The Winter King The Winter King is the first novel of the Warlord Chronicles by Bernard Cornwell. It was published in 1995 in the UK by Penguin Group. Plot introduction[edit] The novel is divided into five parts. Plot summary[edit] Part One: A Child in Winter[edit] The Kingdom of Dumnonia is in chaos. Mordred and his mother are brought to Merlin's hall at Ynys Wydryn (Glastonbury), where she and the child are placed under the care of Merlin's priestesses, Morgan (Arthur's sister) and Nimue (Merlin's lover). High King Uther summons a high council of the Kings of Britain at Glevum (Gloucester). After Uther dies Mordred, still only a baby, is pronounced King of Dumnonia. The group flee with Gundleus in pursuit. Part Two: The Princess Bride[edit] In the aftermath of the battle Arthur imprisons Gundleus but treats him with respect as he is a King. When Prince Tristan, Edling of Kernow, arrives in Dumnonia and demands recompense for the massacre, Owain blames an Irish raiding party.
SMEs Investment Escalator The pathway to growth for London's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Hungry for success? Register now London South Bank University's Investment Escalator is a free programme that offers London's small and medium-sized businesses all the support they need to grow: from optimising your business to finding funding. What's on the menu? Through tailored one to one coaching, topic specific workshops and consultancy, the programme can help you: Secure investment finance Develop your own successful growth strategy Unlock your marketing potential Maximise the power of your people Optimise your business systems Recipe for success By combining LSBU's academics' knowledge, with the practical experience of seasoned industry experts, the Investment Escalator programme is able to offer you a unique blend of support, including: Free business workshops Delivered by LSBU academics and industry experts, our business workshops focus on the requirements of London's SMEs. Events Upcoming events Get started
Martial arts The martial art of boxing was practiced in the ancient Thera. Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practices, which are practiced for a variety of reasons: self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, entertainment, as well as mental, physical, and spiritual development. Variation and scope[edit] Martial arts may be categorized along a variety of criteria, including: By technical focus[edit] Unarmed Grappling Weapon-based Those traditional martial arts which train armed combat often encompass a wide spectrum of melee weapons, including bladed weapons and polearms. Sometimes, training with one specific weapon will be considered a style of martial arts in its own right, which is especially the case in Japanese martial arts with disciplines such as kenjutsu and kendo (sword), bojutsu (staff), and kyudo (archery). By application or intent[edit] Combat-oriented Health-oriented Spirituality-oriented Martial arts can also be linked with religion and spirituality.
Miyamoto Musashi Miyamoto Musashi (宮本 武蔵?, c. 1584 – June 13, 1645), also known as Shinmen Takezō, Miyamoto Bennosuke or, by his Buddhist name, Niten Dōraku,[1] was a Japanese swordsman and rōnin. Musashi, as he was often simply known, became renowned through stories of his excellent swordsmanship in numerous duels, even from a very young age. He was the founder of the Hyōhō Niten Ichi-ryū or Niten-ryū style of swordsmanship and the author of The Book of Five Rings (五輪の書, Go Rin No Sho?), a book on strategy, tactics, and philosophy that is still studied today. Biography[edit] Birth[edit] The details of Miyamoto Musashi's early life are difficult to verify. Munisai and Musashi's birth date[edit] Munisai's tomb says he died in 1580, which obviously conflicts with the accepted birth date of 1584 for Musashi. Because of the uncertainty centering on Munisai (when he died, whether he was truly Musashi's father, etc.), Musashi's mother is known with even less confidence. Munisai's tomb was correct.
