Japanese Martial Arts Essays - Japanese Martial Arts, Danzan-ry

Japanese Martial Arts Essays - Japanese Martial Arts, Danzan-ry Japanese Martial Arts The Martial Arts of Japan The martial arts have influenced Japan in many ways. Many of these arts have been passed down from ancient times and are still even practiced today. In my report, I will examine the major Japanese arts and tell how they have influenced Japan. First, however, I will give a little background for these arts. The original word for Japanese martial arts was bujutsu, or art of the military. This had more to do with physical techniques than philosophical and mental. The physical, mental and philosophical techniques were combined to create budo, or way of the military. Budo was also used to describe the code of the samurai in feudal days. Karate is actually a Japanese word meaning empty hand.(Nakayama 80) This applies that no weapons other than the hands are needed to attack or defend. Karate is categorized into four parts physical conditioning, self-defense, mental conditioning, and sport. A typical Karate tournament would include demonstrations of breaking, weapons use, self-defense techniques, tradition and open forms and the most exciting competition, sparring. Nobody is quite sure when Karate was created, but we do know that an Indian priest, Daruma, a brilliant doctor, Hua T'o, and a popular general of the Sung Dynasty, Yuen Fei, are considered its forefathers. We also know that it was developed in Okinawan islands from Chinese techniques and local innovations as a system of self-defense. In the 1920's, Gichin Funakoshi, an Okinawan schoolteacher taught a method of karate to Japan which caught on. Figure 1 - Sumo Warrior seen meditating before a battle Sumo in its early days tended to be violent with no holds barred. During the reign of Emperor Saga (r. 809-23) the practice of sumo was encouraged as a martial art and rules were established and techniques cultivated. It is impossible to determine whether the art of sumo is a completely native sport or whether similar forms of grappling from other parts of Asia and Eurasia influenced it. Grappling is a rather basic, instinctive sport practiced mostly by men. In fact, the first grappling match ever described went as so, 'lowly mortals grappled for quite a while until one finally rendered some devastating kicks to the other's stomach and solar plexus. The one who was kicked was mortally wounded, and the victor went cheered.'(Newton 103) The earliest written mention of sumo is found in the Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters), a book from the year 712. According to the book, about 2,500 years ago, the gods Takemikazuchi and Takeminakata grappled along the Japan Sea coast in what is now Shimane-ken, until the latter finally lost. Takemikazuchi, who is said to have established the imperial family from which emperors could trace their roots, gave control of the archipelago to the Japanese people. The Japanese did not keep any written records until the 8th century. This means it is impossible to know, aside from the legend, exactly when the art of sumo first developed in Japan. However, ancient wall paintings indicate the origin is very old. Jujitsu is a 3,000-year-old martial art. It originated from a blending of native sumo and fighting techniques in Japan with the soft aspects of Kung Fu from China. Jujitsu incorporates empty hand defense and offense as well as bone setting and healing techniques for use by the instructor to fix any injuries occurring during training. It is also the predecessor of Aikido and Judo. One popular style of jujitsu is Danzan Ryu (the Cedar Mountain System.) Seishiro Okazaki founded Danzan Ryu Jujitsu. He got tuberculosis and sought to build his strength in martial arts. Affecting a cure due to the 6 days per week workout, massage and healing by his sensei, he dedicated his life to study of Budo & healing. Another style of jujitsu is ninjitsu. Ninjitsu is the art of invisibility. Along with its jujitsu background, it can also be traced back to Chinese spying techniques. Ninjas were used in the sixth century to gain information about the enemy and sabotage his operations. However, we now call ninjas anybody who practices this art. Ninjas can be both male and female, but must possess three abilities. They must be a hunter, a wizard and a warrior. As with

