Martial Arts: Koryu

I am sure we all know about karate – thanks to the Karate Kid series of movies. We know about aikido – thanks to Steven Segal. We know a lot of Eastern martial arts. Yet have you ever heard of koryu?

Koryu is the Japanese word used to refer to the ancient Japanese martial arts. Trust me, this is the real thing! Basically, if you translate koryu to English, you will get “old school.” Now that sounds good, doesn’t it?

Koryu typically refers to the Japanese martial arts schools that focus on the techniques that existed way before the Meiji Restoration. That is, before the year 1866. As you can see, koryu is a very old Japanese tradition.

This term actually covers a lot of ground and even encompasses some of the better known schools of martial arts today. This includes judo and aikido. However, the latter two are modern day versions of koryu. More so, koryu includes both armed and unarmed fighting techniques.

To give you a more comprehensive background on koryu:

Although systematic training in the use of weapons, and methods for employing them in warfare existed long before, it is generally believed that the development of martial traditions, schools, or styles (ryu-ha) did not arise until after the end of the Heian period (794-1185). Central to this training was study of the bow (yumi), the sword (tachi), and the spear (yari). Initially, these weapons were not studied in separate arts. Rather, since the need was to prepare for battlefield combat, many different weapons and strategic and tactical skills were taught as part of comprehensive systems (sogo bujutsu). From the middle of the Muromachi period (ca. 1480) to the beginning of the Tokugawa period (ca. 1605) people gradually began to specialize in a particular weapon or system, particularly the bow, spear, sword, grappling and horsemanship. Warriors gathered in family-centered groups or trained with other members of their local domains. As the techniques and methods of these groups became more and more individuated, or as teachers gained particular insights into the essential nature and principles of combat, there arose discrete martial “traditions” or “styles” or “schools” (bujutsu ryu-ha). This began happening at the beginning of the Keicho era (ca. 1600), picked up impetus throughout the Tokugawa period (1600-1868), and has continued even into the twentieth century.

So are you interested in learning koryu? Are you thinking of training for koryu? I found a very informative and comprehensive site about koryu. Head on over there to find out more.

Photo courtesy of Meguro-jin

Domo Kun

One thing about Japan that catches the interest of many people around the world is anime. This Japanese cartoon art is very unique and the characters are simply more interesting than other cartoons – at least in my opinion. Anyhow, I recently discovered a Japanese character by the name of Domo Kun.

I am not sure that he falls under the anime category but he is one weird and interesting character. Domo Kun looks like a rectangular block of tofu and has a deep brown color. I accidentally ran into this little guy on the Internet and I had no clue as to who he was.

I know better now. He is technically not part of anime but in fact, he is the mascot of the NHK television station. I don’t know what it is about him but he has quite a following – both in Japan and outside of the country! So what else is there to know about Domo Kun?

Well, he was hatched from an egg (weird looking chick, isn’t he?) and he love to eat meat and potato stew – Japanese style, of course. Make sure you don’t offer him apples as he extremely dislikes them, due to some sort of DNA mystery. And when you know him to be upset, stay clear of him as he is known to pass gas over and over again during these times.

If you want to know more about Domo Kun, visit his official US web site. You can also go to eBay and find tons of Domo Kun merchandise.

Photo courtesy of dailyinvention

Cheerleaders Pep Up Businesses

Do you work in an office in a 9 to 5 job? Do you sometimes feel that your job is getting to become to routine and that you are getting bored with your 8 hour work day? Well, maybe you should quit your job and head on over to Japan.

The newest thing to hit Japan is cheerleading concepts being applied to the business setting. Based on a report by Japan Today:

Few management consultants can cheer you up the way AMT Group’s Maki Nakayama can. Nakayama, a Washington Redskins cheerleader alumnus, is using the lessons she’s learned in over a decade of cheerleading to promote “Cheerleadership” in Japanese companies. Her idea is that Japanese businessmen can have more fun at work if they apply the same energy and enthusiasm to their job as cheerleaders apply to their cheers.

The combination of team work and independent work is important for cheerleaders and businesspeople. “As a cheerleader, team work was really important because we spend time together and we have to cooperate. Sometimes we would have a promotion and they would just tell us what time, what to wear, what to do and we would just go there to do the promotion by ourselves. We had to be independent. So I spent time with girls who are independent and can help each other.”

Very interesting concept, I should say. I wouldn’t mind learning something that can be applied to the workplace in a fun and novel way, would you?

