Aikido 合い木戸 and Kyotei 居低

Aikido

Aikido is a Japanese sport, (as you probably guessed) and all it basically is, is another form of martial arts. The main difference is the reason and objective—you try to defend yourself without harming your opponent. Aikido is roughly translated to the way of unifying with life energy.

Who made it up— Morihei Ueshiba

Main objective—Protect yourself without harming attacker

Training—fitness, morals, and mentally

How do people do it? The attack starts head on, but then you redirect it, so you and the attacker do not get the attack. It’s made up of throws and joint locks, and is categorized in the grappling arts too.

I think Aikido is a very smart way to fight, (or block. Feel, and look awesome) and it requires very little physical strength. It was well made and is used by a lot of people today.

Kyotei

Kyotei means boat race. And yes, it is Japanese. It is a very traditional sport, and is one of Japan’s four “public” sports.

The goal is for six boats to boat-race around 600meters on lakes with 3 laps. That’s 1,800meters! And the whole race itself lasts around 2-3 minutes! You have to pass the finish before a giant clock hits zero. A boat that starts too early is called a furaingu or flying start, and a boat that starts too late is called a deokure or late start. If a boat crashes or causes something bad to happen, they are disqualified, or shikkaku.

(I’m not so sure WHO made up the sport, I guess it just came…in 1952…) but whoever might have made it up I’m sure they might have been smart.

I hope you enjoyed learning about more sports in Japan through my essay. (this is a 2 in 1 essay because I missed 2 days.) and I also hope I can write more… when I’m not absent of course because how many of these have I written like, 5?! But I really enjoy writing these for you! There is always next semester…and winter break…to give the class H.W. so we don’t forget anything…Ha ha ha…

Japanese Ama Diving

Japanese Ama { 海人 } diving is one of those kind-of-well-known traditional sports, YOU may not have heard of it, but a lot of people IN JAPAN know what it is…and a look of people know what it is but not where it came from.  But Ama diving isn’t that popular anymore. Even in Japan.

LOTS OF PEOPLE LOVE AMA DIVING. If we face the facts, Ama diving has been going on for 1000’s of years. But why is it not that popular anymore? Of course, the sport is really, really, really, really, old. It’s either all year or yearly done, and the divers are USUALLY WOMEN. You have to be in really good shape to Ama dive too.

The point of Ama diving is to dive to the bottom of the water source, (such as a lake or a small ocean) and pick up whatever you can find and give it to tourists. (or small children with guidance.) The main thing to pick up though, is PEARLS. I know that you were thinking. An Ama diver, going down, picking up some weird looking “something” and giving it to a small child and then it starts to cry. That’s not the point. Originally, they would dive for foods like fish, seaweed, shellfish, sea urchins, and clams or oysters. And now, they dive down, into dark water, find the UGLIEST CLAM they can find. (The uglier ones have the best chance of a rare pearl!) They bring some ugly ones up, crack them open, and give the audience a whole bunch of great, shiny, $ WORTH ALOT $, pearls. And some Ama divers still do follow the original reason for diving—food!

The divers are located in various places around Japan. In the Okinawa Island, the divers are called, Ama, (for girls) uminchu (for boys) and Kaito, (for all divers on the Izu Peninsula.). (I can’t type the Kanji for Kaito or Uminchu…sorry) (Kanji are different ways to say Japanese words…. I’m learning!) So I guess Ama diving is popular in different parts of Japan.

The divers usually wear as little as possible, making it absolutely amazing for them do go so deep so fast and able to stay warm! Since the 1960’s and back Ama have worn only a loincloth.... omega that’s…ok… But are allowed now to wear torso covering wetsuits (this depends on the place they are diving in) and masks, fins, and for tourists white and (some parts) transparent wetsuits (like on their stomach and back for warmth. (it keeps the tradition alive, but they are NOT naked! Don’t worry I wouldn’t have done this if they were!) And no air tanks or scuba gear!

I for one think that Ama diving is a great sport, and I’m happy I could write about it! I hope you learned A LOT about Ama diving, and I hope I can write another extra credit report about another Japanese sport…. Without not dressing out!

One last thing...you can see Pearl Divers at Sea World in Orlando. Although I don’t know for sure, but I suspect they are based on the tradition of Japanese Ama Diving.

Wanted -- Steve Irwin

My Favorite Scientist is Steve Irwin.  I had to create a "Wanted"

poster about him for science class. 

Steve Irwin was born on February 22, 1962 in Essendon, Victoria, Australia. He died while filming a TV show that made him famous, The Crocodile Hunter.

He was stung in the heart by a stingray. What Steve Irwin accomplished was filming a huge success of a TV show, being a very smart and clever animal biologist and animal life scientist, and eventually teaching us how to be safe and smart when handling dangerous animals.

He got married to Terri Raines and had two children, Bindi sue Irwin and Robert Clarence Irwin. Bindi-1998 Robert-2003. If Steve Irwin was alive today he would be 48 years old. Steve Irwin taught us about animals from all around the world and encouraged us to help the environment and be a good person. This was easy for him because he did all of his work outside and filming his TV show!  He had a famous punch line--- you guessed it, CRIKEY!!!!!!!!!!