Examine the presentation of Claudius in Act 1 Essay Example

Examine the presentation of Claudius in Act 1 Essay Example Examine the presentation of Claudius in Act 1 Paper Examine the presentation of Claudius in Act 1 Paper William Shakespeares Hamlet is a play of deceit, hypocrisy and most importantly revenge. The play is written in Shakespearean language, and is one of Shakespeares many classics. There are a few main characters in this play, which consist of Hamlet, Gertrude and Ophelia, but the character in question here is Claudius. Shakespeare, who is most famous for his creation of characters, which seem like real people, has portrayed Claudius as astute, cunning, but yet accomplished in a sense. The audience seem to make an immediate judgement of Claudius after Act ( scene ? as Shakespeare uses Claudiuss first speech to out line his character. Claudiuss first speech is very important and reflects his character and also the play. It primarily is about betrayal, incest, marriage and death. He talks about war, his newly beloved wife, his valiant brothers funeral, the Prince of Norway and Laertes. Shakespeares technique here uses a lot of juxtaposition mixed with alliteration for this speech. The main one is when Claudius is talking about Gertrude he says sometime sister which portrays incest. This is a very interesting choice of language because it has a double meaning. One being Claudius trying to say after Hamlet Seniors death he is in no way related to Gertrude. But when read into more detail he could have also said this to show the audience, incest. Alliteration and juxtaposition has been used again, when the ghost talks about Claudius, he says, A serpent stung me. This an excellent choice of juxtaposition as it makes the audience very curious. This is because the audience want to know how the King died, and also gets the audience thinking, because a serpent does not sting it bites. The alliteration here is again the sss sound. This is the sound of a snake, and a snake represents evil. There is one other occasion when Claudius is referred to as an animal, is when hamlet is doing a soliloquy and he says Hyperion to a satyr. This shows Hamlets sarcasm towards Claudius and also means Claudius is very hasty. Again in line 10 he uses juxtaposition. Defeated joy, is the term that is used here and Shakespeare has used this here because it is a shortened explanation of the next few lines. Here is a very important quote when Claudius says, With mirth in funeral and dirge in marriage which is exactly what he was talking about when he said defeated joy. This quote is basically showing how everyone is feeling, because one side of them is happy for Claudius and Gertrude getting married, and the other side till a certain extent they are still mourning the great kings death. In a sense just this little part of the speech already shows the link to the country with the king, and also shows how respected and powerful the king is, but also how conniving he is because he very cleverly moves on from Hamlet Seniors death to his marriage with Gertrude in the speech. Another very interesting line from the king is line 64 where again juxtaposition is used, but this time in a sentence, But now, my cousin Hamlet, and my son. This is a very good contradiction as he is trying to say, just because he is married to Gertrude, he is also Hamlets father. Shakespeare very cleverly shows this as it sums up Claudius in a sentence. It shows the king to be manipulative, and powerful. There are a few other techniques used in this speech. Body politic is used in line 4 where Claudius says brow of woe. Which shows he is a little bit upset because of his brothers death and this little sentence sums up everything. Repetition is another technique used by Shakespeare, where Claudius is talking to Hamlet about his father. The two words that are repeated three times are, father and lost. Shakespeare has used this technique to make Claudius emphasis his point. These few sentences are very important as they show another side to Claudius, the devious side. At first his care towards Hamlet is thought to be conscientious, as he tries very hard to stop hamlet from grieving and tries to show him its the course of nature. However, later on he says tis a fault to heaven, a fault against the dead, a fault to nature. This is Claudius trying to say it is a sin to grieve so much, not only to your father, but also to God, to the dead, and to nature. This is where the audience see the real side to him, which is vile and selfish. The structure of Claudiuss first speech can be broken down into five main parts. Shakespeare starts him off by talking about the death of Hamlet Senior, and his funeral. A few sentences after that he moves on to talking about marriage. For a speech that is over a 100 lines long, talking about the funeral for about 5 lines must mean the death does not mean a lot to him as he doesnt have a lot to say about it. Shakespeare has presented him like this to make him hated by the audience and can in a way be seen as a villain. After talking about the marriage he moves on to war and politics, and talks about Fortinbras and war with Norway, which shows his power and respect. Then he moves onto Laertes, and he asks him for any wish he will grant. This again portrays his power. Finally he moves onto hamlet. He explains why he thinks Hamlet should not go to his university. He says comfort of our eye this again is ironic because the audience see him as being caring but this quote could also mean they want to keep an eye on him. Here Claudius is speaking on behalf of him and Gertrude but is actually talking about himself. In conclusion Claudius, has been presented as cunning, desperate, in a sense clever, very respected and powerful. His character also comes across as the manipulative type, and always gets what he wants and if he doesnt would go to extreme measures to get it. The repetition and the body politic in this speech is fewer than the juxtaposition and the alliteration. I think Shakespeares combination of juxtaposition and alliteration work exquisitely together and the effects are substantial.

