to fight. That`s ok of course, there might be other benefits, just ask yourself if this is what you want. Some styles I consider good for learning to actually fight: Muay Thai, Kickboxing, Western Boxing, Jeet Kune Do, Krav Maga, Eskrima/Kali, Kyokushin Karate, Judo, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, MMA. All of these will incorporate regular sparring sessions (at least for advanced students). Do not wait to take up a martial art until you are fit enough to do it, you will develop the kind of fitness you need training in that art. This might be hard the first few months but going to the gym instead is not worth the effort. There is no “best” style, it depends on the fighter. You are almost never too old for a certain martial art (if you don`t want to compete in tournaments) but you might have to live with slower progress than the 20 year olds. Train with practitioners of other styles as much as you can, every style has something to offer. Even if you start out for self defense your aims will change, it would not be worth the trouble of continuous training for years and years.

If you speak german go to http://www.kampfkunst-board.info there is lot of beginners information there and a subforum for almost every style you can think of.

Warning: Once you are hooked, fighting won`t let go. Just ask Al Bundy/Ed O´Neil who trained for 15 years before receiving his black belt in BJJ.
Welcome to the addiction!

Picture by rolleh

Kuro Obi

I was waiting for this for a very long time: a traditional style of martial arts shown without any special effects, done by people who are not only actors but acknowledged masters of their style. Kuro Obi (Black Belt) manages to portrait Karate just like is what meant to be: an okinawan/japanese style of fighting that relies on specific training tools (like kata, a form of ”shadow boxing” against multiple opponents) and always tries to finish the fight with the first solid hit. A style where every block can be a painful impact and the ethical aspect is deeply connected to everything a fighter does. Kuro Obi goes beyond the quarrels between full-contact or “sports” Karate and the bad reputation of the style as not being realistic enough after a short hype in the 80s. Some of the characters and the plot of the movie are of  a little too clichè to be fully enjoyed but the fights are beautifully choreographed (or not choreographed at all!) and really show something of the spirit of Karate. If you are into Budo or martial arts movies you should definitely give it a try.

Trailer

 

open access

When I went to the movies a few days ago (to watch In Bruge, great movie!), I noticed a little stack of books neatly shelved side by side with Popcorn and Sweets. Of course I approached to check it out and that`s how I got to know a project called “Book Crossing“. The idea is to register a book you own on the website, release it in a public space and track it`s journey throughout the world. The people who take the book with them can write in a journal on the website so you will know whatt they thought about it. After reading it you release it again. It´s kind of a large organised free book club and with a tagline like “make the whole world a big library” they are sure to get my support. I have some Sci-Fi books I am going to give to the cause, try to find them if you live in Vienna. Of course you can just pass it on to a friend who will pass it on and so on. The only rule is to write a journal entry on the website and not to hold on to the book. I am not sure this will work with the majority of austrians, but anyways, most of the books are in english. A good exercise in “non-attachment” for my fellow buddhists out there.

I stumbled across Ian Rankins “The naming of the dead” and I am very glad to get to know this author in this way because I don`t think I would have bought the book. It`s a crime novel set in Edinburgh at the time the G8 were having a meeting there in 2006. Lots of political commentary, slick scottish slang and a cynical detective make up for a great read. I am not through with it yet but 200 pages into the book the plot of organised crime, serial killings of rapists and the “suicide” of a bureaucrat is unfolding in a very nice way. It`s casual noir, not as manic as James Ellroy but hard to put down.

read my knuckles!

First Picture in a hopefully ongoing series about reading/library related tattoos. Great tattoo by Bruce at Body Art Tattoo, Newport Beach, CA. First appeared at the glorious modblog

metal for librarians – the best idea I never had

Damn! A friend of mine who knows about my passion for metal as well as science-fiction pointed me to the website of a band called Bloodhaag that is playing “short songs with lyrics about science fiction and fantasy authors”. One of their aims is to educate the metal crowd about the books that influenced all their favorite bands. What the hell? Why didn`t I come up with this? Want a taste?

Philip K. Dick chorus: -Nothing’ s ever the way it looks!
The K is for kickin’ your ass with great books!
Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch
Genius! Paranoid lunatic!
Lies, Incorporated – Valis and Ubik
You got to stay the fuck back from Philip K. Dick!
Though he wrote some crap to pay the rent
Anyone could see his mind was bent
Everything is a lie. Reality is a sham.
Am I a Replicant? I don’t know who the fuck I am!
Repeat chorus!
And that`s just the beginning! The have a book out now accompanied by an audio CD and they list the American Library Association as one of their links. Nuff said. Too sad the book seems to be sold out. They have a really good reading list too! This has to be the official soundtrack for all my fellow library metalheads! All hail the fiends of the library!

