MMA PRIDE BOOK TRANSLATION

New Deal! All 3 ebooks for minimum $1 donation!

2011-09-08T10:41:00.000+09:00

Recently, I received a few more donations and it reminded me that there are still people interested in these books!

Unfortunately, I have run out of free time to continue, so the run is over, with 3 books completed.

Sakuraba's first autobiography "Me"
Sakuraba's third autobiography "Me..." (yes, just 3 dots added)
PRIDE Secret Files: 30 Secret Plans

If you didn't get a chance to donate, or just want to offer thanks for the work I did (the PRIDE book alone took 150 hours), I'm offering all three with a minimum donation of $1. I will be giving them all away at Christmas, so if you can't use PayPal or $1 is too steep, you can wait about four months.

I have a few Japanese MMA books in paperback (two Sakuraba autobiographies and a few other things). If anyone decides to donate over $20, I will also ship one of the books to you, while my limited supplies last.

Next year I might have more free time or might not, but odds are I won't be able to continue.

Thanks for the support from everyone.

If you'd like to donate and get the ebooks, please send via PayPal to mmatranslations@gmail.com or scroll down for the PayPal link!

Last day of the ebook deal

2011-02-01T10:04:00.001+09:00

It's the last 24 hours to get the three ebooks for 5 bucks!

Read previous posts to learn more.

Thanks and please be looking forward to the next MMA book translation coming to you in late Spring! (still deciding which book it'll be)

Saku Out!

2010-12-17T09:08:00.004+09:00

Saku's first autobiography, translated to English, is being sent out to the donators as I write!

If you haven't gotten in on it yet, please click the donate button below or you can PayPal directly to mmatranslations@gmail.com ($5 minimum donation) to get Saku's hilarious and interesting ebook in PDF along with the previous two JP MMA ebooks!

Saku ebook release

2010-12-15T09:05:00.002+09:00

Hey everyone,
Donations have slowed to a trickle, but with two more donations we will be within $70 of the donation goal, so I've decided with the holiday season and all to release the Saku ebook to donators this weekend and hope that spurs things a little bit.

So if you'd like to get in on the deal and get two Japanese MMA books for $5 (plus the free one in the previous post below), then get in quick ;)

Merry X'Mas - Saku Gift

2010-12-08T09:06:00.003+09:00

Seasons greetings everyone!

As Christmas approaches, I thought it was a good time to release my first project out for everyone to read. Saku's most recent autobiography. So if you didn't get it from donating (thanks!) or pirating (eheh...), please head over to MixedMartialArts.com Saku Link to get your copy of the ebook in PDF format!

I'm also offering a discount if you would like the other two ebooks: PRIDE: Secret Files and Saku's first autobiography. Normally I ask a $10 or $15 minimum donation depending on where I am in the progress with the translation. For the holidays seasons through January, if you would like these two other ebooks, all it takes is a $5 minimum donation through paypal.

If you would like to get the other two, please use the donate button below or you can send via paypal directly to mmatranslations@gmail.com and then you will get the PRIDE book immediately and Saku's first autobiography once an additional $50 in donations has been received.

Thanks everyone,
Happy Holidays,
MMA Translations

Saku getting really close!

2010-11-29T09:21:00.003+09:00

Hi everyone,
Another little update.

Donations hit $850 today!

I'm going to start sending the newest Saku ebook out when the donations reach about $930, so it should be within this week I'm guessing.

If you would like to receive all three ebooks for $10, please look at older posts here to donate. It will be raised to $15 once I start sending the ebooks out!

Sakuraba 100% Donations 75%

2010-11-25T09:29:00.001+09:00

Hi everyone, hit the 3/4th mark, $750. Thanks! Just a little bit further...

Saku up again

2010-11-23T08:20:00.001+09:00

Thanks everyone, donations for Saku's first autobiography are at $725. Just a little bit more to go.

Saku even closer

2010-11-20T07:38:00.001+09:00

Hey everyone, donations for the project are nearing $700! Thanks to all the donators.

Saku getting closer

2010-11-17T09:29:00.001+09:00

Hey everyone,
Donations are at $620, thanks!
Like last time, I'll be releasing the ebook to donators once the donations hit the 900s.

Saku Ebook Finished!

2010-11-13T11:56:00.003+09:00

Hey everyone, the ebook is all ready!

237 pages, color and b&w photos, complete.

Check it out below, and if you'd like to donate, please check the earlier posts. Donations are at $550 out of the $1k goal.

Saku update

2010-11-11T10:34:00.002+09:00

Hi everyone,

Donations are at about $520 now, thanks to all the donators!

The ebook will be finished Saturday afternoon 100%.

If you would like to donate, I ask a minimum $10 donation (which will also get you the first two complete ebooks and this latest Saku book once the donation goal of $1k is reached). You can paypal to mmatranslations@gmail.com or click the button below.

