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| WHY DO PEOPLE NEED VIOLENCE?? I mentioned in a previous post about an ongoing battle of words in the local Yelp. It continued to escalate and the moderator finally deleted some of the comments from the thread. Naturally the commentator that was deleted started a new thread with regard to being deleted. On one hand , we are blessed with the freedom to express ourselves and I believe that is one of the great things of living in America. No secret police knocking at the door and hauling you away,never to be heard of again. On the other hand, I think we should all exercise civility and tolerance for another person's opinion. This ongoing conflict on Yelp has turned my attention to MMA, UFC and the current popularity among the public. Many admirers of MMA probably do not do any martial arts. Some of you may wonder why I write this while teaching karate that has Kyokushin as part of its roots and is a hard hitting full contact style. Kyokushin is also popular and famous for its World Tournaments. Like MMA there are many non-practicing fans of Kyokushin world wide. I started to develop my "distaste", if you will, of MMA productions back in Japan. The major fight productions took place on New Years Eve! Various major MMA productions set up matches with name value fighters to secure audiences. After all, they are profit oriented businesses. If there is a cosumer population for their production it is only natural to get a piece of the pie. But New Years Eve!! Aside from the countdown and partying, I strongly believe that New Years eve and New Years is a time for family to get together reflect upon the year going and sharing their hopes for the New Year. Of course, we cannot forget New Years practice out at the park! (^^) Japan enters the New Year period from about Dec. 26th when most government and private industries go into New Years vacation. The New Year begins on or around January 6th. There is a massive shift of population from major cities to the country side as people return to their homes for New Years. Quality family time. Alas things change and now in Japan it is a 24-7-365 life style throughout the year and traditions slowly disappear. My question is, why do people want to see grown men and women fighting each other on New Years Eve, much less any time of the year? What has happened to family time? Sort of reminded me of the era of Roman gladiators. The audience going into frenzy watching a guy get pulverized. To me that is sad. I find it incompatible with my belief in Budo. After all MMA is an extension of Budo, is it not? There are many opinions with regard to MMA and Budo and everyone is welcome to their own opinions as long as we are tolerant and civil about it. Did I make any sense???? |
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Sigh....(- -)
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Hard to believe that the Japanese would allow this on New Years, but I guess our western ways and need for money, even made it to the land of the four perfect drops. I dont know that you think of Georges St. Pierre, but he seems to be an exception to the norm that you decribe here. I know that he long ago was Kyokushin, but does not practice the style anymore, even though many people tell me his chest kanji reads "kyokushin", as you know it does not it reads 柔術. To me although his kanji say jujutsu and not michi,he still does show more of the Do of karate, vs just the Jujtsu of his art...Just my personal veiw...
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