The lessons reminded me of why I stayed away from Aikido at first. But despite my misgivings about sparring with guys at close counters, in reality... most attacks do happen at close counters, and female bodies are usually not strong enough to counter-attack or defend themselves against physically strong intent from men without any martial arts skill. (my sentence sounds weird.. hmmm, ma ii ka)
Thankfully, my sparring partner in the class was a girl. But because it's a girl, I couldn't do shomen properly for fear of hurting her since I'm still very unskilful. I hope to ASAP be good enough to spar properly. Unlike Karate, Aikido immediately puts us in a battle mode practice (this week was only my 2nd class). I had to attend months of Karate class before I was made to spar against somebody.
I learnt 3 attacks and Sensei taught me two types of moves against them: omote (inside) and ura (outside). The first attack taught was shomen. The omote move I learnt is this:
I couldn't find ura.... however, if you watch the slo-mo ura move in this video, what I learnt was only upto 0:51. By watching Tissier-sensei, I found that the footwork will be different according to where we move next... and look at his hands, they hardly form a claw or fist and instead always be open and ready to act for the next move. The way he charts every step is like a go player. Saikou desu.
Sugi wa, yokomen desu. For the omote... I found this video (part 1 of 6). He even talked a bit about the history of Aikido. What I learnt was only upto 3:16, but here I found that the blocking left hand (for a left hand attack) can be in a position to throw someone off-balance.
I couldn't find the ura move but I think the one he showed at 3:14 in this one is it, right?
I wasn't able to learn much on tsuki coz class ended before I could practice further. Maybe I get to learn more next week.
Sensei said:
We attack to distract, not to hurt. I like that. It appeals to my non-violent nature.
It's all about the way we move. Do not get into the habit of memorizing which foot goes with which hand coz there are too many variations that memorization is impossible.
I read someone talked about Kame's performance in Break the Records as if he acted as the man and the woman in the song. Me, I like to interpret it more literally. That it's about the forbidden love of two guys in the year 1582. In fact, if I wanna take this further, I'd say it's a tragic love story between a japanese and a foreigner.. because Kame in the cage wore a western suit, right? But Kame in kimono acted like a warrior... swinging his sword and fighting as if he were in a battle.
If you look up this article, it says that Chapter 2 in the book is about Japan and its Chinese and European worlds (1582-1689) and it's on the foreign trade in East Asia in the seventeenth century. I'm pretty sure kimono!Kame is a taikomochi, or known as otogishu the 16th century, who were 'sounding boards for military strategies and they battled at the side of their lord' (wiki). To further look into my otogishu-european theory, we have to brush up a bit on japanese history.
What happened in the year 1582? The assassination of Oda Nobunaga. From wiki:
Following Nobunaga was Toyotomi Hideyoshi (豊臣 秀吉), who ruled over Japan from 1582 to 1598. Anti-European attitudes began under Hideyoshi, whose suspicion of the Europeans first began with their intimidating appearance; their armed ships and sophisticated military power produced doubt and distrust, and following the conquest of the Philippines by the Spanish, Hideyoshi was convinced they were not to be trusted. The true motives of the Europeans came quickly into question.
Those who converted to Catholicism were questioned about their loyalty to Japan, and in 1597, Hideyoshi ordered the crucifixion of nine Catholic missionaries and seventeen Japanese converts. This was only the start of the hostility towards European influence and interaction; persecutions, beheading, and forced secessions would all but eliminate the Christian community over the next few decades.
I also looked up the translationof the lyrics. I mean, why else would the person singing this song wish (with love) that he will never wake up if he isn't involved in a forbidden relationship? And the uncertainty of their future together is voiced out (Where will we go tomorrow, I don't like it) that probably if he were to live... they will be torn apart anyway. So he'd rather die than stay alive and be separated from him.
I'm pretty sure the water fountain and the scroll at the end meant something important too. I remember Gackt made a big deal out of being able to make 'rain' fall on the stage during the Rain live, so the water fountain in Kame's performance was definitely not just for show. Just using my imagination, I'd say him being pushed upwards on an umbrella by water probably means he was on a ship (travel by sea).