The Irwin turtle is a turtle named after Steve Irwin. It lives in parts of Australia and it is becoming endangered. Steve Irwin found this turtle while he was on a boat on a river surveying crocodiles, when he spotted the turtle in the water. Then he researched the strange turtle and it was undiscovered, so it was then called Irwin’s turtle.

Mary Rose and the Dollar Bill

This story is about five friends (my characters) fighting over a dollar bill they found on the ground on their way to the beach. The kind hearted Mary Rose helps to stop all the bickering about who gets the dollar and in the end nobody does because something happens…you will have to read the essay to find out. I hope you enjoy the story!

One day Cho Hoshi (or just Cho), and her friends, Rahbee, Beckie, Mary Rose, and Lacey were walking through a park on their way to the beach.

“Hey look, a dollar!”, Cho said as she clumsily stepped on it.

Everyone was glaring at it, wanting to take it and spend it.

“Can IIIII…have it?” Rahbee asked while elongating the I?”

Just as that dollar was about to land in Rahbee’s hand Lacey snatched it wanting it for her selfish spoiled self.

“No! I want it!” she said loudly.

Rahbe looked at her with a squint.

“W-Why did you do that?”, she said still glaring at Lacey.

“Because IIIII want it…Now go away…It’s mine now!” Lacey said as Lacey trotted away.

“Not so fast meanie” Beckie said as she ran over, her face as red as a bad apple. “You don’t own that dollar, Cho was giving it to Rahbee” she added with a mean twist. “And by the way Rahbee, can I have it now?”

“Sure, take it” Rahbee said to Beckie, “But you have to get if from Lacey first”.

Rahbee sat down with the same pose as the “Thinking Sculpture” because she was confused.

Lacey looked mean, really mean and said, “No Beckie, you cannot have the dollar because it is now MINE! So squat away you squatty squat squat”, as she turned and slowly walked away.

“OOOOOOOHHH”, Cho exclaimed as she saw Beckie’s face which now looked like a volcano ready to erupt. “GIVE IT TO ME!” Beckie screamed with smoke coming out of her nose and ears as her wings unfolded. Beckie ran towards Lacey and grabbed the dollar and put it in her pocket.

Mary Rose was just standing there quietly with her hands folded femininely in front of her. She looked at them with a disgusted look on her pretty face and walked over to Beckie.

“You stop it Beckie!” She tried not to yell. “I think that dollar really belongs to the pedestrian who dropped it accidentally. We need to go request assistance immediately and report this dollar to the lost and found. It has to be returned to it’s rightful owner so we stop fighting”. Mary Rose took the dollar then started walking over to a lady at a lemonade stand close by.

Just then Cho said, “Urrr…Mary Rose, the dollar is mine… it must have fell out of my pocket before I stepped on it” she lied.

“Oh, Okay then”, Mary Rose said because she believed her. She walked to Cho and gave her the dollar. Then Lacey zoomed over and started to argue with Cho, “She’s lying Mary Rose”. Mary Rose cut her eyes upward and threw her hands in the air, “I give up”, she said.

Then Rahbee walked over and said, “Can I have it back now? Cho”.

But Beckie was right behind her saying, “It’s mine, it’s mine, it’s mine” about a billion times.

After about 30 seconds of loud bickering Mary Rose came over and snatched the dollar from Cho, rolled in into a ball, popped it into her mouth and ate it. “Now it’s over and we can be friends again”.

Nobody said a word. They just started back down the path to the beach to have fun. The dollar was already forgotten as if it had just blown away in the wind.

Cosplaying!

Have you ever wanted to be famous? Do you dream of having your picture taken professionally and have people come up to you out of nowhere and know who you are? This is your opportunity! Cosplaying is a Japanese sport…well more like a hobby and a very easy and fun way to become famous quick. The big idea is not really you, it’s the character…but its way more than dressing up.

Manga Character
Vocaloid Miku Hatsune

Do you love to watch Anime or read Manga? Do you love a certain character from your favorite series so much you wish you could become that character? That is the point of a cosplayer. You can go on the internet and buy a costume and a wig for that character or you could make your own. But you don’t just dress up like the character and run around, you become the character. You perform as the character and sing songs. You become the famous character.

The more recognizable your character is the more people will notice you. Character props , a great costume and of course a great wig are important as well as make-up and being able to have a fluent accent like your character…and don’t forget to use the characters punch lines to highlight their great personalities. Match the props, metallic, fuzzy, glassy, hard, dimpled, cracked, cute, plush, grooved, powdery, rough, sleek, silky, velvety, wet, wirery, anything. with your costume of wires, knobs, lights, paint, brilliant, shaded, speckled, textured, swirling, anything noticeable.

Cosplayer

You and your friends can have photo shoots and participate in live action skits. For a live action cosplay you and your friends can dress up as your character and film a music video, or skit or a dance that you have written. These days you can post your cosplay video on the internet…but be careful about revealing too much of your personal information.

