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Post by BakFu on Jun 17, 2023 14:46:53 GMT
Just finished Fall Guys: The Barnums of Bounce by Marcus Griffin. This book is an exposé on the wrestling business written in the 1930s, it definitely speaks in the vernacular of the time, so that could either be a point of endearment or a deterrent, but I found it kind of cool. It’s interesting reading about Ed Lewis being at the end of his career, but still active. Lots of interesting information on the pioneers of what has become modern pro wrestling, how in this era, “trusts” were formed that functioned almost as agents that controlled who wrestled and where, and got their cut of the action. They also decided who was champion, and these decisions led to a lot of infighting, double crosses, and other shady, underhanded shit. Very cool to read the early history of the business, and to see names that would figure into the era of early territory wrestling.
Overall, this was an interesting read, a bit of a slog at times, but informative if you cut away the fluff and pageantry of the author’s writing style. One interesting aspect of this book, regardless of the author’s need to expose the business for what it was, is his acknowledgement of how rough the business is on the wrestlers. Blindness from trachoma (Ed Lewis), death in the ring from “athletes heart”, and other things are mentioned” He has a cool quote from a Philadelphia sports writer of the time at the end of the book,
I’d like to point out that you can’t fix, by any means or manner, this cold gray man of the night we know as Death. You can’t lodge the golden dollars of man’s coinage in his bony palm, you can’t buy betrayal from the hollow of his cavernous skull. What most wrestlers fake, if you really want to know, is that they like it all, that they can’t be hurt, that they are supermen. Even the tough Ernie Dusek said to me one night in all seriousness, “Look at me, Lanse, what a life I lead, cut and bruised and beaten if I win or lose or draw.” It’s a tough life, you fans, who make your living selling bonds or cigars or refrigerators or eight hours of mental exercise. Theirs is a life that leaves you with big ears that make people stare and talk below the ordinary tone and point and look quickly away when you catch them looking. It’s a life that leaves you lopsided, with great white stripes of scar tissue across your face and body, with endless boils from endless bouts in endless ill-equipped dressing rooms, with endless worries and endless fights, until they all seem one worry and one match.
Check this out if you’re interested in where the business came from, pretty good stuff here, just need to sift them tough the weeds a bit, and be ready for some high wasted pants wearing, 30s vernacular!
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Post by BakFu on Jun 29, 2023 19:05:07 GMT
I just finished reading Jake Shannon’s book Say Uncle!: Catch-As-Catch-Can and the Roots of Mixed Martial Arts, Pro Wrestling, and Modern Grappling. If you’re at all interested in the roots of pro wrestling, fighting/martial arts (MMA), or the incredibly interesting and almost lost art of catch-as-catch-can/hooking/shooting, you should check this book out.
The book is broken into two parts, the first is transcripts of conversations the author had with notable figures in catch-as-catch-can grappling. These include historical figures like Karl Gotch, Billy Robinson, Fujiwara (very funny, said basically nothing, deflected everything!), and Judo Gene LaBelle. The chapters on Dick Cardinal, Billy Wicks, and Frankie Cain (my favourite of the book! What a life!) were amazing looks into the early carnival AT shows and the hustle that would become modern pro wrestling (double tough guys, must have been an exciting, if not horrifying time!). Modern students and flag bearers of catch-as-catch-can such as Josh Barnett (one of my personal favourite fighters of all time), Erik Paulson (crazy dude, look him up!), and Mark Fleming are also interviewed and the state of the game in current times and how it’s being nurtured, restored, and brought to public attention is discussed.
The first part is story time, lots of cool recollections of famous names in early catch days, amazing stories of behind the scenes, unsanctioned “workouts” between legends, and crazy looks into the past. Each of these interviews offers some amazing advice for martial artists, fight enthusiasts, or people wanting to increase knowledge in general if you’re paying attention. It’s sad how much of this cool style of fighting (that, from the sounds of things, is a perfect progression and complement to the amateur wrestling disciplines) is being lost to time, where it was once ubiquitous amongst the states in the US, it began to give way to worked matches more and more until it was marginalized almost entirely in order to draw crowds and entertain the new TV audience. At least there are a few people working hard to keep it alive and develop it into a viable system in modern times, and there are active clubs that have been in operation in the UK, Europe, and Japan for a long time.
