1 comments about Dynamic Sumo (Bushido--The Way of the Warrior).

1. Dynamic sumo is a pleasant book to read. It is a well-written introduction to the different aspects of sumo. It is a source for beginners and also for people with intermediate knowledge.

   The history-section is especially good. The author has chosen essential parts of sumo`s history and spices it up with snippets of some spesific events. The descriptions of 20th century great wrestlers` careers is also included.

   The photographs and drawings are high class. Photos of bouts catch the strength and skill of the wrestlers in crucial moments and some of the photos can be considered real masterpieces both in timing and angle. The written explantions are accompanied with graphical illustrations which makes it easy to follow the text.

   In a nutshell Dynamic sumo is a very good book with interesting facts, good layout, excellent graphics and an ability to make one hungry for further information over the great sport of sumo.

5 comments about Joy of Sumo.

1. I'm living in Japan and I became interested in sumo mainly because of my high school judo background. To get to know the sport I read all the English sumo books I could get my hands on, plus some Japanese books as well. Books written by total nerds, books that try to make sumo look cute and taffy, books that are info-packed but drier than the Sahara, books that give the wrong info, all kinds of books. And I tell you, the JOY OF SUMO is what you got to have to make you fall in love with the sport and the athletes in it. It glorifies the sport for what it is--a grand sport for everyone, and you don't have to go lick the toes of the rikishi in order to be a part of the wonderful world of sumo. It is the ideal book for anyone getting a little bit interested in sumo, or for "old" fans like me who read all the nerdy or syrupy books first and then wondered how these authors/experts could write in so boring and dry a manner about a sport that is bristling with life. To counter this, Benjamin and Holfeld put together a fun-filled, action-packed, thoroughly engaging book on sumo, and once you start reading you won't want to stop. The book puts sumo in a wonderfully new dimension--as a cool sport that is very much alive and very real and in touch with reality and full of athletes to get to know and like/dislike.

   Sick of the sumo nerds? I am, and this book does absolute justice to sumo as a sport. Thinking of sumo as a mysterious cultural experience? Well, come live in Japan for some years and you'll soon get sick and tired of that point of view, so buy the JOY OF SUMO and learn about sumo in a way that you'll never ever get sick and tired.




2. I'm only 12 years old, so I'm not really sure how to write a proper review, so just bear with me. I had to make some type of sport magazine for school, and dad was really interested in sumo and had a few books; The Joy of Sumo being one of them. So I decided to do a sumo magazine. One of the things we had to do for it was to write a book review on a book relating to that sport. I'd already read The Joy of Sumo and decided it was worth writng a review about it. We had to rate it, so,seriously, I gave it 5 stars because I like it so much. I think dad bought it from Amazon..... Oh well. Now to actually start writing: The best parts in the book I think are "the Grouping Urge" chapter and the description of the match between Chiyonofuji(is he not a legend! ) and Asahifuji in the 1990 Nagoya basho. It was very cleverly written. Well, I hope this is good enough, because I have to go now!



3. I've lost my copy of this book, so must add it my Amazon Wish List!

   I've read Joy of Sumo, and favourite pieces from it dozens of times. It's not only valuable for clearly explaining a lot of the terms, but also for the passion and humour with which its written.

   And the sketches are priceless :) !

   Small enough to carry as a read on the bus, but we warned: you'll get funny looks as you laugh out loud, wiping away the tears ...




4. Sumo is one of those sports that it is difficult to take seriously at first by gaijin. Unless you are into shinto, you will have great difficulty understading all of the symbolism etc. in a sumo tournament. You will probably turn to one of the authoritative guides to the Sport, a big mistake, because those authors take the sport much more seriously than you will be able to.

   Turn instead to the Joy of Sumo. Written by an American journalist who lives in Japan, this book treats the sport from a fan's perspective. It makes Sumo fun to watch, and still will answer most of your questions.
   What is that ref doing? Why is he yelling? Why don't they squash him?
   Why do Sumo wrestlers throw matches?
   What are the different winning moves?
   Why are they so fa-at?

   This book still makes me laugh after 10 years of reading it!




5. What a weird, wacky, terrific book this is. Yes, you'll enjoy it if you're curious about Sumo. But if you love sports in general, you'll be thoroughly drawn in by David Benjamin's musings on the strange, funny battlefield that is Sumo. A quick summary of the ground he covers -
   
   - Sumo looks bizarre on the surface, but to know it is to love it! A weird lens on Japanese thinking, playing and being.
   - The kooky crowd scene.
   - The fun of christening the wrestlers ("rikishi") with a memorable, fitting nickname (the "Goldfish", the "Sweaty One")
   - The four main "species" of rikishi ("Jocks", "Hippos", "Butterballs", "Cabdrivers")
   - The tournament structure, including the backroom politics
   - The ritualistic behaviors before combat - foot stomping, salt tossing, etc.
   - Why rikishi sometimes throw a match, and why it's ok!
   - The explosive moment of combat (at last)! The nifty parallels to a Western gunfight and football linemen.
   - The ornamental, pajama-clad referees.
   - The importance of concealing emotions - in victory or defeat!
   - Career highs and lows of a rikishi.
   - The lame use of statistics, and Benjamin's own creative ideas of how to invigorate Sumo with new stats.
   