Hmmm, donning a disguise (mask), battling a bunch of people, traveling on a ship... maybe he was fleeing from Japan to meet his lover? What does the spinning upwards in the middle of a fireworks display mean then? That he's in China? Or is it a symbol of his elation at having arrived at his destination? The scroll probably was a note his lover left behind with the fountain a symbol of his tears after he read it (must not be good news then). The fountain formed a wall around him... a wall of misery? Flying from scroll to scroll probably means he didn't know that his lover was dead and he waited for news after news about him. Meh, I'm making myself sad with my own rambling.
Anyway, I just realized that the way I interpreted this... it's like... the lyrics are supposed to be the words from the dying european lover's side while the performance shows the actions by the japanese lover's side. Looking at it like that... ish a pretty awesome concept. Well, unless I was wrong about the whole thing, of course.. haha *hides*
I think the most romantic verse in the song is this:
Even this heart littered with wounds
Is healed by watching you
It's not about desire
I know this even unconsciously
...to me, what he's trying to say is that what he feels is not mere lust. What he feels is a love so strong, even the pain of dying becomes healed just by looking at his beloved. I think it's probably not 'unconsciously' ...hmm, maybe it should be 'subconsciously'? I doubt unconscious people can 'know' anything. Or maybe if we want to stick to the translation, 'unconsciously' probably means he's in a near-death state? I wish I could write something this good one day.
The lyrics and the performance immediately reminded me of Winter Cicada, a story inserted in the Haru wo Daiteita yaoi anime. I checked out the year it was set in and it's in the same period (1862–1869). Look it up... it's a nice, albeit a bit depressing, story.
So, the real question is... was the Kame in the cage the same Kame in kimono, or was it all just camera trick? I think it's really Kame doing both stunts... because of the harness, he could move to span the entire stage pretty quickly. This is evident when he flew with the scroll at the end of the performance (by the way, all the stunts he did here were dangerous so I'm happy that he didn't get hurt). And I know that in concerts, they often dress themselves up in clothes that can be taken off with just one yank. The kimono was worn like a robe and the yukata was probably modified so that a waist string was not needed. The obi probably just needed to be fastened. What I think happened was, the moment the light went out, he flew to the platform... changed into the yukata and kimono... pinned his hair... wore the mask... sat down all pretty with a fan in his hands... and still have a second to spare.
Currently my favourite song from the Change Ur World single. I have to paste it here coz I love singing along to this song and it took me some time to find the romaji version.. so I don't want it to get lost again.
Kame and Koki interviewed her in the Love Disc segment. I got suddenly interested in the singer when she said she wrote the lyrics to one of her songs, Friend's Song, at the age of 15. And I was stunned too when I looked it up. What was I doing when I was 15? Certainly not writing something this heartbreaking. I was too busy trying to pass my exam with flying colours so my brother wouldn't decapitate me.
I looked up another of her song too.. Dirty Underwear. The lyrics is depressing. Just the kind of emotion I hate simply because I can feel it too well without any need to experience it for myself. Me and my empathetic nature. I'm just glad I was saved all those years ago.
I just finished reading a very long and involved fanfic and the story is by no means finished. Before this, I stumbled on this one and the story (Fragments) is still ongoing too. It's weird how fiction can change the way you look at real people, despite your head telling you the whole thing is not real... that it's all made up. I guess that's why gossips are bad for our mental health. Anyway, the stories make me wonder whether I'm cut out to be a writer. I doubt I can have as much patience as these two fanfic authors have.
I stumbled on the Korean version when I watched the Making of clip for You're Beautiful. This is another case of 'stumbled on'... a short clip of this was inserted at the very end of Cartoon KAT-TUN ep 36.
Well, if a song is good.. it's good in any language, I guess. I tried to find the original version by Boney M. (supposedly) but couldn't. Maybe it's too old... and I dunno what the title is for that version.