The second part of the book is technique, mindset, and physical preparation . Techniques / drills are outlined, workout plans are detailed, and strategies discussed. The mindset (gameness) part is my favourite. From experience practicing martial arts for the majority of my life, I found this section interesting, especially since it’s laid out so concisely.
while experience is important, deliberate practice, or “effortful study,” is crucial to mastering any subject. Effortful study means to constantly tackle the challenges that lie just beyond your skill set.
There are a pile of pictures illustrating moves and holds, so that’s a nice resource.
I really enjoyed this book, the stories are amazing and really help tie together some of the discontinuous pieces of history I’ve picked up since beginning to dive into the history of pro wrestling and it’s origins. I highly recommend this one! 👍
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Post by BakFu on Sept 15, 2023 1:07:30 GMT
Haven’t finished it yet, but I dug out my copy of the Terry Funk book More Than Just Hardcore after the Funker passed on, opened the book, and was staring at a big ol autograph! I forgot I picked it up autographed, probably from highspots back in the day, because they wanted some outlandish shipping payment from the publisher directly. I think it was $5 more for the autographed copy, so it was cool finding that again. Crazy to think that crazy bastard had his mitts on my book. Can’t wait to dig in! 🙂
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Post by daffu on Mar 10, 2024 22:20:30 GMT
My wife slowly got me into reading again. I recently finished The Martian and am now just starting Dune. She likes the idea of comparing adaptations. Looking into what is different, what is better in one form of media than the other, etc.
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Post by Nth on Mar 10, 2024 22:23:57 GMT
My wife slowly got me into reading again. I recently finished The Martian and am now just starting Dune. She likes the idea of comparing adaptations. Looking into what is different, what is better in one form of media than the other, etc. I know Dune fans are divided on the prequels, but I thought they were excellent and really sets up the stage for Dune giving all the characters their entire backstories. |
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Post by Nth on May 29, 2024 22:27:24 GMT
Entire original run of the G.I. Joe comic set to receive the hardback compendium treatment. Funded through Kickstarter in 6 minutes.
I put in for the double compendium set easily.
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Post by Nth on Jun 21, 2024 23:41:34 GMT
This week's pickups were the 3 volume omnibus set of The Boys, the 2 volume omnibus set of Preacher, the just released volume 1 omnibus of Punisher MAX and Grendel omnibus 5. Have Fist of the North Star volume 13 of 15 in the mail now along with Dune: House Corrino volume 1. So far I've picked up the House Atreides and House Harkonnen trilogies and the House Corrino trilogy will round things off.
Also just discovered the Miyamato Musashi manga Vagabond is now getting the omnibus treatment with volume 1 up for pre-order and set to release January 21st.
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Post by OrochiGeese on Jun 25, 2024 4:25:20 GMT
Also just discovered the Miyamato Musashi manga Vagabond is now getting the omnibus treatment with volume 1 up for pre-order and set to release January 21st. Damn, this sounds awesome!! ⚔️ Where are you pre-ordering it from and how many volumes do you think there will be? |
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Post by Nth on Jun 25, 2024 23:24:48 GMT
Also just discovered the Miyamato Musashi manga Vagabond is now getting the omnibus treatment with volume 1 up for pre-order and set to release January 21st. Damn, this sounds awesome!! ⚔️ Where are you pre-ordering it from and how many volumes do you think there will be? I pre-order right from Amazon, but I suppose you can also pre-order directly from the Dark Horse website as Dark Horse comics are the ones who have been putting out most of these manga omnibuses. Usually most sites that sell anime also sell manga and places like The Right Stuf would also be selling it.
There will likely be quite a few volumes as the manga is still running, although has been on a lengthy hiatus. In paperback it is up to volume 37 and a single omnibus usually collects about 3 or 4 paperback volumes. So theoretically there could end up being between 9 and 12 omnibuses collecting the series. The good thing is that they generally get released pretty spaced out by three or four months per volume so if you pick each one up at release you won't end up breaking the bank buying them all at once. The Berserk omnibuses currently go up to 14 volumes and they were released over the span of four or five years, which is why I buy them piecemeal instead of waiting for the whole series to come out and then buy it.