Writer's choice Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Writer's choice - Term Paper Example This paper focuses on the methods and tools of hunting employed by each category of man’s evolution. Supposedly, Homo habilis, Homo erectus and Neanderthal each used different methods of hunting and despite similarities in tools, each level of evolution had unique skills of using the tools (William, 47). Homo habilis it is believed to have existed 2.3 million years ago, with a brain capacity of about 650 cc. History shows that the Homo habilis fed on meat and plants. For them to survive with changes in their environments, they had to invent new ways of getting food. The inevitable need for change caused Homo habilis to invent stone tools that were used for hunting (Strada, 24). The Homo habilis, commonly referred to as the maker of crude tools, curved out round stones to obtain sharp edges. Use of the stone technique marks the beginning of an interesting use of brain by man. Historically, Homo habilis are credited for inventing tools. Homo habilis made stone cobbles which they used for hunting, and wedged stones that were used for cutting. These tools helped Homo habilis in chores like hammering, chopping and digging holes. Apparently, these chores were used for the primary purpose of making traps for animals. Actually, the Homo habilis invented tools for the sole purpose of improving hunting techniques. Most tools used by the Homo habilis were found in East Africa and parts of Asia (William, 56). Remains of Homo erectus were discovered in Indonesia, and are alleged to have existed more than 1.8 million years ago. Unlike the Homo habilis, Homo erectus had a larger brain capacity. The bigger brain would later be used to develop the element of speech. Members of the Homo erectus are credited for inventing Acheulean tools (William, 46). Similar to any other category of man’s evolution, Homo erectus also hunted animals for food but used more improved methods. For instance, use of better traps and fire commenced during the Homo erectus

Buddhism and jainism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Buddhism and jainism - Essay Example Buddhism is one of the indigenous religions in India, which came into existence around 2500 years ago. It is presumably the fourth largest religion in the world after the likes of Islam, Christianity and Hinduism (Doniger, 2010). The Buddhist followers around the world are approximately 390 million as of the statistics conducted in 2012. In India, Buddhism is very dominant in the East that is presumed to be the origin of the region. However over the years the region has influenced the west by constantly attracting new followers (Kelsang, 2011). Over the years since its origin, this religion has metamorphosed into a variety of sub-religions all which share common beliefs and faith. Despite the variety of religions that exist under the parent Buddhism the religion has grown into a form that emphasize on religious rituals and also strict emphasis on the worship of deities. However, Buddhism is primarily founded on the pretext that its followers are supposed to maintain pure mediation wi th the divinity and in this case Buddhist (Kelsang, 2011). The followers of this religion have the obligation to respect the teachings of Buddhism, which is the fundamental objective of this religion. Worship in Buddhism is conducted in a temple that is considered a sacred/holy place of worship where the followers are supposed to maintain purity as they are not supposed to enter the temple with shoes (Doniger, 2010). Buddha the divine element in this religion is regarded as a teacher who directs them on how they are supposed to lead their social life in order to receive favour from him. Worship in Buddhism is conducted in the Vihara but is not scheduled on a specific day or time to conduct the process; the followers are free to conduct worship sessions at any time of the day without any particular followed schedule or proceeding timetable (Kelsang, 2011). During worship food and flowers are placed at the Buddha statue in the

