Star Wars

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[Paula Lydon]

C'mon now, how many of us got into MAs, not entirely but influenced, 20 or less years ago because of Star Wars? The ancient mythologies: Light and Dark, master and apprentice, the Force (Ki), the glow in the dark katana, etc? Just wondering if anyone will own up to it.
May the Force be with you...:D

[mike lee]

The force may be with you, but to me Star Wars is a farce. Bruce Lee was my main motivator. :confused:

No film-making illusions there -- just pure martial arts skill. He was IMHO "The Greatest."

[ChristianBoddum]

Hi !

My entering in the martial arts has no relation to movies,but as part of an acting assignment I have been wandering the dojo in full Darth Wader outfit (with George Lucas approved mask and outfit)reciting imaginary scenes from Star Wars complete with voice distortion unit.Now if someone was passing by

at that time ...

So there you go !

yours - Chr.B.

[shihonage]

Hi !

My entering in the martial arts has no relation to movies,but as part of an acting assignment I have been wandering the dojo in full Darth Wader outfit (with George Lucas approved mask and outfit)reciting imaginary scenes from Star Wars complete with voice distortion unit.Now if someone was passing by

at that time ...

So there you go !

yours - Chr.B.
There's an authentic voice distortion unit which makes you sound like James Earl Jones ?

[Wayne]

For me it was watching lots of Kung Fu reruns while in college.

Wayne

[TomE]

In our dojo the whole Star Wars thing has become somewhat of an inside joke, ever since we collectively watched those movies at somebody's home after practice one evening... Sensei regularly uses Star Wars analogies when explaining bokken techniques now - laughingly, of course (it's not yet that serious, don't worry).

But when I pass my shodan test, I'm going to replace my bokken with a real light saber anyway, heh :D

[Deb Fisher]

Dammit, Paula! You made me admit it!

MA and my own perverse identification/idolization with Luke Skywalker are branches on one tree. Shodan, schmodan... I just want to be a Jedi knight like my father.

May The Force Be With You,

Deb

[ChristianBoddum]

Hi !

Well,the voicedistortionunit was actually

a Boss-overdrive unit operated by a microphone

and a speaker/amplifier attachment - running on 9 volts.dc.

But actually someone didn't take notice that

the voice of James Earl Jones is not distorted

and resemble a clear Black voice in a

Hamlet setting.

Forgot my gloves one time ,had to improvise,

but I did use a nikkyo variation one time,

as a kid challenged me to a fight and thought I was for real...

There you go again !!

Yours - Chr.B.

[Thalib]

Wow... this discussion... is... very... spiritual?

P.S.:

I want to sound like James Earl Jones too...

[Nacho_mx]

Actually the one that started all for me and to this day still impresses me the most is the most agile and gracious of all martial arts masters...Bugs Bunny!

[Deb Fisher]

Hello Thalib,

This is a perfectly spiritual question. The force is within every one of us, it binds the whole galaxy together...

Besides, Joseph Campbell, a theologan wrote a whole book about the Star Wars myth. Kudos to Paula for a well-placed thread.

[Brian Crowley]

I love the Star Wars movies, but I would not say they were an influence on my taking martial arts. Many other media probably influenced me - including Kung Fu (the old series), Kung Fu theatre and, let us not forget, The Master (remember the "1st American Ninja" who was searching for his son or some such thing). Embarrassing, but true.

Anyway, this thread reminded me of a reference in the book “Aikido Exercises for Teaching and Training” to watching the battle between the Emperor and Vader (in Empire Strikes Back) in slow motion because you would otherwise miss certain things that were not meant to be seen at the regular speed. I tried that at one point and had no idea what the heck the author was talking about. Anyone have any idea what she is referring to ? I would love to know !

[Abasan]

If you had the power of the jedi, why in the world would you even do aikido?

Isn't force push, pull, lightning, choke, speed and the jedi mind trick enough to get you out and into any situation?

I wish I was a jedi... :p

[JohnH]

I hadn't even realized it until my girlfriend first pointed it out to me. The more I think about it the more I realize that she was right. I took up Aikido because, deep down inside, I want to be a Jedi.

