Saturday, July 29, 2017

Episode LXVIII "Ich Bin Ein Podcaster"


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Intro Music: Theme from Enter the Dragon by Lalo Schiri

Introduction
  Recorded on: July 26th, 2017
  Reviews for iTunes
  Gi Review from Piranha Gear

Interlude Music: Faeries Wear Boots by Black Sabbath

Interview with: Peter Boylan

  Musings of a Budo Bum
  The Jet Program
  Movies
    The Twilight Samurai
    Iron Fist 
  Books
    The Tao of Pooh
    Legends of the Samurai  Sword by Karl Friday
    Old School by Ellis Amdur
    Dueling with O Sensei by Ellis Amdur
  Contacts
    The Budo Bum Blog

Interlude Music: Faeries Wear Boots by Black Sabbath

This Week in Martial Arts: July 26th, 1973 Premiere of Enter the Dragon

Contact Info
Facebook
Twitter
martialthoughts@gmail.com

Outro Music: Voodoo Chile-Jimi Hendrix/Gayageum ver. by Luna

Wednesday, July 5, 2017

4.5 Nina Star Review of "Musing of a Budo Bum" by Peter Boylan

In the interests of full disclosure, I was given this book for review purposes

Title: Musings of a Budo Bum
Author: Peter Boylan
Published: 2017
Format: Softcover
Pages: 154
Cover Price: $20.00 ($8.99 Kindle Edition)

Take Away: A great series of essays on what Japanese budo (martial ways) are.

    I practice Japanese martial arts.  I have for now over 15 years.  For a while now, see my other reviews, I've been reading and exploring other martial arts and their philosophies.  I even studied a non-Japanese arts, Pencak Silat from Indonesia for a little over a year.  But I've returned back to a Japanese martial art recently.  I don't have a pro-Japanese bias, its just where I've studied.  I enjoyed the time away, learning other culture (martial and otherwise) but this book was a nice return home.  It reminds me of what I enjoy about studying budo.

Content


    The book is a collection of essays from the author's blog, called The Budo Bum.  It takes 28 essays about budo and collects them into one place.  Each one is only a couple of pages long, and can be read pretty quickly.  They are grouped together into several topic centered sections which allows the reading of one essay to build on the reading of the previous one.


Pros



    This subject is in my wheelhouse.  I also practice Japanese budo.  Every single time Mr. Boylan described an occurrence he had in his budo training, I was nodding my head.  I've had very similar happenings, though in different martial arts, and different settings.  I liked the quick essay format for this book.  It reminded me of Zen in the Martial Arts by Joe Hyams in that you can read a small bit, think about it, and then either ponder it through out the day, or dive back in to absorb some more.  This makes it very approachable information and description.  Because, honestly, these are some deeper subjects for martial artists.  Every single section had me thinking of my own training, both for what I've done in the past, and how I'm going to train in the future.

Cons


    The only flaw, if you can call it that, with this book would be that it is Japanese martial art specific.  However, that is based on the experience of the author, and everything he says, can be applied to other arts.  It just seems to me, the Japanese are more dogmatic in their approach to budo.

Conclusion


    You can always tell how useful a book is to me by how many times I grab a highlighter.  Well, I grabbed for the fluorescent yellow (and several other colors) a lot in this book.  Nearly every section I highlighted passages.  Sometimes a couple of times in the same essay  It could be an idea I wanted to expand upon later, or it could be a way to describe something that I'm going to use for my students.
    I have no flaws in this book.  This book is so well done, and comprises such good wisdom that I'm going to give it to my students to read.  Even if you don't practice a Japanese art, but are looking to get into the more of the philosophical or, I hate the use of this word, spiritual aspect of martial arts, especially the training then this book is for you.  Its for those reasons that I'm going to give this book 4.5 out of 5 Ninja Stars.  Its very readable, it is deep with valuable wisdom to the budoka (practitioner of budo), and it is varied enough in subject to keep you reading.  The only reason it isn't a full 5 Ninja Stars is because, although I am sure the information and wisdom would be valuable to non-Japanese art practitioners, it is specifically targeted  towards them.  Either way, I'm definitely going onto The Budo Bum and subscribing as soon as I'm done writing this review.

Monday, July 3, 2017

Episode LXVII-Four Score and 20 Podcasts Ago

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Intro Music: Theme from Enter the Dragon by Lalo Schifri

Introduction
  Recorded on: July 3rd, 2017
  Begging for iTunes Review
  Mifune: The Last Samurai 

Interlude Music: Land of Confusion by Genesis

Interview: Phil Trent
  Author of Flawless Deception: The Truth Behind the Samurai Schools

  Movies
    The Last Samurai
    The Duelists
    Gross Point Blank
    Kingdom of Heaven
    Red Sun
      Charles Bronson, Toshiro Mifune
    Shogun

  Books
    Face of Battle
    Warrior Traditions by Koryu Books
    Legacies of the Sword by Dr. Karl Friday
    Anything by Ellis Amdur
      Hidden in Plain Sight
    State of War by Dr. Tomas Conlin
    The Flower of Chivalry by William Marshal
    Donn F. Draeger

  Contact
    Facebook: Genuine Samurai Martial Arts of Dallas
    Blog: Koryu Matters
    Youtube: Genuine Samurai Martial Arts of Dallas
 

Interlude Music: Head Like a Hole by Nine Inch Nails

This Week in Martial Arts: July 2nd, Big Trouble in Little China Premiered

Contact Info
Email
Facebook 
Twitter

Outro Music: Voodoo Chile-Jimi Hendrix/Gayaguem by Luna