Customer Reviews

Angry White Pyjamas: A Scrawny Oxford Poet Takes Lessons From The Tokyo Riot Police

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

As a newly minted ShoDan in Shiho Karano Karate, I have to be skilled in knowledge as well as technique. To that end, I've been reading a number of books about the martial arts. One part of that genre are the autobiographical accounts of Budo practitioners. I want to gain deeper insight through what others have experienced, learned, and how they changed as a result of martial arts training. "Angry White Pyjamas" is one such tale, written by a Brit who studied Aikido in Japan during the 90s. Robert Twigger, a disaffected thirtysomething teaching English to Tokyo high school girls, decides that he is incomplete as a man without some sort of physical challenge. Martial arts training appears to fit the bill, so he and his two expiate roommates enroll in a local aikido dojo. While taking regular classes, Mr. Twigger is drawn to the dojo's toughest mode of aikido instruction: an intense yearlong course normally taken by Japanese Kidotai (riot police) as a job requirement. Despite his initial misgivings and warnings from others about the course's difficulty, he goes for it and resolves to finish no matter what. "Angry White Pyjamas" chronicles Mr. Twigger's struggle to prove himself by successfully completing the Kidotai Aikido course.

Mr. Twigger makes many observations about his life and Japanese culture both in and out of the dojo, so there's lots of exposition compared to, say, "Moving Zen" by C.W. Nicol. Also unlike Sensei Nicol, Mr. Twigger is not wholeheartedly enraptured by Japanese culture. He has a more postmodern viewpoint, so his anecdotes are not filtered through rose-colored glasses. But humor leavens much of his story, and there's no disrespect or Western condescension. As one who was stationed in mainland Japan from '88 to '90, I enjoyed the reminders his recollections provoked (funky food, navigating the extensive train system, hanging out in Roppongi, etc.). Mr. Twigger also makes the other folks he encounters come alive through his writing; his slacker roommates Fat Frank and Chris are particularly priceless. But the most interesting aspect of "Angry White Pyjamas" is Mr. Twigger's search for validation as a male through overcoming adversity. He reminded me of an "Iron John" or "Wild at Heart" kind of guy, looking for affirmation of his masculinity via completion of the brutal riot police course. As a former Marine and current martial artist, I identified and sympathized with his quest. The course was a rite of passage for Mr. Twigger, and I rooted for him every step of the way. Many times he came close to quitting due to constant pain, injuries, fatigue, interpersonal conflicts, and his own perceived ineptitude with aikido. But despite these hardships he didn't give up, and for that I commend and respect him.

I read "Angry White Pyjamas" in conjunction with "Iron and Silk" by Mark Salzman and "Moving Zen" by C.W. Nicol to get multiple perspectives on martial arts training. It's interesting to compare and contrast Mr. Twigger's 90s presuppositions and experiences with those of Mr. Salzman's in the 80s and Sensei Nicol's in the early 60s. Each book is a fascinating snapshot of a particular era, culture, and martial art style (Aikido, Wushu, and Karate). But despite their different philosophies, motivations, and levels of immersion, all of these men achieved personal growth and maturation through practicing the martial arts in a persevering fashion. I found that to be inspiring, and so I recommend all three books.

I am a dedicated and even somewhat obsessive student of budo and especially aikido. Still, this irreverent book is one of my favourites. One of the reviewers here wrote that it's "oddly inspirational"; I couldn't agree more.

Why "oddly" ? Well, it's a honest and a funny book. As you might have noticed from some of the angrier reviews, Twigger will not feed you the urban legends and "samurai-er than thou" stories which - unfortunately - many people with an interest in martial arts seem to relish. No miraculous stories about the wonders of ki here ! No Sensei worship ! I laughed my head off when I read about Twigger's and his friends' joy when the founder of their dojo dies during a period of particularly gruelling lessons (suwari-waza, ouch !) and their dojo has to close for a few days, giving them the necessary time to nurse their knees back to health. For the lay-person's benefit, in the martial arts world, this kind of attitude is the pinnacle of heresy and expresses a complete lack of "the right attitude". The portrayal of some of the people Twigger trains with isn't very flattering, but let's face it, we all know the martial arts world has its fair share of unadjusted people and nutcases. Twigger isn't particularly flattering about himself and his friends either, by the way.