A few little teasers from Sakuraba's book

2010-11-11T10:06:00.001+09:00

Some bits from the first half of the book...

...If I had just thrown in the towel early and given up, there would have been nothing but relief afterwards. I would really like Royler Gracie to learn about the manliness of doing this.

On variety shows on TV, you often see a story like, “Housewife overcome by stress went shoplifting,” but I wasn’t taking money like that.

Interviewer: Your childhood was really so filled with poop?

And one day, I was suddenly introduced to this thing called pro-wrestling. In my first year in middle school, I thought about buying some manga, so I stopped by a bookstore on my way home. I was just sort of staring at the manga all lined up in a row, when one of them really caught my eye.

I entered Akita Shougyou High School, and without a moment’s hesitation or a single wrong turn, I headed straight to the wrestling department... I would always be thinking, “how can I cinch the takedown…” “How can I throw him…” always thinking lots of different things, experiments, while sparring... I think this is a lot like an RPG.

Would I go to Nippon Sport Science University with the strong wrestling program, or to Chuo University where a lot of my upper classmates were going... Of course, the friends who said “Let’s go to Chuo” ended up in Nippon Sport instead... Now I can do what I love, wrestling, for another four years!

It’s great when they get tricked! It’s a really great feeling. Like “You got tricked!” I’m laughing “hehehe” in my heart. They’re like, “What the hell—“ It’s the height of fun (laughing).

I ended up developing %&'()-phobia, feeling neurotic every day. My nerves were on fire and my hair started falling out. Shit.

Losing when you spar against the really good guys is a matter of course. It’s not a match. Training is training. So, I never felt real humiliation in training. Of course, if I lost I’d first get pissed. But just getting pissed isn’t enough. It’s important to use the energy of that anger and put it back into training. If you lose in sparring, just get back to training and get stronger. And on the other hand, losing in a real match is wretched, that’s all that can be said about it. In high school, I cried each time I lost. To not get embarrassed in a match, you have to go against really good guys in training, losing your embarrassment there is the best way.

...you didn’t have to go around talking shit about me to other students. ..Talking shit behind my back! I was pissed, and suddenly I found myself calling the supervisor’s house. And I shouted all of my anger into the mouthpiece...

“Well, if you join with us, you’re going to be fed a lot. You’ll have to eat plastic cups, too. Anyway, we are always doing entrance exams. If you come to the dojo, we can do it.” I thought it was strange that I’d have to eat cups, but anyway, I figured I’d get in shape and go take the Fujiwara-gumi entrance test.

So, I’d like to talk a little about things I caused when I had gotten drunk. But within the scope of what’s possible for me to put down on paper. There were some really bad things, so please allow me to cut those out. I’m sorry .

...when I came to, I realized I was sleeping in Daijiro Matsui’s arms.

His opponent wouldn’t expect him to come flying in with "#$&'(#. Maybe he had it all planned out. If so, Severn is awesome! But I don’t think he "#$%&'() in his match. If I get the chance, I want to try using it in my next fight against Royce.

Saku nearing D-Day

2010-11-10T09:08:00.001+09:00

Hey everyone,

Donations have passed $500. Thanks to all the donators.

Proofreading will get finished today. photo-editing and layout tomorrow, final touches friday, and the ebook made into a PDF on saturday ;)

Saku Done!

2010-11-08T09:13:00.004+09:00

Hey everyone, the Sakuraba book translation is 100% finished!

I'll spend the week proofreading, editing, adding footnotes, formatting, adding photos, and have the ebook ready by Saturday at the latest!

This is the last book I will do this year. I have some government exams and a wedding to get done in December.

Donations are at $430, so we will have to wait a bit for release until they near the $1k goal.

By the way, today is the last day you can get in on it with a $5 donation, tomorrow it goes to a $10 minimum donation, so all you guys that want it for 3x less than the book actually sells for, scroll on down a bit for the donate button or paypal to mmatranslations@gmail.com and remember I accept more generous donations and wedding presidents too ;)

Saku near completion

2010-11-02T09:07:00.002+09:00

Hi everyone,
I have 70 pages left of Sakuraba's first autobiography. Tomorrow is a holiday and there's a weekend shortly after that (I do about one-two hours of it on workdays as well), so the translation should be finished by next Monday, November 8! After that it'll be a few days of cleaning it up, making the ebook, etc. So next week is D-Day.

The donations are a bit over $300 now.

To help catch the donations up to where I am in the project, there's a one-week-only special.

Minimum donation until November 8: $5.
Or donate $10 to receive this ebook and the past two finished ebooks.

