Wednesday, December 1, 2010

SIP - Goju Ryu Meibukan

           I read the book Goju-Ryu, which is a specific type of martial arts that involve quick harsh movements. The founder of Goju-Ryu was Chojun Miyagi. Goju-Ryu is Japanese for Hard-soft techniques. Each and every master of the Goju-Ryu dojo had one accomplishment in life, it was to build character, conquer human misery, and find spiritual freedom. In this specific martial arts, there are steps of movement one must take in order to master this martial arts, it’s called a kata. In a kata, you must take each and every knowledge you know about this martial arts, and it is formed in one ‘dance’ movement. There are 12 katas in all, Gekisai, Saifa, Sanchin, Tensho, Kihongata, Kaishugata, Seiyunchin, Shisochin, Sanseiru, Seipai, Kururunfan, and Seisan. When translated into English it stands for, Attack and destroy, smash and tear, three battles, heaven’s breath, kata of basics, kata with open hands, attack and conquer, fight in four directions, 36 hands, 18 hands, holding on and striking suddenly, and 13 hands. The last kata is not really counted because it is only performed by masters, it’s called the Suparinpei. Only 3 people have mastered this technique, Meitoku Yagi, Miyagi, and Morio Higaonna, once they passed away, there was no one to teach it to.
           This book had interesting knowledge, but the literacy was really boring, I wouldn’t recommend it unless you have a special interest in Goju-Ryu’s martial arts. If you don’t then you might as well put this book down and find another.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Book Review 3: Runemarks

This was a really great book, I've read Greek mythology, but never Norse mythology. Maddy Smith, the main character, first starts out as a simple farm girl in a far away town in the middle of the woods. Then, later becomes the savior of her world. Personally, I love stories like that, where the main character has no importance in the beginning of the story, but eventually the main character has great importance in the future. In this book, Joanne Harries, fits that kind of story in there here novel. Her descriptive words made it very easy to understand the book, when she wrote, "The dead know everything, but they don't give a damn." It worried me through the book, I though there was some knowledge that the dead knew that might unlock some secrets that should have never been unlocked in the first place, but when I took another look at the words, I made new theories of what the sentence may actually mean. I started thinking that, the dead only knew everything because, when they pass away they're sent to 'Hel', a mystical place where everyone goes when they die, and the knowledge of everything lies in Hel, but for some odd reason the dead doesn't care about the knowledge they received because they're too dramatized that they're dead. Another fantastic quote that interested me equally as the previous one was, "You can play with fire, but don't surprised if the fire plays back." Some people would immediately come to the conclusion of, "Go ahead, play with fire.", but if you look at if from a different perspective, you make see the meaning of this quote a lot differently from before. In my opinion, this quote means that you should be able to experiment with anything that you want, though the consequences may be more than you expect. 

I recommend this book with the highest priority, only if you like mythology. If you're into any type of mythology, Teutonic or Greek, Norse mythology shouldn't be any difficult to understd. Hopefully, you'll flow through this book like I did. Don't you like it when the words get to your head so vividly that it creates a story in your mind? I think everyone does, if you do too, then get this book as soon as possible from your local library

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Book Review 2: Sea of Monsters

       Just like the first book, it just keeps getting better and better. Though what I don’t like sometimes is too much drama, it just gets annoying sometimes. All that lovey dovey stuff, it annoys me, but it seems that Percy and Annabeth are at it, and I guess I have to live with it. Anyways, besides that, this book was very adventurous. Sailing through the seas, finding a mysterious Island, where strong adventurers go and never return. The island of Polyphemus, a giant cyclops threatens Percy, very exciting. What really interested me was in the beginning where Percy had a dream that Grover was in trouble, this shows that Percy has developed a great relationship with Grover that they could communicate through their minds. A funny quote that Percy was really amusing, "I wasn't sure whether I was supposed to kneel or buy stamps from him or what." He was talking to Hermes, the messenger god, and because he was the messenger god he was confused on whether to kneel or buy stamps, cause he was a messenger, get it? Little humor like that should always be in books. A very interesting quote really caught my attention, and I still don’t fully understand it. “Stealing isn’t always a bad thing.” I think it means that there might be a situation that stealing might actually be affected in a good way. I can’t really make a situation up that they make occur, but If you’re stealing in order to achieve something good, I wouldn’t call that stealing.
    I recommend this book, ONLY if you read the first book. Always begin a story from the beginning, or you’ll never fully understand the story. If you like action suspense, and even drama, this book is the choice for you. Greek mythology is very interesting and I think every person will be very interested in reading into it.

Book Review 1: The Lightning Theif

            This book was great, suspense and drama filled my mind while reading this book. Not one second did I ever think about putting this book down. Though I wouldn’t read it a second time, because I never read a book more than once. From start to end, the book just keeps dragging me into the world of Percy. I love Greek mythology personally, and reading this book taught me a lot about it. I was disappointed at the ending book it was a huge cliff hanger and at the time couldn’t afford the next book, but it was worth reading it. You should always experience the beginning of a tale, or you’ll never truly understand the rest. When Rick wrote "Go on with what your heart tells you, or you will lose all." That was really inspirational, and I think everyone should read this and really listen to what it means. In my opinion, I think it means don’t be afraid to do what you want, because in the end, you might lose something important to you. Another good one that Rick wrote was "Where's the glory in repeating what others have done?". Some people like repeating what others have done for the attention, but I think you shouldn’t do good deeds for the attention of others. You should always do good things because you know it’s right, and probably shouldn’t ask anything for return, like attention or rewards. 
            I recommend this book to anyone around the ages of 13, because Percy at the time, was 13 years old. You’ll see the decisions he make are similar to some of the things you’d do at that age. When I read this book I was 13, and it was very interesting cause I can almost put myself in the position of the main character. I love when stories get so vivid that I have the ability to do that.