05/12/2005 In Miscellany by andy
Note to those practicing Taido outside the USA: American Taido students typically wear standard karategi for Taido practice.
I started practicing Taido in 1984, when I was seven years old. For those of you who don’t remember, the 80s in America were all about flash, and the martial arts were no exception. I remember looking through martial arts magazines as a kid and seeing guys in American flag satin gi (the word “uniform” hardly applies), pink and black tiger-stripe gi, and all kinds of crazy patterns with patches for just about everything all over them. At one point, Century was even marketing “rugged” stone-washed gi that looked as if they’d ought to have been worn by the likes of Motley Crue.
You may laugh at the idea of seeing a karate school full of hair band rejects, but it’s not such a silly deal. In all seriousness, one could easily say the traditional white pajamas are just as silly in this day and age. Especially here in the West.
Continue Reading...
25/05/2006 In Check It Out by andy
I have always loved customizing. There were times, i’m sure, that my parents and others didn’t really appreciate my drive to make things my own, but there’s just something about the creative process that I love. From music, to furniture modification, to writing, to Taido - I try to bring some level of creativity into everything I do.
Since junior high, I have been known for cutting, painting, drawing on, and otherwise altering many of my clothes. During college, I found an efficient method to transfer my original designs to t-shirts, and many of my friends now sport “Cusack’s Love Child”, “The Andy Fossett Rock Supreme”, and various other t-shirts I made for them. However, it was somewhat labor intensive to do larger batches, so I’ve usually reserved my shirt-making for special circumstances.
Continue Reading...
13/02/2008 In Check It Out by andy
I’ve always heard that when someone copies you, it means that you’ve had a good idea. When I had an idea to make a Taido T-shirt a couple of years ago, I just wanted one for myself. But when I would wear it around other Taido students, people would always ask me where they could get one. Japanese students especially always ask about them, and a few of my friends can be spotted wearing them on YouTube.
Over the past few months, I’ve noticed something really funny on CafePress, the site that makes and sells my shirts: a whole bunch of imitators. The truly hilarious thing is that none of these shirts are made by people who practice Taido. There are “Hokei Specialist” shirts, “Taido Dad” shirts, and even a “Canadian Taido” shirt (which I think is great because there is no Taido in Canada).
Continue Reading...