Nike Case Study Essay Example for Free

Nike Case Study Essay The Nike employer brand is extremely powerful in attracting potential talent to the business making the process of handling applications and supporting the resourcing process effectively and efficiently critical to business success; implementing e-recruitment was identified as the way to solve this businesses hiring problems. The issue Nike currently receives around 800 CVs each month. It has on average 100 to 120 open positions at any one time at Nike’s EMEA Headquarters (HQ) in Hilversum, the Netherlands. These volumes used to place considerable pressure on the resourcing function to reduce the administration and lead-time in the recruiting process. Handling the inflow of applications became challenging as the regional HQ grew dramatically in size. This resulted in high numbers of CVs circulating in the business whilst the company had little capability of tracking their progress or handling enquiries from job applicants. We have a firm policy that each applicant is a potential employee and customer and so we must respond appropriately, in an individual letter where possible,† commented Rolien Hoogers, EMEA staffing manager at Nike. â€Å"With only four people on the team, we were finding it increasingly hard to do that, and we were losing track of where CVs were in the company. We became concerned about how well we were protecting applicants personal information, and there were mistakes, such as us calling someone in for an interview who was already due to come in later that day. The action These problems led Nike to review their HR processes. The assessment demonstrated that the company had to standardise its HR processes in an attempt to reduce duplication of effort. Reducing the cost per hire and improving the overall quality of talent hired into the business were key goals. Nike felt that achieving these objectives and improving effectiveness would help to boost the company image. Faster response times to applicants together with consistency in handling the administration associated with each appointment would lead to improved internal effectiveness and efficiency. The solution Jobpartners provided Nike with an e-recruitment solution, ActiveRecruiter, which has been designed to help companies manage the entire recruitment process more effectively and quickly resulting in a better relationship between the company and its candidates. The solution was chosen by Nike as it offered flexibility and simplicity, was cost effective and could be easily integrated with the existing programmes from PeopleSoft. A number of avenues are now open to candidates who wish to apply for jobs at Nike. External applicants can apply for specific roles or for more general speculative job opportunities directly via the Nike website. Electronic links have also been established with external web-based recruitment organisations including Monsterboard. Conventional resourcing processes including newspaper advertising and head-hunting , particularly for more senior positions supplement these e-methods. Nike employees can also directly apply for jobs posted on the intranet. The majority of applicants apply to Nike via the web site (www.nikebiz.com) and can attach their resume after filling in their profile enabling line managers to review applications online. Paper copy CVs are no longer required. ActiveRecruiter makes the first match between the job requirements and the competencies and experience of the candidate. The system then retains a pool of applicants on file, which ensures Nike has a readily available supply of CVs for open positions. The number of CVs currently held on the database is in the region of 8500. Each registered applicant is automatically asked to update their CV every six months in order to remain active on the system. The system is then able to search an expanding database of future interest when open positions arise. This helps to reduce the costs of recruitment. ActiveRecruiter also provides the ability to search for specific competencies when a short-listing for open positions is being run. This ensures a better quality of candidate. The result Hoogers comments: â€Å"Savings of around 54% in recruitment costs have been identified since the system was first introduced in July 2002, and there has been far less reliance on external recruitment and search agencies due to the ‘future interest’ database.† From June 2003 to May 2004, a total of 556 positions were filled with 235 internal Nike candidates, 144 from the Nike database, 60 through the internal referral bonus programme, and 35 via headhunting organisations. The remainder came from job adverts and recruitment consultancy, Adecco. The average time to fill vacancies has fallen from 62 days to 42 days. The cost per hire has also been reduced. Nike believes that ActiveRecruiter has given a return on investment in just six months. Lessons learnt The three key learning points identified by Nike during the process of change management include: 1.The importance of involving recruiters in the development and implementation process from an early stage. 2. The benefit of ensuring that recruiters have a place in the project to help get buy-in 3.The role of communication. Internal customers and users of the system have to see benefits, not just to the business as a whole, but also in terms of helping them to achieve their recruitment targets by attracting quality people with the necessary skills and attributes. Future Trends Nike feels that even greater potential exists in improving the quality of the overall resourcing process as ActiveRecruiter is developed further in the EMEA region. The vision for ActiveRecruiter at Nike is for it to become a ‘one-stop-shop’ for quality recruiting. This will help ensure that increased time can be put into improving the capability of line management in interviewing techniques, and that the resourcing group can be freed up to play a more consulting and advisory role. Nike is planning to continue to measure and improve the effectiveness of its resourcing processes, which can only enhance its employer brand in the market place.

Teens and Sex - Abortion and Teenagers :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics

