●What's martial arts?
Are you interested in martial arts?
I'm sorry to say but I have never
tried martial arts in my life.
I'm sure that there are many Japanese people
like me who don't have any experiences.
However, I had been asked so many times
about martial arts in abroad.
Questions like
`tell me how to do martial arts'
`in taekwondo, how can we charge?'or
(Hey, taekwondo is not Japanese martial arts!)
`can we train our mental as well
as our bodies from martial arts?' always puzzled me
because I didn't know!!!
Then, I thought `hummm, may be I should learn
at least how to explain it'.
Today,traditional martial arts are practiced as sports.
*Judo
*Karate
*Kendo
*Kyudo
*Aikido
*Judo
It developed from Jujutsu,
and no weapons are used in judo.
*Karate
It was introduced from China and develped in
Okinawa.
We don't use any weapons in Karate as well.
*Kendo
It's a kind of fencing.
It was born from the martial arts of warriors.
*Kyudo
It's Japanese archery.
*Aikido
It's one of the art of self-defense
derived from Judo.
Courtesy and mental discipline
are emphasized in martial arts.
**********************************
●武士道を英語で説明する
といいましても、すみません、語るほど
経験がありません。
日本人でも私みたいな人多いですよね？
しかし、一歩日本を出ればあなたは
民間外交官。日本の代表者として
外国の方々から矢のような質問を
浴びせられます。
私も本当に何度、聞かれたかわかりません。
「武士道について教えて」
「テコンドーのかまえは？」
（テコンドーは日本の武士道の一つではありませんが）
「武士道だと身体だけじゃなく、精神も鍛えられるんでしょ？」
等、聞かれてもよくわかりません！！
しかし、少なくても少しは説明できなくては、と
思ったわけでした。martial arts のご経験ありますか？
＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊
（Today's おまけ dialog)
A: What do eat after practicing martial arts?
(武道のあとには何食べる？）
B: A bunch of grapes.
（ぶどう）