Year of the Tiger and Valentines Day

This year Valentines day and Chinese New Year happened to fall on the same day. Of the two holidays, Chinese New Year is the one I care about more. Valentines day is mostly a day for couples if you are single it doesn't have nearly as much importance (except for depressing a lot of people that are single).

I generally do something like go to a Chinese restaurant or event on Chinese New Year. This year is the year of the tiger, I contemplated getting some tiger lilies to celebrate it but didn't see any (the stores only had valentines type flowers like roses and tulips). While I mostly write about Japanese culture on this blog I have interest in other cultures such as Chinese as well. This year I went to the local Asian area and watched some performances.

The first performance, and the one that draws the largest crowd, was the lion dance. The lion dance is exactly what it sounds like: performers mimicking a lion's movements while in a lion costume. The lion did a dance, pretended to take a nap, licked itself clean, and then stopped at various stores (the place I went to was a Chinese mini-mall) to "chai ching" (picking the greens). The business had put up "Ang Pow" (red envelope) filled with money to a head of lettuce and oranges and hang it high above the front of their doors. The lion, followed by a much smaller lion with children inside it approached the oranges first, tasted them, then spit them out into the crowd. After it tried the oranges and found them distasteful it walked around near the crowd and ate red envelopes that the people in the crowd put in (the troop had a table set up before hand with empty envelopes for this purpose) and would occasionally spit up hard candies into the crowd which children would run around to get. After the lion finished its round of the crowd it noticed the that their was lettuce hanging from the ceiling. The lion then jumped onto some chairs so as to reach the lettuce, examined it curiously, made like it was going to eat the lettuce, changed its mind, then grabbed it quickly. Like the oranges it did not like the taste of lettuce and spit out the lettuce leaves but not the money. The lion dance is supposed to bring good luck and fortune to the people and businesses and the dancers receive the money as reward. I've seen this group of people do the lion dance many times now and it is always enjoyable (just a couple pieces of trivia: Japan does lion dances as well called Shishimai and some kung fu places practice doing lion dances).

After the lion dance, a different group (all children who are learning to dance) did various traditional Chinese dances. They were not as good as the group doing the lion dance (the lion dance group was professionals who get a lot more practice) but were still pretty good (though it was obvious that the place they generally practiced at was larger than the area they had to perform in). I would have liked to get the names of the dances but there was too much noise and I was unable to hear them. One of them was a fan dance, another was one in which they appeared to be picking rice, another was an umbrella dance, another one had the children dressed in military uniform with a lot of saluting, and one dance was clearly based on the tale of the Monkey King (there were a couple other dances as well).

Following the children dancing was a Taiko performance. Taiko means big drum in Japanese. The group performed several drumming pieces (if I remember correctly two of the pieces they played were called fireworks and thunder storm). Japanese drumming is pretty cool, you can feel the vibrations through your feet. The group performing it was Icho Daiko. They also offer classes on how to play the drums and a workshop in which you make your own drum. If I had the money for it I would do that because it is really cool. To match the rhythm in one of the pieces they were singing 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 in Japanese which does sound like a song.

Next was a group playing traditional Chinese musical instruments. They were pretty good and they had a child prodigy of 6 years old playing a Zither of some type (possibly a Guqin). I did not stay for this very long though because I had some other stuff to do. There were a few more performances such as a kung fu demonstration and another lion dance but I did not stay for them. I then looked at some of the booths set up, got a couple Chinese American newspapers (really not that interesting except a couple articles about orphans in India), my name written in Chinese calligraphy, and then went to an Asian bakery I frequent fairly often. I plan on going to another free performance in the area in May (they will have a dragon dance which I've never actually seen live) and a performance held at the main branch library (I've gone to this a few times before and it is pretty entertaining last time they had some Chinese Yo-yo performances as well as dances and food).

Becoming Batman

Becoming Batman: The Possibility of a Superhero by E. Paul Zehr is not a guide to becoming Batman. It would be a more interesting and significantly longer book if it was. The book concentrates on the physical aspects, namely could someone physically fight crime as Batman is depicted to in the comic books.

