Category Archives: rock

Bruce Lee’s Weight Lifting Program

As a fan of martial arts movie, Bruce Lee is one of my favorite actors to watch. Therefore when I started this blog on health, fitness, and bodybuilding and its link to Asian American Pop Culture I thought of Bruce Lee immediately. In all of his films Bruce Lees physique is muscular and chiseled and the shear athleticism he demonstrates through his martial arts in his films always impressed me. Therefore I decided to do a little research on him to see if I could find some details of his workout routine, nutrition, and his overall philosophy towards fitness.

Due to the fact that I found a plethora of information on the Lee’s health and fitness practices I decided to do several posts on the research I have uncovered and will continue to uncover. For this first post I have decided to inform all you on the lifting routine in which this martial arts superstar followed to ensure his body was strong enough to endure the bumps and bruises he had to endure due to his training and practice in martial arts.

Lee would perform the following lifts on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturdays.

Clean and Press. He would perform two sets of 8 repetitions. This movement is great because it utilizes multiple muscles in order to complete the movement which in lifting terms is referred to as a “compound” movement.
Squats. 2 sets of 12 reps. This is yet another great compound movement that is essential for building a strong lower body (legs).
Barbell Pullovers. 2 sets of 8 reps. This exercise has shown to help expand the ribcage.
Bench Presses. 2 sets of 6 reps. This exercise focuses mainly on the pectoral muscles (chest), and triceps (back portion of the arm).
Good Mornings. 2 sets of 8 reps. Good mornings are good for building the hamstrings and gluteus Maximus muscle (butt). Also provides a great stretch.
Barbell Curls. 2 Sets of 8 reps. Curls are a lift that isolates the bicep muscle in the arm.

Here are some links to videos on how to perform the clean and press, Barbell Pullovers, and Good Mornings.

Zombie Obsession Post 2: Zombie Loan episode 1

“A bald eagle sleeps within a swaying tree, its bright eyes shed tears because it longs for its beloved. We’re not truly howling at the moon, but our helpless feelings make it seem that way. Why does the wolf’s cry sound so sorrowful?” is the shows opening song.

A teenage girl named Michiru trips on her way to lunch and meets Boy A (Tachibana Shito) and Boy B (Akatsuki Chika). Her friends tell her the two boys mysteriously survived a car accident 6 months ago. 20 other people were killed. Because the boys were under aged their names were never released. Michiru sees gray rings on both the boys necks, which means they are going to die soon. She peeks over a gravestone and sees the two taking off their hands. To make sure she doesn’t talk about what she saw they decide to kill her. But they can’t because a zombie dog attacks them. She then tells them about seeing their rings and runs away. The next day at school another student goes missing. Boy A and B tell Michiru that if she doesn’t come with them she’ll die. They ask her to help them find people with rings around their necks. Inviting her up to Z loan they then talk to Ferryman. She learns the rings become pitch black over time and are marks for the Grim Reaper to cut with his scythe. Since the boys kill bad zombies for a living to stay alive (even though their really dead), and cannot see the rings for themselves, they ask Michiru to help them find people with the black rings. Unlike the boys, the bad zombies have no reason or will to live. At the end of the episode Michiru becomes marked with a gray ring.

My thoughts on the episode: This was the first time I’ve ever watched a Japanese zombie TV show. It was very different than the American zombie shows. The character development was better and the storyline was original. I loved that the storyline had to do with the grim reaper and that there were different types of zombies. I also appreciated the explanation of how the zombies exist.

in the rubble are all the things you’ve been dreaming of

The meaning of obsession.

For the majority of my life, I was never passionate about any one thing. I was never obsessed, nor did I feel there was anything in particular that I should carer about more than any one other thing. Even now, I couldn’t tell you with certainty that there’s anything I feel very strongly about. I very rarely find myself bored, because I always make sure there are plenty of things for me to do. I find this comes in especially handy if I go back to Pennsylvania during a break to see my family. The first thing I go to is my laptop. Laptop dies? Move onto a book. Eyes get too strained? Play a handheld video game, usually an RPG. Much like I never found myself bored for long, I also never had any dreams.

However, when I returned to my family’s home for winter break this year, I found myself without a computer for the majority of the nearly three-week-long break, and that’s when I really began to get into reading again for my own personal enjoyment. It’s when I started the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan, and I sped through the first five books, and onto the sixth, the beginning of the sequel, Heroes of Olympus. Likewise, it’s when I realized how much I missed having photoshop. My skills only extend to coloring within the lines, but being able to do so is quite cathartic, especially when you factor in the Undo button, which allows you to try again without making a mistake the second time.

