Learn Japanese the Fun Way – Otaku-style!

OK, so here’s the latest idea that’s got me by the brain banana.  (Obscure reference alert!  A prize to the first person who gets it!)  When I was first starting to learn Japanese, I would sometimes watch anime (Japanese animation) shows in Japanese to see if I could pick up on anything.  Turns out, I was horrible at it, and I always ended up just reading the English subtitles.  It really was a discouraging experience.  But it was still a valuable one – because as I found out later, if you ever actually go to Japan, then your whole life is like watching one loooooooong anime.  (And there are no subtitles!)

The best way to learn of course is to actually speak the language with another person – nothing can take the place of the tension you feel during real conversations, where you’re the one in the hotseat and you have to think up words and grammar patterns in realtime.  But anime can help you get an ear for the language by introducing you to the sounds, intonation and flow of natural Japanese.  It helps to hold your interest by providing interesting storylines and characters, and most any anime will introduce you to some cultural aspects of Japan, even when the anime doesn’t necessarily take place there.  And on top of this, it also gives you plenty of new (and fun) vocabulary that you’ll never learn from a schoolbook!

How about a companion guide for certain animes that could be purchased from an online storefront?  Even just one episode of most animes provides a huge wealth of information that could be delved into.  I’m envisioning a full transcript of the episode, sentence-by-sentence, with English translations of each sentence, plus an explanation of key phrases and grammar principles.

You could just go scene-by-scene and try to figure out the Japanese from the subtitles, but far too often the subtitles (and dubbing, for that matter) have been adjusted to the point where they are only vaguely similar to the true original meaning.  An accomplished guide to walk you through every word and explain it in plain English could be invaluable.  What do you think?

Ninja Warrior Footage and Gym Brainstorm

Here is some footage of the show that spawned my fascination with the Ninja Gym prospect.  Doesn’t this make you want to try out the obstacles for yourself?  Or am I just crazy?  Check out stage one:

Don’t worry, you don’t have to be an Olympic decathlete to conquer these courses.  In fact, this guy’s size worked against him on the final course.  (There’s an obstacle that requires you to hang from a one-inch ledge as you try to work your way across 15 feet or so of nothingness.  Think about that – you’re supporting your entire weight with only your fingertips for an extended period of time.  Needless to say, Mr. Musclebound didn’t do too well on that one!)

There are three courses total, with increasingly difficult obstacles.  Here’s an example of the second:

The obstacles change every year, but the fundamental focus on upper body strength, grip, speed and balance are always present. I want to play on this obstacle course!

So let’s think about how to implement a course like this on a permanent basis.  First, it would ideally be constructed indoors so that it could be used year-round.  (Or maybe not?  Maybe if you’re truly ninja you’ll go out and practice even in the middle of January?)

I envision foam blocks replacing the water pit at the bottom.  All that metal and water just scream “liability” to me, and it would be much harder to maintain.  But how would this be implemented as a gym facility?  Should all of the obstacles be separated to allow individual focus and practice, or should they be linked together in one long course like in the show?  Perhaps both.  Ideally, members would be able to practice on any one piece of equipment at any time to allow for maximum flexibility in workouts and training.  But maybe there could be specific times of the day or days of the week where the entire course would be run through instead.

Crowding would be another issue.  Only one person can really be using a given obstacle at a time, so either the equipment would need modification to allow for more, or the gym would simply have an elite membership (and premium pricing to go with it – those fewer members would have to support the costs of the gym).  I lean towards the latter.  Exclusivity and ninja training seem to go together nicely, don’t you agree? 

New Idea: Fun Physical Training (or We Need More Ninjas in the World)

Problem: Gyms aren’t really fun.  I mean, even if you’re one of those superjocks who can force themselves to go five times a week until their body gets used to the strain, in your heart of hearts can you truly say that you are having fun when you go?  If you can, are you sure you haven’t just been brainwashed by the gym representatives?

I don’t avoid physical activity.  But I don’t like the feeling of going into a gym and picking up heavy things for no other reason than to put them back down again.  It feels so pointless, so mundane.  The creative part of my brain cries out in protest.  I feel like I could be using that same energy to accomplish something real while getting in shape.  Perhaps chopping lumber.  Maybe rearranging furniture.  But you get the idea.

When I have a clear goal outlined, the physical aspect of work is not an issue for me.  Time flies by and I don’t feel tired because I’m so focused on what I’m doing.  But I have to feel invested in the goal – lifting the same barbell over my head eight times in a row does not cut it.

At the same time, I recognize the value of having a place where you can go regularly and achieve measurable progress in your strength and fitness.  It is harder to do this when you’re out cutting lumber, and you can only rearrange your furniture so many times.

Solution: Provide a location that is both fun to use and provides measurable, repeatable exercises.  I present to you: the Ninja Gym.  Have you ever seen the show Ninja Warrior on G4?  Check it out, I’ll wait. (It has its own video podcast on iTunes, too, look for it on the bottom of the page.)

