Shotokai Karate
Started training regularly again now that the summer holidays are over.
I realise I'm going to have to be careful when I'm talking about martial arts - I know there are a lot of people out there who study styles other than Shotokai which have ideas or more accurately, attitudes I disagree with. I'd better not mention any names...
First of all, Shotokai as in the way I have been taught, is a pure oriental art and is not competitive in any way. I like to think of it as the true essence of the martial arts. So very poetic, but it is true. Training sessions involve certain practices that may seem unusual to the inexperienced bystander. It's very hard for me to explain, let alone put into words, but it's all about learning how to relax and focus, not to mention how to follow another person's movements closely. In other words, you can generate a lot of movement and power without using brute muscular force and can read other people to a high degree. This is a very basic description, but I could write about this for days. It's important to remember that the very thing that throws the human's state of mind and body into the most turmoil is a threat to your life, and the martial arts attempt to teach that reaction out of you, so you'll essentially remain calm and focused at all times even when being assaulted. It's a subconscious state and is not something you can actively think about and turn on and off. Of course this is easy to say and nothing is ever simple, but years of practice and a little life experience helps, to say the least.
One of the main attractions of Shotokai is it's accessibility. It's open to anybody - you can even practice if you're in a wheelchair, albeit slightly differently.
Just to finish, someone once told me that in their style (no names again), you are always trained to defend from one side and attack from the other. Great... So if I decide to pick up the nearest chair and take a swing, what are you going to do? Defend left, counter right? Hmm, yeah...
First Week
Today was the first day back at Uni after the 16 (or there abouts) week break. Luckily for us mathematicians, we don't begin classes until next Monday. This was definitely a pleasant surprise, although I had suspected as much. It should give me some time to start on my final year project, which I still haven't got round to...
This week seems to be comprised of 'useful' talks about job applications and the like, not to mention a free buffet lunch afterwards! Hmmm, isn't food just the best thing in the world?
Soul Calibur 4
Was just looking on
IGN and noticed that there are some new Soul
Calibur 4 screens. This game looks amazing!
Starting back at the Gym
Been getting back into weight training now that I'm back in Glasgow. I've always enjoyed it but I seem to go through spells of regular training, to then neglect it for several months at a time. I suppose I have other commitments but I'm not going to make excuses this year! The fact that I've taken up rowing as well this year should be good incentive to keep going to the gym.
I don't intend to stop karate either, but I'm the kind of person that needs a little 'me' time once in a while, so I really hope I don't burn out with my course workload...
Pick up and Play
Many modern video games tend to involve complex
gameplay along with elaborate and complicated control systems. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it's also very true that sometimes the best games are the most simplistic. Being able to pick up the controller and play from the outset is a trait which makes video games infinitely more appealing to the majority of players, particularly casual gamers. Obviously, the game must still include a learning curve, and give the player the chance to drastically improve with practice. Some genres lend themselves to playability more than others, but this doesn't mean it cannot be achieved with any title, to a certain degree.
Virtua Tennis is the definition of simplicity, and is one of the most enjoyable games ever released, even if you have no solid interest in Tennis! I played it to death after it's release in 2000 on
Dreamcast and I still enjoy going back and playing it today.
Travelling Around Europe
Earlier this summer some friends and I backpacked around Europe. Had an unbelievable time, I guess it's one of those things that's always going to give you stories to tell. We used Inter-rail tickets and travelled in a loop all over the continent, trying to keep the everyday expenses down!
Prague and Amsterdam were my favourite places along with Paris (I had never been before), although that did involve a night camping on the street outside Gare
de Nord after a cock-up with the train booking! Amsterdam, as you could imagine, is a world socially and culturally unique from the rest of Europe. Everyone was a little overwhelmed with the lack of censorship and openness of sex and sexuality. You really need to visit to fully understand it - needless to say, we made the most of it.
In Germany, we stayed with a friend from University and explored Hamburg and Bremen, not to mention a quaint German village. One of the benfits of having friends living abroad!