I also found Twigger's description of Japanese society and mores interesting. If you're worried by one of the other reviewers statement that Twigger is a racist and a homophobe, don't worry, it's just PC hysteria.

What is inspirational about this book is that it shows what real training is like. It's hard work. It's frustrating. You quickly have to understand you're not Bruce Lee (well, I'm not, and Twigger isn't either), and it takes much energy to try to (slowly) become better instead of just giving up and finding a pursuit more adapted to your genius. You have to work with and even learn from other people whom you might not always totally like and respect. Basically, you have to accept that nothing is perfect in the real world, not you, not your partners, not even Sensei, and still strive for perfection. I think that message is much more valuable than any martial arts fairytale.

So it may not be the most accurate description of the Japanese culture, so what? Angry White Pyjamas is an excellent account of one person's somewhat extreme experience of Japan.

The author of the book, Robert Twigger, an awarded poet from England goes to Japan as means of escaping the boring corporate reality. In Japan he hopes to find that his life means something. He begins his experience as an Engish teacher in Japan. Shortly afterwards, his job is reduced to a part-time, one day per week position. Poor and disilusioned, living in a cheap apartment with a couple of other random gajins, he finally decides to discover the value of self by signing up for a course in martial arts.

Once a member of a dojo, he realizes that he wants to push himself to the extreme limit of his mental and physical ability. As a result, he signs up for the super-ultra-tough course, usually taken by candidates for the Tokyo riot police.

Insanity ensues as he learns martial arts every day for almost 11 months amongst pain, sweat, complaining of fellow students, and constant cultural faux pas.

Personally, I'm not sure how accurate is Twigger's descriptionon of the fighting, the food, and the cultural differences, but one must admit that whatever he writes, it is written in the most excellent style. Twigger keeps an eye out for details in the Japanese lifestyles and describes them from the point of view of an overly enthusiastic yet naive foreigner.

The account of the training keeps the reader constantly wondering whether Twigger will be able to finish the course. After all, the pain, the unfriendliness, and seemintly little payback seem overwhelming.

This book is not only for martial arts fans nor fans of the Japanese culture. I am only slightly interested in these topics, however, I found the book very engaging. It may not be accurate, but it is an excellent piece of literature, clever, and highly entertaining.

Mr. Twigger's account regarding his time spent in Japan, and with the Kidotai, is both hilarious and enlightening.

The life of a foreigner in Japan must be unusual to say the least, but being a foreigner participating in the Riot Police aikido course must have been downright bizarre! His anecdotes and humour made this a book I just could not put down!

As others have noted in their reviews, "Angry White Pyjamas" is a similar story to Mark Salzman's "Iron & Silk", with the central figure being a stranger in a strange land... But I feel this is where the similarities end. Mr. Twigger writes with more wit and self-discovery with less emphasis on the martial arts than Mr. Salzman, who wrote in a more "gee-whiz" style (for lack of a better term) with more emphasis on China's people and wushu. Please don't misunderstand, I love "Iron & Silk" (I highly recommend it), but Pyjamas is a *different* kind of book.

His story almost seems too funny to be real, at times I suspect that he may have embellished certain parts, but I'm just being nit-picky... Also the fact that I used to train under the "famous aikido teacher from Toronto" reminded me that this book is based in reality; having a connection (even an indirect one) to the writer really changed my perception of Pyjamas.

The only negative thing (if you can call it that) about this book is a somewhat haphazard regard to time, in some instances we skip a number of months from one chapter to another... But in this regard, I'm being VERY picky.

