About The Pyjama Game

What this book offers:

An account of the development of judo as an Olympic sport
A graphic explanation of what it feels like to do judo
A novel explanation of the nature of fighting
An account of the careers of some of the sport's greatest champions

The Pyjama Games is about a series of battles. It recounts some of the great combats between champions. It traces Japan's struggle to retain its superiority and the attempt by every other nation to end it. It tells of judo's battle with rival forms of unarmed combat, the battle for recruits between judo and other sports. A battle between classical judo and those alien and mutant versions which threw down their challenge. It also traces the struggle between ideas, a struggle between judo's purists and judo's sportsmen, between the idea of hobby judo and serious judo, between judo as a way of life and judo as a way of earning a living.

The book will appeal to:

Any judoka
Anyone who has an intelligent interest in sport in general
Parents who want to know more about the sport for their children
Teachers and educationalists who need to understand the nature of combat sports, and the physical and mental training benfits derived from them
Those in the media who have to gain some real understanding of the sport quickly from a single source