By the time everyone takes off their clothes, I just had to stop dancing and I spent the rest of the time gaping at the TV monitor. Errr.. coz I heard 'hadaka de' being mentioned and thought that I have to concentrate on the visuals instead of prancing around my living room at 2.30 in the morning.. *cough*
Was thinking where I should I blog about this and decided to do it here... since this is where I write about most of the crazy shiz I get myself into that doesn't have anything to do with work. Actually, most of the things I do are crazy shiz coz I hardly do work... even when I'm at work. Okay, Aikido is not crazy, or shizzy. That's just a figure of speech *hides from angry Aikido practitioners*
Just had my first class tonight and the experience of seeing people being thrown about like rag dolls right in front of my eyes, as opposed to in youtube clips. My face responds very fast to my surrounding and I think I made so many weird faces at class today when sensei started sparring with the other students... and a lot of hitori-goto too.. haha. Hope I'll control myself better once I get used to the idea that one day the rag doll will be me.
Today, I spent too much time learning to tie the uniform and hakama... geh. I'm hopeless (I'll do better next class, I promise!). Then, sensei just taught me and another new student (who has learnt Aikido before.. so I'm the only total newbie there) just a few basic stuff and told us to practice them at home at least 10 times a day:
- Ukemi
- Mae Ukemi (at least I think this is what it's called coz he just called it 'rolling' in class)
- Hidari-Hanmi
- Migi-Hanmi
- Irimi Tenkan (I think this is it, but I have to confirm the name again coz I forgot): link
Mae Ukemi is the toughest mental challenge ever for me. To actually let my body fall forward from pure will is... SO HARD!!! I have to really practice this one. The others are pretty okay. Sensei said these are just warm-ups, not even like... real techniques yet... eeep. Anyway, I just stumbled on this clip and suddenly all was made clear to me. I was an idiot! I understood the whole rolling thing wrong!! *facepalm* ...no wonder I couldn't do it. Just tried it in my living room, and I could do this thing... albeit blunderingly, but at least I could do it. As opposed to not at all when I was in class. Meh. Anyway, Waite Sensei doing Aikido reminded me of Capoeira... so graceful, na. And I like the whole rasta hairstyle thing. Cool.
I think Aikido is very suitable to women and children coz we're naturally physically weaker than grown-up men (usually our potential attackers are from that species). However, I'm learning this mostly for self-improvement... hopefully I'll never ever get attacked.. yikes! So yeah. I'll be going to class once a week... plenty of time to update in the blog. My next post may not be as longass as this one, hopefully.
I found a livejournal account that uploads KAT-TUN discography (which I will not disclose here in case it gets abused by trolls. Anyone who wants the link can request and I will email it to you). I didn't download their full albums coz I want to buy them, but I did get all the singles and Kame's audio-ripped performances.
I take back what I said in this post, that KAT-TUN serves a meagre fare. I've listened to about 50 of their songs and I can honestly say none made me bored or wanna go to sleep (Sayonara - Gackt, anyone?). Which is usually an indication that the songs I'm listening to rank from good to excellent. Now I can understand why their singles keep getting number one at the chart. Despite losing an important member, they still rock at the chart and keep having sell out concerts. Keep up the good work, guys!
I'm currently loving all the songs in their "Change UR World" single. Please don't argue with me over production quality, song composition skill, audio presentation, pitch value or whateva technical issues with it coz I know none of those. I just know that they sound good to my ears, and that's good enough fer me. I'm easy to please, na? hehe
Interestingly enough, I love Niito Man (second after Give Me, Give Me, Give Me) and that's by Ueda Tatsuya. And Girls is cool too (what does it mean by NTT presented by Junnosuke Taguchi? I don't get that). I wish each member gets to sing almost equal portion per song. Despite my lustlove for Kame, I really want to hear the others' vocals scattered all throughout KAT-TUN songs too.. like in Never x Over. That'll be nice. Anyway... MARU SAIKO!!! There, just wanted to get that out of the way before I go slobbering over Kame again in my next posts.
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Yesasia has just mailed me a sparkling new CD... yeay!! It's Buiikikaesu by Maximum The Hormone (2007). The first time I heard their songs ("Zetsubou Billy" and "What's Up, People?!") was in the Death Note anime, and I just fell in love. Took me years to buy their album though *cough* ...but hey, at least now I got it! I went berserk when I found out that those two songs are in the CD (so shoot me for not knowing that before I bought it).. *hyperAmi* ..LOVE LOVE LOVE their song:
Since I just cared about KAT-TUN very recently (thanks to my Kame obsession).. I just stumbled on this. Granted, veteran fans (or those more obsessed than I am) have known about this a gajillion years ago. I just want to record it here in case I go berserk in the future trying to find the evidence again.