If you look at some of these obstacle courses and think, “hey, I want to do that!”, then you and I clearly see eye to eye on the subject.  (If you’re too lazy to go see the videos, it’s basically a yearly competition with a huge obstacle course that people run through while competing for the best time.  The object of the course is to test all aspects of fitness.)  So I ask you, why can’t a similar obstacle course be set up indoors on a permanent basis?  Think of it: instead of merely going to the gym to throw yourself at blunt objects and hopefully burn a little fat, you could enhance your speed, balance, grip, agility, strength, and more!  Of course you would still be burning fat, but on top of that you would also gather a plethora of skills that you could use with that new hot body of yours!

Sure, getting up to five miles on the treadmill is great, but how much cooler will it be when you finally master climbing the dreaded Sasuke tower?  Or the brutal cliffhanger?  The point is, these are fun measurable goals that give you a distinct sense of satisfaction.  It’s basically like a huge playground for adults.  And there is plenty of variety and room for improvement so you don’t get bored.  It takes years of training for athletes to be able to make it through every aspect of the course, and even after this happens there is still the issue of time measurement and competitions.

I’ve noticed that gyms have begun cramming as many television sets as possible into their facilities – my local gym even has individual screens on every single treadmill and bicycle.  What is the point of this?  To distract you from the fact that you are running in place?  In the Ninja Gym, you will be 100% in the moment, focused on the task at hand.  Because if you aren’t, you’ll end up falling into the foam pit of shame and your honor will be stripped in front of your peers.  Or perhaps you’ll be caned publicly.  I haven’t decided yet.

Pros/benefits:

• Evens the playing field – some of the buffest people will have real trouble adjusting to the speed and agility portions of the course, whereas skinny or out of shape people could discover areas of previously unknown ability.
• Can tie in easily with martial arts/mma outfit – be a Ninja Gym in every sense of the phrase.
• Can go after recreational date market on weekends.
• Can host American Ninja Warrior Competitions.

Cons/weaknesses:

• Expensive to build.  This equipment and facility won’t come cheap.
• Liability.  People get hurt.  Hurt people sue people.  We would need some ironclad contracts and waivers.
• Competition from regular gyms

That’s my idea, I’ve been kicking this one around for about a year and I still want it to come into reality.  Bad.  What do you think?  Have I missed any cons?  Would you appreciate a Ninja Gym in your area?

What’s in an idea? (or Your Baby Sucks)

OK.  Here’s the deal.  The name’s Dan Purdon, and I’m an idea guy.  I love thinking up new businesses, new experiments, and new ways for the world to work.  It’s my favorite thing to do.  But the thing is, I don’t have the focus or diligence to carry all of these ideas to their fullest potential.  Hell, most of my ideas never see the light of day in any form.  Even the ones that really excite me usually end up on the perpetual “back-burner” in my mind after a couple of weeks, replaced by whatever shiny new one that I’ve thought up.  Is this sounding familiar?

They say that only 10% of all ideas are worth actually doing.  They also say that ideas are a dime a dozen, but the real value is in being able to act on them.  I have come to agree with “them”.

A lot of inventors, entrepreneurs, and idea-people in general think of their ideas as their “babies”.  They are full of confidence that their baby is the best thing since sliced bread.  And of course, they must be protected from the rest of the world, who would just love the chance to sneak in and steal their babies away.

But that’s the thing.  99% of the time, your baby sucks.  No one in the world would even care if you offered it to them on a silver platter.  Yes, I know it’s hard to accept.  But idea-people everywhere must accept it.  Even if you do happen to have one of those lucky one-in-a-hundred ideas, you actually run the risk of suffocating it if you don’t share it.  Because let’s face it, none of us knows everything.  There is always some aspect of an idea that we haven’t considered, some angle we haven’t thought of.  And just the fact that it is your baby clouds your judgment – just like real babies, you will always think yours is cutest, even if it is really the ugliest one on the block.

That is why I have created this blog.  I will take the plunge and list my ideas for the public to see, let my “babies” out into the real world and see which ideas really have legs.  I won’t be afraid of people stealing them.  After all, I’m only one man, and there’s no way I could ever do them all.  And what is an idea, anyway?  In my view, it is something that I want to see enacted in the world.  Why should I care about who’s doing the enacting?  If some soul out there sees eye to eye with me on an idea, and he or she has the knowledge, desire, means, and work ethic to bring it into existence, why shouldn’t I be happy for them?

I envision this blog as a forum for idea-people.  I envision it as a public journal of my own ideas and endeavors, enhanced by the opinions and ideas of others.  I envision it as a place for people to come together and watch the process of of ideas being brought into reality, with all the nuts and bolts that are involved therein.  Through this blog, you can see what makes an idea fly, and what makes it drop to the ground like a sack of dead rabbits.