Were it a guide to becoming Batman it would likely suggest subjects to study such as forensics, criminal psychology, chemistry, and other sciences one would expect the worlds greatest detective to know. It would explain how to hide the expenses for the gadgets (planes, cars, helicopters, etc.) from the government and possibly depending on continuity the embezzlement (Batman had paid for the Justice Leagues watchtower by hiding it in his companies space budget in one of the animated series). How to avoid being arrested for taking the law in your own hands/assault and explain away the purchases of things like bullets used in the vehicles. It might cover how to explain away injuries acquired fighting, after-all, people would start to wonder how all the injuries came to be (this is done with varying degrees of believability in the comic explanations like falling down the steps while drunk, totaling one of Bruce Wayne's cars to explain the damage done by Bane, and in a spoof saying he was into BDSM). It would explain how to build a state of the art cave underneath your house in secret (the best explanation I have seen was in a Batman novel, not graphic novel, in which he had people, multiple groups each doing a different part, shipped in from a foreign country under the cover of darkness blind folded and in a 18 wheeler then returned them to their home country done this way so they did not know where in the world they were or exactly what they were doing). Though there is other things I have not mentioned.

That said, it is not a bad book and is fairly informative. Though some would probably say needlessly so and it uses rhetorical questions far to often in my opinion. It reads like it is meant to be a text book that uses the Batman angle to make it more interesting for the students (considering the publisher, John Hopkins University Press, that may very well be the reason for the books existence).

The book is divided into five parts. Part one titled Bat-Building Blocks talks about body composition (things like lean body mass, fat, genetics, etc.). This part of the book in particular is very science heavy, explaining things like how cells are made, genetics, nature vs nurture, hormones, etc. ultimately this part of the book states that many factors that are a key to physical performance (such as oxygen uptake) have a genetic performance (usually around 20-30% but in some cases up to 50%). What that means is that your maximum physical potential is in part predetermined by your genetics.

The second part of the book is called Basic Batbody Training. This part of the book is on physical training and goes into quite some detail on how muscles work, limits of toughening the body, and how many calories and what foods Batman would likely need to eat. What I found most interesting in this section of the book is the discussion on the difference between strength and power. It states that strength is the ability to lift large forces regardless of the speed of contraction whereas power is effort at high speed. Makes mention that it is possible to be very strong but not powerful though a certain amount of strength is needed to be powerful. The part on bones is alright most interesting part of that is that while you toughen some bones correspondingly other bones weaken. States that Batman would take vitamins, supplements, have an athletes diet (higher carbohydrates than a non athlete around 60% carbohydrates, 25% protein, and 15% fat), and because of energy expenditure would have a high calorie diet (estimates 3,500-4,000 calories a day). One part of this section I do not agree with. It mentions the importance of calcium and says we should all drink our milk. I like milk, drink quite a bit, but milk is really not as good a source of calcium as it is touted to be. For example: One 12 year study, by the American Journal of Public Health, found that women who drank more than a glass of milk a day (the USDA recommends three per day) had a 45 percent greater chance of a hip fracture. Women who got the same amount of calcium from non-dairy sources had no increase. This is not the only study that points to milk not as good a source of calcium as it is generally thought of there are others as well. The reason speculated for that is that they are getting too much protein (which milk has). The human body uses calcium while processing protein, the amount of calcium in milk is not high enough to counter the amount of protein the average person eats which leads to the body leeching calcium from the bones.

The third part of of the book is named Training the Batbrain. It starts by explaining how the brain and nervous system work (somewhat) and how training optimizes reflex pathways and motor learning. It then talks of over-training and how you have to practice often to maintain the skills. The next chapter (Each part is divided into multiple chapters) deals with the type of martial arts training Batman would likely learn to fight crime. It starts out mentioning, often seen on forums, that Batman has studied 127 martial art styles. The authors sees this as hyperbola. That it is impossible to master that many styles, is pointless since you wouldn't gain deep understanding or competency, and that he does not think there are that many truly different styles (though there are subdivisions of martial arts that would put the number into the hundreds). I sort of agree with him on that. The thing is I think it could be done, not grandmastery or even mastery in each style, but it is possible to study the styles to find out how they differ from one another learning the strengths and weakness's of each. Mastery is not needed but knowing the styles could help you prepare to combat those styles (much easier to do when you have an idea as to what your opponent is likely to do). The book mentions that most modern day styles are really not good at combat; having been made less martial (Judo for example had open hand strikes and kicks before it was commercialized). Suggests that Batman is most likely to learn Ninjitsu, not the fake version, the actual version that was in Japan during the 18th century that involved espionage and assassination. He would need a style that involved multiple styles of combat including punching, kicking, throwing, grappling, joint locks, and weapons. Most fighting styles specialize in one type such as Judo having throwing and grappling but no striking. The last chapter in this section deals with the question can a person go around fighting without killing his opponent. Books answer is much easier to kill but could be done provided he was skilled enough.