This has become one of my favourite books in my limited collection of prose, "good face" Mr. Twigger! :)

It would be easy to be turned off this book by the odd title and slightly cheesy photo of the author in his Aikido uniform on the cover, but Angry White Pyjamas really is worth a read. It's about a man who studied at Tokyo's famous Yoshinkan Aikido school for a year and completed its instructors course, one of the most intense martial arts programs in Japan. The author, a poet, has a wonderful writing style, and as you read, you really feel as if you are with him on his year-long Aikido odyssey. He describes the characters so well that you feel as if you know them (although come to think of it, this may be because I went to the Yoshinkan dojo for a while and actually did meet some of the people).
This book is a must read for anyone thinking about coming to Japan to study martial arts and will appeal to anyone who is interested in modern Japan. It exposes the ugly side of Budo, which often extends to life in Japan in general; not just the discrimination that foreigners face, but the pointless shouting and brain-washing, over-emphasis on hierarchy, antiquated training methods, poverty, visa-hassles, and the shady characters that you end up coming into contact with. A lot of people have criticised him for being too negative, but in my opinion, he has rather courageously exposed the ugly side of martial arts training here. When he relates how he was returned to favour with an instructor who (he claims) had been picking on him by offering to carry the man's suitcase, or how the senior instructors almost never lit their own cigarettes because there was always a student who wanted to do it for them, you really have to question the way teachers treat their students. Are they teaching them humility and building their spirit, or are selfishly abusing their position of power? There are a lot of descriptions of "dojo politics" and instructors beating up on their students not to build their spirit, but because of personal grudges. These practices are wrong and it is important that people know about them. It may very well be true that Robert Twigger is cynical and a complainer (although I thought he was a nice guy the few times I met him), and he admits that he was not as diligent a student as some of the others. We can see that he probably did provoke some of the people whom he thought were picking on him, but sometimes these sorts of people are necessary to expose problems.
Despite all of his criticisms, the author clears loves the Yoshinkan dojo and mostly, this book should be taken as what it was meant to be, a funny, colourful account of an interesting person who did something that not many people get a chance to experience.
One of the most shocking things about Angry White Pyjamas is the ways it exposes the corruption that permeates Japanese society. Tokyo's finest don't come off very well in this book, and you get the impression that if you have a friend who is a policeman, you can get away with anything in Japan. Twigger also talks about Aikido's ties with Japan's right-wing radicals, and we learn a lot about money and power-politics inside the dojo.
Robert Twigger also really brings Tokyo to life and we see both its charm and its dark-side. Anyone who has ever lived there will probably want to read this book because of all the memories it will bring back. Although it is not a central part of the book, his account of sharing a one room apartment with three other guys and living a life of poverty in Tokyo is really wonderful and funny, as are the strange characters he met teaching at a Tokyo High School, especially the woman who eventually hired him to be her personal bodyguard when she travelled to Mexico.
Another of the books strong points is that it is a great introduction to the writings of the famous Zen Master, poet and swordsman, Yamaoka Tesshu and the famous Samurai text, the Hakagure.

I'm an aikido practitioner (even if I study a different style from the one depicted here), so I picked the book out of curiosity.

To sum it up very briefly, I've got the impression (on the basis of this book and some of his biographical notes on it) that Mr.Twigger routinely picks very strange ways to pass his time, probably with an eye to write books about his experiences.

This is all fine and good, and the book itself is amusing and competently written, but it will probably end up causing most Aikido students to be disappointed (if not enraged) by the author's attitude towards something they probably consider very important to them.

Many have criticized this book treatment of teachers and students, while others were offended by the superficial treatment of japanese life. I'm not qualified to speak about Japan, but I agree that in the end the commitment of Twigger seems lacking, and that most of his description seems tinted by the desire to get at the end of his ordeal more than by actually wanting to get better at Aikido.

Try to picture a non-belligerant, unfit, intellectually oriented individual (a geek?) who joins the Marines in order to write a book on what it takes to be a Marine, and then starts having second thoughts, depicting everything like a militaristic, cult-like, oppressive experiment in brainwashing, but still persists.

Don't be surprised if his view on the training and the people he meets through it are not exactly objective (just as a book written by a fanatical aikidoka would be far from objectivity...).

So, in the end, read it for pleasure, but please don't use it to to draw any conclusion about Japan culture or Aikido.

