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ANGRY WHITE PYJAMAS: AN OXFORD POET TRAINS WITH THE TOKYO RIOT POLICE PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Robert Twigger | 320 pages | 01 Feb 2007 | Orion Publishing Co | 9780753808580 | English | London, United Kingdom [PDF] Angry white pyjamas : an Oxford poet trains with the Tokyo riot police | Semantic Scholar He signed up, and this is the account of what happened. The book is funny at points, but comes across as a truthful account - it is not played for laughs. You don't think in contrast to many "I did something wacky" memoirs that it was a project mainly to publish a book all along; something which can be fatal to the sincerity of the book. It has fascinating insights into what it is like to experience Japanese culture as a foreigner, and to be involved in traditional Japanese training methods. It has interesting things to say about doing martial arts. 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. 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 th Century samurai-poet-swordsman hero are interesting, and are nicely interwoven with the text. While Mr Twigger's martial arts experience is very different from my own, he captures some things which I really recognized, and I felt I learned a couple of things too. But explanations are kept very easy to follow, whether they are factual - about training drills - or more philosophical - about mindset of martial arts. You could certainly enjoy this book if you'd never done any martial arts though it might encourage you to try. It looks at his time and training in an Aikido dojo and makes for fascinating reading. The style of Aikido he learnt is Yoshinkan and isn't truly representative of Aikido in general, you don't tend to get the overly macho and violent teachers and philosophy in other Aikido schools. In fact this was the one aspect of the book I disliked the most, the cruelty in teaching methods and overall philosophy of some of the people involved in the school were highly dubious. Martial arts are tough and this particular course is renowned for it's strict methods and brutal training schedule, but in the main Aikido is a much more respectful art than what is portrayed here. Saying that, this is still an interesting read about one man's experience in a Japanese dojo and trying to make sense of Japanese society in general and for that alone it kept me reading. As you read you question whether you could handle such a tiring and hardcore course syllabus and by the end of the book you start to wince at every blow the students receive. This is an interesting book about life in one particular school of Japanese martial arts and if you are interested in martial arts it is worth a read. I personally didn't feel it to be as great as some other reviewers here though. Feel free to check out my blog which can be found on my profile page. Similar Products. Open Access. View 1 excerpt, cites background. Research Feed. Working With Older People. Synchrotron Radiation Techniques And Applications. Relating to the other : paradigm interplay for cross-cultural management research. This sporting life : sports and body culture in modern Japan. Related Papers. Abstract 9 Citations Related Papers. 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. Other experiences on the course include "hajime" sessions where one technique is performed repeatedly, without a break, sometimes for up to half-an- hour or more. During these sessions, trainees sometimes pass out or vomit, especially in the summer months. Instructors sometimes dish out punishments to trainees if they feel they are not pushing themselves enough, including rounds of push-ups , sit-ups and bunny hops. Other people featured in the book include several top Yoshinkan instructors, including Chida , Shioda and Chino, as well as Robert Mustard , the chief foreign instructor, David Rubens from England and Darren Friend [2] from Australia. Teachers are sometimes portrayed as being quite cold and occasionally brutal and unsympathetic to the students, whom they are trying to push to greater and greater efforts in order to build their technique and " spirit ". In addition, Twigger describes other aspects of Tokyo and his life there, including his relationship with his girlfriend and her family, his work at a Japanese high-school as an English teacher , and stories of living with his two flatmates. Angry White Pyjamas : Robert Twigger (author) : : Blackwell's The workouts seem brutal and not at all what this martial art is famous for, i. The teahcers came across as vicious as well, which is not the Mr. Moto image we are used to. Many years ago, a sample of this book cropped up on my A-Level mock exam. It was so witty and so brilliantly written that I got the book. It's not my normal genre at all - I'm in no way sporty, especially with anything involving competition or combat. This is one of those books where that simply doesn't matter. Following Robert along his very unique and brutal journey was great fun. I winced, I laughed and I will undoubtedly read again. Interesting for lovers of Martial Arts and Japan. Well written and interesting. For those interested in martial arts,of any type, this is an interesting and easy read. It gives you a good feel for the culture shock experienced by foreigners training in Japan and the interaction between foreigners themselves. I have never trained in Aikido but experience of other martial arts made it interesting and easy to understand. Without this some of the technical Japanese may cause some confusion amongst the uninitiated. Either way a good read. Well-written memoir of an Englishman doing extreme martial arts in Japan. The author, and Englishman working in Tokyo, took up the martial art of Aikido. His dojo ran an intensive and brutal aikido course which is used to train the Japanese riot police. He signed up, and this is the account of what happened. The book is funny at points, but comes across as a truthful account - it is not played for laughs. Has PDF. Publication Type. More Filters. Open Access. View 1 excerpt, cites background. Research Feed. Working With Older People. Synchrotron Radiation Techniques And Applications. Relating to the other : paradigm interplay for cross-cultural management research. Funny, engaging and shocking in places, Angry White Pyjamas is less about Aikido and more about Japan and its culture. It is also widely regarded as the most readable book ever written about martial arts, with real mainstream appeal. Enjoy A scrawny Oxford poet finds himself adrift in Tokyo and joins the formidable Yoshinkan Aikido Dojo where the Tokyo riot police learn their trade. Feb 15, Steven rated it it was amazing. Really enjoyed this one. These antiquated styles of training are always worth a read! Really great memoir of a year spent learning Aikido in a Tokyo dojo. Lots of interesting rumination on the philosophies of martial arts, the nature of Japanese culture, personal development through physical challenges and the like. Giggles and anecdotes aplenty alongside some real inspirational stuff. RT has a brilliant sense for characterization, but unfortunately there are just a few too many transient characters that drift through the pages and it's a little bemusing flipping back and forth tr Really great memoir of a year spent learning Aikido in a Tokyo dojo. RT has a brilliant sense for characterization, but unfortunately there are just a few too many transient characters that drift through the pages and it's a little bemusing flipping back and forth trying to keep up. Pretty great in general though, with a real fondness for the subject. Oct 27, Jennifer Hrabota rated it it was ok. Though this was amusing at times, I really grew to dislike the author and all the characters. The mild undertone of sexism didn't have me necessarily hating them, but by the end I found myself cheering when bad things would happen to them and I thought they were all dumb-asses. I was hoping to be a little more inspired, a little less disappointed. It was interesting, none the less, so I didn't hate it. Jun 23, Veronique rated it really liked it. Very good read. I think I found it especially interesting because at the time I read it, I trained in Aikido quite intensely. Jan 15, Heretic rated it really liked it. An extremely effective way to dissuade one from wanting to learn serious Aikido a Japanese self defense art from the Samurai. Interesting in several ways, particularly in depicting the masochism required to "fit in" with the macho requirements for the most aggressive form of Aikido. The author later admits the softer form of learning resulted in just as good or better mastery of the art.

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