The Dao of Dragonball Blog

Dragon Ball Z.  How is it pronounced?  Perhaps you never asked yourself the question, but it turns out there are a few different ways to say it.  All because of the Z.

For example, is it pronounced Dragon Ball Zee, Dragon Ball Zed or something else entirely?  The title of the show represents a linguistic problem with various answers that depend on where you live and what language you speak.

Why does it matter?  Because the show is an international phenomenon with no agreed upon standard for how to pronounce its name.  And the differences stand as another example of diversity seen within the localized versions of the Dragon Ball series.

To really understand why this is the case we have to learn a little about languages and world history from within the Dragon Ball perspective.

Read more…

Welcome to the "Bloody Pond" from DBZ's Hell

Have you been to the Bloody Pond of Hell?  It’s a great place to visit… They have row boats.

Many fans of Dragon Ball may be aware of the Bloody Pond in Dragon Ball’s Hell, but how many of them know that you can actually visit it?

It turns out that there is a real Bloody Pond in a city of Japan, and that it was the most likely source for Dragon Ball’s version.

This Bloody Pond also has an interesting part to play in traditional Japanese culture and society.

What is the Bloody Pond and why does this matter in Dragon Ball?  And where exactly did Toriyama receive the inspiration for his Bloody Pond?

Read more…

Hitler Heil's Hello in DBZ Movie 12

There are many unique aspects to the Dragon Ball series and several may contain socialist and communist elements.  In this article I will introduce 5 of them.

They are the following:

1. Red Army
2. Stars
3. Hitler
4. Hooked Cross Z
5. One World Government

The elements on this list are the results of watching the Dragon Ball series and seeing what is already there.  I am not making any of these up.

This article is not only here to reveal what was in front of us all along, but to also help explain how and why.

Red Star Hammer and Sickle

Please keep in mind that Dragon Ball is above all else a fun and lighthearted show with a heavy dose of silliness and martial arts antics.  These socialist and communist elements do not detract from the Dragon Ball experience in any way.

It’s possible you may disagree with some of the inherent meaning behind these elements within the series, and a lot has been said about one of them in particular, but that does not take away from the fact that they are there to begin with and left for us to explore and understand.

If you have any thoughts on their meaning and why the creator’s put them in, then please state your thoughts in the comments below.

Now let’s begin our adventure. Read more…

Vegetto Smashes Majin Buu with a Double Axe Handle

In this Dragon Ball explorative essay we’re going to focus on the martial arts technique known as the double axe handle. This iconic technique is found throughout the Dragon Ball series and has both a rich history and symbolism.

Dragon Ball is a comic book and anime filled with fighting and all kinds of different martial arts styles.  Yet many of them share similar techniques, and the double axe handle is one of the most identifiable.

These are the questions we will answer in this article:

• What is the double axe handle?
• What are its origins and history, and how does it relate to Dragon Ball?
• What are the histories of East Asian martial arts, Buddhism, and the Lightning Bolt Clasped Hands style of combat?
• How do eastern philosophies and this technique fit into the fights of DBZ?
• Why is the double axe handle used so often in Dragon Ball?
• Outside of Dragon Ball, where else can the double axe handle be seen?

Read on to find out! Read more…

Nope. It really is Over 8,000 in the original comic. Read the report to find out more.

I’ve put together a brand new special report that will help you learn all the details on the Dragon Ball internet phenomenon “Over 9,000!” that is found all over the web, and I’m giving it away for free with The Dao of Dragon Ball book.

Included in this over 9 page bonus item is an in-depth analysis of the pop cultural history of “Over 9,000!” and it’s connection to the Japanese DBZ source material as well as its connection to ancient Chinese, Indian, and Japanese cultures.

The report cannot be found elsewhere and is yours free just by giving The Dao of Dragon Ball a shot. If you decide the book isn’t for you, then you still get to keep your bonus item.

You can pick up a copy of the report at the main DBZ Book website.

