Let's talk about music


I was actually going to write a post about Musashi Miyamoto and challenge you to take a leaf out of his book and test it at the dojo (in kumite) until the news reached me about Baby Metal's new song that got played for the first time yesterday during their epic as always performance in Yokohama yesterday.

The song is playing in the background as I am typing now.

You can give it a listen here.

 https://youtu.be/769vz2_8HTE
Now I have decided to tell you about the other music I have discovered with strong martial arts themes.

I have never known about Sia until a video got posted on my G+ timeline that featured Mahiro Takano (we all know her and love her, right? I still want to see a grown up do kata like her...). Don't care much for the song, but seeing Mahiro in action is always inspiring.

 https://youtu.be/t2NgsJrrAyM
Now- on to something that is more to my taste. Anime fans will remember the Ninja Drama, Bassilisk and its moving opening theme by Japanese Metal group Onmyouza (maybe you never knew who the band was, but that opening song was catchy.

A Youtube search for material to put on my J-Rock Facebook page has brought me to this video of them. I have found at least one more video with a strong Samurai theme.


 https://youtu.be/j6GJdnEaZQ8?list=PLcX4hthqX0diCCYdgyC7O9WPMtXF1XI-5

All-time favourite bandof mine- Wagakki Band has made a Samurai themed video for their song Ikusa (which means "War" in English.) The band members crossing swords in the video do not appear trained, but I loved seeing the kusarigama featuring in a music video. I love this song and this band's sound is something out of this world. Really good to listen to while your neck is recovering from all the headbanging...


https://youtu.be/Y5zj3dwNxJw
In Akatsuki no Ito- from the same band- we see drummer Wasabi and guitarist Machiya reaching for their katanas to chase off a menacing CGI dragon. This scene matches the emotion of the song itself and these people's instruments never fail to move me. :) Absolutely beautiful...

https://youtu.be/fcucbhJ-Orc
Back to Baby Metal! So far I have seen Su posing with a sword- and brandishing a tanto- mic in their video for Megitsune- and I have seen Moa looking kawaii as hell in her karate outfit and showing her Sakura Gakuin classmates her Kendo skills. I have not seen Yui showing any interest in martial arts, though.









Recently I have found this photo of Suzuka's older sister Himeka posing with a katana as well. This was on the day before the new song has reached me.






As I conclude this post I want to play out with this timeless classic that has never failed to get me to train with the utmost enthusiasm. Take it away, unknown Chinese dudes! -

https://youtu.be/yso4igoMIuU

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