Reading a book on Propaganda. It's not a how-to manual, but I'm guessing it could be used that way. I'd also need a newspaper, a radio station, canvassers, a television show and posters to be effective, so I doubt I'll be able to implement any of it effectively, so you can relax. It's just recreational reading.
I can't help but see parallels between the modern traditional paradigm of training and some of the methods the book talks about. Bushido was a concept invented with the facade of budo to try and sway the Japanese people towards a more militaristic nature. The fantasy of the Samurai Spirit applied to everything. This is my limited understanding of it at least.
It has been theorized that karate was shaped to prepare people for the Japanese draft. In fact almost all Japanese martial arts under went some sort of transformation and were controlled by a governing body that said what was and what wasn't a Japanese martial art. It's not much of a leap to think that the very nature of practice was changed to promote the propaganda of bushido. It all seems very militaristic in nature. I would know I was/ am a Marine. People standing in rank and file, bowing to a commander, following orders without question, a strict rank structure and hierarchy and a subservience to "tradition." Sounds almost like boot camp to me. In fact besides the bowing almost exactly like boot camp. Hmmmm...maybe something fishy.
This of course could be my complete imagination, but it would explain a few things. The church like qualities of the dojo. People question, but they still follow. How many times have you heard that rank doesn't matter, but your sensei still shows up to the dojo in his cool uniform with the special belt. It's some things to think about.
I can't help but see parallels between the modern traditional paradigm of training and some of the methods the book talks about. Bushido was a concept invented with the facade of budo to try and sway the Japanese people towards a more militaristic nature. The fantasy of the Samurai Spirit applied to everything. This is my limited understanding of it at least.
It has been theorized that karate was shaped to prepare people for the Japanese draft. In fact almost all Japanese martial arts under went some sort of transformation and were controlled by a governing body that said what was and what wasn't a Japanese martial art. It's not much of a leap to think that the very nature of practice was changed to promote the propaganda of bushido. It all seems very militaristic in nature. I would know I was/ am a Marine. People standing in rank and file, bowing to a commander, following orders without question, a strict rank structure and hierarchy and a subservience to "tradition." Sounds almost like boot camp to me. In fact besides the bowing almost exactly like boot camp. Hmmmm...maybe something fishy.
This of course could be my complete imagination, but it would explain a few things. The church like qualities of the dojo. People question, but they still follow. How many times have you heard that rank doesn't matter, but your sensei still shows up to the dojo in his cool uniform with the special belt. It's some things to think about.
