![]() StartingPoints Referenced by Homepages
|
bojo
PageType: HomePage
My name is Brian Jones, and I am from Fairbanks, Alaska. I am currently studying as a Fine Art student at 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 13 months later playing as a 10kyu 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
Intro to QuestionsThere are always questions that bother me, most relating to things I think I want to do. This gets very broad, very quickly however. I can start applying art, personal perspective, work, ideal philosophies, and everything else under the sun into a volume worth of rant. I've decided however, that I will just bluntly ask my questions with no regards as to "why" I ask them beyond a few explanations. Basically, until I publish my biography (never?) you get a 3 paragraph intro. Heh! QuestionsWhere and how do non-Asian aspiring Go professionals go to study? There are age limits, right? I indirectly started the GaijinDiaries in pursuit of more information, but even that is not enough. I ask this because if I had a concrete goal in sight, I could apply myself that much more, and ignore other things in life that currently have to take more precedence over my Go studies. Mainly due to my own personal uncertainty of where the end begins, I think. I would be interested in knowing what the prerequisite ages are, under various conditions? How do you find a sensei to study under? Where do you take the pro test, and what are the million and one steps required to get you there? It's been frustrating for the last several months to not really have any of these answers, like you need a foot in the door via a friend so that you are "in the know". "But you are only 10k, bojo. Why think about these things when you are still a novice?" Because Go has started consuming my life in parallel to college. I have finally found a point where I am content with what I am doing, and what I want to do, both in regards to my college studies, life, and the game of Go. See my future biography for more informaton. Random ThoughtsI'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? LinksI'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. ![]() |