   Above all, if you're interested in Asian culture, and Japanese culture especially, I think you'll love this book. It's really like no other sports book I've read, in the best of ways.

5 comments about Meditations for Women Who Do Too Much - 10th Anniversary.

1. This little day-to-day book may help explain to us why as women we often make life choices that leave us over-worked and feeling bitter and unfulfilled. Using a combination of quotes, questions, and tough-love talk, Anne Wilson Schaef's book sheds some 12-step spiritual-style and common-sense light into the dark corners of the busy-rushaholics- work-aholics life. Give this book to a woman you love or admire who "does too much" and then buy a copy for yourself.



2. What I love most about this book is that it is small enough to bring with you anywhere you go, and the wisdom large enough to calm and soothe you no matter where you are. It's the type of book that you can open to any page, and find wisdom ranging on topics such as: Being present to the moment; Busyness; Exhaustion; Goals; Honesty; Wholeness; Live life fully/Curiosity; Forgiveness; Feelings/Control; and the great list goes on - all 365 of them.
   If you feel harried and rushed, are in a long supermarket line, or stuck on traffic, this is the perfect book to open up and get you to feed your mind with wisdom to bring you more inner peace. A wonderful book, and I think it is great for men too.
   Barbara Rose, author of "Stop Being the String Along: A Relationship Guide to Being THE ONE" and 'If God Was Like Man'
   Editor of inspire! magazine



3. I own the first edition of this book and have found it to be very helpful over the years. I recently bought the new edition and was very disappointed with the quality of the book. It's clearly not made for daily use, much less use over many years. The binding is stiff, hard to pry open and easily broken; the paper is the equivalent of cheap newsprint that will yellow within the year. It's clearly not constructed for daily use, but designed to be one of those quickie, "I know how you feel" gifts that you buy for someone you think is doing too much.
   
   It's a pity because the book deserves a better presentation. It makes you think about the far-reaching effects of perfectionism, workaholism, and "busy-ness" on your emotional, physical, mental and spiritual health. Not every day is a perfect meditation, but every couple of days the alignment of the meditation with the events in your life creates a moment where the lightbulb goes on and you're jolted with the truth of who you are. With that revelation comes the possibility of change: a different decision; maybe a better decision.
   
   I'd love a high-quality version with a daily marker ribbon sewn into the spine. It's a good book and deserves better from its publisher.



4. I read this daily and have bought it for presents for several family members and friends.



5. This is my second purchase of this book-- this time as a gift. I enjoy most of the guidelines. It has some good advice.

No comments about SUMO Your Relationships: How to handle not strangle the people you live and work with.

1 comments about Sumo Boy.

1. The story's narrative is simple: Girl needs boy to use his martial arts know-how to rescue her from a threatening male. If you want to teach children about gender equity and how to use peaceful solutions when faced with conflict this book fails miserably.

3 comments about Competitive MINDSTORMS: A Complete Guide to Robotic Sumo using LEGO(r) MINDSTORMS.

1. The heart of this book is the step-by-step instructions to construct seven different Lego robot chassis. This is just like any Lego instructions you will find, but it's not in color, and there is English text to add more material about the reasons behind the design.
   
   In addition there is Mindstorms control code to accompany each chassis design. The programming language is Not Quite C (NQC). Installation instructions for NQC are included as this is a step you will have to take in addition to the standard Mindstorms installation.
   
   The bots range from just a small construction around the RCX control block to designs that are 'gargantuan'. They are as sturdy and well designed as those that you find in the original Mindstorms kit.
   
   I was disappointed that there was not more emphasis placed on describing the program logic. I would have appreciated flow charts as most of the control logic is simple state machines.
   
   Overall I think this would be a fine book for anyone serious about Mindstorms sumo.



2. The Lego company has a Mindstorms product line that lets you build Lego models with simple programmable electronics. Easy but fascinating robots. Perdue offers you third party support, in the form of advice that is independent of the company. This book is an amalgam of neat assembly instructions and diagrams of robots to build, with accompanying source code to control them.
   
   The Lego library is easy enough to understand. You code in C, and link to that library. So the outlook is procedural, not object oriented. But for the code examples shown, and for any code that you are likely to write, their sizes are small enough that a procedural approach is perfectly adequate. And with less overhead than an object oriented outlook.
   
