Softly and Often

"The most important thing about brushing your teeth is to make sure you do it softly and often."

Sitting in the dentists chair, receiving a lecture on oral hygiene, my first thought was "Huh, that kinda sounds like something that Khatzumoto would say!" Maybe: "Japanese is like your molars and your ignorance is the plaque. Brush your Japanese softly and often to fight that ignorance. Have you brushed your Japanese today?"

And then there was this other gem: "Flossing once a week, or a couple times a month, isn't going to do anything. But if you take a couple minutes a day and floss, you'll notice a significantly healthier mouth."

Not only are dentists far less scary than they were in my youth, they seem to have an innate understanding of the effects of steady, consistent progress.

Softly...
Why brush softly? Apparently intensive brushing can damage your mouth and cause your gums to recede. An ominous fate- unless you're an Emo kid with a hardcore vampire fetish...

How does this apply to learning, do you ask?

When I first wanted to study Japanese (institution style), which was not offered at my high school, I had to wait until college. I was SUPER stoked to go- I'd been obsessed with Japan since visiting the country in 9th grade. I knew how to count to 10 from karate and a few words from all the anime I watched. I was ready to cut my teeth on some Japanese.

And first thing we heard in that class was this: "This is an intensive Japanese course. Not only are there 7 hours of class each week, you'll be responsible for at least 20 hrs of homework per week and time in the language lab. And you should probably find a speaking partner for a few hours a week."

Notice that intensive there?

Its no secret that I'd never been a seriously dedicated scholar in a 'traditional' setting- But the kind of workload sensei was demanding not only seemed unrealistic for wet behind the ears freshman; it felt like punishment.

I made it through the first few weeks alright before the work piled up and that ominous kanji mallet came down upon my head. One of the first characters we were responsible for was the horrible composite 電話- でんわ, 'telephone,' which has 26 strokes and is made up of two individual kanji with four distinct components. Not only that, the demand for output was increasing at a rapid pace.

I'm not sure the exact moment, but know I wrote the task off as impossible.

By the midterm I was hopelessly behind and my interest (both in the language and the culture) waned through extreme frustration. The final oral exam was one of the most embarrassing moments of my academic career.

The gums on my Japanese baby teeth had receded from too much hard brushing!

But that was not the only problem....

...and Often
Everyone knows that brushing often gives you nice things. Like kisses from pretty girls. But if you neglect regular brushing... ever spent a weekend camping and seen how quickly you get grossed out with your OWN mouth? Bad things build up fast- its easy to fall behind!

One of the major hurdles that held me back in my Japanese odyssey was that I stopped inputting popular Japanese media. This arose from Sensei's insistence that you could only learn 'properly' from academically proscribed material. Proscribed material is BORING, which really killed my motivation to study it. Worse, her assertion that anime and manga were a waste of time for language learning drove me away from the things that had attracted me to the language in the first place.

Japanese that I found fun and beautiful was laid aside, replaced with dreary textbooks.

My exposure plummeted. I started avoiding what I liked because it apparently didn't teach what I needed to know. I avoided homework because it was boring. I would halfheartedly study for the quizzes and exams I was dreading- a few hours a week- instead of the frequent doses of 'useless fun' I'd experienced beforehand. My retention sucked, I was getting bogged down with debris from earlier lessons.

I just didn't brush my Japanese teeth often enough!

Fast forward to today. I've learned more in 6 weeks of AJATT than I did in 3 months of intensive classes. I'll be halfway through Remembering the Kanji by the end of the week. My vocabulary is growing at a steady rate. My listening and reading comprehension is still slow, but miles ahead of what I had achieved in class.

Now my learning teeth are clean and sharp. I make sure I brush daily to stay fresh. If it feels like I'm brushing too hard, I ease up and stop trying to force it.

For now, its time for me to sink these incisors back into some Kanji...

So until next time remember this: No matter what you want to accomplish, brush it softly and often. Don't hurt yourself for it. Enjoy the soothing bristles. Play fun brushing games. Just make sure you brush!

Mission Update

Its been a little while since I've mentioned my main goals- specifically Japanese immersion and learning taijitsu.

Quite frankly, I had a bad week. Transitioning back to Victoria wasn't perfect, but I'm back on track with the Japanese! I got caught up on my kanji and I've got myself up to 352! I don't think I'll manage 50 every day, but sometimes I just get on a roll. The stories are fun to make up and mnemonic memory tricks are fun to learn and play with. I'm just imagining what the world would look like if everyone knew how to learn like this...

I've been pretty good about my immersion environment the whole time, though I'm still waiting for an mp3 player (should be soon). But its constant when I'm at home, which is alot, and its quite the novelty to feel the language slowing down. This requires a bit of focus, but once I have a word in my memory and recognize it in use, I'll "hear" it even when my attention isn't focused. Very neat phenomenon.

As far as taijitsu goes, I got to one class here in Vic before I decided to take some time off training and let my shoulder rest- I'm nursing a sprain. I've been pretty good about keeping my fitness up though, and practicing the techniques that I know.

