Presentation: Kathryn, Vien, Ha and Wendy

Hey, Shoji...This is the link to our presentation. It was posted by Ha yesterday before class, but she put it as a comment under one of the the other posts. I guess it was just missed. Anyway...here it is:

http://download.yousendit.com/6FEB09CE3823B7F8

Thanks for the fun class this semester. Have a good trip to Japan and don't stress out too much next semester. Bye!

Kathryn

Here is the martial arts presentation I did. I am not sure if it will load...if it doesn't, just send me your e-mail address if you want it and I will forward it to you. Thanks for the great semester!

Martial Arts

Martial Arts

            The first written record of martial arts in Japan starts in the Muromachi/Sengoku period.  Samurai were professional soldiers, and martial arts were their job skills.  The syles and schools were less structured and more direct than in the Edo period.  Samurai strove to learn all they could as their skill in combat brought honor to their clan.  At this point, there were no traditions in martial arts – good martial artists who had survived combat passed on their experiences and techniques.  Combat effectiveness was crucial at this time, so the arts stayed true to their original goals.

 

            In the Edo period, eace reigned and the Tokugawa shogunate formed a Japanese autocracy.  The samurai who rose in this era were warriors in name only – for over 250 years, Japan never knew war.  These samurai were essentially white-collar workers who wore swords to signify their rank or status.

            Still, samurai had to learn martial arts – they simply weren’t considered important, because there were no battles.  Schools became systematic and inflexible, and the authorities tried to stop this.  Bushido was eventually formalized to encourage men to become true warriors.  Around this time, the split between “-do” and “-jutsu” schools formed.  Some schools focused on dueling techniques rather than battlefield tactics, as that was the closest most samurai would ever come to battle.  Some samurai were still professional soldiers, however, such as police and castle guards.

 

            The samurai class was abolished (with all the others) in the Meiji period.  Firearms were slowly making bujutsu obsolete.  Dojo died as the clan structure collapsed.  Other schools blended together and formed new schools.  A few were able to retain their heritage, and trained as they had in the Edo period.  Sometimes, it was up to a single family to keep a school or style alive.  When Japan militarized, they used bujutsu and bushido to instill nationalism.  Often, this led to atrocities and warcrimes.  Many martial artists were distressed at this; some even left the country.

 

            After WWII, martial arts began to suffer in Japan.  Many artists had died in the bombings.  Some were disgusted with war and sought lives of peace.  Some were shamed that the Great Japanese Empire had been defeated.  Whatever their reasons, the American occupying force banned martial arts during the demilitarization of Japan.  The few teachers left began to train together in secret.  Eventually, some martial artists began to present their arts as “sport.”  Some of these changes stuck – some did not.  The government eventually encouraged this as it helped further separate modern culture and samurai culture.  This has also led to the modern day, where bushido is restricted to the octagon of the UFC and the rings of Pride and K-1 fights.

             

Final Presentation: Weird Trends in Japan!!!

by Christy Burgin, Susan Hang, Sonny Nguyen, and Airicks Vang

Final Presentation: Religion in Japan

sorry, i didn't know how to embed the PowerPoint
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My Final Presentation

Hey Guys

My final presentation can be downloaded from here...it will only be available for the next 7 days..or 100 downloads..whichever comes first. :-)

-Tavleen

http://download.yousendit.com/7B4949BA2FE49791

Fugaku Taiko Concert

The fantastic Taiko performance will be coming to Davidson College!!

January 25th
8:00pm
Tickets $15 non-Davidson college students, $8, Davidson college students.
Davidson College will be selling ticket at Davidson College Box Office starting from December 3rd, 10:00am. Phone number is :704-894-2135. Ticket sale website is:
http://www.davidson.edu/tickets

This incredible taiko drumming ensemble has traveled all the way from the Mt. Fuji area of Japan. Fugaku Taiko, founded in 1977, presents more than 100 performances a year in Japan and around the world. They were also the first taiko group to discover the benefits of taiko therapy for mentally handicapped individuals, and their touring ensemble now features several handicapped players.

Fugaku Taiko's performance is sponsored by the Davidson College Union Board, the Japanese Teachers' Association of Charlotte & Gastonia, and Triangle Taiko.

The performance is made possible in part by the generous support of the Nippon Taiko Foundation. Fugaku Taiko is the first group from the Foundation to visit the Southeastern United States. Don't miss this great opportunity to enjoy the energy and artistry of professional Japanese taiko in your own backyard!

Please spread the word about this fantastic performance!

Please visit this website for more information about Fugaku Taiko.
http://www3.davidson.edu/cms/x29125.xml

Thank you very much

Thank you very much everyone for taking this class.
This semester is finally ending soon.
This semester was a very hard one for me.
My life was soooo scheduled and always busy. I made a lot of disorganization and confusion in the classes, then many things didn't work well. So many things made me crazy, and I was always worried about something. I sometimes didn't want to go to class and didn't want to stand and speak in front of the students.
But anyway I hope everything will be fine in 10 days or so.
I'll go back to Japan for about two weeks and hope it's refreshing my mind.
Anyway, thank you again, and see you at the final presentation.
Final presentation is:
December 13th Thursday at 5pm
If you have any question about the presentation, please don't hesitate to call me (704-975-3191). Please don't make some confusion at the last minute on the presentation day. Please call me as soon as possible if you got any problem.