Photo courtesy of Jeffrey Beall

Strange Japanese Soft Drinks

There has always been a lot of hype surrounding the eccentricities of the Japanese people but I believe that eccentric is as eccentric does. In the differences between the West and the East, we can learn a lot of things – even in the most mundane of things. Take for example how different Japanese soft drinks can be. I found this list on Inventor Spot and picked out some of the most interesting items.

Cucumber-flavored Pepsi, anyone?
I am a Coke person but Pepsi will do if the restaurant does not serve Coke. Yet I always stick to the regular kind. How about Pepsi Ice Cucumber, then? I do not know – I like cucumber in salads but in my drink? Uh, I am not so sure about that.

How about Mother’s Milk?
What? Yes, you read that right, they are marketing a drink called Mother’s Milk. Now I am not so sure if it is really milk from a (human) mother but the packaging of the drink is frightening – it has a suckling baby. Who would want to drink mother’s milk aside from babies?

Salad and water in one
If you are in a hurry and you don’t have time to eat even a quick salad, then you should go for Water Salad. I can’t believe that Coca-Cola even dreamt up this drink. Was this a reaction to Pepsi’s cucumber drink?

My kid should learn how to drink early…
…give him Kidsbeer! It’s non-alcoholic but your kids will feel like they are adults as they drink their own version of beer. Bizarre, to say the least. I think I’ll give my kid root beer instead.

Inarizushi: A Different Kind Of Sushi

Yeah, it seems that my sushi kick is not totally over yet – will it ever be? I have never heard of inarizushi before. I accidentally read about while browsing the Internet and it made me want to try one.

So what is inarizushi and how is it different from the “normal” sushi that we eat? Gale Fox describes is really well:

Inarizushi is a form of sushi that stuffs the vinegared rice into teriyaki-seasoned pouches of deep fried tofu. It was invented by a Tokyo chef in 1848 who advertised his creation with the emblem of the Inari shrines. Inarizushi is great for hikes, as the vinegar, sugar, soy sauce and sake preserve it from the bottom of the mountain to the picnic at the top. It’s a plain-looking dish, on the sweet side, but you can dress it up with colored cross-cultural condiments of the season. Every batch features ofukurononaji, the taste of home-cooking, because each chef seasons it just a bit differently.

I think it’s the tofu that makes me really want to try this dish. I love tofu and am always willing to try different ways of cooking it but deep fried, in my opinion, is the best. Combine that with vinegared rice and you simply can’t go wrong!

This kind of sushi is even better for those who have qualms about eating raw fish or any other kind of seafood. More so, for those who have allergic reactions to seafood (like me), inarizushi should provide an alternative. I wonder how I would like the sweet taste to it, though?

Photo courtesy of panduh

Solar Power For Houses To Be Encouraged

With the problems that we are encountering with fuel consumption and global warming, the best possible course for us to take would be sustainable source of power. We all know that solar power is one of the most feasible sources of energy and perhaps this is would be what the future holds for us. The Japanese government seems to think along the same lines.

Based on a report by Reuters:

The Japanese government will come up with measures on Tuesday to promote the household use of solar power systems by introducing subsidies and tax breaks from next year, the Nikkei financial daily reported on Sunday.

The paper said the steps, following an environment initiative announced earlier by Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, include halving the cost of buying solar power systems in Japan, home to major solar component makers.

These include Sharp Corp, Kyocera Corp and Sanyo Electric Co.

This is really a good move by the government as the more people make use of solar power, less people will be using conventional power sources. I am sure that many of us would love to go solar but the costs of converting to this source are very high. But since the government is giving subsidies, I suppose that more people will be able to afford solar power.

Perhaps other countries in the West should study this example. It is never too early to start making use of more sustainable sources of power.

Photo courtesy of Rich_Lem

Sony TV Goes Green

Everyone is doing it, why not Sony? Undoubtedly one of the world’s biggest names – if not THE biggest – in the world of consumer electronics, Sony has always been in the forefront of new technologies. This time, they are working on a green flat screen TV. Not green, the color, but green as in environment friendly.

The new Bravia KDL-32JE1 is supposed to go on sale in Japan on the 30th of July and is reported to cost 150,000 yen – that’s about USD 1402. Of course, the electronics giant is planning on marketing this product in other countries but as of yet, there is no definite news on the dates of release outside of Japan.

So how much greener is the new Bravia? During a demonstration held at the Tokyo headquarters, it was shown that the new model consumes 82 watts. The image displayed was from a Blu-ray disc. Compare this power consumption to 125 watts, which is what a conventional Bravia uses to show the same image, and you can see the considerable difference in energy use.

