Old Man Misogi

Whenever I think I am "out there" in my views or practices, turns out it is not big deal...  I am swimming in 48 degree F water, these guys in 29 degree F water.  It's all psychological....  I made it from 68 to 48 degree water no problem, why not 48 to 28, like these guys?



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Paris Murders

Sickening

In the Jewish history of the crusades, the Jewish chroniclers point out that on the way to Palestine, the Christians settled scores with the Jews in their path for lampooning the Christ.  It's what religious people do.  It is not a good idea to piss off people about their religion for fun and money.

In any event, why do we allow three murderers to define a religion?  Does not giving 3 out of 1.5 billion people the power to make a definition rather invite their efforts?

And what goes around comes around... if this is not a false flag event, it certainly is an example of western training and equipment... what goes around comes around.  Of course the murderers spoke perfect French, how else would they master Western killing techniques and equipment?

And with total information awareness, we are all getting searched every airplane ride, every single email, letter posted and phone call and step on the street recorded, these guys were never detected?  Or is this another pack of dogs that slipped the leash...?

No one deserves to be shot down like that, but when the West eliminated all of the moderates in their quest for hegemony, what's left is the hard guys.  

And recall, the jihadists insisted the beheaded "journalists" were spies, and their backgrounds are appropriately vague, and we just launched a major movie in which journalists are recruited by the CIA to blow the head off of world leader, and do so.  A comedy.  hahaha... 

If and when media is no longer controlled so as to only state-approved material percolates to the to publication, "journalists" will be state actors and perceived targets.  Do you think a magazine poking fun at religion was subscription and advertising based finance?

Rush Limbaugh quite innocently asserts no one ever tells him what to say. The reason his career advanced is no one ever has to... of all the people in radio, he says exactly what the hegemon wants heard, so his shows gets all the of Go Army ads and other public service, big biz, etc sponsors that 600 radio stations badly need to stay afloat.

To claim to prefer to die standing rather than live kneeling is rather precious when your work is subsidized by the state.  But keep in mind your heroics gets a wounded cop executed on the pavement.

And God help all those who love to view the snuff films the internet players post to corrupt us all...

The middle east wars are for the middle east to sort out.  USA soldiers need to come home and get to work.  Hegemony isolates us, we need to end USA Isolationism and promote world peace and economic justice starting in USA, and be a beacon to the world, instead of a scourge.

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Aikido - The Original Modern MMA

When the founder of aikido was a fourth degree black belt in kendo, he decided to blend all his training in sumo, aikijutsu, judo into a mixed martial art, with a rather spiritual dimension.  Glad he did...  When Bernie Lau promoted me to fourth degree, it was so I could start my own style, like Bernie did, and his patron, O Sensei.  Glad I didn't.

But that kendo root is important.  In yesterdays post I talked about not leaning back...  well, to keep the right position in irimi and tenkan moves, kendo has specific instructions.  Hold the sword above your head, with your pelvis thrust forward, yet standing relatively straight...  as though you are in the shower and trying to fill your belly button with water.  (You cannot fill your belly button with water standing in the shower, but the attempt gives you an idea of where your pelvis should be.)

Moving through aikido moves with your body in kendo position improves performance remarkably.  And that is the point of mixing martial arts, to improve things.

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Being Thrown Hard

The hardest I've ever hit the mats was being thrown by a judo man.  Ippon, no reservation, very much hurt.  I survived.  Mainly because back in the day we trained both aikido roll and hard fall, judo style.  Aikido fall/roll the legs are crossed, judo fall the legs are spread.  You don't know until you are in the air whether this will need a hard fall or a roll, better be able to adjust midair.

Since the top aikido people were all originally judomen, I took about six months of judo two times to work on koshinage and other techniques.  In Mel Augustine's dojo I once saw a guy thrown so hard he went into convulsions.  We were taught how to stop nosebleeds and re-descend testicles in aikido, as well as Japan style resuscitation, but in judo, they used them.

Aikido practice can be more action than judo, and back in the day occasionally we'd be so tired and thrown so hard we might black out but find ourselves standing because we automatically rolled out of it.  I remember thinking this is not good, to be blacked out and standing.  Also, sometimes you can judo/hard fall in a way you can stand up without rolling forward...  hard fall with enough forward momentum to just let yourself stand up from it.  One looks like a bouncing rag doll.

