Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2018 1:18:55 GMT
“The samurai always has to rise and move on, because new challenges will come.”
As Nighthawk sits in front of his surprisingly full trophy case in the basement of the row house he owns in the Bridgeport section of Chicago as he prepares for the 1st match in his Best-of-5 series against Pax Stormcrow one has to wonder how he is feeling about being in the position of being one of two Americans looking to define themselves by one of the two holy touchstone styles of Japanese puroresu, Strong Style.
While the Chicagoan has steadfastly ignored the protestations of those who have believed him to be an unworthy heir to the thrones of legends like Karl Gotch and Billy Robinson who helped to build the framework of what American fans may now know as strong style Nighthawk still seeks to prove himself to the wizened masters who taught him during his three brutal years in the Land of the Rising Sun.
But as the “American Samurai” continues to look at the trophy case he looks up and sees his wife Sin sitting down next to him, smiling as she embraces her husband who looks rather conflicted.
(Author’s note: This conversation took place in Spanish.)
Sin: “You’ve been down here for hours, honey. Don’t you have to get to school?”
Nighthawk: “In a little while, I do. But all day, and all last night, I was thinking about them. My old masters in Japan. How do they feel about this?”
Sin: “What do you mean? They loved to see you wrestle.”
Nighthawk: “No, honey, not wrestling. THIS. Pax and I are wrestling in a division built around a style that started in Japan, mastered by Japanese hands and perfected over decades and decades of hard work and toil until that style was perfect. I learned how to learn, and how to teach, from being around those old masters. But I wonder, sometimes, how they felt about being in a position where their style, the things they taught me and all the rest of us who were lucky to survive, is going to be explained, and defended, by a gaijin. I always wonder if that’s something they want, or if they wish it was someone else saying it.”
Sin: “Honey, why don’t you just ask them? I’m sure they’d tell you how they felt about it.”
Nighthawk: “That’s the thing, honey. They wouldn’t tell me. No matter what I’ve done, I’m still the baby. Here, in the states, I’m a master. I’m a guy who has earned respect, and earned the right to have hard questions answered. But when I walk into those dojos I studied at I am a student. I could ask, but I have to do it very carefully.”
Sin: “Well do it very carefully. But you need to ask.”
>>>>>>>>>>>>
As Nighthawk sits behind his oak desk in the office of the Wrestle Factory, a moderately-sized stack of file folders in front of him as he tries to finish all the necessary paperwork to run a school, the door to his office fires open and in walks one of his students, a slim Japanese woman named Mariko Watanabe. Pulling out a chair and sitting down in front of the “American Samurai” Ms. Watanabe frowns at her teacher.
(Author’s note: This conversation took place in Japanese.)
Nighthawk: “To what do I happen to owe this pleasure, Ms. Watanabe? Are you interested in improving your technique or focus?”
Mariko Watanabe: “I want you to forfeit the best-of-5 series. It’s not something you should be doing, because you’re not Japanese. You just cosplay it because it’s a marketing thing for people to pay attention to you.”
Nighthawk: “So you’re thinking that I shouldn’t compete in this best-of-5 series with Pax Stormcrow because I’m not true-born Japanese, and thus can’t legitimately be ‘Strong Style’? I’m not trying to be critical of you, Ms. Watanabe, I merely want to understand where you are coming from.”
Mariko Watanabe: “Exactly that, sir. I don’t believe someone who has no Japanese heritage should be in the position of
defending a style that was built in Asian gyms.”
Nighthawk: “I can respect that. And as a Japanese woman yourself, I can see where you are coming from. But I want you to know where I’m coming from. I trained in Japan for 3 years, and under masters who learned under Gotch and Robinson who were the building blocks of the Strong Style you seem to believe was built by the Japanese alone. The school you are attending is built as a direct result of the lessons I learned under those men. And I long ago earned the right to say that I could be a defender of Strong Style.”
Mariko: “But it was a different time when you trained. You wouldn’t be able to do what you did then now.”
Nighthawk: “It’s true. My trainers were not enlightened men by the standards of today. Their teachers were men who grew up in the shadows of atom bombs and the post-Hiroshima Japan. These were people who saw me as a representation of evil, of the GI’s who destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And because that’s true, they wanted me to train in Japan less than you want me to now. They took perverse glee in torturing me, in making sure I hurt and felt pain so that I could know what damage I was capable of inflicting with the most basic hold. And for the three years I was there, I learned from them. I learned how to teach from them. But do you know the one flaw in your argument, Ms. Watanabe?”
Mariko: “No, sir. Please enlighten me.”
Nighthawk: “You came to this school knowing who had trained me. If you were so offended by the idea that I could appropriate the style of another foreign country, why were you so willing to come to a school that trains you in that style? Is this why you miss classes, and perform at low effort when you are here? Ms. Watanabe, you are in danger of not graduating. I would suggest being more concerned about that, then you ought to be with what I’m doing with my professional career.”
