Research Paper

[JujitsuFreak]

Hey folks,

I started college two weeks ago and am loving it, its my first time back in 8 years(since high school).

I need topics or ideas for my first paper in almost a decade, well, more than a decade because I didn't do any papers in high school - former lousy student.

Im thinking Jujitsu related, obviously Japanese. Trouble is, being my first paper and the unfamiliarity of it all, I dont know where to start. Since its got to be about 7 pages long, Id like to uncover something, expose something, or divulge on something vast - only I don't know what.

I dunno, my brains not firing on all pistons tonight so Im asking for assistance of any kind.

[moogong]

Are you looking to do a hard hitting, eye opening expose on jujitsu? I am not sure what the theme of the assignment is.

I do think Jujitsu has been spread so diverse in the past 125 years, that would make a good paper. Explain how jujitsu has developed into judo, BJJ, aikido, hapkido, police tatics, etc. Instead of saying how jujitsu evolved into these arts...use the angle that it "extended itself" into those arts. That would make a good flowing paper I think. You would probably get more than 7 pages out of that also.

Good luck..and you should post the paper here.

[JujitsuFreak]

Thanks Charles,

The theme can be anything goes. He's looking for depth, flow, and near perfect citation when possible. But the student picks the topic.

Are you looking to do a hard hitting, eye opening expose on jujitsu?

Yes! Id like to start with this and see how it forms over approx 2-3 weeks. Its due in about 5 and I will surely post it. Not sure how other schools operate, but with this one, after completing my first paper - I am allowed to use this paper for future classes that requires papers, with some minor modifications of course.

I think I will go with the history of its evolution, as you alluded to, showing its transformations or subdivisions - where its come to today if you will and keep away from specific techniques unless they're brief.

Further insight and ideas mucho welcomed.

[tkdcanada]

Writing papers is my thing. I love it! I can't really help you with the topic because the topics you're looking at are out of my league, but I can give you tips on writing a good paper.

I like to divide the task into sections - it helps with focus. So first, decide what you're thesis will be. That's a statement that you will make or an idea that you will argue. It is your introduction and should go from general to specific, therefore you will start of making a very general statement about your topic and develop it so that your last sentence or two of the first paragraph will be your more specific thesis statement and this is what you will be focusing on for the rest of your paper (trying not to stray too far from this in the rest of you writing).

Next, you need to decide how many subtopics surrounding this idea you will discuss. Each one will be a separate paragraph. Make sure that one paragraph flows into the other. To do this, each paragraph should have as proper closing sentence and the following paragraph will hook into that in the development of your next paragraph.

Keep going like that until you have discussed all the ideas you want which will prove your thesis (the last sentence or two in the very first paragraph).

In the end you will have your conclusion paragraph which will very generally restate the point that you have been making throughout.

For example, I did an essay on Loyalty. I began thinking, "what can I write about this, it's a pretty straightforward concept..." I ended up with 9 pages!
This is how I set it up:

Intro - Loyalty as a key concept in humans and reasons why it's important
2 - Loyalty to self
3 - Loyalty to family
4 - Loyalty to friends
5- Loyalty between students/instructors and how it needs to be reciprocal
6 - Discussion on avoiding blind loyalty
7 - Conclusion

(There were also some filler paragraphs which tied the ideas together such as free will, abuse of power, human relationships and their importance to a healthy existence, etc..)

Hope that helped a bit. Good luck with your paper. One last thing. If you choose something you are very passionate about to argue, then you will have lots to say - the trick will be just orgainzing your info and staying on topic. Let us know how it goes.

[riku]

Writing is my thing, too !!
Remember that less-than-10 pages takes also excluding: you cannot take title like "Ju-jutsu and it's meaning for world from ancient to modern days".. well, actually you can , but you'll end up having hundreds of books, quotes, and pages floating around (been there, seen that). So, take some part you see close and interesting, and take it as main subject of essay. It can be some certain school, historical era, or teacher - I've seen some quite interesting, deep and long writings about one single technique.

You don't have to make first version perfect, but create sort of sceleton which you'll surround with flesh, the *real* essay to teacher. There are several methods to do this first scetching: you can do sort of list (see tkdcanada's post), or couple sentences from main parts, or - as I usually do - sort of mind-mapping, where the heading-to-be is in middle of paper, and ideas/sub-sections written around it.

And as moogong said, we really want to see the result here, too.

With respect,
Riku Ylönen

[JujitsuFreak]

A big thanks to you both, Michleine and Riku.

Wonderful insight.

Riku, I understand what you're saying. I spent the majority of last night on search engines looking up Jujitsu's history and in the end I have so much stuff that I doubt Id be able to read it all. Being careful not to plagarize will the ultimate task among the endless info.

