Hajime no Ippo

Admittedly, I wanted to criticize the anime/manga industry as a whole for basically being unable to impress me for almost 5 years now before coming up with this post. Countless series are so much alike, that copycatting seems traditional to be found.

Luckily, I also remember those moments when anime continued to amaze me, as I started watching the medium in early 2004 with the animated movies Akira(1988) and Ninja Scroll(1993), and then gradually moved towards the countless series, starting with Full Metal Panic for some random reason.

And then there was Hajime no Ippo at some point, which despite looking "older", is a series about the art of boxing and it had moved me in numerous ways, not just the sport itself, but also the emotions, characters and motivations found inside.

Hajime no Ippo is a brilliant story about a weak fisherman's son getting bullied and then out of nowhere stepping up to become one of the fiercest and strongest Japanese boxers to ever appear all over the world.

It is also a hilarious comedy about competition, training, sexual puns and absurd moments. The overall plot flows great alongside the buildup of each fight that Ippo must mentally and physically prepare for.

As far as the fights themselves go, these are very intense and interesting to watch because the audience sees them thinking inbetween these flash moments of exchanging blows towards each other. Most of the opponents also have either a distinct fighting ability, a different personality or better yet, both.

The story motivated me to become stronger in general in real life too, as I got pumped up because of the adrenaline being present in it and I felt like working out, doubting no more and accomplishing goals I set up.

The world of boxing is strongly represented as international fights and fighting styles occur regulary. Carrying around their backgrounds, motivations and fists, pretty much all of the characters are worth seeing in action.

So despite my general pessimism about the industry, this is one of the select few that was able to touch me positively in several ways. Season 3 of the anime is happening as I type this, and I personally cannot wait to experience the ring's living mood once again with excitement.

The Communist Manifesto

The introduction by Gareth Stedman Jones is not an introduction. On the contrary, it is a large history and in depth look at the political situation in the 19th century, especially during the 40's, when the two authors of The Communist Manifesto collaborated.

It also is categorized as biographies for both authors in a way, and this deep assesment cites many sources that ultimately are relevant to words spoken by either author or their most famous book, or just their ideals in connection with others in general.

I was warned that the content found in the Manifesto might be outdated. But thanks to this "introduction", I could grasp a good realization of the political situation back then in Europe. 

Communism is a well thought out ideology that wants to abolish the private property concept of humanity while centering mankind itself more around themselves, rather than letting their lives be carried out by states, government, social classes and other unnatural differences, including wealth and poverty. 

It is only controversial in present time because of the practical ways different races have attempted to convert the political system into their countries next to other ideologies. Although I do claim to have understood the situations told well, by no means is this an easy book to read, because complex political topics are just that.

The antagonism between the bourgeoisie and the proletarians is a thought provoking state, realizing that there are still classes, however and wherever they are called, today. Yet, communism continues to survive in some form or another.

Just take a look at Vietnam, Laos, Cuba, North Korea, China and even Russia and see if you can spot all of their differences and offsprings the ideology has made upon the nations. As it was written in Germany, many alterations exist, such as socialism, Marxism, Maoism, Stalinism etc. .

It would take way longer than a single post to go through all of those, just know that The Communist Manifesto is one of the most important political theories, as it has caused tons of revolutionaries and continues to be debated directly or indirectly today.

Rating: ***

Kenpo Karate

I didn't attend an International Karate Championship this year. Previously, I attended them at 2009 in Las Vegas, a semi similar IKC at 2010 in Dublin, in Madrid at 2011 and in Utrecht at 2012. This time I would like to talk a little bit about Kenpo Karate.

Having trained with this martial arts for roughly seven and a half years now, it definitely changed me as a person. There are many advantages towards starting with martial arts, and some of the biggest boosts I personally got were self-esteem and teamwork.

The philosophy surrounding Kenpo Karate is also interesting, yet schools and dojo's using the fighting art around the world tend to tweak and modify the knowledge left behind by grandmaster and founder Edmund Parker.

The history of Kenpo Karate came from Parker's birthplace Hawaii in the form of streetfighting, but in fact traces centuries back towards what can now be considered ancient forms of martial arts from Asia including Japan and China.

As a green ranked belt, the next step up the ladder is considered the first huge leap in the whole system, for when I do become a brown belt in the nearby future, I can be considered eligible for teaching others the things I learned.

Yet in Kenpo Karate, it is permitted to be creative about how to use the techniques, forms and basics, how to interpretet them, how to adapt towards them, etc. , however, this level of creativity seems to usually come when black belts start their own schools.

Being committed towards the fighting art is wonderful. It usually leaves me satisfied after either mentally or physically training, be it intensive or calm. And all sorts of people, from young to old, female and male, participate together in this network of the Fist Law.

I would be honored to be awarded the status of a black belt someday, but I must say that I always feel victorious and truly successful whenever I train for this system. Sometimes I might be sick or feel negative, but at the end of the day, I am always glad that I went for another lesson.

A New Science of Life

Morphogenetic resonance is a general theoretical term coined by Rupert Sheldrake suggesting that behaviours and forms from the past might affect those from the present and future, indicating that learned attributes and genetic or formative causation can be predetermined by the phenomena.

Proclaiming that the morphogenetic fields reside outside of space and time, as well as being formless and working independent from the principles of natural laws, A New Science of Life is a controversial and fresh look at how topics such as forms, behaviour and chemistry are conditioned and created.

Going through in my opinion very detailed explanations, the topics range from the origins of the phenomena to how it interacts with energy, matter, chemistry and pretty much all of the major scientific fields.

This is yet another difficult book to comprehend, yet it remains fascinating for letting us shape a new perspective towards the situations that we currently take for granted, or took for granted, such as the Earth is flat or the universe is finite.

The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy and The Principle of Relativity featuring Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein are two other books I previously attempted to read, but failed to understand them thorough. Unlike those two books featuring a ton of equations, formula's and more, A New Science of Life is way more theoretical based.

Therefore, I feel irresponsible to rate any of these big books merely because they taggle some of the largest topics out there and they are written in such vast details. Like any sane person, I consider myself intelligent, but alas, mathematics remains a major weakness for me.

Because the videogame Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors referenced Rupert Sheldrake and his theory, I was curious about his work and thus I started reading his most well known published work. And I must say that I am satisfied, for A New Science of Life promises exactly a new way of thinking.

Rating: Pending