I suppose, given my enjoyment of cartoons and anime, scifi and horror, rpgs and manga, you could say that my obsession is fiction.

edit: Yikes, I didn’t realize how badly the site would pixelate that image. Next time I’ll upload with a url.

Obsession 2

These obsessions of mine, I have a lot, but can’t find out my thought. I have so many, I have so much, I better decide between this bunch. I would have to narrow it down to a couple, but hard to do, Someone help me, I don’t know what to do. Haha. Umm I’m gonna probably narrow my obsessions down to probably video games and dragon ball z. Its a combo, but I gotta do some research, but anyone have any comments or suggestions about an approach that I could possibly pursue? Thanks see y’all in class. Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Week 3, Sunday. First, last, and current obsession.

First.

Two news stories that have been circulating recently involve the first Asian American [Japanese] to reach space and the first Korean American elected to the Washington State Legislature. Ellison Onizuka was one of the seven crew members aboard the 1986 Challenger which has recently been revisited with the exposure of new pictures from the fateful explosion.
State Sen. Paull [sic] Shin announced at the beginning of January his resignation after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

For more information on Onizuka.
For more information on Shin.

Last.

The last WWII straggler (Japanese soldiers who refused the surrender and maintained their orders after the end of the war) Hiroo Onoda died this month at 91. He lived a jungle in the Philippines and remained there for 30 years until former commander, Major Yoshimi Taniguchi delivered Onoda a personal surrender in 1974.

For more information on Onoda.

Current.

Other trending news this last week was on use of racial stereotypes as a comedic punchline or addition to the punchline; CBS’ How I Met Your Mother aired an episode on January 13 which depicted the all-white main cast depicted in silk robes with speech affectations meant to be “accents” and even Fu Manchu mustache. This triggered any angry responses to the show, especially by one writer, activist and Asian American Suey Park. Park began the twitter hashtag #HowIMetYourRacism and her twitter media feed includes multiple stills from the show and points out the show’s use of yellowface.

Obsession.

In TIME Ideas‘ article writer Kai Ma points out why shows like How I Met Your Mother are so problematic in their racial misrepresentation which is in connection to the misrepresentation of Sen. Shin, Onizuka, and the WWII stragglers. The newly released Challenger photos aid in the anonymity of the crew that who lost their lives and instead focus on the shock content these pictures still hold. Likewise, searching Onizuka’s name reveals his major affiliation with the Challenger while focusing on the explosion but it seems harder to find his affiliation as the first Asian American in space. (It seems even harder at that to find that he is Japanese American from Hawai’i, as many sources I found only state that he is from Hawai’i.) The misrepresentation of Asian Americans comes not only through media sources such as hit television shows or Katy Perry’s geisha performance but it slips in by feeding the viewers ignorance; big access without full access.

What is JDM?

What is a label? JDM stands for Japanese Domestic Market literally, but could it mean something else? Could it be something negative? Ricer? Noob? Could it be something positive? A hobby? A lifestyle? Maybe…… maybe I need to back up. What is a car? What is a car to you? Could it be something useful? Transportation? Could it be something complex? A relationship? A lot of nuts and bolts; funnels and tunnels; pistons and valves; explosions and heavy metal? Is a car a living, breathing being or just a scientific feat that could be mistaken for magic if you showed it to somebody 500 years ago?

I will be honest with you, the questions are endless. This rock category will hopefully be able to answer questions and raise some too. I will be exploring, as much as I can anyways, the world of Japanese cars and the life of those who are interested in them. Along the way, I will be searching for how this popular culture has influenced people in America. For some it comes from a movie screen or a video game, for others it may come from a tie to Japan. One of my best friends is a mixed race Nisei and his trips to Japan, as well as his interest and knowledge of the place where part of his family comes from, eventually lead to him falling in love with Japanese car culture at a young age. There are many levels of involvement, from slight interest in cars to devotion, and many different outlets, from the streets to the tracks. The one thing holding all this in common is the car and the driver. And with that in mind, here is a preview of what is to come.

Asian American Science Fiction cont.

Books Ordered From Summit:

The Future is Japanese : Stories From and About the Land of the Rising Sun

The Future is Queer

Salt Fish Girl

Articles to print and report back about this next week:

Reproduction, Reincarnation, and Human Cloning: Literary and Racial Forms in Larissa Lai’s Salt Fish Girl.

Miss Cylon: Empire and Adoption in “Battlestar Galactica.”

Oriental Cities, Postmodern Futures: “Naked Lunch,” “Blade Runner,” and “Neuromancer.”