I think Ill spend the next week investigating the overall history and working on a topic... my hope is that Ill come across something that Ill want to go in depth on. The history is real interesting to me but its such an incredible amount of info, I like the idea of pointing out a specific time period.

Ill see how the first week goes and what I can come up with.

Thanks again.

[JujitsuFreak]

Dammit, this is getting harder than I imagined. For the last class we were assigned homework, a mini-research paper on the American Revolution. Bah! This sort of history doesn't interest me, unfortunately. Heck, I would've taken History if that was the case. He wasn't in class and is a history teacher... but this is Eng. Composition, so he assigned this work because he'd be out of class. Now, there is a history elective that I will have to take in the near future... but, Im ahead of the game and Ive already got that class picked out- American History 1945-Present Day, now this is the history Im interested in. That mixed with the fact I had to work 60 hours last week and already have a MAJOR RESEARCH PAPER that Ive only tipped the iceberg on, could barely look at it last week!... OMG!

Sorry, had to vent. I find this ridiculous when Ive already got an A in both classes so far, have had to write about 6 essays in two weeks - all in class, work, and then he throws out an off topic essay... this is bull, I could be focusing my time on the Major Paper instead of this one... but noooooo he needed a vacation!! UUUUGGGHHHH...

[tkdcanada]

Take a deep breath and start prioritizing. If something absolutely has to give, what will it be? Focus on that last so that you get the more important things done. Talk to your prof. Many are very, very understanding towards students and realize that they also have busy lives outside of school. I have one prof that has told us we have an automatic extension on anything because she knows how life can get. If you need extra time and he won't give it to you, take the bullet on the stuff that's worth the least - shouldn't really make a huge difference in the final calculations. Sorry if this seems like common sense, but you'd be amazed at how many people can't do this and then just let everything slide. This type of "managing" has helped me through my 'races with time' many, many times. Good luck. Let us know.

[JujitsuFreak]

Just wanted to thank you three - Moogong, TKDCanada, and Riku for making an effort in the assistance of my paper.

Well, 1st term is over and I ended up not doing it on JJ. I had only five weeks and after only two weeks into it I became overwhelmed with all the information on the topic. I found it to be such a vast topic that would require more time than the allotted. I just may eventually do one for the sake of it but go at a slow pace, maybe write it over a long period of time.

I ended up doing it on cats. But hey, I love them. I bought my first one 2 years ago... almost didn't take it in cuz I was a diehard dog lover. Now, I guess Im a born-again cat lover and dogs repulse me. Eh, I got an A so all's good in the end. If there are any cat lovers in the audience or simply anyone interested, pm me and Ill send ya it via pm or email, whichever you indicate.

[Spartan]

....I ended up not doing it on JJ......I ended up doing it on cats. But hey, I love them. .......

that's just hilarious!!!

[tkdcanada]

Glad it worked out!

[Estrella]

One PM on its merry old way...

[JujitsuFreak]

dah, alright.

It won't come out looking like it was done it Word, more like wordpad.

Private message's have a limit of 5000 words and my paper is about 13000. And, with some members afraid of email consequences, (I can't stand the way it looks, it definately does NOT look like this in reality-passed in) here it is:








Eng Comp I

October 26, 2004

Cats: Mysterious Folk

I first came into contact with cats as a young child when I often visited

my grandmother. She had six cats at the time. I remember each and every

one of them rushing to the kitchen as my grandmother began to open a can

of cat food. They were an assortment of colors; orange, brown, spotted,

tiger striped, you name it. Most of them were allowed outdoors and one or

two were confined to the house due to age or other contributing factors.

At such a young age I thought they were weird creatures and overall, I

didn't care too much for them. At the time I thought cats were anti-social,

probably due to their highly territorial views ("Understanding"). They didn't

cometo when they were called for and they did whatever they wanted

whenever they wanted to. Who cares about creatures that practically

ignore their caretaker?

In his book Cat Watching, Desmond Morris briefly explains the cats'

social view:

Living in cities and towns, and in the homes of their human

owners, cats show a remarkable degree of sociability. Anyone

doubting this must remember that, to a pet cat, we ourselves are

giant cats. The fact that domestic cats will share a home with a

human family is, in itself, proof of their social flexibility. (48)

Morris continues by stating the cat’s flexibility in specific social

situations:

Some animals can live only in close-knit social groups. Others

can tolerate only a completely solitary existence. The cat's

flexibility means that it can accept either mode of living, and it

is this that has been a key factor in its long success story

since it was first domesticated four thousand years ago. (49)

These statements suggest that the domestic cat views humans as bigger

cats and is also able to coexist in social or non-social environments. This

flexibility makes the pet very universal among a wide variety of pet lovers.

The little creatures seemed to cherish my grandmother, who was in

fact, the only person they paid attention to. I clearly misunderstood them,

probably as most people do ("Happiness").

