Angry White Pyjamas

[Lucien]

I don't know if any of you have come across this great book. It deals with the year-long intensive Yoshikan aikido course. The author - a philosophy graduate from Oxford - describes his experiences.

For those of you who have read it, there are a number of short documentaries about the course on YouTube. They are an interesting compliment to the book.

Directors Cut: Yoshikan Aikido Senshusei Programme
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRm4I6Pk_Vw

The Making of an Aikido Sensei
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mc76wwCT2TM

The World of Yoshikan Aikido
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EN4LbePVWYE

[JCM]

Thanks for the vids!

I loved the book, and laughed out loud a few times. There were some good of cultural insights. I loved the (real) characters on the book too, it was all a bit mad.

The story that describes the circumstances were the fat guys underwear dissapeared had me laughing to myself for a couple of days.

Is it only me or does the book make you a bit weary of living in Japan long term?

[Mike Molloy]

For some reason it came as a surprise to me that the names weren't changed at all.
For example, Sensei Robert Mustard is alive and well and teaching Aikido in Canada.
Wouldn't like to meet him in a dark alley! :eek:

[Rennis]

Good book, although I've talked to some people who were there then and the old "there are two sides to every story" bit seems to be in effect in many parts. I haven't read it in years, but I did enjoy it.

[MikeH]

There are a few reviews of it here:

http://www.aikiweb.com/reviews/showproduct.php?product=129&sort=7&cat=37&page=1

They're mostly from an old section of aikiweb and a lot are written by guys who were actually on the course with Robert Twigger.

Mike

[R Stroud]

A great read, I found it in a bookstore in Tokyo years ago and read it the same weekend. I always wanted to "walk the yamanote line" in a day as he mentioned in the book.

The book certainly supports by belief that Japan create two types of expats, those that can't get enough of all things Japanese, and those that can't leave soon enough (but never do).

I think Twigger, paints a good picture of life in Tokyo, or least one life in Tokyo if you choose it.

[James]

I wouldn't want to meet Mustard in the Library with the lead pipe.

[JCM]

I saw a video of him doing throws on his website (can't find it anymore), he seems to throw fairly hard

Btw, I thought that Twigger had a weird relationship with him on the book, portraying him as an unresonably hard man one minute and talking about him in almost affectionate tones the next.