Picture by Lilly Warner

japanese summer of crime

In my weak moments I give in to my teenage love for japanese culture and when days get annoyingly hot, I love to read crime fiction. This summer I am all hooked on a series of historical crime novels revolving around the career of Ichiro Sano, a samurai-scholar having a hard time serving the shogun in 17th century Edo (now Tokyo) written by Laura Joh Rowland. The setting is historically mostly accurate, the plot is clever and I just happen to like the fact that there is no naive depiction of feudal japan as being the “good old times” of martial arts. Corruption, political isolation, intrigue, bureaucracy and a social class in decline, torn by the obligations of a strange code of conduct like the bushido build a very intriguing setting for gruesome murder cases and very dramatic build-ups. It`s not as grim and gritty as I usually like it but you can learn a lot about life and power structure in this period of japanese history. Granted, sometimes the dialogue is a little cheesy and the characters are not all that well developed but hey, it`s not Umberto Eco. There is a meta plot there so you better read the series in the order of publication. And there are Ninjas too!

There is a dirt cheap paperback including the firts two volumes of the series in german.

Good summer/beach reading.

If you are more into comics I can recommend the ongoing series of Usagi Yojimbo by Stan Sakai. Crisp clean black and white books about the journey of a ronin through the cities and landscapes of feudal Japan (17th Century). Not as serious as it might sound but not as ridiculous as the use of anthropomorphic animals for samurais might suggest. I guess the, mangare are just as many people who learned about japanese history from these books than there are people who got into european history by reading Asterix.

Even better (read: darker, more fatalistic) is the story of Lone Wolf and Cub. A real “landmark in graphic fiction” as Dark Horse puts it. Amazing visuals and about 7000 pages of story should seal the deal.

Picture of the Samurai by Okinawa Soba

Usagi Cover from Dark Horse

blood and steel – finding a tattoo artist without losing your mind

Ok, so you are ready to get a tattoo. Congratulations, it took me 12 years to take the step and I hope everything will be finished until autumn. The last few months I thought about little else, I was even dreaming about getting inked by someone I read about in a magazine. I´m a little obsessed by now but I hope you can profit from my sleepless nights. I´m not an expert, I´m just expressing my opinion. If you are into tattoos you will know most of this already.

I won`t tell you anything about your picture of choice, that`s of course really up to you, but please don`t fall for a trend, you`ll regret it. How to notice the major trends? Be informed!
Here are some of my thoughts on how to get your Tattoo right.

1. Read: There are maybe a hundred Tattoo Magazines in print right now, try to flip through some of them. The good ones will have written text that won`t insult your education, reports from conventions, artist portraits and interviews and some info on the background of tattooing. Be careful if the pictures of the tattoos shown are too bright and colorful – Photoshop is the path to the dark side. Magazines are important to know the state of the art, to know what really is possible. Be warned though, your standards will be ridiculously high.
Always try to see behind what is tattooed (an anchor, a portrait…) and try to see the tattoo itself. How is the shading, are the lines straight, do you like the use of colour, how does the tattoo interact with the body of the person ?

Check out the websites of artists that appeal to you, no matter where they are. Even if you can never go there to get a Tattoo, this will enhance your knowledge on how a tattoo should look like if done properly.

2. Visit: Check out the calendar of the magazines you read and see if you can find a tattoo convention near you. There will be dozens of artists at work there, you will hear the sound of buzzing needles, you can look through their portfolio, talk to them about your ideas (if you have any yet) and giggle at the showacts. Take a close (well, not too close) look at the tattoos people are wearing, ask them where they got it from if you feel like it. Check out the websites of these conventions to see what artists are going to participate. Watch them work on living, breathing skin to really get an impression of the difference between magazine pictures and real tattoos. Important conventions for Europe would be Frankfurt, Rome, London, Milano. Amsterdam, Stockholm and many more.

Of course there are some artists that are really good but that are not featured in magazines or at conventions.
Don´t believe the hype!

3. Style: By now you should have noticed that certain artists favor different styles of tattoos. Try to find out what style you want and find somebody who excels at that style. Do you want a traditional japanese piece? Old School? Realistic? Polynesian Dotwork? Abstract? If you are like me you will try to find some books on the specific style, but hey that`s my job in real life. I think it`s really more about the style and artist than the actual topic of your tattoo. Try to think about this like collecting art, with your body being the gallery.

