Comments on: What Does Dragon Ball Mean to You?

By: cob1

cob1 — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 02:41:16 +0000

The interesting thing about Goku's Paradigm is that the only internal struggle he faces is fighting his instinct to maintain a high level of moral character. It's quite reflective of Buddhism in that sense, fighting what comes naturally to a human in order to develop the strength to overcome anything. Conquering the truly self is the hardest challenge one can undertake, as I'm sure you're well aware.

But back to DBZ, Goku faces such a unique struggle, where most of the characters fight an aspect of their personality, a conscious phenomenon, Goku must fight a subconscious conflict, as you said, his saiyan primal self. It would be like fighting the reptilian brain to a human which includes such important features as the brain stem and the most basic physiological understandings. It's the part of us that allows us to know how to feed as newborns and the part that tells us we need to sleep.

I agree, it's wonderful that Dragonball could inspire so many people to take the martial arts seriously. I live in Vegas currently and let me tell you, the MMA scene isn't what I would consider serious martial arts training. But Dragonball brings it out of people! I think it's the dream that one day, we will attain that level

Speaking of philosophy, I would like to pose the following question:

Many cultures throughout history were cultures strictly of martial combat: The Shaolin, Ninja, Spartans, Illyrians, and Countless Others. Had those societies become the dominant empires of their time (though true warrior cultures generally had no will to conquer), where would evolution have taken us? Had we evolved to fight rather than debate, would we be at the level of the warriors we see in Dragonball? And to what extent? Where would our power levels be and how close to the energy waves in the series would we be?

By: derekpadula

derekpadula — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 09:29:39 +0000

Right. Some people think that the characters in Dragon Ball are shallow, and maybe some of them appear that way, but I think it's because Akira Toriyama presents them in simple ways. Their existence, in relationship to one another, paints a broad spectrum of the human mind and its capabilities.

I also find Goku to be a far more complicated individual then he appears at first glance. He essentially has two personalities. One, his Saiyan primal self, that is the source of his great power. And two, his human raised self, obtained when he hit his head on a rock. He actually killed his adoptive father unknowingly, while transformed into a primal great ape. He savagely crushed his own dad, then went on living the next decade or so of his life completely unaware. Fascinating, and it opens up some interesting philosophical questions.

Glad to hear that Dragon Ball inspired you to become more serious with the martial arts. The more I work on this project, the more I find people like you (and I), and from across the world who received the same inspiration.

By: Cob

Cob — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 23:36:55 +0000

The characters in dragonball are such archetypal characters. They are the extremest of the various personalities they represent. It's a frame of reference for what I deem to be The Highest and Lowest of moral standing and character for any person, including myself.

It's also what took me from being a hobby martial artist to a serious practitioner. Not because I wanted to shoot energy beams out of my hand (though we all do!) but because it showed me the importance of being physically and mentally prepared for all tasks.

By: Sona

Sona — Fri, 06 May 2011 01:45:31 +0000

I think this was awesome and that whoever created this show should make way more episodes

By: derekpadula

derekpadula — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 00:05:27 +0000

That is an interesting point you made about the relationship between Goku and Sun WuKong as the most physical of the pilgrims. The fact that Sun WuKong goes through the alchemical process literally, while Goku does so superficially (as in, it's never explicitly explained), is a topic with a lot of depth. I had never looked at Piccolo in terms of mastering the heart chakra, but it definitely makes sense!

By: TMS Samurra

TMS Samurra — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 18:18:35 +0000

Actually DBZ has been very influencial to me as a point of reference for metaphysical principles. To start off the 7 dragon balls are your 7 chakras, the dragon represents your spinal column and your physical kundalini energy. Once you begin to analyse the show it bcomes clear that the Z fighters are all different aspects of the same entity. Goku is the monkey king from Journey to the West. He represents the physical body and the alchemetic process one goes through in thr transmutation of oneself from the base to their high aspects. The Namekian people are very important. The concept of Kami is important not just to the show but from Shinto culture. Piccolo actually represents mastering the heart chakra.

By: Edgar

Edgar — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 03:44:33 +0000

Well, I quoted a line from what Kelley said to separate to what I was going to say. Sadly, I can't find any video with the mexican spanish dub, of the episode where Krillin first appears. But while looking for it, indeed came many info stating that he wanted to train to stand up to the shaolin monks and not defend them.

While I said that the mexican dub is usually more faithful; sometimes errors are made. In DBZ when Goku asks everyone to help with the genkidama to defeat Buu, Android 17 says that it had been a long time since he heard Yajirobe's voice… that is an error.

And in someother series, the same thing happens. In the dub for The Simpsons, in the episode where Homer becomes a "monk" and refuses to go to church; after his house burns down, Barney comes over and talks to Chief Wiggum calling him dad… because of this; many in Latin America believed both were related.