Big in Japan: Iaidō is the world’s most bad-ass martial art!

by Matthew Firestone on

From Afro-Brazilian capoeira to Muay Thai kickboxing, there is no shortage of bad-ass martial arts out there…

However, although I can guarantee that you’ve never heard of Iaid? (??????), it’s probably the most bad-ass martial art ever!

Literally translated into English as the “the way of mental presence and immediate reaction,” Iaid? is a Japanese martial art entirely dedicated to the katana (???) or samurai sword.

Of course, unlike the slash ’em up antics of 1970s Kung Fu action flicks, Iaid? emphasizes controlled movements, quick unsheathes, deadly strikes, blood removal and quick sheathes.

So, to put things into better context, Iaid? essentially boils down to killing your opponent and cleaning his blood off of your sword in the minimal number of steps.

According to a friend of mine who studies the art, “Iaid? is a perfect martial art for honing your reaction time. It also teaches you how to eliminate three opponents in only seven moves, which can be executed with flawless precision in between sips of macha green tea.”

Awesome.

Intrigued about this deadly yet efficient martial art? Keep reading to learn why Iaid? clearly holds the title for the world’s most bad-ass martial art!

According to martial arts historians, a legendary samurai known as Hayashizaki Jinsuke Shigenobu is credited with establishing Iaidō sometime in the early 16th century.

However, the fine art of drawing the katana in battle, which is known in Japanese as battōjutsu (抜刀術), has its origins in the 15th century.

Literally translated into English as the “the technique of drawing the sword,” battōjutsu is a technical art form dedicated to slicing an opponent to death in battle.

In keeping with the tradition of restraint and control emphasized by Bushidō (武士道) or the samurai code, the ultimate goal of battōjutsu was to strike down your opponent in the minimum number of moves.

Of course, the term battōjutsu eventually gave way to Iaidō, a word that incorporates the suffix -dō, which implies philosophy and spirituality.

Thanks to this linguistic construction, the deadly art of honed, precision killing was elevated to a religious level.

As with all Japanese marital arts, Iaidō is a refined discipline that can take several lifetimes to perfect.

Students of this art must first learn to control their psychological state of being present. After they have mastered this, they must learn to respond to a sudden attack in a calm and collected manner. Following the vanquish of their opponent(s), they must return to their resting state as quickly as possible.

Beginners often practice these three pathways in combative postures or standing positions. However, advanced students expand on these forms by learning how to react from difficult starting positions, such as sitting with your legs crossed and drinking tea.

After all, a true samurai never knows when their tea time might be interrupted by hell-bent ninjas emerging from the shadows.

(I told you this martial art was bad-ass!)

** All images were courtesy of the Wikimedia Commons Project **

Big in Japan: Hara-kiri for dummies

by Matthew Firestone on

Few traditional Japanese customs fascinate Westerners more than the practice of hara-kiri (?????????) or ritual suicide.

Literally translating as “belly-cutting,” hara-kiri is more formally known as seppuku (??????), and was a key part of the bushido (????) code that all Japanese samurai were sworn to uphold.

While suicide is considered a sin in the Judeo-Christian tradition, the samurai believed that hara-kiri was both an effective way of avoiding capture, preventing disgrace and/or attenuating shame.

Although it’s anything but pleasant, hara-kiri is brutally efficient as a samurai need only plunge their sword directly into their abdomen, and make a quick but deadly left to right cut.

If the condemned is particularly lucky, they have the luxury of appointing someone to be their kaishakunin (??????) or second, who proceeds to quickly dispatch the condemned with a quick thrust of the sword to the back of the neck.

Of course, there are literally hundreds of subtle rules, styles and nuances to hara-kiri that have evolved over the centuries.

But, for those of you without PhDs in Japanese history, I’ve complied a quick and easy ‘Hara-kiri for Dummies’ guide to help explain this fascinating practice!

Welcome to Hara-kiri for Dummies!

In order to make some sense of this time-honored but impossibly elaborate art, here is a step-by-step guide to ending your life with dignity.

1) Take a hot bath, dress in white robes and prepare your favorite meal.

2) Eat everything, and then place your tantō (短刀) or short sword on the empty plate.

3) Prepare for death by writing a death poem – a short but elegant haiku is preferred!

4) Appoint a trusted person to stand by your side and serve as your second.