The fourth part of the book, Batman in Action, deals with the damage Batman can do and still continue doing what he does, hardening the body (which was discussed in part earlier in the book), and night shift work. The first chapter in this part talks about the weak spots in the human body, power of a punch/kick, and taking a fall. Talks about body hardening techniques such as hitting an object repeatedly. Then goes into some detail about changing bone density, hardening the skin, and changing the perception of pain. Mentions that Batman is unlikely to do extreme body conditioning because of his suit and some of the side effects (like a loss of manual dexterity). Since I find this very interesting I will mention the part about Mas Oyama, the founder of the karate style Kyokushinkai, who did extreme body conditioning and would have found the breaking point technique seen in the Ranma manga as training he would have done. He repeatedly punched hard objects until the skin broke and tendons were exposed, doing this repeatedly led to callus forms anchored to the tendons (he also did this to other parts of his body by kicking or throwing himself at hard objects). Mas Oyama wrote a couple books that I might look at called What is Karate and This is Karate simply because I find his body conditioning interesting, though I would not do it). The last part talks about the circadian rhythms and how Batman could not only sleep for an hour a day as he is sometimes portrayed to do in the comics. Though the book does not mention the drug Modafinil an anti-sleep drug that allows you to stay up safely for almost two days while remaining practically as focused, alert, and capable of dealing with complex problems as the well-rested; or really any other drugs besides steroids that Batman could theoretically use.

The last section of the book is called a mixed bag and is about whatever else the author felt like talking about. He mentions injury and recovery, gender differences between males and females, and how long could Batman do what he does. Talks about broken bones healing, torn cartilage, having to retrain to get back into shape, and other things. Asks if Batman would use steroids (not likely). Mentions that Batman could not keep up his life style for very long probably only a few years a decade at most.

Interview with the author by Scientific America: Dark Knight Shift: Why Batman Could Exist--But Not for Long

Somewhat related forbes article about the estimated costs Batman inures: Being Batman

Eat this not that

While at the library I saw the book Eat This, Not That! Restaurant Survival Guide and decided to check it out since I have seen it mentioned on several websites. I generally do not read diet/nutrition/health guide books, since I view many of them as scams and I do not go on fad diets. I have in the past decided to lose weight and then did so, but I did not consult books, go on a fad diet, or join a gym. I increased the amount of exercise I did via a self-made exercise plan and cut my calorie intake (though I did not count my daily calorie intake, I simply made choices that I knew were, or suspected, were less calorie intense - which is actually the point of this book - and avoided some foods such as cookies and dressings/condiments).

The book will have very little influence on what I eat because I do not go to restaurants very frequently (no where near 4 times a week as the book indicates the average American does) and the ones I do go to are, for the most part, not listed in the book (in fact I have been to very few of the restaurants listed in the book and I have no idea where the majority of them are located were I inclined to go to them). The exception to this is the month of December in which I go to restaurants much more frequently though still not four times a week. The reason for that is several people in my family have birthdays in December, including me, and like to go out to eat for their birthday and Christmas. Part of the reason is that I can get free food (for example free burrito from Moe's southwest grill, free ice-cream cone from Baskin Robbins) and discounts at other places (buy one get one free from places like Hometown Buffet). Even if I were to go to restaurants more frequently I find it very unlikely that I will remember the books suggestions when I do go or if I do would want what it suggests (for example: I dislike chicken).

One of the most interesting things, in my opinion of course, is the chart in the introduction of the book which lists the changes in calorie count for various foods in the last twenty years. The chart says that there has been, on average, a 190% increase of calories in french fries, a 75% increase in cheeseburgers, and a 630% increase in a cup of coffee amongst other food items. I knew many foods are less healthy now than they used to be (high fructose corn syrup is in everything, even things like meat and bread and the amount of salt has increased and been put in things that do not need it) but did not think the calorie amount would have increased so drastically.

On the list of the top 20 worst foods in America, I have not eaten even one of them. Prior to reading this book I did not even know that the cheesecake factory served foods other then cheesecake and similar goods. As for the list with the top 20 best foods, I have eaten five of the listed foods though two of those food items I have only eaten once as far as I can recall. The book has a list of seven habits of highly obese people, many of which I have. I tend to use large plates, eat too quickly, chew less then they recommend, and eat everything on the plate (I always view it as wasteful to not eat everything on the plate and if people are going to I feel they should doggy bag it). I do not do the other ones though, I will use chopsticks if they are around, I prefer to view scenery rather than look at the food, and I don't skip breakfast.

