In the Labyrinth

No Putting That Genie Back In The Bottle: New Women Warriors

One of the biggest concerns I have had as the Afghan War lumbers toward a conclusion is the fear that the condition of women will worsen once the Afghan government makes it peace with the Taliban -- a precondition of which is the return of women to the traditional society that existed before -- denying them rights, access to education, participation in their country, and virtual chattel slavery. But as I began writing about Warriors -- this came across my desk and it made me very happy. Misogynists fear nothing more than a well armed woman who knows how to shoot. Bringing Afghan women into the Special Forces is a bold and interesting military decision.

"Before we joined this unit, our operations were done by foreign troops and they did not know our culture. People were critical so we joined to help out," Delawar, a former policewoman in Jowzjan province, said. "I have already fought the Taliban. My comrades were martyred in fights with the Taliban and we have killed them too, but during the night raids I haven't fought insurgents yet."

Third-lieutenant Binazir, 24, said, "I'm proud to say that I'm here to serve my country side by side with my brothers. I'm proud that Afghan girls are here and I hope more girls join in order to provide better services for brothers and sisters in the battlefield and save lives."

Here is the full article: "Elite Female Night Raiders Break Down Barriers."  (Probably some doors too...)

 

Reading the Warrior At Wily Writers

Over the next few weeks I will be serving as a guest editor at Wily Writers, an online journal that publishes two stories a month, usually around a theme. The theme I selected for my month of May was "The Warrior." I asked prospective authors to consider the warrior in a wide range of possibilities -- from the epic tradition of battle heroes to the pacifist warriors of contemporary gaming. Over the next few weeks I plan on posting some quotes about the Warrior --mostly as jogs to my own thinking as I consider the stories before me.

Here is the first one, written by Heraclitus around 500B.C.

"Out of every one hundred men, ten shouldn't even be there, eighty are just targets, nine are the real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, for they make the battle. Ah, but the one, one is a warrior, and he will bring the others back.”

The  young men above in many ways exemplify Heraclitus' definition. These are four of the 12 Rangers from 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment who recently received Silver Stars for heroic action in Afghanistan. Reading their individual stories is harrowing -- but Heraclitus's words struck me as each one of these special forces soldiers received their award not because of the enemy combatants they had killed, but the men of their own regiment they had rescued under fire. The warrior confronts the battle before him and at the same time protects his fellow warriors. No man will be left behind.

Heroes often have greatness thrust upon them unexpectedly -- we see this in epics and heroic fairy tales all the time. We see it in the rise of movements like the Egyptian Spring, when a young man who works for Goggle suddenly becomes the center of a movement. But warriors must train for what they do, and they develop not only a skill in weapons and battle tactics, but an unbreakable sense of themselves as members of a group -- comrades in arms who share those unique skills and mindset. Although individuals, they count on each other, and they can respond quickly and efficiently to a sudden shift in almost any situation. To be a warrior in this sense is as much about the bond, the sense of trust in each other as it is about the military skill.

Besouro: Capoeira and Magic Comes to The Screen

 

Wow, wow, I can not wait to see this film Besouro, a fantastic and magic filled biography of Besouro Managangá, one Capoeria's most legendary mestres from Bahia, Brazil. Here's a bit from an interesting review of the film:

Set in the jungles of Bahia in the 1920s, the tale is firmly grounded in its historical time and place, when rich white landowners exploited black workers like slaves, even after the nominal abolition of slavery. The action begins when Master Alipio (Macale), who has taught the art of Capoeira to Besouro, Dinora and Quero-Quero since they were children, is brutally murdered on the orders of Col. Venancio, the young plantation owner. The Colonel's attempt to nip rebellion in the bud has just the opposite effect, and from beyond the grave, Master Alipio urges his young student Besouro (played by the athletic Ailton Carmo, a professional Capoeira player) to fight for his people.

Escaping to the jungle to prepare himself for heroic deeds to come, Besouro receives magical powers that allow him to fly and make his body virtually impenetrable. Some of the films finest sequences involve his initiation into the forces of nature by the wind and water goddess Orixa. As his consciousness enters the bodies of a flying beetle and then a frog, the camera assumes the animals' point of view as they fly through the air and dive underwater.

And here is a painting I own by Emiliano Lake-Herrera (you can see more of his work on Capoeira in the exhibit Na Beira Do Mar) about Besouro. Besouro means "beetle" and the painting is of a moment when the police have come to capture him and Besouro transforms himself into the beetle and escapes. The painting is especially nice because it done on a block of wood and the beetle is carved in a bas relief making it appear to be leaving the frame altogether.

Bunkai: The National Japanese Women's Team Show Us How It's Done

I did Shotokan Karate for about twenty years and loved it -- and then life got busy, I changed directions and stopped practicing -- though in my head, I still recall the moves of katas (the choreographed movements that mimic a fight) and think wistfully of returning to the art. I feel even more tempted watching this remarkable video of the National Japanese women's team performing Bunkai -- a demonstration of the application of the powerful moves in the kata. It's a pretty awesome demonstration -- and I am astonished at how far women karateka have come since the early 70's when I began and women were not even permitted to spar. This is one of the most precise and physically challenging demonstrations of Bunkai I have ever seen. All the techniques are executed flawlessly at fullspeed with power and control. Very inspiring. It might just be enough to get me to dig out my gi from the bottom drawer.