A lean, direct introductory text for readers interested in judo culture and practice.
Tello (Social Safeguards, 2015, etc.) describes the basic concepts and techniques of judo in this introductory work of nonfiction.
Like many martial arts, judo is a practice steeped in tradition and built upon notions of physical and mental control. Popularized by Jigoro Kano and his Japan-based Kodokan Institute in the late 19th century, it was created as an alternative to the older practice of jujitsu: “Japanese society demanded a new approach to martial arts, no longer focused on the efficient killing of enemies, but rather on the defeat of opponents for sport, self-defense, moral discipline, and personal improvement,” Tello writes. The sport is now popular around the world and has been an event in every Summer Olympics since 1972. With this book, the author offers curious readers a look into the culture of the sport, including its etiquette, its uniform, basic techniques and training strategies, and the seven steps of judo referenced in the title. As new judokas reach milestones in their training, they advance through kyu ranks, which are marked by the receipt of various colored belts. (The belt system, developed by Kano, has since spread to a number of other martial arts, as well.) Tello explains the intricacies of each rank and ends with an extensive glossary of judo terms. The author writes in clear, concise prose, taking care to explain the nuances of various terms and moves as well as the philosophy that informs them. At just a little more than 100 pages, the book isn’t meant to be a comprehensive exploration of judo, but it succeeds in giving potential judokas all the information they need to decide if they’re interested in pursuing the sport. Tello is an admitted advocate for the popularization of judo, and, as a result, there’s a bit of a promotional quality to the book. That said, his concern for the safety of practitioners is apparent, as is his insistence that people take up the sport only for noble reasons (namely, self-improvement). This book best functions as a primer for the sport by embodying those qualities that judokas value: precision and erudition in the promotion of self-discipline and hard work.
A lean, direct introductory text for readers interested in judo culture and practice.Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-63387-001-7
Page Count: 126
Publisher: Amakella Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.
The legendary booze-addled metal rocker turned reality-TV star comes clean in his tell-all autobiography.
Although brought up in the bleak British factory town of Aston, John “Ozzy” Osbourne’s tragicomic rags-to-riches tale is somehow quintessentially American. It’s an epic dream/nightmare that takes him from Winson Green prison in 1966 to a presidential dinner with George W. Bush in 2004. Tracing his adult life from petty thief and slaughterhouse worker to rock star, Osbourne’s first-person slang-and-expletive-driven style comes off like he’s casually relating his story while knocking back pints at the pub. “What you read here,” he writes, “is what dribbled out of the jelly I call my brain when I asked it for my life story.” During the late 1960s his transformation from inept shoplifter to notorious Black Sabbath frontman was unlikely enough. In fact, the band got its first paying gigs by waiting outside concert venues hoping the regularly scheduled act wouldn’t show. After a few years, Osbourne and his bandmates were touring America and becoming millionaires from their riff-heavy doom music. As expected, with success came personal excess and inevitable alienation from the other members of the group. But as a solo performer, Osbourne’s predilection for guns, drink, drugs, near-death experiences, cruelty to animals and relieving himself in public soon became the stuff of legend. His most infamous exploits—biting the head off a bat and accidentally urinating on the Alamo—are addressed, but they seem tame compared to other dark moments of his checkered past: nearly killing his wife Sharon during an alcohol-induced blackout, waking up after a bender in the middle of a busy highway, burning down his backyard, etc. Osbourne is confessional to a fault, jeopardizing his demonic-rocker reputation with glib remarks about his love for Paul McCartney and Robin Williams. The most distinguishing feature of the book is the staggering chapter-by-chapter accumulation of drunken mishaps, bodily dysfunctions and drug-induced mayhem over a 40-plus-year career—a résumé of anti-social atrocities comparable to any of rock ’n’ roll’s most reckless outlaws.
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.Pub Date: Jan. 25, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-446-56989-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2009
IN THE NEWS
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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