If you would like to read more about the book and the project, please click below:

MMA PRIDE BOOK TRANSLATION - Saku Project Info

And if you would like to donate and help out the project, please click the button below or you can donate directly to mmatranslations@gmail.com

Arigatou

2010-10-28T21:01:00.003+09:00

Hi everyone,

The donations hit the $300 mark today.

I just wanted to use this space to thank all of the donators once again. This is the third book and all of the support, emails, everything, has been great, and has helped to get me through these books. I'm happy to see so many people like me that love Japanese MMA and especially the stars and peak period when PRIDE brought us something that nothing has ever fully replaced.

We seem to be getting ready for a typhoon here in Tokyo that should hit around Saturday or most likely Sunday, but it's already winter-cold and windy and rainy, which means probably a weekend spent indoors translating!

If you haven't yet, and would like to donate to the translation project, you can receive one or two of the previous books that were finished, or donate to get your ebook copy of Sakuraba's first autobiography which will be finished in just a few weeks by clicking below. Or if the button doesn't work for you, you can donate via paypal to mmatranslations@gmail.com

Saku news!

2010-10-24T07:54:00.003+09:00

Hi everyone,

The donations are approaching $300. Thanks to everyone that has supported this and the earlier projects.

The translation is about 60% done. I'm hoping to finish by November 8, though I think the donations will need some time to catch up again. So it seems it will still be a November release!

Saku News!

2010-10-14T10:20:00.003+09:00

The latest Saku book translation project ("Me." his first autobiography) is progressing at hyper speed! I reached page 97 (out of about 210) a few days ago.

Donations are slowly creeping up to the quarter-way $250 mark.

If you would like to read this and other Japanese MMA books (see older posts for details!), please click below to donate or if the button doesn't work for you, you can donate via paypal to mmatranslations@gmail.com

Saku News again!

2010-10-09T10:29:00.001+09:00

Hey everyone!

Thanks for the generous donations. We've now hit the $200 mark!

It's a 3-day weekend here in Tokyo and I'm hoping to reach the halfway point of the book by next week!

Did you hear Ishii wants to fight Saku on NYE? Hmmm...

Saku News

2010-10-04T09:10:00.001+09:00

I've gotten to page 45! Saku's poop and burglary stories were hilarious.

Donations have stayed at $150 for about a week now, but hopefully they'll pick up as the project progresses ;)

This should be the fastest project yet, I feel good about finishing by mid November.

Saku - Me - News Update

2010-09-28T09:12:00.004+09:00

Hi everyone. Two things of note.

I got about 25 pages done of Saku's 1st autobiography, and donations passed $150!

The book starts from his infancy (literally, with the first chapter being called something like "My poop-smeared start - all my memories from that time period are brown") through his wrestling career, pro-wrestling/NJW/UWF, and to the start of his PRIDE career! Full of photos and it has interview sections like the other book of his. This is a fun one.

Too bad about his loss in DREAM 16. I get the feeling he's only fighting as a favor to Tanikawa to use his name value to keep people watching.

If you haven't donated and would like to, please click below, or read earlier posts here for more info.

Saku Me news

2010-09-24T09:56:00.003+09:00

Hi everyone, a small update.

Donations have passed the first landmark of $100. Thanks to all of you who donated.

I photographed every page of the book so I can look at it at whatever computer I'm at. This weekend I will do my first marathon translation session and give some more details about the book, maybe some snippets.

Now Accepting Donations for Project 3 - Saku's First Book

2010-09-21T09:03:00.004+09:00

The Sakuraba and PRIDE book translations were finished and sent to the donators. You can read more about it below or on the forums of mixedmartialarts.com , sherdog.net , ktt , etc.

Thanks to everyone who voted for which book to do next!

In first place was "Me." by Kazushi Sakuraba.
Tied for second place were Sakuraba's 2nd autobio ("I've returned home") and "Pancrase - 15 years of truth".

So, the next project will be "Me." by Kazushi Sakuraba - his first of three autobiographies - April 2000, 212 pages.

Sorry for any confusion but the first translation was his third autobiography ("Me..." yes, same name, more periods) and his second autobio will be next after this one, and then at the start of 2011 I will move on to the Pancrase book.

I will add more details later but given that this was written in April of 2000, you can imagine which parts of his life it covers (on first glance, it seems to cover some of his wrestling, uwf and pride history, but more details tomorrow).

If you would like to see this great Saku autobiography translated to English, please help by donating! You can find the donation link below.

Project Details:

Book: "Me." by Kazushi Sakuraba. Translation: Full translation (Japanese to English)

Schedule:
From: Translation work commenced on September 19, deadline November 19 or earlier. I am going to try to get this done ASAP, to try to finish his second autobiography as well by the turn of the new year!

Donation details:
As a project of this size takes a considerable amount of time, knowledge, and resources, the standard industry fee averages about $2500-3000 (not including proofreading, editing, layout, etc.). The donation goal is $1000.

