Let's Fighting Love (Part I)

Before I discuss anything, it's time to promote a great fighter. If you haven't heard of Jayson Grant, you ought to stop what you're doing and check out the link below! He's an undeniably powerful presence in TKD and a man with some goals of his own. Anyhow, I'm sure the site will explain better what I'm failing to articulate here. Point being, support him, buy a shirt or, if you're broke, link this to peole who can!

To the one person reading this blog, go check this out NOW!

Anyhow, here we go. Temperatures dropping, an influx of people walking uphill and my beard is coming in quite nicely. Why, it must be fall! As always is the case with fall, the competition season is picking up.

Thing are going smoothly, and there are plenty of reasons why 2012 has the potential to be a very good year for me:

1) it's the year of the dragon (which I am!),

2) my classes, project and work are all going well (for a change), and

3) I have a set goal for Taekwondo; qualify for the national team in 2015 and make Rio 2016 Olympic status.

Now, let's focus on number three, since I can't really add anything to #1 or #2 (more hair, I guess?) Ever since about 2011, I have been off-and-on with competing/training seminars, due to work/school constraints, lame injuries (I dislocated my left knee-cap, broke a toe, broke two fingers, got a concussion) and an inability to throw my money around. Two of those factors I can control: lame injuries and a tight budget.

For the injuries, I went to a sports doctor, who has given me the okay to compete next month! The icing on the cake: I can finally throw a fully-snapping turning kick without my knee crying, which I haven't been able to do because I'm derpishly training/sparring when I shouldn't be.

It only takes one time of grappling with a polar bear on ice for everything going horribly wrong to ruin your life. In that sense, it's a lot like teen pregnancy.

The other issue, money, is not as easy a fix. What I make from work (still a contractor at Ithaca Milk while I take classes) isn't enough to support my competition plans. I've already missed out on many competitions and training seminars (e.g. I  really, REALLY wanted to go to Jayson Grant's seminar that was held this past weekend, but my payday was a week short :'O) . Where there's a will, however, there's a way.

Very often, I ask myself if this can be done. "Olympics?! Dude, you started seven years ago. There are some people who've done this shit for a full lifetime! Do you really think you can match up against someone good?" To that I say, "why not? Yeah, I started competing late, but now that my body is able, a consistent training schedule, quality instruction and  won't put me in a position to do some serious damage. As my master always says, consistency is the key. There aren't any EOBs (equal or better) here in I-Town, not to toot my own horn, but there's no one who can beat the crap out of me and force me to fight at 100%. Fighting at maximum is a very different feeling and, I'll admit, it's not always the right training method. But, a bizarre fighter's hunger can only be satiated with more fighting.

Geez, I sound like this badass motherfucker.

My goal goes beyond glory: in fact, fuck glory. It makes you complacent and ignorant to the true strengths that lie out there in the world. About a year and a half ago, I gave my old hogu (chest protector) to my young nephew and promised to him that I would make the USAT National Team that year. Unfortunately, I lost in quarter-finals to Philip Yun at Collegiate Nationals 7-10 (my teammate who recorded the match could swear it was 8-10, so I could be wrong, but a loss is a loss, I say).

 

  If you've never seen TKD sparring, here are the point rules.

1 point - body shot (roundhouse kick, punch, cut kick to the body [grrr...])

2 points - spinning body shot (back kick, narabaum/spinning roundhouse kick)

3 points - head shot (any strike to the head with the foot)

4 points - spinning head shot (spinning heel kick, high-section back kick, high-section narabaum)

Oh, and yes, I know this stuff isn't practical in a fight. That's why I practice Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and boxing as well. Also, stop being an internet tough guy.

Since then, I've wanted to win a major title and a National Team Trials win to give to my nephew, so he can understand that anything IS possible, and that dreams can be deferred but they won't break if you keep them in your heart (I mean...he already has awesome parents who teach him the lesson every day by virtue of being extremely great people and talented musicians). Also, kicking people is great, provided the right context. I won't let the new electronic scoring system stop me. It just means I have to adjust my game to fit in with the new rules.

I'm just glad they got rid of the Fatality rule, nobody was feeling that.

So yes, I'm a relative nobody in the circuit right now. But, with the right consistent training and instruction, that will change. So laugh now, while you can, but I'll be back to show you all! *villainous laughter echoes through the air as I slink away*

*slinks back* Oh, my first competition since April is coming up this month. Exciting!

I'm at that Combination Fighting Game and Comic Book!

 Hi, it's been a while!

Okay, so remember that post I made a couple months ago? Y'know, the only other one? It's been assimilated to a new - or old, depending on how you look at it - project that combines so many of the things I've come to enjoy in life - video games, art, music, and tomfoolery. But, I'm jumping several steps ahead, while you're thinking about the ridiculous blog title. Allow me to explain!