4. Think global: If you found an artist you really like and he lives next door, good for you! Most of the time this will not happen. Try to determine how much money and effort you want to invest. Is it ok to go to Berlin with a cheap airline to get the Tattoo of your dreams, do you want to travel to Japan or just take the subway to the projects? It`s up to you. Many good artists will come and work at a convention near you or they might have a guest spot at a local tattoo studio. E-Mail them and ask about it. Don`t make too many compromises. Yes, traveling to Stockholm 3-4 times to get your chest covered is expensive, but you`ll have that ink for life. There is no rush to get tattooed if you are not 95. If you live in a big city chances are there are some great artists just around the corner, so be sure to research locally too! You will hardly have to travel to the US or Japan, there are a lot of great artists in Europe. Write to a lot of people and tell them about your idea, ask about cost, how many sessions they think this will take and their waiting list. About cost in general: it pays off to ask differnt artists for the cost/duration of the same project, there are differences…but: if you want good ink you will have to pay accordingly.

5. Communicate: If you found somebody, get in touch, tell her about your idea, see if this will work out on an emotional level. A good artist you trust will make that skull look special on your skin even if there are millions of skulls in the world. Try to ask about good studios for your style at a nice and friendly forum but don`t get immersed too much. If you are sure about your artist and have a set date, stop reading magazines or forums, it will only make you miserable…try to enjoy the feeling of knowing that your choice was knowledgeable.

This seems to be a lot of work? You thought you would just get drunk and go for it? Of course it`s up to you to build your gallery but don`t get mad if nobody wants to visit.

I´ll appreciate any comments from people with more experience than myself.

I´ll post links to my favorite artists soon.

mate!
randori.

Shown Tattoos in order of appearance by:
Shige (Yellow Blaze, JP)
Viva Dolor (FR)
Mike DeVries (US)

subcultural buddhism

I first came across Buddhism when I was working with children who came from broken families. I had nothing to read and bought a book called “understanding zen” that appealed to me because it presented zen as a very intellectual spiritual practice that was – as Buddhism as a whole – very fond of rational thought. I was hooked instantly (mainly by the aesthetic) but it took me a little over two years to get the right books (more on that in a later blog), correct my understanding of zen as intellectual and actually attend a seminar at a buddhist center where I learned more about zen and Buddhism than any book can teach you. Since then I consider myself a buddhist to some extent. Meditation has helped me through some very rough times, I can feel most of the central buddhist teachings to be true, it is a concise believe system that appeals to rational thought and I love the fact that the founder of kung fu is i my lineage of thought. If you want to check out the messages and techniques of Buddhism please leave your notions about religion at the front door.

One Problem I still have with buddhist practice (apart from a lack of discipline) is with the community of people who consider themselves buddhist. It´s mostly middle class white Europeans with a serious case of the yellow fever and more hippie vocabulary than your average Woodstock or Goa dropout. Coming from a punkrock/deathmetal background I could never get comfortable with that. Sangha (the community of buddhist practitioners) is important though, so what`s a boy to do?

Some time ago I found out that I´m not the only one having these problems, there are actually people with a similar background that really provided me with an alternative.

A friend of mine gave me a book called “Hardcore Zen” by a guy named Brad Warner. He was part of a local hardcore band called Zero Defex and is a zen priest now. He also is into making monster movies (the japanese kind) and using strong language in his teachings. I love him. The book is witty, full of pop-cultural references and very down to earth. One of the best introductions on why it might be a good idea to spend your time sitting cross legged on a cushion and staring at the wall. That`s what I call an achievement. Read Hardcore Zen, read his blog and try to tame the wild monkey that is your mind. You won`t regret it. If you have some buddhist experience you might want to consider his second book “Sit down and shut up” which is a commentary on the shobogenzo, a collection of teachings from a very much admired zen teacher by the name of dogen zenji. It is not as accessible as “Hardcore Zen” but has a little more depth and less biographical information. You won`t find anything more accessible on the topic though, because Buddhism also means changing your perceptions and that`s never easy if you really go for it.

The second author I want to recommend is Noah Levine. His first book “Dharma Punx” was all over the buddhist information network when it was published and that is of course also due to the fact that Noah is a bald,heavily tattooed, articulate punk rocker that is talking about some kind of “spiritual revolution” without forgetting about his leftist background. The book is a biographical journey from a fucked up childhood in a broken home, to west coast hardcore, drug addiction, meditation, straight edge and spiritual practice. It is both interesting for aspiring buddhists and hardcore people. Noah comes from the Theravada tradition, the kind of buddhism the monks in Thailand practice and is a very down to earth guy. That`s why he can explain why you can love a band like Black Flag and still be into insight meditation or use the phrase “loving kindness” without sounding like a hippie. For more on actual teachings and meditation practices I recommend his second book “Against the Stream” even if I think that he sometimes takes his “revolution” metaphor a little too far and himself a little too serious. I also attended a meditation class of the “Dharma Punx New York” and it was really as pleasant as I imagined it. Take a look at the dharma talks in MP3 format they have on their site. There are Dharma Punx meditation groups all over the US but sadly none in Europe.