Approaching thirty years old, Robert Twigger was teaching English in Japan and came to the realization that he has never been fit nor brave. Not only does he decide to rectify this by learning some martial arts, he seeks out the toughest course available: the year-long Riot Police course in aikido. My own idle thoughts about how tough a course like this might be were dwarfed by the brutal reality. This fascinating account details many of the hardships the Riot Police students (senshusei) endure if they are to make it through the course. Never mind the broken bones, strains, and constant bruises, when Twigger got to the part about wearing all the skin off his knees repeatedly, I thought that only a masochist would willingly sign up for this course. (Personally, I'm going to stick to racquet sports.) I started reading this book one late night after 11pm (on a work night) and read 30 pages before forcing myself to put it down and go to bed. Angry White Pyjamas was a gripping read. I suppose the author did feel braver after the Riot Police course because a year later he began training as a bullfighter in Spain.

I would think that two groups of people in particular would find this book interesting: 1) People who have lived in Japan, and 2) People who have studied martial arts (aikido in particular).

I only qualify for the first category, but I still enjoyed this book. I certainly have new respect for anyone who can devote themselves to aikido, or any other martial art. The author has no concrete reason to start his study other than a realization that you only get one shot at life: "this is it" the author says in a moment of epiphany reminiscent of Chuck Palahniuk's "Fight Club."

The author enters the dojo knowing he'll have to work hard. Once he joins the Riot Police Course he really knows he has to work hard. With a mixture of madness, religious fervor, and perspiration, Twigger manages to survive the course. I can see where hard-core aikido artists might look down on Twigger's attitude to just "survive" the course instead of putting his whole being into it, but the point of the book is not Twigger's transformation into an aikidoka but instead what he gets out of the intense course. In fact, I don't think Twigger says if he even enters a dojo again after finishing the senshusei course. What is important is that Twigger was able to apply what he learned in the dojo in his everyday life, in how he changed his teaching strategy for example.

Several other reviewers have mentioned how this book was oddly inspiring, and I would certainly agree with them. This is the story about a year in the life of a completely ordinary guy experiencing an extraordinary challenge, and coming out victorious. This doesn't mean everyone should run out to a dojo and learn a martial art, but it is a unique spin on the old lesson to dream big, endure hardship, and accomplish your goal.

This is one of many books about Japan that is obsensibly about one topic (a sedentary writer trying to make it through a rigorous martial arts program) that winds up very much a cultural lesson. Learning to Bow and You Gotta Have Wa are books of a similar vein.

Twigger writes with painful honesty of his travails as part of the slacker generation that found it's way to Japan in the 90s. He falls into Aikido as a way to impose discipline in his life. We see the real think - the difficulty he has with an imposing instructor, how he copes with adversity, as well as his distaste for the visiting instructors tendancy to get into drunken brawls.

In the end, the book is improved by the lack of grand revelation. It is not one man's coming of age. It is not about transcendence or vision. It is about survival, and how someone learned about themselves (both good and bad) as they persevered through a difficult time.

One downside is the title is quite a misnomer. First, the impression the book gives is more of masochism (How much pain can one take?) and intensity than of a bunch of angry people running around. Second, while Twigger is a gifted writer, you don't get much sense of him as a poet. Indeed, calling him a warrior poet seems less accurate than viewing him as a lost sould finding direction and discipline for a year.

Having lived in Japan for nearly a decade and trained in modern and ancient Japanese martial arts I have to say Angry White Pyjamas is one of the most authentic accounts ever published of what it feels like to train in a serious dojo in Japan. The Yoshinkan has a fierce reputation among martial arts insiders - along with the JKA and the Kodokan it is a candidate for the toughest school in Japan. Twigger brilliantly illustrates the daily pain and struggle with the desire to give up which is so close to my own experience. What some may not like is the fly on the wall view he gives of his dojo - insiders in Japan do not in general reveal the secrets of their institutions and most traditional Japanese dojo prefer to keep a low profile....but I came away from this book admiring (most) of the teachers and wanting to train in Yoshinkan aikido. Although I am biased towards Japan I felt it was equal to Iron & Silk, or even had the edge.Simply one of the tiny number of real accounts about martial arts to add to Draeger; Dave Lowry and Nichol's Moving Zen.