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9th September 2007, 11:00 PM | #1 | |
Member
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Macau
Posts: 294
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Quote:
This will be my last post on this thread and I will explain why. I'm too old to seek applause. Some folks here do know me quite well and know I'm not interested in applause. Secondly, I am not just interested in knives or swords specifically but in culture in general, and I have always understood what conservative stances meant. It opposes change, evolution, change. The irony here is that most of the weapons under discussion, specially Kris and Keris, are themselves a product of cultural migrations or hybridization, and if you or anyone fail to accept that they must not evolve, you are failing, like the Classic Music lovers, who dismiss Jazz as a horrible collection of non-harmonical sounds. Fortunately there were people like Pavarotti that opened the stages they stepped in to Rock performers. Being conservative or purist over something that is a product of cultural exchanges at ethnic level, is the same as refusing the richness of multi-ethnical Americans, which is an irony. Is as if one refused the way An Afro-American renders his way of being American, or a Latin-American, or an Italo-American, or a Sino-American. It's purely both ironical to deny the richness of diversity originated by immigrants from other continents!!! Not being a native English speaker, I once was striken by a BBC programme called The History of English. It showed how English was rendered in different places of the world, from the UK to Australia and to places like Jamaica. In other words, it explained the richness of evolution acculturations. I do love Jazz and I do like to hear a New Yorker say a man gotta do what he's gotta do and I love Brazilian Portuguese, or hear an Indian speak English, or the way an Angolan speaks Portuguese. I don't want any legitimization for this thread here. I don't need excuses because I myself am a product of multi-ethnicity, from Portuguese to Jew, to Indian, Italian and Irish, and I live in the oldest 450 years outpost in the Far-East, and as a result of such multicultural place, I speak Portuguese, Cantonese, Mandarin, Spanish, Italian, French, a bit of Japanese, a bit of German, and I am open to more. I seek to learn, and actually the self called purists here have reconfirmed what I already knew. Lastly I would like to say I like a good discussion. And that does not mean agreeing. But what I see here is the denial of the essence of the roots of ethnical swords. What some here are actually saying to me is, stick to what exists and we do need a reason for those squeeky sounds you're making with this approach. What some of you are saying is, do not acknowledge the richness of ethnographical weapons by getting inspired by them and evolving. Just stick on discussing what exists. Sorry guys, I will not take your advise, I have abundantly proved by putting my money where my mouth is, that I am opened to all areas but I will continue my journey without looking back. Thank you for your time. |
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