Þessi grein tók ég úr BLACK BELT MAGAZINE tímaritinu sem kom út juní 2000. Fyrir þá sem ekki vita það er BLACK BELT MAGAZINE elsta og virtasta tímarit í heiminum í dag sem fjallar eingöngu um bardagalistir og sjálfsvörn. Þessi grein er ritstjórnapistill þessa tölublaðs.
Ég biðst afsökunar á að ég nennti ekki að þýða hana.

“One Giant Leap For Star Trek(/fyrirsögnin/). I´ll be the first to admit that I´m a hardcore Star Trek fan. When I was a kid, I used to watch the origianal series with Capt. Kirk and Mr. Spock week in and week out. After I spent a few years roaming around Asia, I returned home to find that Star Trek: The Next Generation was a hit in syndication. Then Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was launched, and I started watching it. The most recent-and only continuing- Star Trek series to hit airwaves Star Trek: Voyager. Needless to say, I tune it to that one, too.
Throughout all those episodes, there has been ane recurring element, and I´m sad to report that it´s not a good one: horrid fight scenes. Those terrible and sometimes laughable hand-to-hand battles often rely on double hammerfist strikes(with interlaced fingers-ouch(/finurnir manns myndu líklega brotna í raunveruleikanum/)) to the opponent´s back, palm-heel strikes to the opponent´s chin and karate chops to the side of the opponent´s neck. Worf, the Klingon officer from The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, was supposed to be an accomplished warrior, but all he ever did ti train was practice a lame form of 24th century tai chi(/sem er kínversk eldriborgara leikfimi:)/) and somewhat clumsily wield a crescent-moon-shaped bladed weapon.
All that changed when a Voyager episode titled ”Tsunkatse” aired in mid-feburary(/í USA auðvitað/). It was so uncharacteristically cool from a martial arts perspective that we can only hope it will set a new trend in future fights. The episode centered on an interstellar Ultimate Fighting Championship-type event, wich was beamed as a pay-per-view program to any planet or starship within reach of the signal. The enthusiastic spectators, including many members of Voyager´s crew, would assemble to watch the no-holds-barred(/öll brögð leyfileg/) action. The matches were obviously quite rough-andtumble, but everyone assumed the action stopped as soon as one of the sensors mounted on each competitor´s sternum(þynd) and back was struck. It wasn´t until two Voyager crewmembers were abducted and forced to fight to the death that the truth leaked out.
Of course, it was nice to see a value-judgment-free depiction af no-holds-barred competition on such a respected TV series. But the best part was the variety and realism of the martial arts techniqes used in the bouts. There were belivable poses and stances, wicked body slams, incredible spin kicks, clever jumping kicks executed after a fighter rebounded off the wall, and even a jeet kune do-style(/jett-kune-do=bardagastíllinn sem Bruce Lee fan nupp/) straight blast delivered by the Seven of Nine character into the mug of WWF(/USA glímusamband/) sensation The Rock. Any viewers who happen to be a martial artist and sci-fi fans were no doubt in shakari(Star Trek-ese for heaven)
The martial arts of Star Trek have finally gone where no one has gone before. Hopefully it is a sign of things to come
-Robert W. Young(/ritstjóri BLACK BELT MAGAZINE/)”

Þetta finnst mér svolítið sniðug pæling og að ritstjóri virtasta bardagalista tímaritsins í heiminum skrif grein um Star Trek finnst mér BARA cool. Ég er sammála honum í nær öllu sem hann segir nema um bat'telh sverðið mér finnst það bara vel hannað og flott sverð. Maður ætti að halda að starffleet “hand-to-hand-combat-training” hjá starfleet ætti að vera eitthvað sem hefði einhverja stoð í raunverulekanum ekki bara eitthvað sem einhverjum fannst cool. Einsog bardagasenunar í star trek hafa verið að undanförnu(í TNG; DS9 og fyrri hluta VOY) er hvernig maður ætti EKKI að slást. Lýsandi dæmi um það er krepptar greippar kýlinginn sem hefur verið mikið notuð í star trek(sérstaklega í DS9), en ef hún myndi verða notuð í raunveruleikanum og af fullu afli væri pottþétt að maður myndi bráka fingurna sína ef ekki brjóta þá og veita andstæðingnum hverfandi áverka(ef þið trúið mér ekki þá hljótiði að trúa Ritstjóra BLACK BELT).
Vonandi sjáum við Star Trek/bardagalista áhugamenn og konur raunverulegri og betur gerð bardagaatriði í star trek í framtíðinni.
:)