Every once in awhile there is a cosplay convention near you. Cosplayers from all over you area go to these conventions as their favorite character.. It’s like Halloween everyday…except without the candy.. You get to show everybody who you are and how luminous you can be. You are judged by professional cosplayers and there are tons of character props to purchase if you don’t want to make your own. You can also enter contests. At cosplay conventions people call you by your characters name. Conventions are great ways to make new friends.

Photoshoot

I think cosplaying is the best way to get famous and since you can sing, dance, act, anything you want to do to get noticed. It’s even better if you do it with a group of your best friends who are cosplaying and participating with you. Cosplaying is best when you have your friends coming along with you the whole time. What a blast!. Can anyone cosplay? Yes! And cosplaying can be the best thing that’s ever happened to you.

Does it seem fun? Does it seem safe? Yes its very fun and safe and you will create many memories. So did you learn a lot about this fun sport? I hope you will get into cosplaying because if you never have a chance to do this you will never experience the joy of it all and how many different things you can create and do…and how many friends you will meet.

 I hope you liked reading about cosplay as much as I liked writing about it.

The Most Popular Sport in Japan

Hi. I missed a day of school last week and in order to make up my participation grade in physical education I have to write a report on a sport. Picking a sport was really hard because I do not have a favorite! The first thing that popped into my head was JAPAN JAPAN JAPAN!! So I went onto Google and I typed in “sports in Japan” and I found a Wikipedia site. It said some popular Japanese sports include football, baseball, kendo, and figure skating. Right away I clicked on the link to figure skating, and so I guess if I thought harder, I would have come up with that sooner or later!!!

The reason I like figure skating is because it’s a favorite sport in Japan. It’s also a world wide sport so it a sport that can be found in almost every country. I’ve only been ice skating a few times and it’s pretty hard to do. I thought to do a good job with this report I would have to answer a few questions about ice skating. These are some of the questions I thought about to answer in this report.

Who is the best figure skater alive? Who invented figure skating?
What is the point of figure skating? What is figure skating?
When was figure skating invented? When are the World Championships held?
Where are the World Championships? Where is figure skating most popular?

Now I’ll answer all of my questions! So, who is the best figure skater alive? Currently, and most recently, the best skater is either Daisuke Takahashi in men’s figure skating or in Mao Asada in women’s figure skating. And guess what? They are both from Japan. They were both awarded gold medals at this year’s world championships held in Turin Italy. I did not know that before I started this report. So who invented figure skating? We don’t know exactly who invented figure skating but a man named Jackson Haines, an American, is considered to be the father of the modern sport. So when was figure skating invented? Jackson Haines started the sport in the 1860’s with the first competitions being held about twenty years later. Figure skating can be for fun, but it is mostly used as a competitive sport! It is an athletic event that is both physically hard but beautiful at the same time. Figure skating requires someone to wears shoes with very thin blades on the bottoms that slide on the ice for sport and for fun. I guess that’s in my own words!

Besides the World Championships that are held every year figure skating is an event in the Winter Olympics that are held every four years. But the World Championships are held annually so each year we know who the best skaters in the world are. Guess what? In March, 2011 the next World Championships will be held in Tokyo, Japan!!!! I guess I picked the right sport and that helps me answer my final question. Without a doubt with both men’s and women’s world championship gold metals belonging to Japan and with the world championships to be held in Tokyo, Japan, next year, while figure skating is popular all over the world, currently the most popular place for figure skating has to be Japan!!!

First Week of Middle School

My first day of school was REALLY hard and I did not know anybody yet. All of my friends that I knew last year weren't in any classes with me at all. So the first few days were hard, not just because of the work, but the fact that I didn't have anyone I knew with me to help. At home I did have one friend though! I have known her for 2 years, I met her when I moved down here about 2 years ago.

Her name is Gena. She helped me get through a lot. We are best friends. She is 10 years old and her grandparents are my neighbors. That's how I met her. She loves dogs and now more recently were are both into Japanese Manga and Anime. I taught her about what it was after I found out the epic awesomeness of Japan. So I learned about some culture and I came across something that I really love now, Anime. (Also there are Japanese comics called Manga). We also came across something called Vocaloid, too much to explain about now but it's Japanese synthesized music that is the best.

So here I am in the 1st week of school still and the girl that sits in front of me in world cultures (I think her name is Lexi?) She noticed me drawing a pictue of a cute little Japanese Anime character from Vocaloid. She then asked me if I liked Anime, I was surprised! Later in the day in Gym class she introduced me to a girl named Sabrina.

Sabrina ALREADY loves Vocaloid, watching Anime, reading Manga, and another reason why she is my friend now isn't all because I like those things, it's that she's a very forgiving and nice a person. So she's turning out to be a very good friend of mine.

So to finish this off, Gena and Sabrina are alike and different. Gena is 10 and Sabrina is 13. Gena didn't know about Japanese Vocaloid and Sabrina's been into it for some time now! So I guess the great thing about this isn't about them being alike or different, it's about the good friends I've made! I guess that with Sabrina here, middle school won't be as hard...except for the work!