This works both ways – consumers are able to save on their electricity bill and they are also able to contribute to the environment. Then again, you have to consider the hefty price tag that goes with the new flat screen TV. Of course, if you are already using a Bravia or you are considering getting one, then you might as well shell out a bit more money to save more in the long run, don’t you think?

Is Sushi Good For You?

I finally satisfied my sushi craving the other day when I went out to eat with several friends. It was actually a funny meal because I had just spent the whole afternoon at the hospital getting some tests done and then met up with my friends for dinner. While gorging ourselves on the delectable pieces of sushi that the chef whipped up, we found ourselves talking about the health benefits of sushi.

Does sushi really have health benefits or is it just good to eat?

Well if you think about it, sushi is simply rice and fish. Of course, different varieties would have vegetables, other kinds of seafood, and sometimes sesame seed. Whether the fish is cooked or not, the fact that sushi has very low fat content remains the same. More so, sushi also has low cholesterol and caloric content. That is good, isn’t it?

In addition to these things, having seafood as the main ingredient implies another healthy reason to eat sushi. Certain seafood have a healthy does of Omega-3 fatty acids. Technical term aside, this simply means that seafood is good for your heart! As such, sushi is not only low in fat and other “bad” stuff, but it also has something good for your body!

Last, take a look at vegetables and the seaweed that is used to wrap the sushi in. These ingredients are definitely high in nutrients and other healthy things (notice that I cannot enumerate them). Cheryl Koch over at Yahoo Health says that phytochemicals are present as well.

I guess I have presented my argument quite convincingly, huh? Sushi is indeed good for the health.

Photo courtesy of breezeDebris

Sushi Safety: Parasites?

Alright, mercury I can take, but parasites? I have heard stories of people getting sick because of parasites but I have always thought that they were merely urban legends. When I ran across Ross Christensen’s series of posts on “How Safe Is Your Sushi?”, I realized just how serious this issue can be. In the course of my research, I also ran across other articles with opposing views.

Elaine Magee, MPH, RD, encourages others to go ahead and eat sushi. She states:

• Order sushi from reputable restaurants, where the restaurant and fish provider follow food safety standards. You can ask if the fish has been previously frozen.
• Completely cooked is always the safest way to eat fish
• The FDA recommends that you don’t risk eating raw fish if you’re pregnant or have a compromised immune system.
• Don’t make your own sushi with raw fish unless you can freeze the fish for more than 72 hours at 4 degrees Fahrenheit.

On the other hand, Michael Vaughn is strongly opposed to eating raw fish himself:

It’s not that I’m opposed to it; I’ve just been working in the seafood industry for too long that the thought of eating sashimi and raw-form sushi gives me the willies.

That’s not to say that he discourages others from doing it. He has some nice tips in his article as well.

So it’s up to you. Should you eat raw fish? I personally think that if you like it, go ahead. You should just follow the suggestions provided by experts. The Japanese have been eating sushi all their lives – how many people do you know have had cases of parasite infection because of it?

Photo courtesy of Giant Gingko

Sushi Safety: On Mercury

As you can probably surmise by now, my craving for sushi has not abated. This is due to the fact that I haven’t had the chance to get me some! In any case, I thought that it would be apt to talk more about sushi in the next few posts.

Did you know that there have been safety concerns regarding sushi? I suppose this issue is inevitable – raw fish, hello? If you do a search on Google or any other search engine using the term “sushi mercury” you will get a lot of results. This is because early this year, a lot of fuss was made over the levels of mercury that can be found in raw tuna, which is one of the most commonly used ingredients for sushi.

As recent as January of this year, MSNBC published an article detailing the potential dangers of this wonderful food:

Lab tests commissioned by the New York Times found so much mercury in tuna in 20 Manhattan restaurants and stores that eating six pieces a week would exceed acceptable levels set by the Environmental Protection Agency, the newspaper reported.

So should we be concerned? I don’t think so:

Sushi tuna is most often linked to high levels of mercury, but don’t panic if you’ve eaten a lot recently. According to the Food and Drug Administration, one week’s consumption doesn’t change the level of methylmercury in the body much at all. If you eat a lot one week, you can cut back the next week or two and you’ll be fine.

So there! The media sometimes makes too much of a fuss over a simple thing that shouldn’t really cause concern. The Japanese eat sushi A LOT and are they being poisoned by mercury? I think not!

Photo courtesy of Giant Gingko