The Lotus Position in Anime And Manga
Piccolo Meditates
The Full Lotus position is a seated cross legged position employed in meditation practices throughout the world. In anime and manga it is often depicted incorrectly. But so far nobody on the internet has seemed to notice.
The Full Lotus position has a rich cultural background, many purposes and benefits, and is sometimes depicted in anime and manga… Though rarely in the traditional way. This is especially true in the Shonen (Young Boys) genre, such as in Dragon Ball.
In Dragon Ball there are martial artists and individual styles of martial arts based cultivation practices. Some of the practices involve meditation. For example, there are scenes where Piccolo meditates in a cross legged position as he levitates above the ground using his own internal energy. Meditation is the primary way in which Piccolo increases his power level. In this practice he strengthens and refines his supernormal abilities. While Yamcha, Tenshinhan and Chaozu engaged in North Kaio’s special training methods during the Saiyan Saga, Piccolo only sat in meditation. Yet in this simple process he became more powerful than all of them.
But the seated position that Piccolo maintains is not the proper Full Lotus. Instead it is a general cross legged position, with one ankle loosely crossed in front of the other. He supposedly sits like this for hours at a time.
However, it is nearly impossible to sit like this for extended periods of time. The body is too tense and a practitioner cannot enter into tranquility. The Full Lotus is a remedy to this problem.
What is the Full Lotus?
What exactly is the Full Lotus position and what makes it different from a regular cross legged sit?
Dragon Ball’s Bloody Pond of Hell
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?
Dragonball Book Site Turns Japanese
The Dao of Dragonball book site is now officially bi-lingual! For all of the Japanese fans out there, the entire site has been translated into the native language of DBZ. If you know some people in Japan, feel free to send them the link.