Coming hard on the heels of the odious ‘Kiss me Slander‘ smears, I was disappointed to see Jimi Tatu has launched yet another attack on a member of our community, this time it’s one of my resellers, Nawa Do, on his Fetlife profile. There is a certain irony that this comes from one who claims to champion peace, tranquillity and harmony. Here’s the first sentence:
“Please Note: There is some guy in the UK that is using my trademarked brand “Nawa-do”. I coined the term many years ago with an essay I wrote in the 90’s. …. I would ask the rope community to respond by boycotting his products. He is a thief. If he would steal from me, would you really trust his products?”
What ever one might think about the use of the name, it is below the belt to cast doubt on the quality of his products. Yes, you can absolutely trust his products. I know as I supply a fair bit of rope to him and he has paid, promptly I should add, for every inch of it!
‘Nawa’ is the Japanese for ‘rope’ and ‘do’ is applied to many disciplines or paths meaning ‘way’, e.g. Aikido, judo. Interestingly, the first things to appear on Google are my resellers sites and there is also NawaDo.pl, run by rope fans, Slaanesh and Gan Raptor. According to a search on the United States Patent and Trademark Office, his claim it is trademarked cannot be substantiated. It seems Jimi seems takes the Bruce Lee quote he recently posted on Facebook post a little too literally: “Truth is living and, therefore, changing.” It certainly seems to be the case over the trademarking and recently his recollections concerning the recent Osada furore (also covered in posts here and here). Even if Nawa Do had been trademarked, it is entirely legal to use the same name so long as the services/products are different as in this case, i.e. selling rope and teaching.
In case anyone ever needs an example which epitomises hypocrisy, I offer this second extract from further down his profile but I warn you if you value your keyboard don’t read it with a mouthful of coffee:
“In Luke 6 Jesus is cited as saying something like …Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you, if someone slaps you on the cheek, give him the other also. If someone takes your coat, give to him your shirt. If anyone takes from you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.”
I find staggering that this could be quoted after that vitriolic attack. I wonder if Nawa Do will be receiving a shirt in the post any time soon? However, I suspect will be a case of “Do what the parson says, not what the parson does” once again. Of course, this is the same man who, when begged by the seriously ill Osada Steve to stop slandering him, wrote “Have a nice life, what’s left of it” then publicly dismissed it as no more than a “snarky comment”. So much for the empty words of his ‘ Art of Apology ‘ writings.
I shall be publishing more about the Osada legacy when I have the translations of the SM Sniper article. However, this is likely to be of merely academic interest as Steve’s position of respect in Japan and the number of prominent bakushi who have been happy to take him as a student is evidence enough that there is no doubt about the provenance of his right to the Osada name. I mean, seriously? Would the likes of Kanna and Yukimura clasp a pretender to their bosom? Would he be welcome in so many kinbaku venues and have been doing upwards of 300 shows a year? As a gaijin in Japan? No way!
Over the years, it is quite well-known that Steve constantly had occasion to correct Tatu on misinformation he spread about kinbaku in various Yahoo groups. I’ll admit I came in for a bit of flak myself and had a few run-ins with OS before I realised he knew his stuff and I should start listening to him. Sadly, Tatu took umbrage and flame wars ensued which ended up making him look rather silly. I suspect this has resulted in a severely bruised ego and motive for the (alleged) slander. For legal reasons, I feel obliged to say ‘alleged’ as it has not been tested in court, although I am personally satisfied as to the veracity of my sources confirming the slander was repeated as recently as this year.
I feel the offended party deserves a bit of counter publicity under the circumstances, so should you require my rope dyed in a rainbow of colours, check out Nawa Do’s stock