Customer Reviews

The Pyjama Game: A Journey into Judo

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I loved The Pyjama Game: A Journey Into Judo by Mark Law. The book is well-written and an enjoyable read throughout, although the title is a misnomer (judo is not a game and the training uniform is certainly not for sleeping). I especially like that it is one of the few books that makes judo understandable to a non-judo audience. Many parts are humorous, others contain tough stories of training and combat, others contain insights into judo history. It is a wonderful introduction to judo for new students as it transmits some of the beauty and magic of judo while paradoxically explaining the rigors of training and heartbreak of competition. For more knowledgeable judoka, the book is a great reminder of the long road we have traveled and the common bond that ties us together regardless of where in the world we practice.

I recommend The Pyjama Game for anyone with an interest in judo.[...]
Quotes from the book:

"The dojo is a place where men can behave like children and children can behave like men."

"Commitment aside, for many people the sport is just too unpleasant. The white suits and the bowing are fine. But not only is there repeated and sudden contact with the mat, there is quite a bit of unpleasant contact with your partner. For instance, just to be on the receiving end of uchikomi, which involves no fighting at all, is uncomfortable; with certain people this drill can feel like skiing into a tree a hundred times. Randori is extremely tiring and sometimes painful. People come to the conclusion that being repeatedly smacked on the floor is not how they really want to spend their precious spare time."

"As the judoka progresses, he will learn to handle extreme physical exertion and suffering, but there is one thing that will push his endurance to its very limits. This occurs in social encounters with friends from the world outside the dojo who will, during a lull in the conversation, suddenly flatten their palms and do some weird movements while asking, 'Are you still doing the old...karate?'"

Any student of judo knows that most of the books written about the art/sport/science are generally nothing more than "how-to" manuals.Mark Law's THE PYJAMA GAME:A JOURNEY INTO JUDO is a lot more than that.Law writes about the history of judo and how it came to the western world.He writes about the sport's legendary early practioners and how it came to be an Olympic sport.And he writes about judo's philosophy.But more than this,Law writes about his own personal experiances in the world of judo.And that's what makes this book special. This isn't just a book by some judo champion writing about how he became a champion and his favorite techniques.It's a book by an average man who takes up the discipline.And as such it's a book about judo that just about anyone can understand.It's a book that I can't recommend enough to any and all judokas.And I can't wait for the release of Law's follow up book FALLING HARD:A JOURNEY INTO THE WORLD OF JUDO.

see UK site for add'l reviews

ALTERNATE TITLE:

"FALLING HARD: A JOURNEY INTO THE WORLD OF JUDO"