Karate Kid Revival

Karate Kid 2 will be released at the cinemas in June.  Starring Jackie Chan and Jayden Smith (Will's son), Karate is sure to be all the rage again. 

If you are as old as me and remember the first Karate Kid movie (1984), then you most likely have children of your own and will be feeling very "old" right now.  You know you're getting old when movies you saw in your youth are re-made for the current generation. 

Who wasn't in love with Daniel san and Mr Miyage.  I can't even count the amount of times I've heard people say "wax on, wax off".  It is one of those movie lines that go down in history and everyone can pinpoint the movie.   I seriously hope it is not in the new movie as I don't think I can take my boys saying it every five minutes!

My older sister loved the 1984 movie so much she fell in love with Japan and moved there for a short time to work.  Although she didn't take up Karate, she did take up Kendo.   Kendo, the Way of the Sword is the art of Japanese Samurai Swordsmanship.  Essentially it involves samurai type outfits, hitting each other with large bamboo sticks and much yelling.

She didn't quite find her gentle Mr Miyage type instructor though and was assigned a very large Japanese teacher who was like a drill sergeant.  Like Daniel san, she was not allowed to so much as learn a move until she had mastered the basics. 

The first basic was learning to scream loudly to terrify the opponent.  You would think screaming would be easy for her (I recall this from our childhood), but no, apparently she was not aggressive or terrifying enough.  Although I'm sure her husband would testify differently!  Screaming practice took a couple of weeks, as did learning to run at an opponent to scare them. Seriously!

Anyway, when she was allowed to have her first hit with an opponent using her kendo stick, she was matched up with a 8 year old boy.  When he was presented to her she felt sorry for the small child and was going to go easy on him.  Big mistake!   He let fly and whacked her senseless with his kendo stick.  She also had no idea that such a small child could scream and be so terrifying at that age.  (She has children now and has now changed her opinion on that). 

And to make matters worse, the whole town came out to watch the show.  Foreigners in this little Japanese town were a sight to behold, and even more so one attempting their national sport.  My sister was that nights town entertainment!

So no real sentimental Mr Miyage moments and no alley way Kendo fights in the style of Ninja Turtles for my sister.   Like Daniel san she keeps her Japanese head scarf to remind her of the fighting ways and she only brings it out at times of extreme stress and to remind her children she means business. 

We are both anticipating that with the new movie that our children will become Karate mad and start hitting each other with objects.  Or that catching flies with chopsticks will become a hobby again.  I can only imagine the amount of walls and broken furniture around the world sparked by the movie remake.   And a whole new generation of children learning the crane stance (unless they've come up with a new trick). 

Watch Karate school enrolments go through the roof and school suspensions rise from well placed Karate kicks.  It is 1984 all over again.

Can my house withstand it?  Here we go again.  Start removing all precious objects now!

Love Kokeshi?

If you love Kokeshi Dolls or Asian inspired gifts, you'll love the new range I have in store.  Japanese and Chinese dolls are very much the trend at the moment.  How can you not love them when they are this cute!

Where Do Kokeshi Dolls Originate?

Since I am selling Kokeshi Doll prints, I thought I would delve into the history of Kokeshi.

While not the kind of dolls that little girls usually play with, kokeshi dolls are instantly recognizable as Japanese. Beautifully painted with traditional Japanese motifs or simply varnished these wooden dolls originated in the Tohoku Region of Northern Japan during the Edo period (1603-1868).

It is believed that these dolls were originally created by woodwork artisans known as kijiya who made them to sell to the tourists who flocked to the onsen (hot springs) in the area each winter. Now they can be found throughout Japan and, today, kokeshi dolls are considered to be one of the traditional folk arts of Japan.

These whimsical wooden dolls with sweet hand-painted expressions will capture your heart. Traditional kokeshi dolls have no arms or legs and in their simplest from they consist of a long cylindrical body upon which rests a round head. Both the body and the head are hand painted with the body often painted in bright floral patters or with traditional scenic images of Japan and the face consisting of a few that lines somehow give each doll its own character. Some are solemn and others playful and joyous in appearance.

Since World Ward II the look of the kokeshi doll has been expanded to include rotund kokeshi and more elaborate versions of the dolls appear to be dressed in a kimono or other traditional attire and have hair in wooden relief. The shape, size and motifs that adorn modern kokeshi dolls are only limited by the creativity of the maker. All are beautiful in their own way.