Sumo Books

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.

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.

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 ...

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!

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!

A great, fun, and easy bot to build. Good customer service.

I would recommend it for everyone.

This is a great bot. I recommend it for everyone. Easy to put together and lots of fun.

I should start off by saying that I'm not a kid, nor did I buy this and give it to a kid. I am 22 and I'm working on a completely hand-built robot. Since nobody else has written a review from this perspective - the adult hobbyist - I thought I would

First, however, for the sake of parents and uncles and aunts who read this. I think this is a good kit for 12-16 year olds, provided they are really computer savvy and have a long attention span. If your kid is fixing your computer more often than you, he might like this. If already knows how to program, this kit is for him. In any case, you probably need a knowledgable adult to get past the basics with this kit. The kit itself is a little on the cheap side, I'm not sure its worth the price above. (I found it on sale for less than half , but I've seen it advertised for 3 times as much too.) It took me 30 minutes to build it, but I was doing it real carefully. Any kid can probably do it in the same amount of time, although some of the instructions are probably going to be confusing for a kid. (How many 12 year olds know the difference between a worm gear and a spur gear?) Luckily, there are plenty of photos, which make the instructions pretty "kid-friendly". It does require an abnormally small flathead screwdriver that I don't think most houses have lying around. (An eyeglass repair kit would be perfect for assembling this.)

Once you build it and put in the batteries, it starts working right away and you can use the included remote control to play around with it. There's lots of online documenation included on CD. While the documentation is noble in its intent to teach, it covers way more material than a book could practically teach to an early adolescent, and therefore moves a little too fast at times: basic electronics and semiconductors, programming, etc. You might want to supplement this kit with extra books if the child shows interest. The extra project ideas seem like they would be engaging, but except for the most simple they're going to require an adult to help design the circuits unless your child is a whiz kid at electronics.

Okay, now I want to address the "Big Kids", like me, who are interested in intermediate/advanced robotics and buy kits like this to get experience and to later take apart and hack onto other projects. For me, this seemed like a good deal because it includes a BasicStamp 2, which costs more new (~$34)than what I paid for the whole kit. Sadly, its not the same BasicStamp 2. It operates the same electronically, but has a different physical form. This means when you're done with Mr. Sumo, you can't pull his brains out and plug them in to your own breadboard.

Okay, moving along, the engineering uses a smart architecture, where the low level such as PWM for the motors, A/D for the sensors, etc. are handled by their own, dedicated chip, a PIC16C505. Sadly, however, this is an OTP (one-time programmable) chip. This means you can't rewrite any of the low level functions without buying a pin-compatible, surface-mount PIC, reprogramming it, and then surface-mounting it to the PCB. In short, it's a lot of trouble.

The BS2 communicates to this PIC using two I/O lines and sending very basic, 8-bit commands. This is where the robot really limits itself. The control over certain crucial aspects, such as the motor speed, is handled solely by the low-level PIC16C505 and from the BS2 you don't get much access...you can't set the motors to different speeds, for instance, nor redefine what each speed means. (It has speeds 1-4, with 0 being "stopped"). Why would you want to? Because the DC motors weren't matched well when the kit was manufactured, and one overpowers the other, resulting in my robot continually dragging to the right. (Your robot will of course differ.) There's no easy way to fix this, without low-level access to the PWM code.

This is the bad, however. There are a lot of good things about this kit. The software is pretty amazing. The IDE is real easy to use, and it even includes a downloader that is way faster than others I've used (6811 and JStamp downloaders, eg). Plus, it has a "visual" memory map that helps you understand how much of the EEPROM your code is using up...that's a neat feature. Also, the little breadboard, while tiny, has convenient access to 11 I/O lines, as well as +3V from the BS2, +6V from the batteries, and ground.

Communication with the PIC16C505 is easy too, because the author include two convenient serial transmission routines in the program template that you use to build each new program. The sensors and conditioning circuitry and software are designed to eliminate "flutter" that often frustrates me on other projects. There is a bright IR LED, two decent IR sensors, and two CDS light sensors. The motors are small and fast, although geared down to add some much needed torque. With fresh batteries and a little bit of grease on the axles, I would guess this thing can go 60 feet per minute. The machining of the kit is good; everything fits snugly. The bread board has mounting holes for standoffs in case you want to add another deck on top, and the belly has tabs machined for mounting an RC servo. (Although, its a mount I've never seen, and none of my servos fit it.)

Well, this review is so long I ought to bind it and sell it on this site..the long and short: probably good for kids...with the right adult mentor. For adult hobbyists it's arbitrarily limited (as opposed to RoboSapien which is designed to be hacked), but still could be used as a test bed for small circuits. For the price I payed, I'm happy, but I wouldn't have gone much higher. (Then again, I'm a poor college student...)

I have had the original build your own robot kit for a year now and I thought it was pretty good. The concept and price was great, but there were a few rough edges in the original execution. The original wheels [were poor] (and for some reason say "FORD" on them) and it got pretty expensive buying the BS2 to go with it. Using an "acorn nut" as a front "caster" was pretty innovative, unfortunately it didn't work that well on rough surfaces.

The good points about the robot were the remote control and how easily a BS2 could be added to the robot so that I could write my own programs and try them out. Even with the [poor] wheels and "caster" it was probably the best experimenter's robot out there. The information on the CD-ROM was great, although I wish it was available on paper (costs a lot to print out all the information).

Myke seemed to have learned from the first robot and the Sumo Bot is fantastic. It now has a very solid sheet metal chassis (with a front scoop), it runs by 4 "AA" batteries and has a caterpiller bulldozer like track that allows it to run over just about any surface. The robot is really built like a bulldozer, it will last a long time.