SSJ4 Gohan

I recently started reading a book called The 10 Natural Laws of Successful Time Management, by Hyrum Smith.  So far it has been very engaging and informative.

I’m only on the 4th chapter, but I’ve already learned (or re-learned) some of the reasons why I procrastinate on my writing for the DBZ book, or any of my other various projects.

The essential point I’ve understood is that if I don’t prioritize my life according to my own intrinsic values, and live according to those values in everything I do, that I’ll never make progress on my projects or find satisfaction in my work.  In a larger scope…  I won’t find happiness in life.  So determining what my core values are is really important. Read more…

Goku Smiles

How do you know what you know is the truth?  Because you believe it to be.

Those who cannot enlighten to higher truths believe that the truth at their level is the highest, and they believe in all that they can see at their level and below them, with the presumption, based on observable information and incite, that their current level is the highest.

If you don’t believe that there may be a higher truth than the one you currently know then you will forever be positioned at that level.

Saying “I do not know” opens the door for potential improvement. Read more…

Goku Faces Towards the Light

I recently received a question from a visitor to the main Dao of Dragonball Book site.  He asked “What of Falun Dafa is similar to Dragon Ball?”  This post reveals the relationship between personal cultivation, Goku, and Falun Dafa.

As visitors to the site may know, Dragonball is what actually led me into the martial arts.  I started with Shaolin Gong Fu, progressed into Tai Qi, and then Qi Gong, and eventually Falun Dafa.

As I practice Falun Dafa I am able to gain a higher understanding of the three universal principles of Truth, Compassion, and Forbearance.  Looking through these three principles at Dragonball, and Goku especially, I see a lot to relate to in my own life.

If you look at Goku through this lense, for example, you can see all three principles.

He is a completely True person, and he is very honest and genuine.  His mind is simple and straightforward and he does what he feels is right. Read more…

The Dragon Ball Z Legend

The Dragon Ball Z Legend: The Quest Continues

The Dragonball Z Legend: The Quest Continues says right on the cover “An essential source for every anime fan”. To that, book cover, I say you are wrong. Entertaining perhaps, but certainly not essential, even for Dragonball nuts.

The books design is a series of Q & A. Fifty-Four (54) questions related to series’ trivia are posed and then answered in a couple of pages each. Unfortunately while the answers tend to be fairly on target, more hardcore fans will recognize numerous errors, and this gets frustrating after a while. Luckily the questions are varied and the answers are comical. Read more…

Pojo’s Unofficial Dragonball Z Cards Simplified: A Player’s Guide

Pojo's Unofficial Dragonball Z Cards Simplified

The Dragonball Z Collectible Card Game (CCG) premiered in 2000 with the Saiyan Saga starter decks and booster packs. There are now over eighteen expansions and several rare and promotional cards to play around with. The CCG’s purpose is to play mock battles in Dragonball with your favorite DBZ characters and abilities, mixing and matching fighting styles and combat techniques to come out the victor. Pojo’s Unofficial Dragonball Z Cards Simplified: A Player’s Guide details the origins of the game, the various cards, and strategies from winners of national tournaments.

The book starts off with a nice introduction to the Dragonball series and is a suitable primer for those unfamiliar with the topic. Of course there’s no substitute for watching the show or reading the comic book, but it sets you up for the rest of the contents. It follows with a description of the various card types, such as Physical Combat, Energy Combat, Non-Combat, Dragon Ball’s, Battle Grounds and Locations, and Mastery cards. It then breaks those down into different fighting styles, including Red, Blue, Black, Orange, Saiyan, and Namekian along with descriptions of what makes each one unique.

Overall it gives a pretty good idea of what the game contains, but it doesn’t actually include the rules, so you’re left trying to piece together how the game is played from the descriptions of cards and strategies therein. I suppose this is because the rules change frequently with each new release of cards, and it would have been difficult to summarize all of the rules into a few pages, but it would have made a lot more sense to me if they had tried. Read more…