And I'm okay with that.

[daedalus]

"Lucas talked to many masters of Aikido, because he had heard of the energy that is involved with Aikido. He ended up using a lot of these ideas in designing the Force"

Thus says _The Bad Guide to Star Wars_ (http://www.roguetrader.com/~brandon/StarWars/BadGuide.html).

[erikmenzel]

C'mon now, how many of us got into MAs, not entirely but influenced, 20 or less years ago because of Star Wars? The ancient mythologies: Light and Dark, master and apprentice, the Force (Ki), the glow in the dark katana, etc? Just wondering if anyone will own up to it.

May the Force be with you...:D
Hmm, I think I am caught with my pants down :eek:

Can you imagine my great disappointment when I finally figured out that aikidoka wasnt the japanese word for Jedi. Currently I am checking whether aikidoka in't secretly a vulcan, klingon, minbari or vrogon word for Jedi, so I am still keeping my hopes up.

I wanted, and still want, to become a Jedi, although I must confess that there is one little things that worries me a bit:

if you have this great power with the force, then why run around and wack each other with swords?

May the swatch be with you

[Genex]

PAULA! V kewl post i love it, we are all but padawan's to our master jedi's (Sensei's)

star wars didnt actualy influence my liking in japanese sword arts i've pretty much liked that from being a kid, me and friends used to take longish sticks stripping them and using them as swords and would practice pretending to be japanese warriors fighting the mongols or whatever (in england were bored by robin hood n the nights n stuff) we had lots of fun as kids ov like oh... i dont know 17?

Hehehehe only kidding we were like 10-12

but i must say i actualy do beleive there is a force (Ki)in everything around us its a very pagan belief that everything around us has energy to it etc...

i wonder if thats where george lucas got it from?

pete

May the Ki be with you

[akiy]

Can you imagine my great disappointment when I finally figured out that aikidoka wasnt the japanese word for Jedi.
A rumor that I heard was that "jedi" came from the Japanese word "jidai" as in "jidai geki" which means "period drama" -- a kind of "soap opera program set in the samurai days."

-- Jun

[Paula Lydon]

Hi Pete L.,

Yes, I believe that whatever you call it: Force, Ki, God, Breath of Life, etc. it's all the same mysterious, binding power in all of creation. I call it God because that word is more readily understood. It's in everything and everything is it. I once asked a born again Christian friend, who had just told me that I needed an intermediary named Jesus: Where is God not? She said she believed that God was everywhere...so where is God not? I couldn't be separate if I tried, just blind. Even in the deepest hells of my mind there is God, Force, Ki...

Just my heart effusing ;)

[Genex]

paula

if you look at all the different religions you will find at one point or another that all of them beleive in a spiritual force surrounding and suffusing everything around us, to me the Goddess is in everything her essence her Ki, even the rocks ;)

maybe one day all religion will become one or at least one will take over whenever they can plausably prove that a heaven or hell or afterlife/limbo or re-encarnation is real, but until that time i guess we must beleive after all without belief what are we? (athiest prolly)

On a lighter note I still cant get the hang of lifting rocks they just seem to sit there.

maybe i need to stand on my head with a little green man pirched on my feet.

Hmmm use the Ki you must.

pete

[jimvance]

A rumor that I heard was that "jedi" came from the Japanese word "jidai" as in "jidai geki" which means "period drama" -- a kind of "soap opera program set in the samurai days."I heard that it was the term "Sengoku Jidai" that influenced him. Same word, different rumor.

Jim Vance

[31n13]

hehe I had to think of the Force immediately when I read about Ki, I don't really know what my motivation was to start aikido, I guess it was seeing Jet Li movies, I know he does Wushu but anyway, it was also to control self-defense, and just the general liking of Martial Arts (movies too :p), I'm regret I didn't start one sooner, I did Judo when I was little, but it bored the hell out of me, even now it's so popular I don't know what the fuss is about I just don't like looking at it and I didn't like doing it.

I'm rambling here, but nevermand that =p.

what sold me to aikido was this site and especially the spiritual side.

how feel you? =p