Best of all, the optional pieces from the original kit, the BS2 and AppMod are built into the robot. All you have to do is put the CD-ROM into your PC, download the programs and BS2 programming software, conenct the robot to the PC using a serial cable and you can start writing your own programs or adding your own hardware.

This review probably reads like a sales pitch, but I've had my Sumo Bot for a week now and I LOVE IT! It's very robust, easy to use and program and best of all, it's fun.

Brad

this was an awsome robot i got it two weeks ago and im 13this robot has a cool way to be able to be progrmaed i already tried life simulation and many others this is the best robot with the most features its unbelievable i recommened it for beginners and those who love robotics it will be the envey of your block

I strongly recommend this book to everyone who wishes to handmade his/her own Sumo Robot Wrestler and compete against many other Sumo robot builders.
Pete Miles explains in detail how to design a Sumo robot and how to put all components together.
Great book with lots of photos and diagrams.
It's even priced reasonable.
I believe this book would become a bible for every Robot Sumo enthusiasts worldwide!!

This is an excellent book on sumo robots. It takes you all the way from building your first sumo robot to construction of the battle rings.

Lots of pictures and lots of solid technical information. This book is a must have you want to build a sumo robot or want to improve a robot you've already built.

This is a must-have text for every robot builder; generously full of inspiring ideas, pictures, circuits, diagrams, techniques, and strategies.

With one or more pictures or diagrams on almost every page, Pete's "Robot Sumo" guide details and explains in a clear and easy-to-understand way the various technologies, techniques, and tricks involved in building sumo robots (which can also be applied to other types of robots). The abundance of pictures and diagrams expose the mystery of these fighting robots through 16 well-organized chapters, allowing the reader to easily grasp the ideas with enough detail to be able to easily incorporate them into their own robotic projects. This text is appropriate to all ranges, from the beginner to robotics looking for a place to start through the seasoned robot builder looking for advanced techniques. There are details for radio-controlled robots as well as a wealth of information on autonomous robots. The text also has a very comprehensive index to allow you to quickly locate specific material, plus two appendices full of references. I just got my copy of the book today and I have already discovered many useful construction techniques that I plan to incorporate in my own robots.

This is the best single-source of robot-building information on the market today!

I read this book from cover to cover, and I have to say that it's an excellent book (and I'm not just saying that because my robot Marauder has a picture in the book).

This is the book I wish that I had when I got started.

I highly recommend it.

This is the best book on sumo you will find. It has a thorough examination of the sport's history and customs, as well as numerous illustrations of the various moves, and photographs of sumo wrestlers. Anyone with any interest in sumo should read this.

The book has excellent photos. Intense consentrative enhansement to the reader capability. That is important while trying to use the computer at the college to complete work.

This is the best book you could buy on Sumo. It is informative for the beginner, yet it is not simple facts about the sport because it goes into great detail showing the authors extensive knowledge.

Highly recommended.

This is a wonderful book about sumo. I espicially enjoyed it because it had alot about the sumo wrestlers in the 80's which was the time I remember my parents cheering and howling at the TV watching this ancient, wonderful sport. As a teenager I was in love with Chiyonofuji, who in no doubt was an incredible good looking sumo man. (he is on the front cover)
Wonderful pictures and a clear, concise writing on understanding the sport itself. If you have an interest in Sumo or even if you know all about this sport, I def. recommend this book as part of your library.

The Little Yokozuna by Wayne Shorey is a unique and rousing novel written imaginative children and young adults, and which features a group of children who are magically transported from a museum garden into an amazing world where the spirits of Japanese myth and legend have come to life. The children find that they must work together in order to rescue their youngest sister, and then find the courage within themselves to stand up and confront both external and internal demons. The Little Yokozuna is very highly recommended as an imaginative, superbly written, high-spirited, adventure story.

This delightful book is entertaining for kids and the illustrations are excellent. I am biased, because my sister-in-law did the artwork, but I appreciate art enough to know quality when I see it and this is it.

This book is about a smiling contest. The contest is to see
who has the best smile. This contest is to see who is going to
become queen of Boppityboo. The one that gets to be the queen
also will get a speedboat,a racecar,a jetplane,2 tons of toothpaste,and 200 toothbrushes. This book takes place mostly in
a castle.

This book is still good even though it hasn't won any awards. I really enjoy this book so much that I've read it like
3 or 2 times,and still this book doesn't get boring. This book
never gets boring to me because instead of getting boring it
gets more intersting.You start understanding it better. I wish
you would choose this book to read in the future. I also will want the people to make a movie out of it.

From Front Jacket:

"Sumo, Japan's most traditional sport, has survived its rites, rituals, and excitement virtually intact through centuries of popularity interspersed with periods of decline.


'Sumo Showdown: The Hawaiian Challenge' is the first book to graphically chart the rise and rise of the Hawaiians, from the sumo debut of Takamiyama in 1964 to the current day.

Lavishly illustrated with 110 full-color photographs, the book studies the lives and problems of Westerners in a quintessentially Japanese sport, looks at the resistance to Hawaiian dominance now being led by Takahanda, and ultimately questions the likelihood of sumo ever becoming a truly international sport. "


*******

Contents Include:

* Takamiyama: The Pathfinder Arrives

* Azumazeki Oyakata: Training the Forces

* Konishiki: The Giant Threat

* Akebono: Vying for Supremacy

* Musashimaru: The People's Choice

* The Waka-Taka Brothers: The Resistance Regroups

* Internationalism vs. Nationalism

* Sumo Background

* Useful Sumo Words and Phrases

An excellent insight into the world of sumo from a rishiki's view. This man opened and was the inspiration for the dream of sumo in Hawaii's youth. He covers the hardships and joys of sumo, as well as the rich tradition of this anchient sport