Alien/Asian: Imagining the Racialized Future.

Stinky Bodies: Mythological Futures and the Olfactory Sense in Larissa Lai’s “Salt Fish Girl.

Premodern Orientalist Science Fictions.

Aliens: Narrating U.S. Global Identity Through Transnational Adoption and Interracial Marriage in Battlestar Galactica.

The Pop Hunger

This past week the class has been reading Takaki’s Strangers from a Different Shore. After reading a good chunk of the book I have already found some similarities from the reading to the Hunger Games trilogy.

One of the first similarities I found was, in general, all the Asians were somewhat separated. They all worked in different areas or kept with their own race; for instance, Japanese usually kept with the Japanese, or Chinese kept with the Chinese for the most part. Also, they all had their own place of work. Most Chinese worked on the railroads or in the mines. The Japanese usually worked in the fields with the Pilipino/a and Koreans. In the Hunger Games there are different districts, a total of twelve, but they are all kept to be with their own district. They know of each other and can communicate, but very minimally. Each district is known for something; for instance, District 12 is known for the coal mines and District 7 is known for its lumber. Each district is responsible for gathering what they are known for and giving what is asked to the Capital. The Capital of course is the government that runs all twelve districts.

Secondly, I found that all the Asians expected to be taken care of and be rich in America. America was portrayed as a land of opportunity and better living; unfortunately, that is not how it worked out and they ended up being oppressed by the government. In The Hunger Games the government portrays themselves as the districts saviors and is giving them better living situations, but in reality the districts are suffering.

Next, riots were handled the same. In Takaki, he talks about how when riots broke out the government would cut off all their resources and make the Asians need them; or authorities or land owners would fight them or beat who ever acted out. In the Hunger Games, any sign of resistance or riots, action was taken very quickly. The Capital would cut off food supply or punish the individuals involved physically.

Also, not only in Takaki but in The Beautiful Country, a film we recently watched, Asians were given contracts, deals, or debts to pay off for them being brought here. In The Beautiful Country Binh is supposed to pay off , $5,227 in two years of slave work. In Strangers from a Different Shore many Asian men and women had to pay off their debts as well: for the men they paid it off in slave work and women had to pay their dues off in prostitution. For The Hunger Games people from the districts can “buy” food, water, or other resources from the Capital to give to their families or business in exchange for their service in the Capital or more name entries if who was asking was under 18 years old. For instance, Gale, Katniss’s good friend is given bread from the peace keepers (officers of the government) for his name to be entered 42 times in the next reaping.

Lastly, the JACP (Japanese American Curriculum Project) was a group of Japanese who wanted to go along with the government to gain America’s trust while other Japanese members did not want to do it or did not understand. So there was sort of a divide between the Japanese based on who wanted to trust the government and who wanted to stay tied to their own cultural ways. In The Hunger Games many districts trusted Katniss Everdeen to be one of them; however, in Catching Fire (Hunger Games second movie) she goes along with the Capital and converts to their way of how they depict she should be. This leads to the other districts to distrust her and causes a divide between the districts, even her own.

I find these similarities very interesting because what is being talked about in The Hunger Games has somewhat already happened. I wonder if anyone who is not taking this class or other cultural/history class knows that these events are similar to real life happenings. Anyhow, I am anxious to see what else I can compare to the Hunger Games with this class to better my understanding and knowledge of Asian/American Pop-Culture.

Sewing the World Together

I think that my “rock” category will be on sewing. I am interested in various fabrics and techniques used in working on traditional sewed pieces like bedding or drapery. I am also really interested in the designs of cultural costumes.

My first major sewing project that I ever did correctly was in high school my senior year. I had to do a senior project to graduate. My paper was on the globalization of Korean media, and my project was about a return to roots so I made a Hanbok.

A Hanbok is a traditional Korean dress. The Hanbok I made wasn’t a completely accurate piece, but it was nice to be able to do and create myself. One of the things that I really looked into while researching my project was fusion clothing. I had really like the Anerican-Korean fusion Hanboks. I think that that might be another thing that I look into for this project.

This project really sparked my interest in sewing, my mentor even gave me a sewing machine as a gift. Since then I’ve been sewing dresses and skirts, still can’t get the hang of doing zippers though. I’ve also gotten into quilting, I find it relaxing and I have a few projects in progress at the moment.

Obsession

I really like music, sports, games, movies and other kinds of things and I just need to narrow it down some more to what I really focus on, but I’ll figure it out.

A-POP, Don't Stop

Winter 2014