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Post by OrochiGeese on Jun 26, 2024 4:36:44 GMT
I pre-order right from Amazon, but I suppose you can also pre-order directly from the Dark Horse website as Dark Horse comics are the ones who have been putting out most of these manga omnibuses. Usually most sites that sell anime also sell manga and places like The Right Stuf would also be selling it. Cool, thanks for the recommendations!! There will likely be quite a few volumes as the manga is still running, although has been on a lengthy hiatus. In paperback it is up to volume 37 and a single omnibus usually collects about 3 or 4 paperback volumes. So theoretically there could end up being between 9 and 12 omnibuses collecting the series. The good thing is that they generally get released pretty spaced out by three or four months per volume so if you pick each one up at release you won't end up breaking the bank buying them all at once. The Berserk omnibuses currently go up to 14 volumes and they were released over the span of four or five years, which is why I buy them piecemeal instead of waiting for the whole series to come out and then buy it.
I'll probably give the first omnibus a try since this look really interesting. Truthfully, I don't read manga or comics as much as I'd like to. Video games and TV tend to take precedence for my free time. So I don't want to get ahead of myself and order the whole series. The only full manga series I have is Kenshin and as much of a fan as I am, it still took me a few years to get started on reading it all after I bought it. But this series looks legit really cool so I want to pick up the first omnibus and see where it goes. |
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Books 2.0
Jul 25, 2024 1:19:04 GMT
via mobile
Post by BakFu on Jul 25, 2024 1:19:04 GMT
I tried my first audiobook through the library to see if that format would be something I might like, i first grabbed the recent Andre the giant bio, but the reader sounded like a carnival barker, so I ditched it, then I found another book I was interested in reading, the Rickson Gracie book Breathe.
I understand the importance of the Gracies to martial arts and to the evolution of mixed martial arts to where it is now, but never really looked into any of it. Rickson, Renzo, and a few other Gracies have interested me over the years, especially Rickson because there was always a mythical status applied to him in the limited stuff I could read about him back in the day. I only ever got to see him at the end of his fighting career in his PRIDE fights with Takada.
If your a fan of martial arts history, practice, evolution, philosophy, psychology, training, or stories about exceptional people pushing their bodies, minds, and souls to uncharted limits, there’s something for you in this book. There’s a pretty interesting family history, a background and explanation of the Gracie family mentality and methodology, the rise of the brothers and cousins as martial artists, the birth of the UFC, crazy challenges by japan’s UWFi (that story was nuts, I’d love to see the video of Yoji Anjo in Rickson’s school!), Rickson in Vale Tudo Japan and PRIDE, and life till now. It was way more interesting than I would have thought, and his dives into philosophy, the martial mindset, and his commentary on the state of BJJ today are all really interesting. I guess watching all of the predatory, alpha meathead fighters these days had me jaded, I didn’t think there was any room for philosophy in todays fighting arts, but hearing Rickson’s journey from a childhood of wanting to ge the tip of the Gracie spear, to achieving that goal, then coming full circle to a martial artist that wants to give Gracie Jiu Jitsu back to those it was created for, the small, the weak, and the meek, was a real treat and surprise for me. I loved the majority of this book, and I’m really excited to read his next book, Comfort in Darkness, it will mostly be about martial philosophy, something I craved to hear more of from Rickson when I was barely a quarter of the way into the book.
Breathe is a really cool read regardless of your interest in practicing or watching martial arts, and you don’t even need to be a BJJ practitioner to appreciate it. There’s some great takeaways here to help in life in general, and some really cool history about a very influential family. Give this one a shot! 😁
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Post by BakFu on Aug 4, 2024 21:04:25 GMT
If anyone is interested, the kindle version of the Rickson Gracie book Breathe is 94% off TODAY ONLY (Aug 4), so I picked it up for a whopping $2.49 CAN! You can barely get a cup of coffee for that these days. 😁
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Post by OrochiGeese on Aug 6, 2024 19:28:44 GMT
Rickson: The champagne of Gracies 🥂
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Post by Nth on Aug 8, 2024 14:33:33 GMT
I don’t know how many Vampire Hunter D novels there are. I have the first five omnibus releases and see omnibus 6 and 7 are up for preorder on Amazon. With all that content it’s weird we only got two movies.
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Post by BakFu on Aug 23, 2024 23:20:53 GMT
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