Non-verbally sending her away, the “Master of 1000 Holds” frowns as he is clearly annoyed by what one of his students tried to do.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
As Nighthawk sits on the lip of one of his practice rings, clearly deep in thought over what he has to do to try and defeat an opponent who he quite clearly believes presents him with a type of challenge that is both thrilling and difficult, he sighs and tries to focus himself as his wife Sin approaches him and sits next to her husband.
Clad in a black Billy Robinson t-shirt, blue-and-white knee-length MMA shorts, blue-and-white kickpads, and black low-top wrestling shoes, Nighthawk smiles calmly as he appears to have found his balance as his wife Sin snuggles into his chest. Clad in a red sweater, orange calf-length shorts, and black sneakers, the “Dark Princess” smiles and further snuggles into her chest.
Nighthawk: “I am sure this is common knowledge, but in case it isn’t, I trained in Japan for three years. And because of that schooling, and all of the hours and years spent trying to learn at the feet of masters, I feel as though I am uniquely qualified to discuss Strong Style, and the differences between the Japanese version I grew up on and the American version that has made its way to our shores. And this week, when I face off against a man that I sincerely believe to be a future World Champion in Pax Stormcrow, I fully intend on showing the entire IWF fanbase exactly what the difference is.”
Sin: “Because make no mistake, everyone, there is a difference.”
Nighthawk: “As can so often happen, people only have seen strong style from brief three-minute highlight videos and think it’s nothing more complicated than viciously hard shots traded between two giant heavyweights. What it truly is, in its simplest form, is about precision. When I throw a strike, it is intended to land with maximum force. When I wrench in a submission, I expect it to be the end of the contest. Training under perfectionists, as I did in Japan, ensures that nothing less than getting the most out of every offensive maneuver will be tolerated. And this week, Pax Stormcrow, I will get the most out of everything I do. Because to beat you, and to go up 1-0, nothing less than my absolute best will be enough.”
Sin: “We respect you, Pax, which is why beating you is so important.”
Nighthawk: “When you and I step in that ring, Pax, it will be a battle of technique. I am sure of this as I am sure of waking up tomorrow morning. But the longer it goes, I have one advantage over you, Pax, and I plan on playing this trump card in as many ways and as often as I can. That advantage? I’ll tell you when the series is done. Because when the series is done, you’re going to already know the answer. And when this is done, we’ll part as friends. But this week, this match, I will battle against you like I don’t know you at all. You’re good enough, Pax, that I have no other choice.”
Nighthawk and Sin: “Goodnight Pax. May sleep give you the courage to go on.”
As Nighthawk sits in front of his surprisingly full trophy case in the basement of the row house he owns in the Bridgeport section of Chicago as he prepares for the 1st match in his Best-of-5 series against Pax Stormcrow one has to wonder how he is feeling about being in the position of being one of two Americans looking to define themselves by one of the two holy touchstone styles of Japanese puroresu, Strong Style.
While the Chicagoan has steadfastly ignored the protestations of those who have believed him to be an unworthy heir to the thrones of legends like Karl Gotch and Billy Robinson who helped to build the framework of what American fans may now know as strong style Nighthawk still seeks to prove himself to the wizened masters who taught him during his three brutal years in the Land of the Rising Sun.
But as the “American Samurai” continues to look at the trophy case he looks up and sees his wife Sin sitting down next to him, smiling as she embraces her husband who looks rather conflicted.
(Author’s note: This conversation took place in Spanish.)
Sin: “You’ve been down here for hours, honey. Don’t you have to get to school?”
Nighthawk: “In a little while, I do. But all day, and all last night, I was thinking about them. My old masters in Japan. How do they feel about this?”
Sin: “What do you mean? They loved to see you wrestle.”
Nighthawk: “No, honey, not wrestling. THIS. Pax and I are wrestling in a division built around a style that started in Japan, mastered by Japanese hands and perfected over decades and decades of hard work and toil until that style was perfect. I learned how to learn, and how to teach, from being around those old masters. But I wonder, sometimes, how they felt about being in a position where their style, the things they taught me and all the rest of us who were lucky to survive, is going to be explained, and defended, by a gaijin. I always wonder if that’s something they want, or if they wish it was someone else saying it.”
Sin: “Honey, why don’t you just ask them? I’m sure they’d tell you how they felt about it.”
Nighthawk: “That’s the thing, honey. They wouldn’t tell me. No matter what I’ve done, I’m still the baby. Here, in the states, I’m a master. I’m a guy who has earned respect, and earned the right to have hard questions answered. But when I walk into those dojos I studied at I am a student. I could ask, but I have to do it very carefully.”
Sin: “Well do it very carefully. But you need to ask.”
>>>>>>>>>>>>
As Nighthawk sits behind his oak desk in the office of the Wrestle Factory, a moderately-sized stack of file folders in front of him as he tries to finish all the necessary paperwork to run a school, the door to his office fires open and in walks one of his students, a slim Japanese woman named Mariko Watanabe. Pulling out a chair and sitting down in front of the “American Samurai” Ms. Watanabe frowns at her teacher.