When practicing aikido as a martial art, game on, your opponent hits the ground hard.  Both uke and nage work to accomplish this, with uke making sure the nage has not leaned back to accomodate the presence of uke.  Uke's feet, even though stationary, should feel the tension in the surface of the feet on the mats increasing as nage is moving into position for the throw.  The nage is taking up slack while never accomodating, by any lean back, the uke's presence.  Uke knows the fall will be hard from the friction on the feet at launch, the acceleration from the necessarily smaller circle, bam!

Too often uke and nage conspire to make it dance, not even attractive dance, by leaning off balance on the part of nage and failure to counter the error by uke.

You learn more faster if practicing aikido as a martial art.

Misogi update:  yes, I went swimming new years day, and since then.  Odd, I began to regret the days are getting longer now, so that means the temperature drop will reverse at some point, and I'll lose the cold water swimming benefit.  Sure the Sound won't get higher than 55, but it won't go to 48 either...  sheesh... just when you are having fun....  also, I did not get the wet-suit gloves I wanted to counter the pain of the cold in my fingers, and for fear of chilblains...  but guess what?  Simply keep your fingers together while swimming and they keep each other warm enough...  diving in the cold water is like being thrown hard.

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Torture

You cannot be a Catholic and condone torture.  The Catholic Church teaches torture is an intrinsic evil, which means to be in any way associated with it is a sin.  To merely accept it is a sin.

“The Catholic Church firmly believes that torture is an ‘intrinsic evil’ that cannot be justified under any circumstance,” said Bishop Oscar Cantu, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace, in a statement following the report’s release.

Intrinsic evil means there is no possible justification, but I am just repeating the obvious.

The "ticking time bomb" defense of torture is an impossible scenario in real life, in spite of its constant use in drama.  None of the "if"s can be known, and are unlikely in any event.

There are nine ways you can get into the sin of torture.

I. By counsel
II. By command
III. By consent
IV. By provocation
V. By praise or flattery
VI. By concealment
VII. By partaking
VIII. By silence
IX. By defense of the ill done

You would not know that listening to almost all Catholic radio.  You'd assume otherwise.  They are quite assiduous in condemning abortion, but quite tolerant of torture.  Both abortion and torture are intrinsic evils, and not a matter of prudential judgment, say like the death penalty.

This may be because largely unbeknownst to the naifs who have radio programs, the programs with solid pro-torture hosts somehow, oddly, find an abundance of financial support.  It is known the "intelligence" agencies, pro-torture state apparati, lavishly fund media, we are only uninformed as to which programs they fund.

No one ever has to tell such hosts what to say, they have said it so many times before that they are reliable.  Just add funding, and crowd out seamless garment Catholicism.

I listened to a Catholic business commentator long ago question in all sincerity the USA attack on Iraq, and that was the last time his show was ever on the radio, as far as I could tell.  Crowded out by better funded programs, no doubt.

People of good will, uncertain on the abortion question, hear Catholic Radio defend torture, once by 1 3 5 6 and 8 above, and now 9... and knowing the intrinsic evil of torture, hearing Catholic Radio defend torture, come to doubt its perspicacity on abortion.

I listened to an interview last week of a prominent moral theologian who when asked about torture as intrinsic evil answered it is morally licit to deprive people of their liberty.  A non-sequiter, but there you have it, on the question of torture the answer, somewhat foggy, includes "morally licit."

Once upon a time the President of University of San Francisco, Pres. Lo Schiavo shut down the celebrated basketball program because it was corrupt.  Perhaps it is time to investigate the pro-torture, pro-war bent of Catholic radio, and discern if it is a net deficit for spreading the faith.

China only wants what the USA has, a Church that is subject to the State.

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When Fast Meets Misogi

The air temperature in in the 40s F mostly, and the water temperature is 49 degrees.  I have been fasting the last week, I broke fast this morning.  No food, only clear liquids the last 7 whole days.  This morning a crab louie, lots of greens, sliced boil egg and a wee bit of crab protein.

I swam on day two, but figured I should not push swimming when I am fasting.  Age quod agis.

The challenge in fasting is not refusing food for a week, that is simply training.  The big challenges is to refuse to eat a week's worth of food within a few hours of break fast.

First your body can't process that much, second, what would be the point?  I will be three meals a day instead of my usual two for a few days.

Tomorrow I'll feel like Kong Kong, I always do as the nutrition comes running in, but then the appetite wanes and I'll be back to normal.  I'll wait til them to swim, I don't want to underestimate the weakness brought on by fasting, even though I feel fine.

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Militarization of Cops

Here a active duty soldier compares militarized police with with cops playing soldiers.  Interesting perspective: relaxation level is the key...

http://imgur.com/gallery/fpYzl

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