The book really does not like the foods I tend to eat the most often calling them empty calories (those foods being pasta, rice, and breads). It also really does not like milkshakes (to the point it calls them abominations and says that they should not even be drunk occasionally) and most ice cream which are often the primary, most often only, reason I go to fast food restaurants. I will go to Steak and Shake and get only a milk shake or go to Wendy's and get a frosty and nothing else.

If you are counting your calories you would probably be better off visiting the books website or another similar website such as Calorie lab. Though you have to keep in mind that the listed calorie or fat count may not be the actual amount in the foods. The reason I say this is because companies lie about calorie count on occasion (Study: Restaurants Lie About Calorie Count), they try and trick you by having the serving size be something like half of what they actually give you (or is a smaller amount than you would eat for example I have never eaten just two slices of pizza), and the local restaurant may have changed things from the standard (put more condiments on or done things like add sugar to the foods, like pizza dough, for the kids meals because most kids really like sweets).

The book has quite a bit of interesting trivia that I did not know prior to reading the book for example:

1. Subway is the largest chain eatery in the world even larger than McDonald's.
2. Many basic things are loaded with many more ingredients than you would expect (knew that but not the amounts) for example Wendy's Chicken Nuggets has 30 ingredients, their frosty has 14, Burger Kings chicken fries has 35 ingredients, etc.
3. The colors red, yellow, and orange stimulate hunger (which is why fast food places tend to use those colors) whereas purple, blue, and green tend to subdue it. This deserves special mention because red, yellow, and orange are the primarily used colors throughout the book so if that is to be believed reading this diet book would actually make you hungry.
4. Burger King sells 6.6 million burgers a day.
5. Kentucky Fried Chicken's food is the most popular request by death row inmates (personally I don't see why since I really dislike chicken).

Did not reach writing goal

In the month of November I set a goal for myself to write at least a 50,000 word story (chosen subject was a Ranma fanfic). While I did make an attempt to reach that goal; I did not. I would have liked to have done so but I didn't. This doesn't overly bother me. I'm not exactly happy with what I wrote but at least I wrote something, which is better than nothing. With some editing and expanding upon what I did write, I may consider it as not bad.

There are several reasons as to why I did not reach my goal. The largest contributor was illness. I was sick and had trouble concentrating on things for nine of the thirty days. Some other factors were distraction (I'd sit in front of the computer and instead of typing I'd browse the internet), indecisiveness (in that I could not decide what story I wanted to tell and kept changing the story), writers block, and what contributes to me avoiding doing things more than any other thing: my innate laziness. I'm pretty lazy, for example with this blog I've told myself in the past that I should write at least one post a week so as to acquire regular readers but I keep putting it off even though it is a reasonable goal. This is very obvious when I take into account that I have started, but not completed, more than a hundred posts (I've got a 107 posts, on many subjects, in draft at the time of writing this).

In case anyone happens to be wondering the story I ended up starting, it is a continuation of the Ranma manga that becomes a crossover with X-men Evolution. It's not quite the same as I speculated earlier in a post about an idea for a Ranma X-men Evolution crossover story but does contain some aspects from that post. I still have not decided as to whether I want to post it online somewhere or not but if I do it is unlikely that I'd post any of it until some time next year. This is in part because I want to re-watch at least part of the series so as to get better characterization (I have not watched any of the X-men Evolution series in awhile). That which I did write focuses solely on the Ranma characters with a partial meeting between the Ranma characters and some of the X-men and the Brotherhood.

America Recycles Day

November 15 was America Recycles Day. A day that is dedicated to encouraging Americans (though from what I can tell most of the time people say Americans they mean only USA) to recycle and to buy recycled products. I regularly recycle via curbside recycling and Abitibi paper boxes. On this day I dropped off at the zoo, they were having a recycling event in which they took various recyclables that curbside recycling does not, a box of mostly cdrs; though there were some dvdrs, aol discs, and 3.5 floppy disks as well. I used to trade anime fansubs via the mail until high speed internet and dvdrs became common.