(Author’s note: This conversation took place in Japanese.)
Nighthawk: “To what do I happen to owe this pleasure, Ms. Watanabe? Are you interested in improving your technique or focus?”
Mariko Watanabe: “I want you to forfeit the best-of-5 series. It’s not something you should be doing, because you’re not Japanese. You just cosplay it because it’s a marketing thing for people to pay attention to you.”
Nighthawk: “So you’re thinking that I shouldn’t compete in this best-of-5 series with Pax Stormcrow because I’m not true-born Japanese, and thus can’t legitimately be ‘Strong Style’? I’m not trying to be critical of you, Ms. Watanabe, I merely want to understand where you are coming from.”
Mariko Watanabe: “Exactly that, sir. I don’t believe someone who has no Japanese heritage should be in the position of
defending a style that was built in Asian gyms.”
Nighthawk: “I can respect that. And as a Japanese woman yourself, I can see where you are coming from. But I want you to know where I’m coming from. I trained in Japan for 3 years, and under masters who learned under Gotch and Robinson who were the building blocks of the Strong Style you seem to believe was built by the Japanese alone. The school you are attending is built as a direct result of the lessons I learned under those men. And I long ago earned the right to say that I could be a defender of Strong Style.”
Mariko: “But it was a different time when you trained. You wouldn’t be able to do what you did then now.”
Nighthawk: “It’s true. My trainers were not enlightened men by the standards of today. Their teachers were men who grew up in the shadows of atom bombs and the post-Hiroshima Japan. These were people who saw me as a representation of evil, of the GI’s who destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And because that’s true, they wanted me to train in Japan less than you want me to now. They took perverse glee in torturing me, in making sure I hurt and felt pain so that I could know what damage I was capable of inflicting with the most basic hold. And for the three years I was there, I learned from them. I learned how to teach from them. But do you know the one flaw in your argument, Ms. Watanabe?”
Mariko: “No, sir. Please enlighten me.”
Nighthawk: “You came to this school knowing who had trained me. If you were so offended by the idea that I could appropriate the style of another foreign country, why were you so willing to come to a school that trains you in that style? Is this why you miss classes, and perform at low effort when you are here? Ms. Watanabe, you are in danger of not graduating. I would suggest being more concerned about that, then you ought to be with what I’m doing with my professional career.”
Non-verbally sending her away, the “Master of 1000 Holds” frowns as he is clearly annoyed by what one of his students tried to do.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
As Nighthawk sits on the lip of one of his practice rings, clearly deep in thought over what he has to do to try and defeat an opponent who he quite clearly believes presents him with a type of challenge that is both thrilling and difficult, he sighs and tries to focus himself as his wife Sin approaches him and sits next to her husband.
Clad in a black Billy Robinson t-shirt, blue-and-white knee-length MMA shorts, blue-and-white kickpads, and black low-top wrestling shoes, Nighthawk smiles calmly as he appears to have found his balance as his wife Sin snuggles into his chest. Clad in a red sweater, orange calf-length shorts, and black sneakers, the “Dark Princess” smiles and further snuggles into her chest.
Nighthawk: “I am sure this is common knowledge, but in case it isn’t, I trained in Japan for three years. And because of that schooling, and all of the hours and years spent trying to learn at the feet of masters, I feel as though I am uniquely qualified to discuss Strong Style, and the differences between the Japanese version I grew up on and the American version that has made its way to our shores. And this week, when I face off against a man that I sincerely believe to be a future World Champion in Pax Stormcrow, I fully intend on showing the entire IWF fanbase exactly what the difference is.”
Sin: “Because make no mistake, everyone, there is a difference.”
Nighthawk: “As can so often happen, people only have seen strong style from brief three-minute highlight videos and think it’s nothing more complicated than viciously hard shots traded between two giant heavyweights. What it truly is, in its simplest form, is about precision. When I throw a strike, it is intended to land with maximum force. When I wrench in a submission, I expect it to be the end of the contest. Training under perfectionists, as I did in Japan, ensures that nothing less than getting the most out of every offensive maneuver will be tolerated. And this week, Pax Stormcrow, I will get the most out of everything I do. Because to beat you, and to go up 1-0, nothing less than my absolute best will be enough.”
Sin: “We respect you, Pax, which is why beating you is so important.”
Nighthawk: “When you and I step in that ring, Pax, it will be a battle of technique. I am sure of this as I am sure of waking up tomorrow morning. But the longer it goes, I have one advantage over you, Pax, and I plan on playing this trump card in as many ways and as often as I can. That advantage? I’ll tell you when the series is done. Because when the series is done, you’re going to already know the answer. And when this is done, we’ll part as friends. But this week, this match, I will battle against you like I don’t know you at all. You’re good enough, Pax, that I have no other choice.”
Nighthawk and Sin: “Goodnight Pax. May sleep give you the courage to go on.”
Well howdy there pardner.