Anyhow, I'm up late *again* so I'm going to hit the hay. I'll have more thoughts on learning Japanese later... some interesting revelations!

I think I'm Learning Japanese, I really think so!

AJATT Update!

Here I am- midway through my first week of immersion! I feel a bit like I'm in the foothills of the mountains... But compared to my disastrous attempt to learn Japanese in college this to infinity and beyond- I've learned more in a week than I did in entire semester of "this is really hard, make sure you're committed" intensive Japanese instruction.


Here is my progress so far.

1. Create immersive environment- 6/10 I've taken down all my posters (even Casablanca!). I got rid of my exit sign... if anyone can get a hold of one in Japanese, I'd be super stoked! I've stocked up on anime and got the word out on Japanese dubs (saving my pennies!). I'm going to use the method proposed on one of the AJATT comments to label everything in my apartment with post-its bearing the kanji/kana for that object. Apparently there is a new coffee shop in town ran by a Japanese-speaking couple (he's Western, but fluent, she is Japanese) so I'll stop by there tomorrow and also check out the Japanese market here in town!

Step 1 Challenge: Get rid of my books! Replace with Japanese. Same with DVD collection. Switch over computer OS to Linux Mint Japanese. Stop reading the net in English.

2. Learn the Kana: 3/10 I'm already very comfortable with the hiragana (2 days baby!), and I'm making inroads on the katakana.

Step 2 Challenge:Keep practicing hiragana, brush up on how to apply phonetic modifiers. Learn katakana by next week.

3. Learn Kanji: 0.5/2042. I've got my hands on copies of "Remembering The Kanji" I, II and III. KANJI. I thought the Kanji would be really daunting, but after reading the Heisig introduction and thinking about it a little, I don't think I'll have a huge problem- more on that later.

P.S. James Heisig is a genius. Like Mr. Khatzumoto. And, shockingly, bloody interesting! Also like Khatzumoto... ok, shoutout over ^-^.

Step 3 Challenge: LEARN KANJI!. More specifically, start with learning to properly use Surusu and get into kanji reps.

So, there it is, my first AJATT update! Remember kids, Foxx says "Jump with both feet... then you can hit the ground running!"

As far as taijitsu goes? Its flat out awesome. Its like Sun Tsu and the slaves who came up with Capoeira had a baby and that baby was Ninja. Best of all its both FUN (I climbed trees at practice- with approval) and (heres the really important part!) easier to study in Japanese. Also fits the criteria of 'living like a Japanese person.' I know they're not ALL ninjas. But I can dream.

I find myself very familiar with many of the movements and strikes, only having to make minor adjustments to what I already know- fencing steps, karate strikes, moving and rolling, parkour. I'm grateful for the corrections and experience of the group as well. It makes training more fun and your mistakes are pointed out for you! It also helps that half of the lesson- the names of the kata (heh), phrases for bowing etc. are all in Japanese. Ultimate crosstraining. Its all the sports I love- with that sweet Nihon sauce on top. *Grin*

Daily Tarot Reading: What Energy should I bring into my day? on my Llewellyn Tarot deck.

3 Card Spread- 8 of Pentacles, 10 of Pentacles, 2 of Cups.
My spreads have been *extremely* clear as of late- this one is: Diligent, dedicated hard work and a healthy respect for tradition and discipline will lead you to putting your whole heart into / falling in love with something. And its so, so true.


Thats all!
TTFN

Foxx

Welcome Friends!

Welcome, friends, to this story!

My name is Foxx P. Cant; pirate, shaman, ninja (in training) and Kitsune extraordinaire! This is a record of action and adventure, exploration and excitement, growth and change!

I invite you along on this journey: learn with me, watch me grow! I hope you, too, find the inspiration to author your own reality!

So, to begin! I am human and not human. I am what the Japanese call a kami, a nature spirit. On an energetic level I remain very much a kitsune. If you were to plug me into the Matrix, for example, I would not look human. I chose this biological form for a purpose- to be a bridge between the physical and metaphysical worlds, between the worlds of man and of nature.

How do I intend to bridge these worlds? Well, by making people laugh, dance and sing! By letting every footstep be a dance of joy, letting every word be a song of laughter, letting myself grow into a world of co-creation- planting gardens both of thought and flowers as I twirl through this divine waltz (or is it a foxtrot?!).

This current garden is for cultivating my various skills: music, movement, language, intuition. Above all, however, is the tree at the center of the garden: discipline.

As the focus for this discipline I am undertaking an immersive study of the Japanese language (thanks for the inspiration Khatzumoto!) and of bujinkan taijitsu with the goal of teaching English and training in Japan. Woven throughout this framework is the ongoing development of self through tarot reading, crystal work, music, theater, dance, movement, shamanic practice and meditative reflection.

You will find regular updates of my progress here expressed in many mediums- journal entries, poems, songs, photos, videos, along with daily tarot readings and a bunch of other surprises!

Thanks for joining me and have a great trip!

Foxx P. Cant