I had traded cdrs for several years (mostly through the now mostly dead Noated forum though did so on a few other now completely gone sites) and had amassed a rather large number of cdrs. Over time I had watched them and no longer wanted the particular series, acquired the actual dvds, got better quality versions, received duplicates, put them on dvdrs to save room, poor quality cdrs that had become damaged, etc. as well as various other cds such as AOL, Netzero, old Linux distros, game sample discs, etc. I felt it was a waste to toss them out so I instead would toss them into a big box saying to myself that I am going to recycle them. I kept putting it off until I saw a flier advertising national recycling day and decided to drop them off (I first emailed the company that was doing the computer recycling to see if they took cdrs). I had looked into recycling them in the past but most places I saw that would recycle them charged or you had to ship them to the company which considering the number and weight of discs I had would have been costly.

Prior to recycling the discs I browsed a few of the discs to see if I was tossing anything I did not want to. I only looked at a few but did find some interesting things (though usually not the content). Things like how poor the quality of some of them were but at the time it had not bothered me (I still will watch things with poor video quality on occasion like youtube videos) and how my computer could no longer play some of them. For example, a few videos I looked at had Intel/Ligos Indeo Interactive 4.0 codec which is no longer supported and does not play on Vista (and is difficult to get to play on any video players including players that play most things like VLC because the 5.0 codec does not play 4.0, or doesn't do so well, and the codec is copyrighted and no longer supported by the company that made it). At the time though the codec was pretty popular with Microsoft (Btw I can get them to play by converting them to a different format but did not bother). I was also surprised about how many AOL discs were in that box there had to be at least 50 and also a few AOL 3.5 floppy's. I had a lot of internet discs from other companies like Netzero, Juno, People PC, MSN, etc. How many discs did those companies mail out?

Stylistic issues and random thoughts

I am nowhere near where I should be for my current writing goal but as I write I started to contemplate style.

I was wondering whether I should use macrons and other diacritics. In general I do not use macrons or diacritics on this blog because I am lazy and they take a bit longer to input. I probably should use them on some of the romanizations of Japanese words that I have used on this blog since the same word depending on whether it is a long or short vowel could mean something else entirely. As for the macron use I'm currently thinking about using in a fan fic are for character names e.g. using ō to indicate that the o in Ryoga's name is a long vowel; Ryōga.

If I do use them should I limit them to names and possible foreign words or use them on other things like acute accents such as in fiancée (which is a word adopted from french)?

Thinking about that should I call Ranma's situation engagements or betrothals i.e. should I say Ranma is engaged to Ukyo and Akane and Shampoo or betrothed to them? It is more common to see people call them engaged, which is why I'm contemplating using that term, but betrothed is probably the better term to use since betrothal often refers to agreements involving not only the couple but their families and often have binding legal or honor implications that engagements do not.

Something that just occurred to me some fics talk about some of the honor implications of breaking the engagements, often erroneous legal implications, and possible fallout (like Shampoo deciding that Akane really has to die) but I do not ever recall seeing a fic in which Ukyo or the Tendo's sue Ranma/Saotomes for breaking the engagement, which they could theoretically do under breach of promise laws. I do not know what those type of laws are currently in Japan but I do know that there are books in Japan that do have this as part of their plots for example: Kazumi Takahashi's novel, Hi no utsuwa, has the main character a university dean sued for breaking a marriage engagement.

The next stylistic thing is a common conundrum for Ranma fan fic writers, or anyone writing about a multi or no gendered being; that I have not given much thought about until just recently. Namely how should I indicate Ranma's gender? I've seen books, such as Peter David's Star Trek: New Frontier Series use hir and s/he for dual gendered beings but I personally find that annoying though I did enjoy those books. The use of singular they would probably confuse people thinking that they means multiple people instead of just Ranma. I could use it but it is usually not referred to people and may cause readers to view Ranma as not a person.

The way I am currently thinking about doing so is to, when narrating, use Ranma for male form and Ranma-onna for female form. I definitely won't use Ranma for male form and Ranko for female form because I do not believe Ranma would choose to use that alias again because of the memories associated with it and people not in the know would view Ranma and Ranko as two separate individuals. Though this maybe awkward on occasion.

