Pardon for being anime-ish. But I have to admit that until now, I'm still a sucker for japanese anime. Not because of the alien-eyed women, not the flashy heroic poses, nor the kick-ass looks, not even their deliquent-ish social demeanor in their shows, but it's more on the philosophical side of things. Yes, anime has a philosophy on it's own. It's not just the big "sweat drop" expression, or the exaggerated movements. Things most adults overlook as rubbish, or things for child's play only-- because it's all done in paper, or something they can not gossip about because they're barely even considered as being existent. No, I believe there's more to that.
Well, since I don't usually have the time to watch anime, I spend most of my time reading japanese comicbook series also known as "manga". I frequent the site onemanga.com simply because for one, it doesn't really require you to sign in or anything. Two, it's free website and three, it has most of the copies that are currently being shown in anime (only that it's too advanced, that you have to read the back issues before getting to the most recent release). I've stumbled upon the series named "Hajime no Ippo". Locally in the Philippines, it's dubbed as Knock Out (which is also part of the title). Since the anime itself got my attention, I figured reading it would be a blast. Right now, it's more than 700 episodes long. Sure that it sounds like a long read, but I realized that when they release it in the animated series, two or three episodes are squished into one. Being the nerd that I am, I started from the first issue and chop-sueyed it until I get to the most recent release.
To give you the whole gist of what Hajime no Ippo is all about, the story tells a story of Ippo Makunochi, a highschool nobody who often gets bullied and beaten up most of the time. His life flipped over when he was saved from his bullies by a boxer by the name of Mamoru Takamura. Ever since, he started training like mad, rose from the ranks as a champion, and yet is still chasing after the answer to the very question that probably some may even have difficulties finding the answer to the problem...
What does it mean to be strong?
Yes, it's an elementary question. And please don't try answering this recklessly. Though the anime is focused purely on boxing, it's not specifically in lieu with physical strength, but on a deeper side of what it really means to be strong. I tried answering this question myself for the poor sap and somehow it got me asking that question myself in the end. Don't worry, I'm not going emo or anything like it. I'd just like to pop in a question, and for you to answer it by simply thinking out of the box.
The matches in the manga includes several boxers body parts being smashed, heads flying after being taken down by their Sunday punches (the kind of punch that figuratively puts you down cold, like "you get punched now, and that by the time you wake up it's already Sunday"), feints, unrealistic one-twos, flashy footworks, poker faces, and KO's. If you think about it, that's what boxers usually get from matches, which is nothing out of the ordinary right? That's absolutely correct.
You see... just like any other boxers, Ippo trained and fought his hardest. He ran until his legs won't follow. He punches as if it were his last. He spars as if it's the actual competition already, and yet he didn't complain about his usual tasks of waking up ridiculously early in the morning for work (he works as an assistant for his mom's fishing boat, carrying baits, rods and other equipment being brought by leisure fishermen), and then runs to the gym to train. Whenever he's being hit real hard by an opponent in a match, he tries his best not to fall and even if he did he always rose up and continue the fight and gives out his best punches he was trained to do.
Now I know that even if we have the physique to take up boxing, we probably might not for our own personal reasons. But what if we think out of the box (err... ring)? Me? I patterned this from my daily routine (which is mostly all about work) and picked up the question and asked myself. I wasn't able to answer it, knowing that my "knees" buckled several times, even knocked out cold due to both pressure and stress (I'll probably include pain as well). Yet I still rose up and continued the fight regardless of who's winning or not. Yes, it even came to the point where I don't even know what I'm fighting for. Theoretically, I'd like to believe we also have our current matches in life as well, regardless of its own unique and tailored nature. I won't name some but you definitely know what I mean. And it's probably up to our own strategies as to how to get by and be "stonger" in our own field.
So, even with this lengthy conversation I'm still not yet able to answer the question. But if you a really good answer to this, please feel free to comment. I'd like to trade notes with you, and who knows? we just might find the solution to everyone's question
No comments:
Post a Comment