Other cities we covered on our quest were Vienna, with the best pizza restaurant in the world, well maybe... And Venice, which was another experience never to forget.
I had heard that Marseille was a dangerous city and this was confirmed, especially when you arrive gone midnight with nowhere to stay...
Max Payne
I decided to give the original Max Payne yet another run through; it's a bit dated by today's standards but it's still entertaining to play.
Censorship seems to be becoming one of my favourite topics! I noticed Max Payne was given a 15 certificate - I won't pretend that I fully know the process for rating video games (yet, at least), but I think 15 was too low considering some of the material in the game.
Aside from the gritty, raw violence, which really glorified firearms, there were other strong themes:-
Particularly during the early stages, drug abuse and prostitution played a large role, although Max Payne never indulged in the latter himself. However, in the plot is where my main evidence lies. Max is an anti-hero, he is killing in the name of vengeance. His wife and baby daughter are murdered by drug addicts in the very unpleasant opening scenes. I don't have any children myself, but that doesn't stop me agreeing that this scenario is the worst thing that could ever happen to anyone...
To be able to even remotely relate to Max, if at all, I believe the player needs to be more mature than any 15 year old...
Starting Uni Again
Just a really quick post.
Next week is Freshers Week at Glasgow. The week after I'll be starting my courses again. Really looking forward to my final year as a student. Hope all goes as planned!
Fighting Games
I've have always played more action adventure games than fighting games in the past. This is probably due to the fact that I am an only child and most of my gaming endeavours have been single player only - I always knew that fighting games, whether 2D or 3D, were infinitely better when played against a human opponent, so they were never my first choice for purchase. I also never really took to the
gameplay very quickly although I really enjoy Soul Calibur; I guess I'm always going to be better at playing adventure style games.
Having said that, I find the Beat 'em Up concept interesting. It has become fairly specialist over the years and there are only several franchises churning out A+ standard fighting games and they will continue to do so. Fighting game
fan bases tend to remain faithful to their particular game. With adventure titles, players will often try a varying number of games for different stories and experiences. However, when the focus is only on the fighting, it would be pointless to change to a game with a different style and engine, in particular, that doesn't necessarily suit you.
The established and successful Fighting series are very hard to compete with - like I said previously, pulling players away from their chosen game seems well nigh impossible, so it would be a serious financial risk to develop a new title. Even if it was only slightly technically inferior, I could imagine it losing money.
Like many things, some people will always be better than others. For the elite players, there are various national and international tournaments. To become that good, you really have to treat the game as a full time job!
Halo
Halo is generally regarded as not only one of the most successful First Person Shooters around, but as one of the most successful video games ever created. The sequel was seen as not quite as pristine, but then once you've achieved perfection, the only way is down. The original was the benchmark game, and deserved all the credit it got, but I've sometimes wondered why it was so good and could even be enjoyed by people who didn't really like video games...
There are countless
FPSs out there and all are created by expert development teams as is (just about) every game. I guess it comes down to the same phenomenon which makes all successful bands, writers, etc (and even businesses in some cases) ; It just comprises features that, when gelled together, seem to miraculously appeal to many people. Every game has been created through hard work, time and money, but some totally flop, and the few lucky ones become legendary. This may seem a little negative, but it rings true.
Halo is not exactly ultra original and 'borrows' from the Alien movies in some respects. It has an engaging, yet standard sci-
fi plot and is also fairly simplistic in nature, especially the control system. So why do we all love it? You tell me!
City Centre Life
I've recently moved into a flat in Glasgow city centre for my final year of student life. I guess it was a bit daunting; it's not exactly the most orthodox of places to have a flat, amongst all the bustle and noise. Surprisingly, the main worry of noise doesn't seem to be causing any problems as the flat is at the back of one of the buildings, overlooking a courtyard. The location really is excellent; it certainly makes transport & everyday life very easy, but I'll have to try and stay away from fast food!