I thought they were extremely lazy. Always lying about and sleeping.

What fun is that? I considered them to be purely selfish animals. They

seemed to really enjoy sitting on or near a window on a nice sunny day. I

once believed their sun bathing tendencies were for warmth. Not only are

they enjoying the warmth the sun is giving them, but more importantly, they

are absorbing a vitamin that is beneficial to their health ("Understanding").

My grandmother had the ability to read her cats through their body

language; what they did with their eyes, ears, or tail ("Understanding"). It

was odd at a young age but in hindsight, it was amazing how the cats were

able to communicate with her and how she was able to understand them.

My grandmother used to say that cats are the only animal that is

domesticated, yet not entirely domesticated. She was a smart lady. Even

domestic cats have a wild side to them but they have chosen to accept us as

companions and likewise we as humans have as well. The early acceptance

between human and feline was due to pest control as Desmond Morris states:

Before the cat became elevated to the level of a companion and

pet for friendly humans, the contract between man and cat was

based on the animal's ability to destroy pests. From the time

mankind first started to keep grain in storage, the cat had a role

to play and carried out its side of the bargain with great success.

(75)

I began to have an appreciation for cats after I came into contact with

tigers. I visited a fair as a younger person and as a part of their show they

introduced different species of cats to the general public. They brought out a

wide variety of cats including jaguars, panthers, mountain lions, lions, tigers,

and the liger, an anomaly. They proceeded to talk about them while at the

same time feeding them milk and treats as the audience was only four or five

feet away. To add to the experience, there was no cage. They captured my

respect because of their aura. Their presence is uniquely unexplainable.

They are pure predators, tactically built for hunting. They truly are top of the

class in abilities regarding stealth and hunting. They have nocturnal vision

which is due to the mirror like walls within the eye. Their eyes appear as if

they come from a mythical background ("Understanding"). Felines have ears

that hear everything and actually move to zone in on sounds. The cat has

retractable claws which enable it to pick and choose when to utilize its claws.

They can be used for multiple tasks such as climbing, scent marking and

killing. The cat's muscular system and body design is built for climbing,

jumping, and speed. Cats are also born with natural instincts, blueprints to

help them survive in the wild. They are also blessed with an amazing

equilibrium that prevents them from landing on anything but their feet. As a

cat falls, its equilibrium, found in the inner ear, forces its head to turn first as

the body follows the head immediately ("Understanding"). This "righting

action" that prevents them from injury, is often an explanation to why cats

are sometimes referred to as having "nine lives". These are just a few of the

amazing features that the cat has in its arsenal.

Originally, I wanted to possess a large cat; tiger, lion, puma, or cougar.

Then reality set in and I easily settled for the domestic cat. They are

miniature versions of the larger cats, in almost every way. For the most part,

there is everything in a small cat that one would find in a large cat, minus the

obvious size difference.

One difference that does exist is that large cats can't purr correctly in

that they only make the sound one way and not the other; they make the

sound by exhaling. Domestic cats can not only purr on the exhale, but also

on the inhale, this is why they can purr for long periods of time. However,

large cats can roar, which domestic cats cannot do. The purr of a cat often

signifies contentment and affection while the actual location or origin of the

sound is still unknown ("Understanding"). The purr can also mean pain or

stress but more often it's contentment. It's crucial to pay attention to his or

her body language in an attempt to identify which purr the animal is

expressing.

On a fortunate note, domestic cats don't have the size or ability to kill

or maim humans. I respect them nevertheless because they don't take

commands from anyone and they do whatever they want to do on their own

terms ("Understanding"). They don't adhere to commands or do things

because their owner wants them to, but rather because they want something

from the owner. Essentially, they are their own boss. I couldn't find this in

other pets. Self-sufficiency and independence are just two more positives in

favor of the cat.

Each cat is unique in that its nose pads differentiate it from other cats,

much like humans have fingerprints ("Understanding").

The common answer to the question of what use are the cat's whiskers

is usually that they tell the cat whether or not a gap is big enough for his or

her body to fit through. The amazing truth is that the whiskers detect

changes in air currents produced by large objects. While strolling, the cat,

without looking at the actual object, can tell what the object is or can tell

the size of the object it's approaching and instantaneously, the feline reacts

by rerouting. As one can imagine, this is extremely helpful, if not necessary,

in the dark. Whiskers also aid the cat when fighting or hunting. They help to

direct its actions and find where the killing blow should be delivered. As

evidence, after killing a rodent, the whiskers are often found wrapped around

the prey. A cat without whiskers is a proven poor hunter at night, often

lacking judgment or ability to bite its prey properly. Essentially, while in the

dark, whiskers are capable of acting as a highly sensitive guidance system

(Morris Cat 81).