Both authors use very little buddhist vocabulary but don`t simplify a complex system of thought. Most importantly they both stress that Buddhism istn`t something you read about, or believe in – it`something you DO.

I´ll post some recommendations on general buddhist teachings/introductions soon.

mate!
randori

acoustic shelter from the sun

If you – like me – are not as comfortable with the change of weather that is happening right now I will gladly point you towards two bands that will instantly protect you from any hippie-vibes summer might trigger in your brain. I am not very much into the drone stuff that is kind of hip among post-hardcore/metal people (I do worship the great Sunn, though) but I love groove oriented music that lets me sink into a black pit of tar, if only temporarily.

The first band is Graves at Sea from Arizona and – apart from the unbelievably good name – they are probably the next best thing to a bastard child of eyehategod and a coven of Wicca from the woods around Arkham. That means: totally fucked up, monotonous and brooding Sabbath-style metal that makes you wet your pants if you listen to it in a dark room. I really like the artwork to the one CD I got my hands on. I´m waiting for an album and a vinyl release with more than 5 copies left. (and for a split with “Buried at Sea” haha). Get it fast before we loose them to drugs or the aforementioned coven of Wicca.

The second recommendation is Gospel of the Future from the Czech Republic. I know these people personally, because we were sharing the stage at one time, and their personalities don`t seem to match the music they make. Which is a good thing, both for the level of brutality and darkness they are able to create artistically on their first album and for their own mental stability. They are nice guys (and a girl) that happen to sound like a dreadnought. Sludge in the vein of Overmars, unforgiving and harsh. Very small czech label, great band.

As I seem to quickly run out of metaphors for this kind of music don`t expect me to write about that as frequently. There are only so much combinations of black, bleak, dark, brutal and so on that you can use for a review without feeling like you repeat yourself. Been there, done that.

mate!
randori.

dead games

You have noticed the D20 in the corner, so you are warned. This about gaming: unplugged and real life.

This is not about games with dead stuff or games the dead play, neither is it about a company with that name (good idea though) but about me discovering good collectible games right when they cease to exist. I have to admit that even though I´m a boardgame- and roleplay-geek I am not very much into the collectible aspect of collectible games. I´m more into the mechanics and how well a certain theme is presented. So it`s not entirely negative in my book if a certain game doesn`t sell well enough to produce another base set/expansion/whatever just to satisfy the tournament crowd I never belonged to.

If you are a casual gamer like me (or stopped gaming some years ago but still feel the itch), who does not want to spend lots of money on ebay but still likes customizing, I would like to point you towards two games that are no longer produced but nevertheless rock for several reasons: they are cheap, they have great mechanics, I love the theme and how the rules are part of that, and they should have been expandable instead of collectible from the start. Plus: Both games have a strong emphasis on in-game tactics. meaning you can`t win by simply having the better (more expensive) cards or miniatures.

And your friends won`t laugh as loud as they would if you told them you play Magic: The Gathering.

The first one is a dead CCG named “Call of Cthulhu” by Fantasy Flight Games. With a name like that there is no guessing what the theme is about. If you have no problem spelling Nyarlathothep and you like the idea of controlling mythos creatures this is for you. The game mechanics really incorporate the theme very well. You battle to win several stories that affect both players, terror is an important factor and overall the artwork is very well done. Please visit the geek for more info on the game mechanics but let me assure you that the people who did this are in love with H.P. Lovecraft. If you have the chance I would recommend buying the fixed “Arkham Edition Premium Starter”. You will have a lot of fun, even if you never buy any boosters at all and have no experience with CCGs. Support your local game store, there should be some copies around somewhere.

The second game I want to recommend is Dreamblade. Sold as a collectible miniatures game by Wizards of the Coast this is very unlike all those Clix or D&D Minis. The format is a very tactical boardgame, not a tabletop wargame like Warhammer or the great looking AT43. You play some kind of psychic that can summon archetypes of dreams (mostly nightmares) that battle against your opponents creatures for influence on the map of reality… or something. Of course this is mostly an excuse for sculpting some really interesting, non-cliche, pre-painted minis that look great. Seeing a Chainthug battling the Asylum Escapee that is backed up by the Blind Spikemauler can really make your day. Production was stopped in October 2007.

It`s kind of sad seeing good game concepts being destroyed by a certain marketing format, but that`s life. Speaking of bad game politics: there is a new edition of Talisman. If you read through this post and still remember Talisman you must comment, or the black knight will haunt you in your dreams.

mate!
randori.