Category Archives: Transhuman News

We are all very much familiar with the Japanese national sport of sumo. The athletes topknots, the bowing to each other before the matches and the iconic foot stomps (shiko) inside the ring are recognizable features. But as foreigners we rarely understand the deep religious meaning of it all.

Before we delve into the nature of the sport, it is important to understand the concrete dynamics at play inside a sumo training facility.

We are in the Koto district of Tokyo, one of the most important sumo (heya) schools in all of Japan. Here the wrestlers live together as in a large family home. In this one, there are 22 wrestlers; the youngest is just 16, the oldest 36. Years ago, it would have been superfluous to specify their nationality,but not anymore. In fact, more and more foreigners have been successfully breaching the Japanese monopoly in this sport. From 2002 to 2016, Mongolian wrestlers in the top division won 81 out of 88 championships despite a rule that only allows one foreigner per heya.

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Fewer and fewer Japanese are joining sumo schools. The typical recruit was usually a young man from a disadvantaged family in a rural area. But in recent years the trend is for young people to move as soon as possible to the big cities for study or for work, certainly not to enlist in the most anachronistic of all armieswith the strictest discipline and absolute obedience to their superiors rules.

It is by no coincidence that now, in front of us spectators, one of the younger recruits gets beaten on the backside by one of the older fighters because, they tell me, he was late last night (apparently he had one too many drinks with some friends). He broke a team rule that says everyone has to go to bed at the same time. A few years ago, a 17-year-old fighter lost his life in training as the result of being heavily punished.

In football, there is a old saying thatits not a sport for delicate girls. In time it became politically incorrect, but everyone knows the truth at the core of it. In sumo, it is not even enough to be a strong man you have to be almost superhuman, not only in physical strength but also in nature and mentality. If you want to compete at the highest levels, you really need exceptional drive.

And sometimes that drive has less to do with the hunger for victory than with real hunger. A lot of the young foreigners who enlist in these schools come from humble families who can spare many kids.

Just like the football players who move from Latin America to Europe dreaming of the Champions League, so these boys want to conquer the highest ranks in sumo. Being successful not only translatesto the self-fulfilment of a goal, it also means being able to take care of their families in their country of origin. A yokozuna top division fighter can even earn US$2 million a year.

In short, young foreigners come to Japan to fight their own private war of social redemption, parallel to that in the stadiums in front of a paying public.

As they began practice, all the fighters start doing something unusual, at least in the eyes of someone who thinks hes assisting at a sport performance.

They all turn their gaze to the altar and sip sake in honour of the divinity. And whats more is that perhaps this is the most important part of the whole preparation of the sumo wrestler (rikishi in Japanese): that is the enactment of thanksgiving to the god who in this case is symbolically represented by three twigs of sakaki (the sacred tree) placed high above a wall that demarcates the dohyo, the arena of combat.

We few spectators sit silently behind them on comfortable zabuton, the traditional square meditation cushion.

The sumo wrestlers now all execute that typical gesture that seems to announce the coming battle the raising of the knees in the air from a sitting position, with legs apart, and then slamming the feet on the floor violently. This ritual, called shiko, was formerly intended to keep evil spirits at bay.

Another common practice for the rikishi is to throw several handfuls of salt into the ring to purify it. Sumo is intrinsically linked to Japan's native religion, Shinto, or "the way of the gods."

Sumo was in fact originally conceived as a ritual to entertain the kami (gods) during the matsuri (festivals). The same robe worn by the referee resembles the traditional one worn by a Shinto priest.

Its not hard to tell that sumo is a sport that carries an ancient tradition on its back: the wrestlers long hair ends with a topknot (chonmage). This hairstyle was once the norm, so much so that anyone who has ever watched a Japanese movie set in the 16th century will soon recognize it. In short, it is a way to honor tradition.

A tradition that, contrary to modern sports, when it comes to formalizing the quality of an athlete will also assess the presence of strong moral values.

In fact, to reach the highest, and almost sacred, ranking of yokozuna, it is not enough to win fight after fight, it is also necessary to demonstrate the right moral attributes, which will be evaluated by a special committee.

And so the fighter who arrived here as a teenager from a remote area of Inner Mongolia is not only training his muscles, hes going through a genuine conversion of its own spirit, and if victorious he will be blessed with all the honors akin to a semi-god.

Here is the original post:
Sumo as a religious rite in Japan - Union of Catholic Asian News

US points to organized extremists in Capitol riot

Authorities investigating the January 6th insurrection at the Capitol say two extremist groups that traveled to Washington along with thousands of other Trump supporters weren't whipped into an impulsive frenzy by President Donald Trump. (March 10)

AP

PORTLAND Two brothers arrested this week in Oregon on federal charges of participating in the U.S. Capitol insurrection will be held in custody pending trial on six felony charges.

Matthew Klein, 24, and Jonathanpeter Klein, 21, appeared separately on Friday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui in the District of Columbia court via video conference from Portland, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.

Both are expected to remain detained at least until their next court hearing scheduled for April 1. The brothers are being held at the Multnomah County Detention Center in Portland.

The federal magistrate judge who presided over the brothers' hearings cited a ruling out Friday from a U.S. District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals panel regarding a Tennessee mother and son charged in the Jan. 6 riot who challenged their pre-trial detention.

Previous coverage: 2 Oregon brothers arrested in U.S. Capitol insurrection

The appeals panel wrote that in its view "those who actually assaulted police officers and broke through windows, doors, and barricades and those who aided, conspired with, planned or coordinated such actions, are in a different category of dangerousness than those who cheered on the violence or entered the Capitol after others cleared the way."