When looking from a character point of view though I am unsure what to do. I originally was going to say that Ranma would always think of himself as being male, but upon further reflection that seems unlikely. Most of the time a person does not think of themselves as being male or female (I, am, me, etc. are gender neutral). Though the main reason is that Ranma has strong associations with some actions as being gender specific, so if Ranma were to be doing or contemplate doing something he associates as female he is likely to view himself as a female during those times (like putting on make-up, wearing a dress, or wearing a swimsuit). As for the other characters it would vary and be dependent on circumstance. Akane, for example, would think of Ranma as male regardless of form most of the time but there would be circumstances that would make her view him as female. Some examples: if it looks like Ranma is about to kiss her in female form or other displays of affection while in female form, a situation in which another girl is needed such as substituting for her in a contest, if he acts like a male while in female form in public (therefor embarrassing her), if she happens to notice that Ranma looks better in some outfit than she does, etc. Characters that do not know his true gender will of course use whatever gender he currently is as his gender. Then there is Tatewaki, he associates Ranma as female when in female form to the degree that all evidence otherwise is ignored, truthfully I think that would be fairly common to some extent. A person who sees Ranma most often in female form is likely to view Ranma as a female even if they know about the curse and that Ranma is actually male; particularly if they see Ranma doing things in female form they usually associate as feminine.

Next stylistic thing. Should I use Shampoo, Mousse, and Cologne or should I use Shanpū, Koron, and Mūsu? In many ways it doesn't matter and Shampoo, Mousse, and Cologne are more common (they were the ones VIZ chose to use) but I kind of like Shanpū, Koron, and Mūsu more (though you wouldn't really know it from reading this blog since I tend to use the more common one). I like them more in part because it shows that their names aren't actually hygiene products they just happen to sound like them to someone who speaks English (which was deliberately done by Takahasi).

Believable knowledge level

I'd like to say that I am off to a good start and have written at least 1667 words (50,000 divided by 30 rounded to nearest whole number) but sadly that is not the case. I had a few false starts where I wrote something and then deleted it because I did not like it. Now I do not really know what to write, the reason I am writing this post is in hopes that in doing so it will kick start me into actually writing more (I have about 150 words) and it is far too soon for writer's block.

My first start, that I ended up scrapping, had Ranma interrupted while making homemade chloroform from common household ingredients in the shed that is in the corner of the Tendo compound. The manga has Ranma use chloroform but never explained where he got it so I figured why not have Ranma making it himself (many people are surprised how many things can be made with stuff lying around the house). The household ingredients used are pool cleaner(Sodium Hypochlorite), ice, and paint thinner(Acetone) though I do not advocate people doing this unless they know what they are doing because it is not entirely safe (another thing that could be created by accident is phosgene a world war one chemical weapon). Upon reading the scene I did not like it so deleted it.

In writing that scene I started to wonder how many potential readers, provided I do ever let anyone see it, would have found that to be out of character for Ranma. In addition to that would they find it strange for several of the characters to have an extremely good understanding of things like applied sciences, though the character may not know the technical terms. How much knowledge could I give a character in a particular field before it becomes unbelievable? There are many things people would probably not find OOC, such as making a mention to a lesser known martial arts style such as Aki Kiti a martial arts style of Nagaland (a hill state located in the far north-eastern part of India). I do not think many people would find it out of character for Ranma to make a potion after watching Happosai do so (Ranma has watched Happosai do similar things in the manga and Happosai has made potions; he made a rejuvenation potion) or acquiring a book of potions and following the steps (he can read, cook and follow basic instructions so if he has a book on it should be no problem). While I am pretty sure that most people would find the above as being in character, I am unsure if they would find him doing other things like basic practical chemistry as still being in character.

That is not worded as well as I'd like, basically I'm wondering as to what knowledge I can have the characters, such as Ranma, portray without people viewing them as being out of character (though the knowledge would vary by character and what is shown in the manga). My personal view, which is probably obvious to people who have read my other posts, is that Ranma is very intelligent and would have (and is shown to have) picked up a lot of practical knowledge as well as quite a bit of eclectic knowledge during his travels. Displaying some knowledge would not be balked at such as knowledge on anatomy (since some is required just to prevent hurting people in Martial arts and he has displayed knowledge in first aid, pressure points, and the human body) or geography (he has traveled quite a bit even during the manga) other knowledge I am not sure of. Since some people would find anything I wrote to be out of character I probably should not care but it is something to think about, though as long as it makes sense for the fic and could be explained in a somewhat believable way it should not matter. A few thing he definitely will not have a lot of knowledge on, in any possible fic I'd write, is popular culture, Shakespeare, and politics; he seems to have very little interest in things like movies, music, idols, and (non-martial art) sports. He probably knows some but not a lot, could tell you how to play soccer/baseball but would be unable to name any but the biggest stars or give their stats.