5) Take your short sword, and plunge it deep into your abdomen in one motion.

6) Don’t scream, but rather accept the inevitably of your death with grace.

7) In one motion, make a long and straight cut from left to right – the direction is important!

8) Rather than writhing in pain, wait patiently for your second to confirm that the hara-kiri was performed successfully.

And, should you ever have the opportunity to serve as an appointed second, here is a step-by-step guide to ending the condemned’s life with dignity.

1) Before serving as someone’s second, be sure that you are an expert swordsman as the daki-kubi is not an easy cut to perform.

2) In one swift but precise motion, strike the back of the samurai’s neck with your katana, but do not decapitate them!

3) If the cut was performed correctly, the samurai will die instantaneously, but their head will still be attached to their neck by a slight band of flesh.

4) Perform chiburi (血振), or the process by which one removes the blood from their katana with a quick flick of the blade

5) Once you’ve ensured that your blade is clean (you don’t want it to rust!), place it back in your scabbard and bow silently to the departed.

Now that you’re all experts in Hara-kiri, have fun practicing this sacred Japanese art with all of your friends!

(I’m kidding – seriously.)

** All images were obtained from the Wikimedia Commons Project **

Did he, or did he not, cause the crash?

by Iva Skoch on

Pilots in Jakarta have been protesting over the arrest of Marwoto Komar, the Garuda national airline pilot accused of causing the 2007 plane crash, which killed 21 people. There are, of course, two sides of the story.

The pilot has been under police supervision since the crash, BBC reports. The chairman of the Indonesian Pilots Federation, Manotar Napitupulu, said that the “criminalization of pilots will put pilots under pressure in carrying out their job”. The federation has been receiving support from pilots’ groups around the globe.

On the other hand, the Indonesia’s National Transport Safety Committee said that the pilot ignored 15 warnings against landing and approached the runway too fast. He has been charged with five offenses, including negligence causing deaths and the destruction of an aircraft and could face more than five years in jail.

This is a tough one. I don’t envy the responsibility pilots have over human lives. Yet, not even pilots are immune from making bad judgments…

Migration junkies, unite.

by Iva Skoch on

Migration Information Source (migrationinformation.org) was started as a hobby by its an American-born editor, Kirin Kalia, 32, who describes herself to the NY Times as “half Dutch, half Indian, 100 percent American and total migration geek.”

The Source covers a wide range of migration topics: from giving advice to asylum seekers through listing the top migration issues facing the world today to focusing on Tajik construction workers in Russia, Latvian mushrooms pickers in Ireland, farmhands from Burkina Faso who pick Ghanaian crops and the Peruvians who take jobs left behind by Ecuadorean workers who have migrated to Spain.

There are about 200 million migrants in the world (probably a record in both relative and absolute terms) and more than 80 percent live outside the United States. I can’t wait ’til we live in a world where everybody is a migrant. It seems like it would eliminate a lot of issues. Go migrants!

Celebrate 2008 Year of the Rat with red rat-themed panties!

by Abha Malpani on

Thanks to the Internet that allows us to travel and educate ourselves without getting out of our pajamas, today we can be privy into lifestyles and traditions of radically different cultures. And, when culture and superstitions blend, it’s almost impossible not to have an an interestingly strange (if not explosively bizarre) outcome: believing that wearing red panties with rats on them will bring you good fortune, for example.

That’s exactly what’s happening in Malaysia: Chinese women are buying red panties — this year with rat motifs — in order to get lucky as the Chinese Year of the Rat is about to begin on February 7. They say if you really believe in something, it will probably come true and if wearing red panties will strengthen your belief, why the heck not, eh!?

The Chinese new year is celebrated with a bang throughout the world. Most Chinese cities will have a 3-day public holiday to bring in the new year, and Chinatowns around the world will rejoice the beginning of the rat year through parades, firework displays, multi-course banquets and parties. Unlike the rest of us, the Chinese party for a good month post their new year’s day.

The Lunar Calendar determines the Chinese New Year. Although the western calendar is what’s mainly referred to by the Chinese, the zodiac Lunar Calendar still holds much importance.

I have never followed the Chinese calendar nor do I entirely understand it, but I do know that according to it I’m a monkey. The last Chinese Year of the Monkey was 2004, so if it’s a 12-year cycle, I suppose I’ll be celebrating in 2016?