Kobudo is known as the “Ancient Martial Way” which came from Okinawa.
(“The ancient history of Okinawa tells us a turbulent story, with violent political upheavals characterizing a major part of the now-peaceful island's heritage. It was out of these days of unrest that the art of kobudo (the ancient martial way) was born, due to a necessity for peasants to defend their families or property by turning common, everyday items into weapons that could be used for self-defense. The Okinawan people developed a system of self-defense using farming and fishing implements. This rare ancient practice has developed into the beautiful art form known as Kobudo.”)
Now for my idea… Start by gathering the farming/gardening tools that you will need. Next, you might want to train in the beautiful art form yourself, or hire someone who already knows how to perform with ease. Set up your garden or farm like a choreographed stage, straight rows might be the easiest, but flowing serpent lines or circles would lend to this beautifully. When it’s planting time, one does the kick, plant, and step and so on up the row. If you would like to carry a hoe at this point, substitute the kick for one swing of the hoe. Plant seed, step on dirt and move on.
A few quick jaunts through the rows with your sickle should take care of weeding for the season.
When harvest time comes along, use your staff or sickle to slice the plant. With a gentle kick, knock off the fruit, bend, pick the fruit and toss into a basket, then end with a nice roundhouse kick to the sky. (just for show)-- xandram, Sep 26 2006 The deadly Floral Styles of Kung-Fu http://www.fudebaku...gallery_floral.html [Veho, Sep 26 2006] History of kobudo, seems they had to carry tools and do fancy footwork http://home1.gte.ne.../kobudo_history.htm [xandram, Sep 26 2006] Reminds me of the famous floral styles of Kung-Fu, as described in the [link]. But aside from the recreational and aesthetic value, I don't see the point of a lot of bruised fruit.-- Veho, Sep 26 2006 <Pictures master gardener slicing vegetables in mid-air as they fall into the salad bowl> Mmmm, salad.-- Shz, Sep 26 2006 No bruised fruit, gentle handling with precise movements allows one to gather the fruit with expertise, and then they are placed on little velvet pillows.
[Veho] tumbleweed, haha good one.-- xandram, Sep 26 2006 Martial arts are, in general a form of exercise. But farming with manual implements is a form of exercise even more strenuous than a rigorous martial arts workout.
No one who actually uses scythes and sickles and things is going to have any spare energy left over for fancy footwork.
Unless you're targeting this to effete yuppies, who need all the exercise they can get, fishbone.-- DrCurry, Sep 26 2006 Oh pooh, it's for fun and beauty!
and [DrC] I'm surprised that you didn't see it as *performance art*, as that was the category I almost chose.-- xandram, Sep 26 2006 Enter the snapdragon.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Sep 27 2006 [2 fries] you certainly always have the best one liners!-- xandram, Sep 27 2006 They start out as two liners but converge at infinity.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Sep 27 2006 random, halfbakery