What Does Dragon Ball Mean to You?
Goku asks, "To train, or not to train?"
I would like to pose an open question to the Dragon Ball community.
The question is… what does Dragon Ball mean to you?
Is Dragon Ball meaningful in your life? Has it changed your life in some way? Maybe Akira Toriyama’s art, world or message of the series inspired or still inspires you. Perhaps it is important to someone you know. Did you connect with Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Piccolo or another character throughout the series?
Or is Dragon Ball not meaningful at all?
This is an open ended question with no specific criteria. Your reply can be as short or as long as you like.
Please reply in the comments below. If your comments are longer than a few hundred words, then please email them through the contact page.
If I decide to add your comment to the book, then I will contact you to let you know and will provide a special thanks in the final version.
For me, it changed my life by leading me into the martial arts and the path of the spiritual warrior, which then lead to other things, such as a bachelors degree in East Asian Studies, a study abroad tour in Beijing where I trained with the Shaolin monks, and much more.
Please speak freely and describe what Dragon Ball means to you.
Oh Derek! You gave me such a hard task.
There is a lot I would like to say on how DB has been an influence on my life. But with my family around… I can't concentrate. I wish to write all that I want, but…
Comment by Edgar — June 25, 2010 @ 1:51 am
Honostly speaking it has helped me in my martial arts training and viewing what is important. The message of continually trying to do good for others, protect others, and achieve what you are capable of is very inspiring. I thought about that stuff on a regular basis when I was training to test for another blackbelt several years ago and it helped me through the whole thing. In fact I got a tattoo of the word for Saiyajin in small kanji as a constant reminder. Some may think it is silly, but most think it is a cool idea. Especially given the fact that it is surrounded with the UV ink and a invisble UV kanji that under a blacklight the invisible kanji and the surrounding of the saiyajin kanji glows and says super saiyan. Yeah its funny but I don't really care, the message is more important and the idea of "never give up" is more important than other people's opinions.
Comment by Gabe — June 25, 2010 @ 7:07 am
It sounds like Dragon Ball made a rather large impression on your life. Both mentally and physically.
I agree that the internal reflection of our character is the most important thing.
Comment by derekpadula — June 28, 2010 @ 4:05 am
Well, I am no expert on tattoos, so I am not sure on what to say on that
. But I love how positive it means to you, and how you want it to reach others.
Comment by Edgar — June 29, 2010 @ 5:34 pm
When I was 12 my life was at a cross road. I was a geeky band nerd with no confidence and no desire to become your typical small town girl. I stumbled across DBZ early on morning, I liked the show so if it was on I would watch it, that turned into waking up hours early just to watch the show. Next thing DBZ wall scrolls and T-shirts littered my room. My parents saw the positive turn in my attitude and for my 13th birthday enrolled me in Karate classes. The school I attended was what I call McDojo the only think of importance to the instructor was the paycheck and I knew it. I wanted a teacher like Picclo, serious about training. I took it upon myself to research Karate schools around my small Louisiana town and I found an Isshin-Ryu school owned and operated by a former Marine. After one class I was hooked, I knew I found my place, I worked hard like the DBZ characters I would push my self past the point of fatigue and then push some more. After a few years I started to work for the karate school. My Picclo like teacher became my friend and I was a happy goofy band nerd karate geek as I put it. During day camps and movie nights with my students we would watch DBZ in our down time. I would engage the students in positive activities and they would make teams according to the characters they liked. It was amazing how these kids teams would channel the characters attitude. Team Goku, team, Vajita, for most of the girls team Bulma, and I was always proud to be a part of team Picclo. DBZ helped me to get to where I am today and I used it to inspire my students as it inspired me…
Comment by Catherine — July 27, 2010 @ 6:33 am
That is exactly the type of meaningful story I am on the lookout for. And that's funny how the students would act like the characters on the show because they were a member of that team. Thank you!
Comment by derekpadula — July 28, 2010 @ 6:42 am
Honestly, Kuririn was always an inspiration to me. Powerless and knowledgable of that power; he's stronger than billions of people on the earth and it means nothing when compared to his best friend and a handful of others, some of them children. But rather than get jealous or angry, he takes it with a smile and stays loyal. He always goes to battle, even though he knows he has a great chance to die. He also takes great mercy on opponents, first Vegeta and then, more notably, number 18. In doing so, he fulfills what was his greatest dream; not strength, as with Goku, but in finding a wife. Hell, even when he first arrived at Muten Roshi's he said he was only getting into martial arts to impress girls. The most quickly reformed and dynamic of Goku's former enemies, Kuririn brings about the most humorous and heartwarming moments of DBZ. (To quote Goku "Kuririn was a good guy! A really good guy!)
Comment by Kelley — August 21, 2010 @ 6:58 pm