While I continue to work, train and take classes at Ithaca College, things get ever busier. The mathematical theorem that has led to me returning to my original alma mater (long story short, I love math...though not necessarily academically) got me to thinking. Over the course of years, I've had many admirable & lofty goals, the comic included. However, due to my program I never seem to put as much focus on them as I ought to have been. Some goals are bigger than others and, obviously, require a lot more investment, but there's still a level for which I ought to be able to account on some of my projects.

Well, okay, for obvious reason, becoming a masked vigilante isn't something I can fit on my plate, so I'll let that one slide.

Anyhow, about three weeks ago, I realized there was no way that I could complete a comic of the scope I was desiring in a reasonable amount of time while healthily juggling everything else. I began to brainstorm ways that I could finish the damn thing: shrinking the scale of the project, making a sandwich and procrastinating, even hiring a legit project team...at gunpoint.

Fringe benefits to working for me: I will never fire you, just AT you.

Ipso facto, I remembered the game idea I'd been struggling with bringing to fruition (simply because of laziness, which is often, though not always the case with me). It wasn't hard to decide on game style. There's one game genre that will always have my full attention. No, not eroges. Fighting games have always been of significant interest.

It all started when my older brother Disashi first handed me a SEGA Genesis controller and Street Fighter Tournament Edition. Picture a young, impressionable Lushima, with less hair, a tiny body but the same size head. Now, every time we played, he would always whoop my ass...fucking Ken, man, fucking Ken. Anyhow, between the whooping, I noticed that there was so much strategy involved with the game in conjunction with your ability to string together powerful combos and position your opponent such that they are in an inescapable situation. When I learned how to Hadouken, there was no turning back, only down-back kicks.

It's just great. In fact, I love the stuff so much so that I may or may not have already completed a movelist for each major player in my planned comic, complete with Normal attacks, Special attacks, etc.

The best part is that I can easily incorporate my comic panel idea into the game idea. Every person has a back story, so what better way to present that story in the form of a 3-4 page strip for each? =D ...Well, yes, a fully-animated sequence would be gr-hey, shut the fuck up, this is MY blog!

"But, Lushima," you say, "who's to say that you won't just procrastinate and not finish the game?" Excellent question, Billy! For the answer to that question, I present Exhibit A.

The fight at the bottom of the page lasted until each fighters' larynx fell out.

"What's this, some sort of checklist! Why's it done by hand?" you ask? You ask way too many goddamn questions...and what kind of name is Billy, anyway? Anyhow, yes, it's the checklist. However, it's not for me to complete. I've been looking for someone impartial from anywhere who would be willing to advise me in doing the deed, and by "advising" I really just mean make sure I complete the shit and kick me in the nether-regions if I'm late on any of these checkpoints...figuratively.

I've already started working on the first October checkpoint (scanning and coloring the sprites), and not because I'm such a hard worker. Here's why.

The above pics are to become the image sprites of the game. If you don't know what a "sprite" is, look no further than this! Believe me, a sprite is far different from the sketches you see. It will take time to make each of these into one of these in-game image sprites, placed atop a background and in action, as shown here.

Anyways, I hope you've seen enough of the non-chibi versions of those shown above to know that they are characters (or unmanned killbots) in my strip. I want to be realistic about a time scale, I'm keepin' it chibi. Though they're miniaturized, the relative size is accurate (i.e. the TANK Behemoth could crush Floyd's face, Nameless towers over others and I have big ears.)

Drawing was step 1 of the process (and by far, the easiest). Once I've scanned the pic, I begin the process of coloring. The original plan was to use Photoshop to color and edit the picture and make it into a sprite. However, during the process, I discovered that to create the excruciating detail into every single character to-be-sprite, it would end up taking me 4 hours (it took me that long just to solidify the edges on Floyd's to-be-sprite). That's when I got the idea to go for a retro, Sega Genesis pixelated look. At first I was glum about having to remove so much detail from a picture...at least, until I looked at the finished products. I feel like it adds a nice, nostalgic style!

 

Each player will have multiple frames so, as you saw in the video shown before, the neutral stances will be animated, albeit with fewer frames, so as to save time. Also on the plate but not mentioned is that I'll need to make sound effects for attacks, block, hit, impact (landing, falling) various elements (fire, wind), etc. Another fun sticking point will be voice-overs. It'll be interesting to breathe life to some of these characters, as I've been sketching them for a while withou timagining how they'd sound.

Anyhow, that's what I'll be doing in my free time this & next week. The encompassing project is lofty, yeah, but I seem to respond best to lofty goals in the end. It's how I eventually learned how to stop sucking at TKD and what drives me to train (for Rio 2016!!! if I can stop getting injured long enough to even have a shot to qualify...but THAT is something for another blog). Making this game will be a task, but in the end it will leave me with a greater appreciation for pursuing what I love. It's not just for me, though: if you, the reader, get something positive from this blog and decide to pursue your goals, I'll be happy.

Now that it's on like Donkey Kong, expect a post every week. Not one of those "imaginary posts" where I think about doing it then see a squirrel and run off. Oh, sorry if you're actually a Billy or some variation thereof, I kid.