Rating: 
Summary: Excellent book, oddly inspirational
Review: I say "oddly inspirational" because it's not a direct, rock-'em-sock-'em recruiting book for the martial arts, yet it seems to motivate you to see if *you* couldn't push yourself just a bit harder than you already are.Robert Twigger writes in an entertaining manner, obviously not taking himself too seriously, and this is quite refreshing given that there seems to be such a serious air about many martial arts practitioners. Twigger's style goes down well (though his loose adherence to the rules of punctuation was occasionally annoying -- but, then again, he *is* a poet, and I'm picky about that in particular!). I found the outsider's view of life in one of the toughest Japanese dojos fascinating, and I tore through the book twice in just a few days. A good, witty read, and one that I highly recommend.
Rating: 
Summary: Unique Tale
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: A good read does not a good book make...
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Aikido you not, this is a good read!
Review: It wasn't until I checked in to this review that it became apparent that many martial arts students are reading this book under the impression that it is somehow about the martial arts. Well, it is I suppose, but not in the way one expects. So, if you are considering the book because you want to learn all about learning a martial art or all about Aikido or even about learning Aikido, I'm not sure that this is the book for you, although it might help and besides it is so well written that you can't help enjoying yourself when you read it; so go ahead.
Still, this book is best for people who like to read travelogues; people who are interested in Japan and think they might like to go there to teach English or something; and for people who like to read stories about real life experiences by people who know how to tell them.
Ostensibly the story revolves around completing the so-called riot police training at a renowned Tokyo Aikido school. Our protagonist is a super well-spoken and super talented liberal arts major from England living the life of a semi-itinerant ex-patriate with similarly situated and talented flatmates and together they undertake a year-long course of Aikido study that places them all in the context of a multi-national stew of the rawest neophyte martial arts student and the most over-cooked lump of gristle and bone Aikido teacher. This, along with a host of added ingredients from the school where the author teaches English and the streets where the author interacts with the local populace is is the main course of this book.
This is a charming tale because the author has a knack for spotting the best and most interesting qualities of the people he meets and portraying them in a way that gives pleasure and informs one about say the contrast between Japan and the so-called West, or about the strength or weakness of a person and what about him seems to cause or accentuate this quality.
The author's description of the pain, desperation and humiliations that he has to endure in order to complete the course could be a bit of a burden and sometimes is except that he artfully uses this as a mere backdrop against which he paints the real canvas composed of various psychological portraits of the characters in his story. These portraits while genuinely entertaining seem to be used by the author to create a composite of the human being, much as Homer does in 'The Iliad.' This is to say that we are shown a broad panoply of the human condition: sadism, malice, envy, regret, love, affection, humor, pathos, pity, recklessness, disrespect, anger, humility and more, and since this plays out before us in the span of one short year one is overawed by the author's facility in recognizing, isolating and then presenting each quality to the reader in such a way that he is witness to the phenomenon of everyday interaction becoming terribly important and interesting. This last bit brings me back to my initial thought that perhaps this book really is about learning a martial art. For, at the end of it all, Twigger seems to have shown us that the truly successful student of martial arts is the one who removes his subjective self from his objective path and allows his spirit to overcome his ego.
Rating:
Summary: Aikido you not, this is a good read!
Review: It wasn't until I checked in to this review that it became apparent that many martial arts students are reading this book under the impression that it is somehow about the martial arts. Well, it is I suppose, but not in the way one expects. So, if you are considering the book because you want to learn all about learning a martial art or all about Aikido or even about learning Aikido, I'm not sure that this is the book for you, although it might help and besides it is so well written that you can't help enjoying yourself when you read it; so go ahead.
Still, this book is best for people who like to read travelogues; people who are interested in Japan and think they might like to go there to teach English or something; and for people who like to read stories about real life experiences by people who know how to tell them.
Ostensibly the story revolves around completing the so-called riot police training at a renowned Tokyo Aikido school. Our protagonist is a super well-spoken and super talented liberal arts major from England living the life of a semi-itinerant ex-patriate with similarly situated and talented flatmates and together they undertake a year-long course of Aikido study that places them all in the context of a multi-national stew of the rawest neophyte martial arts student and the most over-cooked lump of gristle and bone Aikido teacher. This, along with a host of added ingredients from the school where the author teaches English and the streets where the author interacts with the local populace is is the main course of this book.
This is a charming tale because the author has a knack for spotting the best and most interesting qualities of the people he meets and portraying them in a way that gives pleasure and informs one about say the contrast between Japan and the so-called West, or about the strength or weakness of a person and what about him seems to cause or accentuate this quality.
The author's description of the pain, desperation and humiliations that he has to endure in order to complete the course could be a bit of a burden and sometimes is except that he artfully uses this as a mere backdrop against which he paints the real canvas composed of various psychological portraits of the characters in his story. These portraits while genuinely entertaining seem to be used by the author to create a composite of the human being, much as Homer does in 'The Iliad.' This is to say that we are shown a broad panoply of the human condition: sadism, malice, envy, regret, love, affection, humor, pathos, pity, recklessness, disrespect, anger, humility and more, and since this plays out before us in the span of one short year one is overawed by the author's facility in recognizing, isolating and then presenting each quality to the reader in such a way that he is witness to the phenomenon of everyday interaction becoming terribly important and interesting. This last bit brings me back to my initial thought that perhaps this book really is about learning a martial art. For, at the end of it all, Twigger seems to have shown us that the truly successful student of martial arts is the one who removes his subjective self from his objective path and allows his spirit to overcome his ego.
Rating:
Summary: Ugly Truths Revealed and Funny To Boot
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Ugly Truths Revealed and Funny To Boot
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: A great book about aikido, although not really about aikido.
Review: 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! :)
Rating:
Summary: Good insight into aikido, but could be better
Review: Overall, well written and a good insight into the martial arts world. The narrative tends to drag here and there, particularly the descriptions of training drills in the dojo; these passages could be edited down or even removed, without affecting the overall story line. There are some minor errors - for example, Twigger says that their were one million Iranians working in Japan, which is a gross exaggeration; the actual figure was closer to 10,000. He is sometimes condescending towards Japanese people, like a typical expatriot in Japan. This book provides a novel view of Japan by someone who jumped in at the deep end of the rough and tumble world of traditional martial arts. Good for aikido afficionados and Japanophiles.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining but not as good as
Review: Salzman's IRON AND SILK which it is similar to (as a previous reviewer has already noted.) The author details his life as a foreigner in Japan (some of the most interesting parts of the book for me) and his attempt to survive the Tokyo Riot Police course. I should add that martial artists will undoubtedly get more from the detailed descriptions of the training than I did. Despite only giving it 4 stars, I will say I tore through it in three days, so it definitely kept my attention.
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