Astonishingly, cats can predict earthquakes. However, scientists are

still not sure how they're able to do this. Desmond Morris states: "They may

be sensitive to vibrations of the earth so minute that our instruments fail to

detect them." They may just have a warning system that is so very

advanced. "A second possibility is that they are responsive to the dramatic

increase in static electricity that apparently precedes earthquakes." Humans

detect changes somewhat as well, however, we cannot distinguish these

changes between a headache or coming down with the common cold. We

don't have the ability toknow which changes we're experiencing, in all

likelihood, cats do. "A third explanation sees cats as incredibly responsive to

sudden shifts in the earth's magnetic field. It's possible felines detect a

combination of all three reactions. One thing to note is that before an

earthquake, cats are known to become extremely agitated. Indoor cats have

been known to make startling attempts to get outside while in other cases,

female mothers have been seen hurrying its litter of kittens either all at once

or one by one away to safety before the earthquake begins (Morris Cat 126).

Two years ago, I jumped at the opportunity to own my very first cat.

The first that would be my responsibility. He is still with me today, only I just

had to have one more. In these short years, I've come to realize that I want

what’s best for my pet and found that he was lonely when I wasn't home.

Owning my first cat is everything I expected it to be and more. I cherish how

independent he is. He practically takes care of himself. I basically don't have

to worry about him. The feeding and cleaning of the litter box are obviously

necessary, but that’s it. He's tiger striped, black and grey; the closest

resemblance to a large tiger that I can see. An addition was made recently, a

new female kitten who's also tiger striped with brown and grey. They look

very closely alike. They get along amazingly well, as if they're brother and

sister. I often witness the older cat taking the role of the father figure for

the newer cat. For example, he sees to it that she's clean or makes sure

she's not getting herself into something that she shouldn't be getting into. If

he's eating, and she walks up to the food hungry, he immediately yields and

lets her eat, then he comes back after she's done for his serving. Their rough

and tumble play fighting is more an exercise for him and a training session for

her; he knows when to go easy. Their hide and seek, run and chase games

are hysterical to observe. The bond these two share is immeasurable.

When my oldest cat became a one year old, he started to paw the floor

next to his food immediately after eating. I found this quite odd and thought

that maybe something was wrong with him. Franny Syufy from About.com

states:

The pawing and digging your kitten is doing is an amazing exhibit

of instinctive behavior (in that he probably didn't learn it from

mom-cat). In the wild, cats often bury their food remains (as well

as their feces) as a protective measure so their enemies can't

track them. Conversely, they also spray their territory with urine

as a warning to other predators to stay away.

My cat will often meow and I’ve had to learn over time that when I

respond to his meowing, I’m actually teaching him to meow ("Excessive").

One of the biggest problems facing the cat population today is over-

population. Because of their self-sufficient and independent qualities, people

believe it's alright to just toss them out or open the door never to see them

again. People figure that because the cat can virtually take care of itself and

because the cat goes unwanted, they can just let it go. However, releasing

a cat that is not neutered or not spayed may be the underlining problem; the

single biggest contribution one can make towards ending this tragic pet

overpopulation problem is to have one's own cat spayed or neutered

("Rambunctious").

Cats make great pets because they're in touch with our moods, able to

sense when we're happy or sad, aware if we're excited or in pain and they

simply enjoy our company ("Your"). Over the centuries, the feline has evolved

to accept humans as companions. More of us can benefit from owning one.

"...it is known that the friendly physical contact with cats actively reduces

stress in their human companions." (Morris Cat 130). There is a refreshing,

simple and honest element found in the relationship one has with a cat. What

the cat brings to the relationship is unmatched.











































Works Cited


Bohnenkamp, Gwen. "Excessive Meowing or Vocal Blackmail." Perfect Paws. 15 Oct.

2004. .

---. "Rambunctious and Hyperactive Behavior in Cats and Kittens." Perfect Paws. 15

Oct. 2004. .

Jenkins, Shana T. "Understanding Cats." HGTV-Scripps Network. 15 Oct. 2004.

<http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/ah_pets_car.../0,,HGTV_3152_

1380540,00.html>.

Morris, Desmond. Cat Watching. New York: Crown, 1986.

Syufy, Franny. "Why Does My Kitten Paw The Floor After Eating?" About. 20 Oct.

2004. .

Wu, Shelly Ph.D. "Happiness: Yours and Your Cat's." About. 9 May 2003. 20 Oct.

2004. .

"Your New Kitten." Whiskas. Mars, Incorporated. 16 Oct. 2004.

<http://www.whiskas.co.uk/whiskas/en-gb/Articles /Kittens/Before+You

+Get+Your+Kitten/Understanding+cats.htm>.

[Estrella]

Whoo-hoo! Thanks Jim!!

Sigh...I love cats.