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bojo
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My name is Brian Jones, and I am from Fairbanks, Alaska. I am currently studying as an aspiring Fine Art student at [ext] UAF. I have picked up Japanese Studies this semester, as a double major*. I have decided over the course of this semester that I am not going to pursue CS anymore since I don't need a minor.

I first ran into the game of Go around the beginning of August, 2002 through the anime Hikaru no Go. I was very skeptical about the series at first, seeing that it involved some wacky board game I didn't know much about. Here I am about 16 months later playing as a 9kyu on the KGS server, a proud owner of about 18 Go related books, 2 Gobans, and striving to learn everything I can about this game.

I am a member of the K5GS Go club, formed by members of [ext] Kuro5hin. I also frequent the SA social room, dedicated towards members of [ext] SomethingAwful.

  • Japanese culture has been something I was interested in since my early High School years, most noteably when I began exploring alternative philosophies/religions. Just as I was going into college, my parents mentioned taking up Japanese language studies, but I never felt that I was prepared to do it. Here I am years later, finally beginning to realize a dream.

Random Thoughts

I've had this discussion a few times now, and interesting enough, when I talk to people about the game they picture armies, and how movement in the game correlates with how a battle would take place on an ancient battleground. Granted I haven't interviewed a broad range of players, but so far this seemst to be the general concensus.

How do I think about it?

Somehow, I have abstracted the game. While I used to think of it as an ancient war game, now it is more than that. It isn't a war game anymore, but a game in which I place literal stones in places that aquire balance, harmony, power, influence, strength, life, and even death. While that sounds pretty cliche, I think I am beginning to see deeper into the game, beyond just casual placement of stones. It's like I have finally found out how to study Zen, but from a different point of view. If I could express in words how excited that makes me feel, I would.

When I first introduced a friend to the game at the beginning of summer, I pointed out that "you will see just how deep the rabbit hole goes". As of late, he has almost caught up to me in strength, and I asked him if he could "see the bottom yet?". We both agreed that, if there is a bottom, we still have a long way to fall before we can even see it. We have also considered the fact that, if modern day pros can't see the bottom, then how deep does the rabbit hole really go?


Links

I'm dedicating this section to Go related links. I keep finding stuff, then never bookmarking it, or remembering it, and wishing I did.

No links just yet, but I know that I need this section or I would be lost.



This is a copy of the living page "bojo" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2004 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.