Abortion And Teenagers Throughout the semester, I have been researching information concerning abortion. Many people are totally against abortion, while others feel that there is nothing wrong with it. Some say that even if the fetus is one week or 45 weeks old it is still considered murder. Where do we draw a line? It is obvious that there will never be a right or wrong answer. Every women should have the right to do what she wants. Whether it is abortion or not. Some say that even contraception is wrong. Martin Luther called contraception homicide. One man said that who ever uses contraceptives would lose their souls. This does relate to abortion because if a couple only has sex just to initiate life, then there would be less diseases, very little abortions, and not many adoptions. Throughout the semester, I have been researching some of the many issues that relate to abortion. There are a few questions from type "A" category that I will try to answer based on what I have read throughout the semester. Many people often wonder what type of restrictions or shall I say rules are there for different states. In Pennsylvania, there is a requirement that teenagers show the consent of one parent or a judge, and another that puts a 24-hour waiting period for a woman after hearing a presentation from her doctor of alternatives to abortion. There has also been a provision that would have required women to inform their husbands if they wanted to have an abortion. Since states cannot ban abortion completely, they are trying to push restrictions like those in Pennsylvania. In most states, there will be a decision on whether or not teens have the right to obtain an abortion without involving their parents in the decision. Some say that if this actually goes through, then teens might seek an illegal abortion in their own state or might even consider self-abortion. States are also considering consent from the father and they are considering prohibiting the use of federal funds for abortions which might limit the teens options. Many pregnant teens avoid having an abortion, but then turn to adoption. It is estimated that approximately 3% of pregnant adolescents will place their infant for adoption. Some authors say that increasing the difficulty of having an abortion will have an effect on adoptions. They argue that pregnant adolescents will turn to adoptions instead, but then again the reason that there is such a low adoption rate is because of the legalization of abortions in the United States.

Journal of My Two Live

Reading Jhumpa Lahiri’s essay, My Two Live, I got that the author, as an Indian-American, tried to define herself throughout her whole life. The changing of her feeling for her identity and the death of her parents and her bicultural experience changed her feeling for her identity from humiliating to confusing to accepting to cherishing. Lahiri wanted convey us that the bicultural things can be seen as a shifting equation and she used â€Å"one plus one† for instances. Basically, I agree with her notion. However, in my opinion, the result of the equation is not just zero or two. It should be equal three or even bigger, when you really understand your great nation, United State of America. In one hand, I think most of people would very easy to lose their way when they are squeezed by two different cultures existing in their daily life. As the second generation of immigrants, my older cousin also had used to face this issue. When, he was a middle school student, he had avoided speaking Chinese, changing his hair’s color to yellow, and love to eat sandwiches and drink soda. Tried to do lot of things to make him seemed more â€Å"American†. Obviously, he is an American without any embellished. But, he did not understand this at that moment. As a naive child, he just hoped he can looks more similar with others around him. At that time, one plus one, of course, smaller than two or even equal zero. In the other hand, along with the growing up, the more social experiences you collected, the deeper understanding of yourself, then you would find that the result of this equation bigger, not limited in two. Because two different cultures combined together is not a simply one plus one equation. It contains great potential and energy, like when carbon meets oxygen can explode incredible brilliancy. Actually, I am not so familiar with America history or the great persons of this nation. However, story of my elder cousin’s I would love to share. As I aforementioned, he had used to doubt himself. But now, his has already got the doctor degree and even published a paper in Science, one of the most top scientific journals in the world. I remember acknowledgment of his doctoral defence stated that he would love to thanks his dear grandma since to be a doctor is grandma’s dream. Following the willing of grandparents or parents is a very traditional thinking in China. When persevering and enduring hardship, which comes from his family, meets critical and innovative coming from his American part, my cousin got an achievement. I think that beyond what one plus one equal two can include. So far, he hope his children can be teach by Chinese culture or even study in China someday, even if his wife is a White. I am not sure if this example reasonable, but this is what I really want to tell. Moreover, as a foreigner, from my sight of view, America is the one of most open and tolerant nations in the world. Democratic† and â€Å"Liberty† are two words what Americans the most proud of and pursuing. Thus, when you are walking on a normal street in any city of US, you will find that really like walking in the United Nations. Citizens of the USA might have various colors of sinks, speak English with different accents, and wear sorts of clothes. What’s more, you can buy anything you want by yourself in spite of understanding nothing English. I think this interesting phenomenon just belongs with America. Therefore, unique and individual are very common and important value of America. Everyone have an American dream, and everyone have the opportunity to achieve it. You can learn everything you like and grow individually. American culture comes from hundreds of cultures. The diversity of culture creates lots of advantages to the US, comparing with any other countries. All these above are the reasons why America, a country less than 300 years history, can be the greatest nation all over the world. Therefore, don’t be confusion because this is a part of America, what make it so amazing and fantastic.