Seppuku Illustration from Sketches of Japanese Manners and Customs, by J. M. W. Silver, Illustrated by Native Drawings, Reproduced in Facsimile by Means of Chromolithography, London, 1867 Seppuku with ritual attire and second (staged) Samurai about to perform seppuku Seppuku (切腹? Vocabulary and etymology[edit] Seppuku is also known as harakiri (腹切り, "cutting the belly"),[3] a term more widely familiar outside Japan, and which is written with the same kanji as seppuku, but in reverse order with an okurigana. "It is commonly pointed out that hara-kiri is a vulgarism, but this is a misunderstanding. The practice of committing seppuku at the death of one's master, known as oibara (追腹 or 追い腹, the kun'yomi or Japanese reading) or tsuifuku (追腹, the on'yomi or Chinese reading), follows a similar ritual. The word jigai (自害?) Overview[edit] A tantō prepared for seppuku Ritual[edit] In time, carrying out seppuku came to involve a detailed ritual. The second was usually, but not always, a friend. History[edit]
Roverandom "Roverandom" is a novella written by J.R.R. Tolkien, originally told in 1925. It deals with the adventures of a young dog, Rover. In the story, an irritable wizard turns Rover into a toy, and Rover goes to the moon and under the sea in order to find the wizard again to turn him back into a normal-sized dog. It was submitted for publication in 1937 after the success of The Hobbit, but was not published for over sixty years — finally being released in 1998. Characters[edit] Major Rover(andom) - The main character. Minor Tinker - The cat who Rover lived with before becoming a toy.Little Boy Two - The boy who owned Rover as a toy. Places[edit] The Moon - Rover goes to the Moon seeking the Man in the Moon's help. Sources[edit] Tolkien, JRR., Roverandom.
History of martial arts Although the earliest evidence of martial arts goes back millennia, the true roots are difficult to reconstruct. Inherent patterns of human aggression which inspire practice of mock combat (in particular wrestling) and optimization of serious close combat as cultural universals are doubtlessly inherited from the pre-human stage, and were made into an "art" from the earliest emergence of that concept. Indeed, many universals of martial art are fixed by the specifics of human physiology and not dependent on a specific tradition or era. Specific martial traditions become identifiable in Classical Antiquity, with disciplines such as shuai jiao, Greek wrestling or those described in the Indian epics or the Spring and Autumn Annals of China. Early history[edit] Minoan youths boxing, reconstruction of a Knossos fresco (1500 BC). Wrestling is a human universal, and is also observed in other great apes, especially in juveniles. Africa[edit] Detail of the wrestling fresco in tomb 15 at Beni Hasan.
Bushido Japanese samurai in armour, 1860s. Photograph by Felice Beato Bushidō (武士道?) Bushido, a modern term rather than a historical one, originates from the samurai moral values, most commonly stressing some combination of frugality, loyalty, martial arts mastery, and honor unto death. Under the Tokugawa Shogunate, some aspects of warrior values became formalized into Japanese feudal law.[2] The word was first used in Japan during the 17th century.[3] It came into common usage in Japan and the West after the 1899 publication of Nitobe Inazō's Bushido: The Soul of Japan.[4] In Bushido (1899), Nitobe wrote: ...Bushidō, then, is the code of moral principles which the samurai were required or instructed to observe.... Nitobe was not the first person to document Japanese chivalry in this way. Historical development[edit] Early history to 11th century[edit] Bushidō in Gyo-Kaisho style Kanji. The Kojiki is Japan's oldest extant book. 13th to 16th centuries[edit] 17th to 19th centuries[edit] Tenets[edit]
Hopi Prophecy The end of all Hopi ceremonialism will come when a "Kachina" removes his mask during a dance in the plaza before uninitiated children [the general public]. For a while there will be no more ceremonies, no more faith. Then Oraibi will be rejuvenated with its faith and ceremonies, marking the start of a new cycle of Hopi life. World War III will be started by those peoples who first revealed the light (the divine wisdom or intelligence) in the other old countries (India, China, Islamic Nations, Africa.) The United States will be destroyed, land and people, by atomic bombs and radioactivity. The war will be "a spiritual conflict with material matters. That time is not far off. The Emergence to the future Fifth World has begun. The Hopi and others who were saved from the Great Flood made a sacred covenant with the Great Spirit never to turn away from him. "It is well done. The Great Chieftain of the Bow Clan led the faithful ones to this new land, but he fell into evil ways.