   A nice aspect is that you can tinker with both the hardware and software, in tight feedback design loops of changing something and testing it. In other projects, often it might be purely software. Which may not appeal to you, if you're the sort who is attracted to robotics.



3. Competitive Mindstorms: A Complete Guide To Robotic Sumo Using Lego Mindstorms is a hobby guide to using the Lego Mindstorms Robotic Invention System to design, build, program, and unleash autonomous "sumo-bot" creations for use in a robotic sumo arena. Written by dedicated Lego Mindstorms enthusiast David Perdue, Competitive Mindstorms introduces the reader to the sumo-bot, provides seven projects designed to give hands-on experience in three different approaches to robotic sumo (small-and-fast class, medium class, and big-sumo strategies), presents extensive discussions of Lego pieces and building methodology, programming techniques, and much more. Black-and-white photographs illustrate the building instructions in this go-to guide especially friendly to beginners but packed with valuable tips, tricks, and techniques for the seasoned Lego Mindstorms hobbyist as well.

No comments about Sumo Bizarro.

5 comments about Don't Try This at Home: How to Win a Sumo Match, Catch a Great White Shark, Start an Independent Nation and Other Extraordinary Feats (For Ordinary People).

1. Imagine calling Fort Knox and asking the best way to break in and steal the gold. Don't have the guts for it? Don't worry, because Hunter Fulghum has done it for you. He has contacted everyone from the U.S. Dept. of Energy to his local alien experts to find out how you would do everything from Swim the English Channel to Borrow the Mona Lisa to Start an Independant Nation.

   Aside from being funny and quite interesting, the book is very well written; I highly recommend it.




2. So help me, a lot of this stuff might actually work... Of course most of their ideas would take more time, money and resources than i'll ever have, but they're fun to think about!



3. I've found Don't Try This At Home to be lighthearted and fun. It's also impractical and seems to be based largely on complete fantasy. What is it about you ask? Think of it as a 264 page Do-It-Yourself guide for the armchair adventurer.
   
   Megalomaniacs will want to skip right to "Form an Independent Nation". In just 8 short pages, Fulghum describes the steps you'd need to complete. Like most of the items in the book, Forming an Independent Nation does have a large number of prerequisites. For example you will need "hard currency", especially if you choose to acquire your nation through peaceful means. Well no worries, just check out Fulghum's section on stealing gold from Fort Knox.
   
   Thrill seekers, there's plenty of material here for you too. Good starting points are "Fly Through the Eye of a Hurricane" or "Guide and Surface a Nuclear Sub through Ice". My personal favorite is "Drive a Tank through a Tornado". Fulghum says the tank is "available from the US Army, contact the Pentagon to arrange purchase or lease". Does anyone have a phone number?



4. Some are more realistic than others, but all are entertaining. I'll certainly allow this book when I start my own nation off the coast of Africa.



5. Definately intersting, and definately just for fun. Many items are common sense if you take the time to stop and think about them, but there are a number of items that have little gems of information that a layperson would never have known to try should they ever encounter such a situation.
   
   Fun, if ultimately impracical.

No comments about Law in Everyday Japan: Sex, Sumo, Suicide, and Statutes.

5 comments about The Big Book of Sumo: History, Practice, Ritual, Fight.

1. I have been interested in Sumo, but was lost in understanding of the sport. Mina Hall not only knows her stuff, she is able to relay it in terms that are understandable. Now I have a new love for the sport from this easy book. The content of Hall's book is enough to make me feel like I know the sport. No longer will I wonder why they do those things before,during, and after the match. While I have read other books on the subject this is by far the best. Get it and learn Sumo.



2. I purchased this book a year ago. It is very easy to understand and has some realy fabulous pictures.

   Mina Hall has done a great job in putting this together. I would recomend this to anyone who is interested in sumo.




3. As a begining Sumo wrestler, who trains with 2 time World Lightweight Sumo champ Svetoslav Binev, I really liked this book. I found "The Big Book of Sumo" to be an awesome little book on the history and tradition of Sumo.

   Unfortunately, it has nothing on the actual techniques used from the standpoint of a competing wrestler. Only descriptions of some names of common techniques from a fan's perspective.

   Never-the-less, it's a great little "Big Book of Sumo." Don't get this book if you are looking for more than a very general description of sumo technique. Do get this book if you want to understand the art, history and tradition of Sumo.




4. A fantastic and fun introduction to Sumo. I've already got my tickets for my second Basho next week and I'll have a lot better understanding of the sport because of this book.
   However, its a bit out of date for current wrestlers and recent records. But that's all available online from the Sumo organization web site.
   Also, its a good intro, but you'll have to look elsewhere for more detailed information and history.



5. A bit cutesy, but covers all the details, including details other books don't deal with.