A familiar pain
Training tonight was great. We have been spending the last couple weeks on evasive techniques (with follow up, of course) from wrist grabs. This week, they have added defense against tackling attempts - a very possible situation on the street. Over the past several training sessions, the instructors have paid attention to me and my ability. They now know that my talk of experience was not exaggerated. Again, I am no virtuoso, but they can tell I definitely have experience. So confident in my skill level, the head instructor invited me to join the "Shadows of Iga" class. This is a class where traditional Ninjutsu is taught. By the Way, Iga is a mountainous region in Japan where Togakure Ryu Ninjutsu (the school of the Bujinkan that sets it as "Ninjutsu") hails from.
The SOI class has reitroduced me to my old friend: lingering joint pain. We started with wrist locks, moved onto combining said locks with armbars - at the same time, then we moved into chicken wings to put pressure on the shoulders, and finally a technique so painful, I shudder to describe it. basically, imagine a full grown man setting his entire weight on your back as you lie prone all the while yanking your arm right out of its socket. Tis a good thing that the environment was controlled and friendly. For training to be effective, we do take eachother slowly to the threshold, so the pain is real. I am pretty tender in my arms right now. But this is a sensation I have missed. Now I know my fellow students are as serious as I am about learning. Oh, and they now now that I am serious. They are probably also nursing tender joints on account of me.
More on the Egypt special:
Mike had pointed out (more or less) the fact that Hatshepsut's name and image was erased on almost every monument thinkable. He may have come into the part where the archaeology tem went up into the Theban hills to visit Senenmut's tomb. His image was destroyed almost everywhere - as was Hatshepsut's in all but one place. Basically, if there was a holy of holies in the tomb, that was the area the images and titles are present. Mike suggested that maybe the reason her name and image was almost erased from history was because of her relationship with a commoner. This was actually a very valid theory a few decades ago. Then the theory that her co-regent (and successor) throughout her reign, Thutmose III was pissed that a woman held the crown and therefore tried to eliminate her from the historical records. I always had a problem with this because she wore the co-regency on her shoulder. Plus, all indications are that her relationship with her stepson was ideal. She took care of the administrative items as well as building projects, and he went out on the military campaigns. While he expanded the borders of the empire beyond that of any other king before or since, she made trade expeditions to places that were more legend to the Egyptians than realities. Really, this could possibly be the most interesting relationship in Egyptian history based on what they accomplished.
So one of the considerations I once had - which turned out to be the final suggestion of the special - was that Thutmose III was trying to keep the royal line legitimate...nothing sinister. Basically, the 18th dynasty was up to that point ruled by a succession of father to son. This is how the reign was going to be legitimized. Thutmose III did it for his son and successor, Amenhotep II. Without Hatshepsut's name, the list would go:
Amose
Amenhotep I
Thutmose I
Thutmose II
Thutmose III
Amenhotep II
as opposed to:
Amose
Amenhotep I
Thutmose I
Thutmose II
Hatshepsut/Thutmose III
Amenhotep II
Since Hatshepsut was in Egypt all her life, and Thutmose III spent very little of it there for his first years as king, he had to legitimize his reign not only for himself, but more importantly for his forthcoming legacy. I see it as "Hatshepsut, I love you babe, but I have a family to consider here" type of thing. Anyway, it is just a theory. Unfortunately, we will probably never know, but it is nice to have one of my theories shared by another set of random historians.
The SOI class has reitroduced me to my old friend: lingering joint pain. We started with wrist locks, moved onto combining said locks with armbars - at the same time, then we moved into chicken wings to put pressure on the shoulders, and finally a technique so painful, I shudder to describe it. basically, imagine a full grown man setting his entire weight on your back as you lie prone all the while yanking your arm right out of its socket. Tis a good thing that the environment was controlled and friendly. For training to be effective, we do take eachother slowly to the threshold, so the pain is real. I am pretty tender in my arms right now. But this is a sensation I have missed. Now I know my fellow students are as serious as I am about learning. Oh, and they now now that I am serious. They are probably also nursing tender joints on account of me.
More on the Egypt special:
Mike had pointed out (more or less) the fact that Hatshepsut's name and image was erased on almost every monument thinkable. He may have come into the part where the archaeology tem went up into the Theban hills to visit Senenmut's tomb. His image was destroyed almost everywhere - as was Hatshepsut's in all but one place. Basically, if there was a holy of holies in the tomb, that was the area the images and titles are present. Mike suggested that maybe the reason her name and image was almost erased from history was because of her relationship with a commoner. This was actually a very valid theory a few decades ago. Then the theory that her co-regent (and successor) throughout her reign, Thutmose III was pissed that a woman held the crown and therefore tried to eliminate her from the historical records. I always had a problem with this because she wore the co-regency on her shoulder. Plus, all indications are that her relationship with her stepson was ideal. She took care of the administrative items as well as building projects, and he went out on the military campaigns. While he expanded the borders of the empire beyond that of any other king before or since, she made trade expeditions to places that were more legend to the Egyptians than realities. Really, this could possibly be the most interesting relationship in Egyptian history based on what they accomplished.
So one of the considerations I once had - which turned out to be the final suggestion of the special - was that Thutmose III was trying to keep the royal line legitimate...nothing sinister. Basically, the 18th dynasty was up to that point ruled by a succession of father to son. This is how the reign was going to be legitimized. Thutmose III did it for his son and successor, Amenhotep II. Without Hatshepsut's name, the list would go:
Amose
Amenhotep I
Thutmose I
Thutmose II
Thutmose III
Amenhotep II
as opposed to:
Amose
Amenhotep I
Thutmose I
Thutmose II
Hatshepsut/Thutmose III
Amenhotep II
Since Hatshepsut was in Egypt all her life, and Thutmose III spent very little of it there for his first years as king, he had to legitimize his reign not only for himself, but more importantly for his forthcoming legacy. I see it as "Hatshepsut, I love you babe, but I have a family to consider here" type of thing. Anyway, it is just a theory. Unfortunately, we will probably never know, but it is nice to have one of my theories shared by another set of random historians.
posted by Aaron \m/ at 8:45 PM
2 Comments:
funny to stumble upon a fellow booj when i was just looking for pictures of a cz 75
I have a picture of a the CZ 75 P01 on this blog somewhere. As for the booj thing, I am not longer associated with it. My training is under Stephen K Hayes. The Bujinkan didn't exist when he trained with Hatsumi Soke.
Anywho, It is always a pleasure to meet a fellow ninja.
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