"Hiding in the shadows of the warrior" an article

[raycornwell2]

www.koryubooks.com/library/eamdur2.html
Maybe of interest to some...

[Otagiri Tatsuzou]

... Like a cornered rat, curled protectively around himself, he suddenly leapt upwards, teeth bared and screaming, and swung his shinai up from the ground, whistling through the air. The very tip of it hit the very tip . . . of my penis. ...

OMG!

... that hearty, somewhat stupid satisfaction that perhaps only men know, the afterglow of smashing each other around with no malice at all ...

The SCA in a nutshell.

We do not only dance with our victorious ancestors who created charismatic, fascinating martial traditions, which either offer us self-protection or enhance our lives. We also dance with their dead. We dance on altars of bones and lakes of blood. Our music is not only glorious bugles and bagpipes aswirl. It is screams of the wounded and the cries of their children, the crunch of skulls beneath our feet. Bravery and self-sacrifice are glorious things, the flower of a man's life. But root and stock are embedded in a command to commit no unnecessary harm, to murder no one, at the risk of one's soul. Life walked on a sword edge. Stand or fall, we are slashed either way.

One reason why some Japanese are very uncomfortable with gaijin dressing up as samurai, playing at bushido. They remember their dead and cannot be sure that we respect that properly.





Very cool essay.

[raycornwell2]

Yes, I thought it was very interesting. A different take on the glory of battle, and one we should think on before overlooking.
Just thoughts.

[Saionji Shonagon]

One reason why some Japanese are very uncomfortable with gaijin dressing up as samurai, playing at bushido. They remember their dead and cannot be sure that we respect that properly.

Given the proclivities of Japanese ghosts, we should ALL be very respectful. Very. Very. Respectful.

Saionji Now Where Did I Put My Copy Of "Kwaidan?"

[raycornwell2]

Makiwara, what is "Kwaidan"? Is it a literature? Or maybe a manuscript?

[Saionji Shonagon]

What is "Kwaidan"? Is it a literature? Or maybe a manuscript?

It's a collection of stories of the supernatural that were translated into English around 1904 by Lafcadio Hearn. I haven't been able to determine exactly how old some of these stories are, but with Halloween coming, there are some good ghost stories in the collection. In the mid 60's a movie by the same name was made, incorporating four of the stories - one of which so creeped me out that I ended up taking a crack at storytelling with it at last year's Estrella.

There's an online edition of Hearn's stories at:
www.sacred-texts.com/shi/kwaidan/

S.