Similar Musicians

I love music and songs from the 70s . Compared to now , i feel that artistes back then expressed themselves more in songs . Also , the music was more " raw " , with bands like Big Star experimenting with new sounds . Among them ,were many unrecognized talents

Starting from the power pop bands . No doubt that Big Star and Badfinger were very very similar . Both bands were influenced by the Beatles and were trying to achieve the harmony recording style of the Beatles . Moreover they did many acoustic based songs . " September Gurls " and " No Matter What " were the two best songs from that era . Along with that , both bands met and performed together at The Performance Center at Cambridge , MA . Sadly , due to commercial success and bad management  , both bands never achieved their stardom . Their songs and albums went down with them . Also , the deaths of the musical geniuses of the two bands , Pete Ham and Chris Bell ( who both died at 27 ) , contributed to the collapse of the bands . Their songs were only recognized decades after .

Unlike his label mate , Cat Stevens , Nick Drake could not find people who would appreciate his work . Combining blues and english folk and poetry , Nick released 3 albums during his lifetime . Ridiculed and unappreciated for his work , Nick was reluctant to perform live . As a result , he went unrecognized . On the other hand , Cat Stevens was performing at gigs and achieving success . Both were born on the same year , signed to the same label and did similar folk type songs . Soon , Nick became unmotivated to perform live or record any songs , and feel into depression . Sadly , he passed away at the age of 26 , from an overdose of the anti depression pills he was taking . His music was only recognized after his death .

I am sure that there are many other unrecognized talented musicians who are still yet to be discovered . But these is all i know . Thank you

Power Pop Bands

These are two of my favourite power pop bands . Big Star and Badfinger . The tragic tales of two bands who just wanted to make music but never managed to . A lot of their albums went unreleased and thus the bands collapsed .

For the case of Badfinger , they should have been millionaires by now . Pete Ham and Tom Evans wrote the song " Without You " was covered by Harry Nilsson which became a smash hit for him . He actually presented both of them with awards , unlike Mariah Carey who doesn't even acknowledge the original writers . But sadly due to bad management , they both never got a penny and thus their lives collapsed , causing both of them to commit suicide . The whole band just collapsed after that .

Big Star is another tragic story of a band which failed to achieve stardom despite their amazing talents . This band was trying to achieve the sound of the beatles , which they did successfully . They produced many songs which were potential hits . But due to bad management again , everything collapsed . Their albums went unreleased . They disbanded after their lead singer , Chris Bell was killed in a car crash .

Both of these bands were influenced by The Beatles . Both of these bands admired each other and even played together once . Both of their lead singers died at the age of 27 . Both of these bands never got what they wanted to really do , which was to make music .

Practical And Realistic Aikido .

This might be a long post . But i think i have decided to lay out all my concerns and questions i have and not keep them to myself .

I started practicing aikido in 2012 . I really had no goal or whatsoever when i started it . I has just watched some Steven Seagal movies and thought that it was cool ! The first few months of class and practice went really smooth . I really enjoyed it and found it fun . I even went for a grading , my first ever grading in which my teacher didn't even prepare me for ! When i went to the grading venue , there were other aikidokas with other ranks . Some of them were chit chatting in groups while others , like me , were just standing there alone waiting for their turn .

The grading took place in a small mall . With a large number of tatami mats arranged . Everyone who was grading had to wear a small number tag . Together in groups , we had to perform different techniques. We started off with our basic ukemis . I was still starting then and i couldn't do the ukemi with my right hand . I remember the chief instructor calling out my number on the mic and saying " Number 23 ! Do your ukemi on both sides ! " . I stood there stuck to the ground . Everyone else finished their ukemi and waited at the other end of the mat . An instructor then came up to me and help me out with it . It was really embarrassing for me .

Another embarrassing moment came during the ending , during jiyu waza . I had no idea what on earth that was . I remember pinning down my uke . An instructor came up to me and screamed at me saying that i was supposed to throw him . The grading ended and i was almost out of breath .

I got my promotion a week later and my blue belt . To be honest , i wonder how on earth i even got promoted when my ukemi wasn't even good ! I guess because i paid them $50 for the grading .

I remember going for a seminar a few months later . I only learnt one thing from the seminar . That was to grab a punch and place the guy into an arm breaker . Everyone seemed happy to be meeting new people rather than training . To be honest , it seemed like a social gathering rather than a seminar . I remember meeting new friends there .

