Reading Books and the Five Rings in 2021?

It looks like I picked the right year on a synchromystic level to read 'The Book of Five Rings':-)

An online petition calling for the 
Tokyo Olympics to be cancelled

Cthulhu is Not Happy with Japan?

Covid-19 cases surge, less than three
 months before the Tokyo Olympics

Ever since I was a young child I've had a fascination with Japanese and Asian culture and used to have "memories" or flashbacks to what may have been a past life in an ancient Japan of around the time when 'The Book of Five Rings' were written.

I remember being captivated as a child when I saw the TV show 'The Samurai' air, as the setting of Japan seemed very familiar to my "memories" and I loved watching that show.

The Unexplained Podcast #541 -
Dr Jim Tucker

I never had any memories like the young kids did in that Unexplained podcast above, but there was always that sense that I had once lived a life there, even if I couldn't remember much about that life.

Books Are Great ... So Are Podcasts ... and Winning?

From 'The Book of Five Rings'

I've never visited Japan in this lifetime, but funnily enough both of my sons have traveled there on separate trips, and my eldest son has even walked to the top of Mt. Fuji.

I have never told my kids about my "memories" of Japan as a child, so I often wonder why they felt the urge to travel to Japan?

My sister and her family have been over to Japan as well for a skiing holiday.

And I have always thought that it was ironic to have been born in the Year of the Dragon.

From 'The Book of Five Rings'

A wall-hanging in my dining room:-)

From 'The Book of Five Rings'

I remember in the 70s when the martial arts were really the most pop-cultural thing to be into and as a nine-year-old going to learn Judo with my mates.

Me being small for my age as a nine-year-old was matched with the only girl in the class as a sparring partner, probably because the guy running the show didn't want the girl or me to get hurt by the others in the class, which I found humiliating when my bigger mates were fighting with other boys.

Ironically, neither of us could get each other down onto the mat, so it was like a nil-all draw in a soccer match all of the time to me, and I ended up quitting the class a few weeks later out of boredom and frustration.

Funny thing is, given a few years' time, I would have loved having the opportunity of trying to pin her to the mat;-)

I guess there was a future life lesson there when it would come to rings;-)

Giving the Middle Finger to the Fool's Ring

Kunz and rings?-)

But I moved on from Asian sports when I took up soccer, rugby league and Aussie Rules football in school and club sports.

Is that the Luck Dragon over the temple?-)

From 'The Book of Five Rings'

Something Strange Happened to Me on THE WAY out of a Taoist Temple

The Secrets of the Soul’s Journey Through Life?