The Art of War Inscribed bamboo slips of The Art of War, unearthed in Yinque Mountain, Linyi, Shandong in 1972, dated back to the 2nd century BC. The Art of War is an ancient Chinese military treatise attributed to Sun Tzu, a high-ranking military general, strategist and tactician. The text is composed of 13 chapters, each of which is devoted to one aspect of warfare. It is commonly known to be the definitive work on military strategy and tactics of its time. It has been the most famous and influential of China's Seven Military Classics, and "for the last two thousand years it remained the most important military treatise in Asia, where even the common people knew it by name. The book was first translated into the French language in 1772 by French Jesuit Jean Joseph Marie Amiot and a partial translation into English was attempted by British officer Everard Ferguson Calthrop in 1905. Themes[edit] Sun Tzu considered war as a necessary evil that must be avoided whenever possible. The 13 chapters[edit]
Samurai Samurai around the 1860s Samurai (侍?), usually referred to in Japanese as bushi (武士?, [bu͍ꜜ.ɕi̥]) or buke (武家?), were the military nobility of medieval and early-modern Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany persons in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau. By the end of the 12th century, samurai became almost entirely synonymous with bushi, and the word was closely associated with the middle and upper echelons of the warrior class. History Asuka and Nara periods Following the Battle of Hakusukinoe against Tang China and Silla in 663 AD that led to a Japanese retreat from Korean affairs, Japan underwent widespread reform. The Taihō Code classified most of the Imperial bureaucrats into 12 ranks, each divided into two sub-ranks, 1st rank being the highest adviser to the Emperor. Heian period Ultimately, Emperor Kammu disbanded his army.
Ce que pensent les internautes de ce que pense Stallman sur le Cloud Computing Lorsque Richard Stallman s’exprime, il ne laisse généralement pas la Toile indifférente. Ce qui se comprend aisément puisque, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, Google…, il critique ouvertement et radicalement ce que tout le monde ou presque utilise au quotidien. Son récent avis sur le Cloud Computing en général et Google Chrome OS en particulier dans un article du Guardian que nous venons de traduire ne déroge pas à la règle[1] Jusqu’à donner l’idée à Katherine Noyes de compiler quelques interventions lues dans les commentaires de l’article ainsi que sur le célèbre site Slashdot. Déluge de critiques de Stallman sur le Cloud : Prudence ou Paranoïa ? Stallman’s Cloudburst: Prudence or Paranoia? Katherine Noyes - 20 décembre 2010 - E-Commerce TimesTraduction Framalang : Olivier Rosseler) « Je vais pouvoir annoncer à notre bon vieux RMS qu’il a perdu », nous dit hairyfeet, blogueur chez Slashdot. « La partie est terminée, l’ours a été tué et sa peau est depuis longtemps vendue. « Le nuage ?
Divine Comedy Dante shown holding a copy of the Divine Comedy, next to the entrance to Hell, the seven terraces of Mount Purgatory and the city of Florence, with the spheres of Heaven above, in Michelino's fresco On the surface, the poem describes Dante's travels through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven;[4] but at a deeper level, it represents, allegorically, the soul's journey towards God.[5] At this deeper level, Dante draws on medieval Christian theology and philosophy, especially Thomistic philosophy and the Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas.[6] Consequently, the Divine Comedy has been called "the Summa in verse".[7] The work was originally simply titled Commedìa and was later christened Divina by Giovanni Boccaccio. The first printed edition to add the word divina to the title was that of the Venetian humanist Lodovico Dolce,[8] published in 1555 by Gabriele Giolito de' Ferrari. Structure and story[edit] The last word in each of the three parts of the Divine Comedy is stelle ("stars"). Inferno[edit]