The wake up call came a few months later . With the rise of MMA and UFC , everyone now wants to be a cage fighter . A few guys in my class are always interested in cage fighting and UFC . I think one of them even trained in MMA for a while . Anyway , i got into a few "fights" in school in which i got my butt kicked . I often asked myself " Why didn't the technique work ? ". I actually found it either hard , or impossible to pull off any of the techniques that i have learnt in these fights .

I began to ask my instructors these questions in class but i could not get a proper answer . That's when i begun to seek the answers myself . " Why aren't there realistic punches and attacks ? Why do we only train for the dojo ? Do this things work in the street ? Can i actually use my training in a real fight ? " These were the questions i started to ask myself .

I started off by going to the library and reading up about martial arts . Silat , karate , wrestling , i remember reading a couple of books . I even spent long hours watching documentaries on martial arts . During my research , i found something interesting . Morihei Ueshiba in his earlier days was a strong man and a fighter ! The stuff he was teaching in his earlier days was more closer to aikijujutsu , which had more emphasis on combat and fighting .I immediately knew that , that was what i wanted to study .

The problem i found was that what i was being currently taught had no combat application . It was more of a self perfection . Even the people in my class were not really serious . Sloppy attacks , chit chatting was what i saw every week in class.

I got into another fight last year with this really big guy ! He got me into a side headlock . My managed to take away his hand and get him into a sankyo . But of course , he didn't let me . He tried to counter it by elbowing and punching me . Soon after , i got him into a correct position and placed the lock on him . I brought this up to one of my instructors and he simply put me into a sankyo and asked " How can you punch me ? " . Of course my couldn't ! He already had a lock on me . " How about placing a lock on someone who is trying to beat the crap out of you " was what i wondered .

I begin to wonder what if the technique fails ? They did not even talk about that in class at all . I am guessing there are already in assumption that you have the lock on .

Another biggest concern i had , and still have , is that fact that people pull their hand back when they punch . Ukes in class always left out their hands when they punch . It looked very impressive to perform throws and locks when they did that . I remember sparring with a friend once , and tried grabbing his punch . Non of that BS worked and everything i was taught went straight out of the window .I was even told once in class that only karate and taekwondo guys pulled their hands back when they punched . What a bunch of BS ! I taught . You can easily watch street fights . Even the homeless bum would pull his hand when he punched . I still could not find as answer .

I even got made fun by an instructor once when i asked all these questions . I view aikido as a martial art , and not as some form of dance and yoga . I believe that the hard training Morihei Ueshiba did in his younger days was what led to be the " old man who could throw people with ease " in his later days . I was even told once that you did not need to fight in aikido as it was all about peace ! Bullshit ! How can you talk about peace when you have not understood violence ! Ueshiba fought in wars in his earlier days , I am sure he had seen enough violence to be able to talk about peace when he was older .

I find Steven Seagal's aikido to be hard and practical . After talking to some of his students , i found out that he actually teaches aikido as a fighting art , to be able to use it both offensively and defensively. I have heard Seagal say this many times . He believes that aikido is a martial art and it should be able to help you in any situation , against anyone , who is trying to hurt you or your loved ones .

I believe that there are not much people that actually teach aikido as a MARTIAL art . They all seem to be teaching the same BS. Same attacks everytime . I personally believe that we have to evolve in our training in order to fit the modern times . I was told by an instructor once that people are actually going to attack you with shomen and yokomen uchis in the street ! Everyone is either going to punch , kick or take you down in the streets !

While training to be good in the dojo , i have decided to go on my own to find ways to make aikido actually work for me . No one else is interested . I remember asking people in my class if they would like to join me . Non of them are interested . Seems that only dojo training is enough for them .

No doubt that Ueshiba was an excellent martial artist and he created aikido from his own personal experience . But it seems that due to some BS , the art got watered down so much that it is a laughing stock now among martial artists .

I am on my path to train in aikido as martial and combat art , putting all the BS aside. First thing i should do is to train in strikes . From my research , pre war aikido had strikes . " How are you able to defend against an attack if you dont know how to execute it in the first place ? " was my question . I am trying to find a striking art , maybe muay thai , boxing , karate and learn striking . I even read once that in order to train with Ueshiba in his early days , students needed to have Dan grades in other arts like Karate , Judo , Kendo etc .

I hope to write a follow up to this post soon !