...the sudden transformation from ero Kame to romantic Kame on guitar made my head spin... ♥
I've always been obsessed with turtles every time I dive, to the point where my diving instructors looked around to find me whenever they spotted one near them just so they could take my pic with it. A diving buddy once took a video of me chasing a turtle and I got scolded by my instructors for that stunt *sweat*. I guess now my obsession with turtles takes a different meaning. I'd be going, "KAME!!!!" and chasing it everywhere.. LOL. Or maybe I'd just wave at it and go, "kame..." from a distance until it goes far far away.. *ish scared of kowai instructors* :P
Is this what that BYJ fan meant by... "when BYJ became so famous we hardly see him anymore"? When hyung was with SS501 in DSP, they're all over the place doing all sorts of shows and interviews. Suddenly when they're not together under the same agency, I see less and less of his updates. Sabishiiiiii to omoimasu.
I wish KeyEast will put him in some variety shows (hyung loves being in them, right?) instead of sending him to about 5 countries in the space of like.. two weeks.. and all we got to see was his back entering and leaving the various airports. I know they're all big projects and award shows. I'm happy for him and all that... demo, I miss seeing his weird side. Let me just confess this.. if hyung is just a good-looking, talented artist and nothing more, I would not have been obsessed with him. I don't think I would have been a fan, even. I like him because he's.. well, different.
KeyEast no minna-san, don't keep Kim Hyun Joong hyung-nim under wraps like you did BYJ. Let him out more.. we want to see his colourful sides again. And hyung, you don't have to restrain yourself so much just because you're becoming more serious about your work. Please... just be yourself and have fun~ ♥
I'm being a very patient fan right now coz he promised us an album in ...mmm, May... I think. So yeah, am patiently reading his updates in other people's blogs. Hopefully he'll be in 1 movie and 1 dorama this year. He doesn't have to be the main character... that way, he doesn't have to spend so much time and face too much pressure. Hyung-chan.. you can do it! Ganbatte neeeee! \(^o^)/
When I wrote about Gackt going normal on me, I didn't mean that he's become 'ordinary'. I think Gackt has lived too long being different, he'd purposely try to do something different than what everyone else is doing even when there's no need to.
Nope. It's because I feel that he's becoming like any other artists... aimlessly taking jobs that they feel like doing. To understand what I mean by this, you must be obsessed enough about his Moon Project to collect at least all his CDs, Platinum Boxes, concert DVDs and any of his interviews on it you can find on the net. And have discussed it endlessly with anyone willing enough to put up with your crazy theories. I even won a forum writing contest with a story based on the darkside inhabitants.
Oh, and try to translate at least the prologue to his Moon Child-related novel, Requiem, with a paper dictionary and only 3-months intro to basic japanese. I even wanted to buy one of his jewelerydakedo, bimbo dakara.. okane ga nai. So yeah... imagine how I felt when he said he was REBORN and all that, which also means that the Moon Project will be discontinued.
Gackt-san, I will not buy any of your future works! *is sulking* ...and any further posts I write about you here will consist of more rants until you give me something so interesting I'll forgive this 'normal' period you're going through. Please hurry up and experience all those 'normal' things you've always wanted to do and come back with something that can make me happy again, o-ke?
Anyway, so many TV shows want to be the ones that report on his house. Up to now.. I think I've watched... three? or is it four? ...different shows that interview Gackt about his living quarters. But I think this is the one Gackt gave the most access to. Well, despite the 'night mode' camera. And I love his dojo-exercise clippies. The 2nd clip is still not fully subbed though.
Maru.. that idiot. Without his "chotto, chotto", who knows what Kame would have done next.. (STRIP! STRIP!). Nakamaru's and Koki's faces were like.. O.O!!!
It's plain to see why it's so easy to love or hate Kame. He's like a box of chocolate, you never know what flavour you're gonna get.. :P
EDIT:
Uwaaaaaa... my excellent online surfing skill landed me on a livejournal account that copied my post (THIS one) almost word for word and passed it as her own. Should I be flattered or offended?? I'm really confused. But at least she got plenty of comments. All I have are silent lurkers... LOL. Not that it's a bad thing. I'll take lurkers over trolls any time.
