Tournament is right around the corner

 

Ninja spell of concealment

In honor of tonight’s supermoon/lunar eclipse, a quote from “The Secret Traditions of the Shinobi, Hattori Hanzo’s Shinobi Hiden and other Ninja Scrolls”, Edited and Translated by Antony Cummins and Yoshie Minami, page 70-71.

-The Art of Hiding-

On the first day of a big year, [get close to] a dead woman before her funeral, and take from her one strand of hair. Steal it without being seen by anyone else. Use a shujinenshi and wrap the strand inside it. Keep it in a pure place.

Then, when it is the night of a lunar eclipse, [take some wood,] and with a blade carve a kanazashi. In your mind, continually chant the spell listed below, and repeat it countless times until the lunar eclipse ends. At this point you should finish carving the hairpin. Use this pin in your hair, and if an urgent or emergency situation in which you need to hide arises, you should pray seven times with the spell listed below. Envisage black clouds forming around you, which will hide your form; in this manner, you can immediately when need arise. Then, if you wish to end the spell, you should take a bite of the sun, which will allow your form to be seen again.

-The Spell [of Concealment]-

Rai De Seishin Kou Ten Kou Setsu

The above skills in this scroll are being given for the [receiver’s] many years of achievements, and it is imperative that [the secrets] should not be given away to anyone, even to those who are of the same school. - Konyo

Now that is what you call "full contact" sparring

I hope #25 was ok after this.

--------------------

Miyagi car wax

www.society6.com

Beautiful, ferocious karate champion Rika Usami wants you to eat your mushrooms in new commercial

(by Casey Baseel en.rocketnews24.com 8-5-15)

I  like to think of myself as having developed a pretty broad palate, what with the fact that I’ll happily choose to eat things such as cod roe, lotus root, and chicken tail. Still, there are a couple of culinary challenges I can’t overcome, and perhaps my greatest dinner plate foes are mushrooms. I mean, I know they’re good for you and all that, but seriously, they’re fungi, right?

Here with a counterpoint is karate word champion Rika Usami, and the ferociously awesome commercial she made in her new role as mushroom spokes-martial artist.

Usami earned international fame at the 2012 WKF World Karate Championships, where she went home with the top honor for the speed, precision, and power on display in her unparalleled kata performance. Although she retired from competition in 2013, the 29-year-old Tokyo native is by no means finished with her life’s work. She’s currently a member of the Tottori Prefectural Board of Education and coach of the karate team at Kokushikan University in Tokyo, in addition to serving as a goodwill ambassador for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

In her new commercial, though, Usami isn’t promoting international athletic competition, but the healthy, delicious mushrooms sold by Japanese food company Hokto.

https://youtu.be/wStzYh6MLLM

Rather than give a lengthy speech on the merits of a mushroom-rich diet, Usami leaves it up to the onscreen text to deliver the message, “People who eat their mushrooms don’t get beat.”

It’s a philosophy Usami herself believes in, as she reveals in a separate video which documents the making of the commercial.

“I always ate mushrooms before completions,” she says, “If it was winter, I’d eat them as part of a hotpot, or on top of pasta in other seasons. When I ate all of them, I didn’t lose.”

Of course, some of her success might also be due to the years and years of training. To show how far Usami’s skills have come, Hokto also put together this side-by-side comparison of her performing the same routine in 1998 and 2015.

At the closing of the “making-of” video, Usami poses with the product and runs through a number of potential slogans:

“They’ll make you stronger, too! Let’s eat mushrooms!”
“I love strong people! Let’s eat mushrooms!”
“Become stronger with me! Let’s eat mushrooms!”
“Is it OK if we make you stronger? Let’s eat mushrooms!”
“Do you like strong women? Let’s eat mushrooms!”
“Hey now, if you don’t eat mushrooms, you won’t become strong!”

And while those are all persuasive arguments, after seeing her punch and kick, we’ll pretty much do whatever she wants, as long as she promises not to hurt us.

--------------------

http://en.rocketnews24.com/2015/08/05/beautiful-ferocious-karate-champion-rika-usami-wants-you-to-eat-your-mushrooms-in-new-commercial/

Since 84

artwork by fistfullofsoul.tumblr

Miyagi-do Karate

The mid-80's were turbulent years for karate in the Valley. Ultimately the Cobra Kai dojo had to shut it doors due to lack of business. The building fell into disrepair and sat vacant for years.

Daniel had always dreamed of opening up his own dojo after he discovered the enjoyment of teaching karate during the West Valley High karate club days. Married life and children kept him busy but the dream was always in the back of his mind.

When it came to his attention that the old Cobra Kai dojo was available to lease for cheap he jumped at the chance and opened Miyagi-do Karate out of respect for Mr. Miyagi who had passed away several years earlier during the dojo wars.

Business was so good he had to limit the number of students until he could expand the dojo which he did on more than one occasion.

Here is a flyer advertising his business after one of those expansions.

The way

Training in Okinawa

Daniel, why the jeans? Are you cold?

You are in Okinawa, put on a pair of shorts for heaven's sake.

Artwork by Felipe Almeida

www.magicpaper.tumblr.com

Be like a revengeful ghost

“Even if a samurai’s head were to be suddenly cut off, he should still be able to perform one more action with certainty. With martial valor in his life; if he can make himself to be like a revengeful ghost and show great determination, though his head be cut off, he should not die.” - Tsunetomo