The Kleins were among the first group to breach the Capitol about 2:16 p.m., after Matthew Klein helped others climb a wall to gain access to a stairwell leading to the Capitol's Upper West Terrace, prosecutors have said. Prosecutors have also alleged they wrenched open a door on the north side of the U.S. Capitol after having already entered and exited the building.

Oregon Legislature: Oregon Senate votes in favor of bill banning guns in Capitol, state buildings

"The exact example of what the court gave is what the defendant has done," Faruqui said during Jonathanpeter Klein's hearing.

Jonathanpeter Klein has described himself as a member of the far-right extremist Proud Boys group, which calls itself a politically incorrect men's club for "Western chauvinists."

He was photographed on Jan. 5 with his brother while wearing a Proud Boys shirt. That helped law enforcement identify the brothers, the FBI has said.

Matthew Klein also faces charges in Multnomah County where he is accused of carrying a loaded firearm in a truck after Portland police stopped it leaving a Proud Boys rally in September, according to court records. Those charges were pending when he participated in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, the prosecutor said.

The brothers have not yet entered pleas to the federal charges including conspiracy to defraud the United States, obstruction of an official proceeding, obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder, destruction of government property, entering a restricted building, and disorderly conduct.

Jonathanpeter Klein's defense lawyer Michelle Sweet had urged for her client to be released pending trial.

She said he could if released to continue to work at a ranch in eastern Oregon. Nanci Klein, the brothers' mother, wrote a letter to the court saying that they could stay at her home.

The Kleins are among hundreds charged in the insurrection. The attack temporarily delayed certification of the presidential election.

View post:
Oregon brothers accused in U.S. Capitol riot ordered held - The Register-Guard

See baba, I am not a chancellor, vice-chancellor, professor, lecturer or peon of any grand university. But I like to think I am educated matlab I have been to a good school and college, got myself a degree (never collected it, though), and have zero complaints to air about the quality of my education. As is the case of millions of others in India, I also think we were pretty fortunate to have been taught by inspiring, even brilliant teachers. We didnt always agree with their political/social/cultural/religious views, and they never asked for ours. There was never any khitpit in this regard. Some of them wrote well-researched academic papers, some penned blistering newspaper columns, some preferred poetry and a few were published authors. We admired our faculty members and applauded their achievements.

Now suddenly we have an international cause celebre revolving around a genius-prof called Pratap Bhanu Mehta (Oxford, Princeton, Harvard), whose outspoken columns are widely read and energetically dissected. He represents a new breed of progressive thinkers who call themselves public intellectuals.

So why all the fire and brimstone over his decision to quit? An intellectually celebrated, immensely sought after professor decides to step away from an environment which he feels is not conducive to his politics so what? It does not signal the end of the world. He is a free man, and entitled to take such a call. No jabardasti to hang around feeling unwelcome, right? But its not all that simple, I say! Nothing is as hunky dory (love its usage in the Supreme Court this week) as it appears. The chancellor and vice chancellor of the university are strenuously explaining themselves, while the Board of Trustees insists it has nothing to do with the mess. Some of its 100-plus donors are reportedly offended. Ninety faculty members expressed solidarity with Mehta. Then why are so many red-faced, self-styled spokespeople jumping out of the woodwork?

What is not being spelt out clearly and unequivocally is simply this: Pratap Bhanu Mehta is seen as being openly and virulently anti-government, which may have not gone down well with the bosses at Ashoka.

Fair enough. Which means they are either pro-BJP but not admitting it, or pressure is being exerted on them to tame Mehta and his ilk. Which is it? And what exactly is at stake? One of them candidly admitted in his column that this unpleasantness in the public domain could lead to funds drying up and investors losing faith in the future of the university. Is it then, only about money? Grants? Subsidies? Education is big business today. No harm in protecting ones investment but why not be upfront about it?

Pratap Bhanu Mehta had become a political liability (his words). If a university calls itself independent and claims to encourage liberal thought, why would someone like Mehta be made to feel unwanted? And why now? He has consistently been a critic of the present government, undisguisedly so. Wheres the surprise? Was this not known to those who appointed him? Has he dramatically changed his stance recently? Was there no screening process in place when he joined Ashoka? Was he told he was no longer free to write anti-establishment political commentary if he signed up with Ashoka? As we all know, such sensitive issues are never tabled, much less documented. If the Board now says these issues did not come up during his tenure of course they didnt theres nothing on record! Who was going to tell Mehta, Hey, look here old chap just go easy, wont you? We are feeling the heat.

Either you call yourself an unbiased, open and democratic institution, or you declare your political affiliations of whichever shade and colour and leave it there. You cannot have it both ways and pull out the martyr card when things start slipping. The students have the right to know where they stand vis a vis the universitys politics. Look, its perfectly okay to say Ashoka is pro a political party thats not a crime. Just say it, na? But stop the charade of pretending to be neutral.

Whether a professor with attitude stays or leaves is hardly the main issue. But it definitely marks a big moment in the universitys alarmingly young history.

Mehta at the moment is a folk hero he will go on to other academic positions and perhaps bigger things. His critics call him a closet politician, and say he will cash in on the controversy. But what will Ashoka University do to retrieve some of its dented glory? Rightly or wrongly, public opinion is backing the man whose political leanings cost him a prestigious appointment. Its now up to the lofty folks at the university to regroup, rethink and come up with some much-needed damage control before some more grants and funds from donors dry up.

Views expressed above are the author's own.

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More here:
The problems that arise when politics and academia intersect - The Times of India Blog