Dancing with Fire's definitions
The NVA were the communists who fought against the Southern Vietnamese. Vo Nguyen Giap was one of it's most notable commanders.
by Dancing with Fire June 24, 2011
Get the NVAmug. Central Security Service; comprises all U.S. military branches – Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines – and works to ensure a full partnership between the NSA and the military.
The CSS provides timely and accurate cryptologic support, knowledge, and assistance to the military cryptologic community. CSS also coordinates and develops policy and guidance on the Signals Intelligence and Information Assurance missions of National Security Agency (NSA) and CSS, to ensure military integration.
by Dancing with Fire September 5, 2012
Get the CSSmug. Sumo wrestling is not only the oldest of Japan’s various martial arts, it also evolved into the most distinct and ritualistic, to this day still heavily centered around the Shinto religion. When the sport was first introduced 1500 years ago it was performed mostly to ensure good harvests. Sumo’s popularity quickly spread, becoming a more public and widespread event. Matches were usually brutal, the loser often expected to forfeit his life. By the 7th century Sumo had fallen under the protection of the warring Shogunite regime and was largely banned as a public spectacle. Only the samurai, or warrior class, were allowed to practice it as part of their military training. Once peace was finally restored Sumo once again fell under the patronage of the Japanese royal courts and was dubbed the Imperial sport. By the 15th century Sumo wrestling had adopted a set of strict rules and the most talented champions were offered patronage by powerful feudal lords. In the early 1700’s “banzuke” or ranking lists, were established, a system which is still strictly adhered to today. The objective of the “sumotori," or competitors, many of whom weigh between 250 and 500 pounds, is to either knock his opponent from a specially-sized ring or manoeuvre him so that any part of his body touches the ground. This is done by using one or a series of 70 accepted Sumo moves, some of which are pushing, slapping, hoisting, tripping, pinning or throwing.
Six 15 day tournaments are held each year in Japan in the cities of Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka. Sumo matches are fought in a “dohyo," a raised and sanctified platform constructed with clay and sand and onto which a 14 foot 10 inch circle is marked out using half buried straw bales. Suspended above the ring is a wooden structure that resembles the roof of Shinto shrine. Each Sumo tournament begins with much pageantry and ceremony. The wrestlers, the referees, and the various attendants and helpers wear colorful attire, the design of which remains steeped in ancient traditions and meanings dating back to Japan’s Edo period. The grand champions, all wearing intricately embroidered silk aprons some of which are worth in excess of 500,000 yen, enter the ring first and begin their own elaborate rituals called “doyho-iri." There is no weight class in Sumo wrestling so very often the “rikishi," or competitors, find themselves squaring off against a much heftier opponent.
by Dancing with Fire January 26, 2011
Get the Sumo Wrestlingmug. by Dancing with Fire December 28, 2010
Get the In a Jiffymug. A term used to describe many Chinese criminal organizations. They are the most well-known organized crime group in China, Hong Kong, and Macao. They originated in the anti-Manchu resistance in China. The term "triad" comes from the three dots which form part of the Chinese character for the Ming Emperor Hung Wu. The Triads began as "Men of Hung." They were both part of the political resistance of the Han Chinese to the Manchu dynasty, as well as outlaws who "Ta fu — chih p'in" (Hit the Rich and help the poor).
Both the Chinese Triads and the Italian Mafia and Camorra have existed at least since the early 1800s. The Triads spread all over the world and control much of the illegal and informal economy in overseas Chinese communities.
by Dancing with Fire October 31, 2011
Get the Triadsmug. The Sinaloa Cartel, often described as the largest and most powerful drug trafficking organization in the Western Hemisphere, is an alliance of some of Mexico’s top drug traffickers. The coalition operates in concert to protect themselves and more loosely to keep their businesses going smoothly. It relies on connections at the highest levels, corrupting portions of the federal police and military to maintain an upper hand on its rivals.
The cartel’s tentacles stretch from New York City to Buenos Aires and most every major city in between. It has successfully penetrated government and security forces wherever it operates. It prefers the bribe to the bullet and the alliance to the fighting, but it is not above organizing its forces to overrun areas that it wants to control by force. Its central bond is blood: many of its members are related or have become related by marriage. However, the cartel also often acts more like a federation than a tightly knit organization. The core of the group, the Beltrán Leyva Organization, split from the cartel in 2008. The Sinaloa Cartel has since created new alliances with former enemies in the Gulf Cartel and the Familia Michoacana. More morphing is to be expected as these alliances, even those formed by blood, are tenuous.
by Dancing with Fire June 30, 2011
Get the Sinaloa Cartelmug. 