I awake. Early in the morning. Again. On a Sunday morning. Two things on my mind: Hibernate and OPI3. Work-related issues… puzzles… and they’ve followed me home. Argh! My mind just can’t let go and I just have to research more. But at least I think I’ve found some answers. Good thing the code is at the office otherwise I’d be hacking through it.
Capoeira Batizado
Jem and I went to observe and shoot a capoeira batizado this afternoon. Capoeira is a Brazilian martial art that has a distinct dance feel because way back during its inception, martial arts was prohibited and as such was disguised as a dance. The Batizado is a capoeira event where practitioners are “baptized” into the art.
I’ve heard and read about capoeira before but this is my first time to see it for real. It was a bit underwhelming since most of the performers were apparently new students and the instructors were also playing it lightly. Of course, they could just be trying to fool me. If so, they succeeded.
I watched as the practitioners go around throwing kicks high and low. There’s also the occasional hand strikes. The instructors also employ sweeps and other take-downs. Definitely it is graceful. But overall, it just seemed too flashy and looks ineffective. But that’s just me. Of course the the music and dance aspect add quite a bit to the fun factor.
But martial is the operative word here. I have decided that a good martial art must be easy to learn and proven to be effective. Easy to learn because you don’t want to spend a lifetime to be able to defend yourself. And proven effective because you don’t want to learn that your martial art is far from it while you are facing a drug-crazed maniac in some dark alley.
I think that the closest it gets to this simple ideal is a grappling art like jiu-jitsu complemented with some kickboxing (which originated from muay thai, karate, and boxing but is now essentially a distinct art). This mix is the usual combination that has been proven time and time again in the UFC which is about as real as it can get.
In the UFC, you don’t see flashy martial arts like Wushu, Tae-kwon Do, Aikido, etc. Maybe, these are effective once you master those but apparently the fighters representing these arts in the UFC needed to study a bit more. There goes easy to learn.
Back Online
Finally! After over a month (or is it two?) of suffering through an almost non-existent Internet connection at home, ZPDee was finally able to fix the darn thing. And it took, what? Countless requests for service, three visits to check the cable modem, and who knows how many visits to fix the cable outside. That is just pathetic. There’d better be a rebate.
Spark Plugs
Yesterday, I was driving back along with some officemates to the office from lunch when the engine suddenly died. Luckily, there was a nearby Rapide branch and I was able to coast to just outside their doorstep. They did some diagnostic tests and were able to immediately isolate and fix the problem to the spark plugs. My bad. I haven’t replaced them for almost a year already. The bill went to around P1,500 including the cost of the replacement plugs. Which was okay. Could definitely have been worse. Lesson learned: replace spark plugs regularly. Ignore those long-life plugs stories.
Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade
Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade has got to be the better animes, nay, movies I’ve seen. The movie is set in an alternate post-war, post-occupation Japan where the occupiers were the Germans instead of Americans. The German influence can be seen in the vehicles, weapons, and armor of the character. It is the story of a member of an elite police unit who was unable to fire at and thus prevent a girl terrorist from detonating a bomb she was carrying. He wondered why the girl did what she did and sought out more information about her. In the process, she met the girl’s sister. Pretty soon they were caught up in a whirlwind of romance and conspiracy. The artwork is subtle but beautiful, the story deep and compelling, and the ending classic film noir. It puts a lot of Hollywood movies to shame.
Rating: 5/5