The writing is fine, and in an unobtrusive style which depicts events and observations clearly without becoming distracting - quite a feat in a book which could just as easily have become a hubristic memoir as a play-it-for-laughs. Quotations from Tesshu, Mr Twigger's 19-th Century samurai-poet-swordsman hero are interesting, and are nicely interwoven with the text. urn:lcp:angrywhitepyjama0000twig_z8i8:epub:582853b5-9627-4f82-99de-dfe018419222 Foldoutcount 0 Identifier angrywhitepyjama0000twig_z8i8 Identifier-ark ark:/13960/s2wbgcq13sm Invoice 1652 Isbn 0753808587 At more than one point throughout the year-long course that would change him from pondering intellectual to "bodyguard" for two elderly Japanese women, Twigger thought of quitting. So what kept him going--his friends in Fuji heights, Chris and Fat Frank? Sara, his Japanese girlfriend? A Zen belief in overcoming the will of the self? It was more to do with sheer grit and determination-- a refusal to be beaten. I especially loved this piece of wisdom from one sensei (I need to revisit the text to remind myself who said it - Paul, maybe?) (paraphrased) - he points out there is a triangle of things that work together that are the secret to aikido: Balance, Center, and Confidence. They each feed each other.

There is noting interesting here in terms of literature beauty. As for the aikido, it focuses on the physical parts, and it fails to enlighten us even a bit because it aikido needs to be seen, not read. The spiritual part, which is what makes this sport distinct, is mentioned in passing and always about pain and death rather than channeling your energy. In Angry White Pyjamas Robert Twigger skilfully blends the ancient with the modern - the ultra-traditionalism, ritual and violence of the dojo (training academy) with the shopping malls, nightclubs and scenes of everyday Tokyo life in the twenty-first century - to provide an entertaining and captivating glimpse of contemporary Japan.Adrift in Tokyo, translating obscene rap lyrics for giggling Japanese high school girls,, "thirtynothing" Robert Twigger comes to a revelation about himself: He has never been fit nor brave. Guided by his roommates, Fat Frank and Chris, he sets out to cleanse his body and mind. Not knowing his fist from his elbow, the author is drawn into the world of Japanese martial arts, joining the Tokyo Riot Police on their yearlong, brutally demanding course of budotraining, where any ascetic motivation soon comes up against bloodstained "white pyjamas" and fractured collarbones. In Angry White Pyjamas, Twigger blends, the ancient with the modern--the ultratraditionalism, ritual, and violence of the dojo (training academy) with the shopping malls, nightclubs, and scenes of everyday Tokyo life in the 1990s--to provide a brilliant, bizarre glimpse of life in contemporary Japan. I was recommended to read this book when I started Yoshinkan Aikido last year. Regardless of how interested in aikido you might be, this is an amusing, at times fascinating, depiction of Japanese martial arts culture from the perspective of an outsider. Yoshinkan Aikido is a pretty small world it seems, and some of the characters in this book, although sometimes given a kind of fear/awe-filled celebrity by Twigger, are likely to cross your path if you take up the art. Robert Mustard in particular tours quite a lot and attends seminars internationally.

This is a splendidly written adventure, something sane at last on the craziness of martial arts ( Independent on Sunday) I want to re-read and make some notes on a few different things they practiced or teaching techniques, some quotes from the senseis and bits of wisdom. I'm curious about Kancho's book and to learn more about O'Sensei's life. I love that the author used the real names of people, so you can look up Robert Mustard or Chida Sensei and learn about them. Full Book Name: Angry White Pyjamas: A Scrawny Oxford Poet Takes Lessons from the Tokyo Riot Police PDF / EPUB File Name: Angry_White_Pyjamas_-_Robert_Twigger.pdf, Angry_White_Pyjamas_-_Robert_Twigger.epubI finally had a chance to sit down and re-read this. The first time I'd read it, I'd done some Aikido in college, but it had mostly faded in my memory other than I remember how clearly-out-of-shape I was at the time, and feeling like such a badass whenever I "got" a technique right. It also as exciting as a novel: you watch the characters with fascination as the class fight (literally and metaphorically) through the challenges of the course. Soon after beginning regular training, Twigger decides that the only way to truly experience aikido is to do the Yoshinkan Senshusei course, [1] a gruelling 11-month program to train up instructors of Yoshinkan aikido. The course consists of four hours of training, five days a week, in addition to dojo-cleaning duties, special training weekends and demonstrations. Twigger spends most of his time describing the rigor and sometimes agony of the very intensive course. He refers to doing kneeling techniques, or suwari-waza, until his knees bled, only to practice the next day and in so doing tear open the scabs. He describes techniques being performed with such vigor and intensity that smashing one's head into the mat was a frequent occurrence.