Message-Id: <5.1.0.14.0.20021102081643.00a51ea0@pop3.nethere.net> Date: Sat, 02 Nov 2002 08:43:36 -0800 To: ranma@ML.usagi.org From: "Chris \"HomerNet\" McFarland" Subject: Re: kendo and chicks. In-Reply-To: <200211021144.gA2BiIT03350@top.win.ne.jp> Reply-To: ranma@ML.usagi.org X-ML-archive: http://www.win.ne.jp/~doi/ML/ Precedence: bulk At 08:44 PM 11/2/02 +0900, you wrote: >Odd... I know many kendo-ka in Japan who would take grave > > > > offense at that remark.... > > > > Any form of weapon study (hands and feed _are_ weapons) can be > > termed a martial art. Sword study is just as much a martial > > art as is any of the open-hand arts. It is only the weapon > > involved that changes. > >*shrug* to each his own I suppose. I dont conisder that a martial art because >you wouldnt be able to us it unless at a duel or something unless you carry >around some type of sword with you all the time. Stupid...infantile...remarks...made...by...idiot...on... favorite...mailing...list... Must...resist...urge...to...kill! Let's take a look at the words here: mar·tial Pronunciation Key (märshl) adj. 1. Of, relating to, or suggestive of war. art Pronunciation Key (ärt) n. 1. Human effort to imitate, supplement, alter, or counteract the work of nature. 7. 1. Skill that is attained by study, practice, or observation: the art of the baker; the blacksmith's art. 2. Skill arising from the exercise of intuitive faculties: “Self-criticism is an art not many are qualified to practice” (Joyce Carol Oates). 8. 1. arts Artful devices, stratagems, and tricks. 2. Artful contrivance; cunning. Combine the two: Martial Arts The human effort to imitate, supplement, alter, or counteract the work of nature using a skill arising from the exercise of intuitive faculties using devices, stratagems, tricks, and cunning that is attained by study, practice, or observation as related to war. My skill with the foil, revolver, semiautomatic pistol, shotgun, sledgehammer, and my freakin' DART GUN are ALL considered to be MARTIAL ARTS!!! I certainly wouldn't claim anything /near/ a masters rating in any of 'em, but they fall under the category of "martial art." Similarly, my street-fighting and grappling abilities, also something I claim to be no expert in, are martial arts. Where people get confused is that when you say "martial arts," all people seem to be able to think about are the ORIENTAL martial arts, completely leaving out the OCCIDENTAL martial arts, which themselves have an equally long tradition and are just as capable of takedown, knockout, honor, death, etc. as the Oriental arts, even if they aren't nearly as formalized. Because of the outlaw of weapon use by anyone outside of the warrior class (samuri) in Japan and similar restrictions in China during the Oriental middle ages, the peasant and priest classes developed their own fighting abilities that they could use without and against weapons. Of course they /look cool/ and have loads of folklore and myth surrounding them. In occidental cultures, people considered the sword to be THE definer of battle that it wasn't until WWI (Spanish-American war?) that the military stopped issuing the sword as part of the regular military armaments. Up until the firearm nullified nearly every other form of weapon on the battlefield, there was plenty of myth and folklore around the sword. So much so, in fact, that occidental nobility would have been laughed out of the court if he/she had even brought up the POSSIBILITY of unarmed combat being supperior in any way. The sword was just plain /better/! Of course, in todays world, where nearly every nation on the planet is enacting Oriental middle-ages style weapon restrictions, the concept of weaponless combat styles facing weapon based martial arts and WINNING is very attractive. OK, rant over, go back to your regular discussions like whether or not Akane should marry Ranma, or the color of Shampoo's hair, or where Akane's mallets come from, or... Chris McFarland I have no tag line, except maybe, "DEATH TO IGNORANCE!" The Ranma 1/2 Expressway http://home.nethere.net/homernet