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posted by gupowhod on Dec 18

Zatoichi is a fictional character featured in one of Japan’s longest running series of films and a television series set in the Edo period. The great popularity of the character has been likened to that of James Bond in Western countries. Yet, Zatoichi has become commonly associated with one actor: Shintaro Katsu. The only other actor to portray Zatoichi in the movies is Takeshi Kitano, after a pause of almost 15 years.

Zatoichi seems to be just a harmless blind masseur who rambles around Japan getting a living by gaming. But he is also extremely skilful in swordsmanship (iaijutsu), his blade concealed inside his cane. Cane swords, or shikomizue, were straight, lower-quality weapons, which stood no comparison with usual katanas, but as revealed in Zatoichi’s Cane Sword, his weapon was created very meticulously by a master swordsmith. A recurring theme of both the movies and television series show Zatoichi protecting the villagers from cruel warring clans fighting for overlordship and general injustice.

The Shikomizue (Japanese prepared cane) is a Japanese hidden sword looking like a cane or walking stick. It was sometimes worn by government officials in Japan in the Meiji period.

The name Shikomizue is actually the name of a type of mounting, the sword blade was placed in a cane-like mounting (tsue), to conceal the fact that it was a sword. This cheat was used almost exclusively during the Meiji period, when carrying of swords wasn’t allowed. The blades used in these mountings were usually of poor quality.

This type of trick was most often used at the time when samurais who disagree with the prohibition on carrying their swords in an open manner but knew that obvious violation of the law usually led to incarceration and miserable death.

It is the sword used by the fictional character Zatoichi, a blind masseur. It has also appeared a few times in the anime and manga series Rurouni Kenshin. In another anime series, Bleach, Kisuke Urahara’s zanpakutou is a shikomizue, when not in shikai form.

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posted by gupowhod on Dec 18

A treadmill is a good investment to make but you want to be sure that you have the right treadmill exercise plan for you. Early treadmills were made almost entirely of wood and whilst today’s machines now offer a vast array of features to keep you occupied, let’s not forget that walking or running on a treadmill is still a very effective way to workout.

Developing your Treadmill Exercise Plan

When developing your treadmill exercise plan, do not forget the fun factor. Exercise can be boring for some people so try reading a magazine during the warm-up and cool-down stages or even watching TV or listening to music. For those busy professionals, some treadmills contain a laptop stand so you can continue to work during your treadmill exercise plan!

Most people however, are serious about their exercise and do not want the distraction of the entertainment factors. Some ideas for a good treadmill exercise plan may be:

- Always start your exercise routine slowly and only after stretching properly.

- Complete your plan over a moderate distance. Start by walking normally, building up to a faster paced walk, a slow jog and then up to running speed. Reverse this process for your cool-down stage.

- Interval treadmill exercise plan - you need to change your speeds here, say, run at a sprinting pace for one minute and then reduce to a moderate jogging pace for two minutes to cool down. For a different effect, try reducing to a slow jog or walking pace. Look at adjusting the intensity of these intervals.

- Sustained speed exercise - whilst the interval method can burn off more calories, incorporating sustained speed in your treadmill exercise plan will help develop stamina.

- Brisk exercise - a ten minute treadmill run three times a week markedly raises the good HDL cholesterol and helps protect from heart attacks.

- When the endorphins start to kick in, try replacing a moderate run for a sprint.

- Consider when you like to exercise - this will help to maintain interest so that your treadmill exercise plan is not easily forgotten.

Everyone has there own preference for physical exercise whether it be interval or sustained training, before, during or after work etc. but if you develop an exercise plan to fit in with these preferences, your whole workout will become more enjoyable and interesting. Do not be too restrictive though as you will want the flexibility to modify your treadmill exercise plan from time to time to fit in with your physical training and boredom threshold needs.

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posted by gupowhod on Dec 17

The game of baseball is full of moments which are filled with many strange and sometimes oops! I’m sorry. The playing field is a place where sometimes it’s action with humor and sometimes it is serious circumstance.

First and foremost I have often been told by coaches when on that ball diamond be alert and heads up all the time. This caution and method of play is the only way to stay in a game.

Mike Bryan was a feller who stood about 5 foot 8 inches and was a baseball pitching machine. He could turn a baseball loose and it would literally hum as it whistled home plate bound. I do think our coach considered Mike the Ace on our team with some very good pitchers from which to choose. Mike always received his share of starts along with Hal Gwin, Sherman Forehand, Ed Massey and Joe Faucett.

Mike was the only one of this group of fine twirlers who after high school ball played on a college scholarship. Mike enjoyed some fine and enjoyable playing of baseball with the Mississippi State Bulldogs down in Starkville, Mississippi. He possibly also enjoyed baseball along with Dicky Wages in the deep south heat at Itawamba Junior College down near Fulton, Mississippi.

Do you really want to know how a pitcher was knocked from the game before the game started. I’ll make it short and to the point because it still causes goose bumps this Oops! I’m sorry.

When a starting pitcher for a game takes the mound he is allowed so many pitches to warm up from the mound. On the last pitch of these warm up tosses the catcher throws to second base as if an imaginary runner is stealing. The pitcher knows the throw is going and he is suppose to step from the mound to the left or the right. The catcher throwing that perfect peg to second the ball travels right where the pitcher would be on that rubber.

Mike momentarily forget this little get out of the way thing and the catcher Bill Goodwin turned that ball loose before he realized Mike was in the target zone. There was no way Bill could call that ball back before Bonk it caught Mike in the back of his noggin. Lucky for us all Mike was not hurt seriously but being a little woozy coach had to send in a relief.

There it is folks our pitcher knocked out of the game even before the umpire could cry, Play Ball.

Batter Up! Let’s Play Ball…

Find out all about baseball and More, with Major Wiley B. Channell, USMC (retired) at http://www.baseballfarming.com.

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