Donation amount:

1) Any amount helps but I ask a minimum of $10. This is less than it would cost to buy the Japanese book and probably a few dollars less than a typical ebook, and it really helps me to get through the process for getting these books done and out to everyone!

2) A donation of $15 will get you this ebook when it's done along with the previous two ebooks within 24 hours of your donation.

3) A donation of $75 or more will get you an original of the Japanese book shipped to you along with the translated ebook in PDF format along with all previous ebooks and the next two ebooks to come out after this one.

Donation goal: $1,000. Once donations start to approach this goal and the translation is finished, everyone who donated will receive the ebook.

Please click below to donate or if the button doesn't work for you, you can donate via paypal to mmatranslations@gmail.com

Third poll for next project - DONATORS ONLY

2010-09-12T09:38:00.002+09:00

Thank you all to the donators!

The third project will start next week. And for that, I'm asking those of you who donated to please send me an email with a vote for which book (or which two books) you'd like done next!

At the end of next weekend I will choose the top two books voted for and get to work.

Please email your vote(s) to mmatranslations@gmail.com

Below is a reference of some of the JMMA books out there. For Genki Sudo, however, I am going to visit bookstores myself and read through all of his books and determine the best of his books that includes his wrestling/mma as well as his philosophy (hopefully he has one book that covers both). So if one of Sudo's books is among your votes, please just vote for his name.

Sorry for lack of pictures for these first two - Akiyama had two books written about him. They came out virtually the same day, one listed as an autobio written by him, and another by the same authors of the last pride book project.

Akiyama - Two Demons - Heel or Hero (autobio)
Akiyama - Devil (pride authors)
Kazushi Sakuraba "Me." (different from "Me..." which was already translated) April 2000, 212 pages - His first autobiography covering up to April 2000.

Kazushi Sakuraba "I've Returned Home" August 2002, 218 pages - His second autobiography covering up to August 2002.

Kazushi Sakuraba "Originality" November 2009, 223 pages - Japanese people throughout the nation are moved by this 40-year-old MMA fighter! About the care between him and his students, friendship, the love in his family. Powerful messages from Sakuraba.

"PRIDE - Unforgettable" October 2009, 333 pages - A retrospective on roughly the last 10 years of PRIDE including its move as a spiritual successor to HERO'S, etc.

"PRIDE - The Last Days" April 2010, 289 pages - The latest book on PRIDE. A look into the mysteries of how PRIDE was so great, with the writer saying the keyword for its greatness is "kill."

Genki Sudo - "Catcher in the Octagon" November 2008, 190 pages - Genki's first novel, about a young boy fighting in an MMA event in Miami and his thoughts about the future, including Genki's well-known philosophy and humor.

Genki Sudo - "How to Marry that Person of the Valley of Wind" July 2006, 184 pages - Best-seller in Japan, this is pretty much the pinnacle of Genki's philosophy/thoughts using the manga "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind" (also an extremely highly rated anime film from Studio Ghibli/Hayao Miyazaki) as the theme.

Genki Sudo - "Theory of Happiness" October 2005, 215 pages - Book on Genki's pilgrimage along a path of 88 shrines written with the theme of happiness with many photos of him and the Shikoku area.

Genki Sudo - "Let's Cat" January 2010, 144 pages - Photo essay of him and his two cats' time in Hokkaido

Genki Sudo - "The Unconscious Always Talks to You" April 2008, 150 pages - A book of random thoughts and philosophy from Genki

Genki Sudo - "Love and Revolution Renaissance" May 2009, 194 pages - Book of Genki's travels with an unemployed friend.

Genki Sudo - "God is a Tablecloth" April 2007, 222 pages - Essay on hard times and happiness.

Genki Sudo - "Revolution" September 2007, 198 pages - A story of laughs and tears as Genki treks through South America along the paths Che Guevera used.

Kazuyuki Fujita - "Fighter" October 2002, 207 pages - Fujita's autobiography

"Pancrase - 15 Years of Truth" March 2009, 257 pages - Retrospective on Pancrase written by a respected journalist

Hidehiko Yoshida - "Occupation: Judo Player" December 2004, 199 pages - Yoshida's autobiography.

PRIDE: Secret Files and Sakuraba "Me..."

2010-09-07T10:33:00.002+09:00

Both "PRIDE: Secret Files" and Sakuraba's "Me..." are going out to donators. The minimum donation is $10 which gets you both ebooks.

If you haven't donated yet and would like to, please click the button below:

PRIDE Secret Files is OUT TO DONATORS!

2010-09-04T16:15:00.003+09:00

Ladies and gentlemen, check your mailboxes ;)

Thank you once again to all the donators (and to the person that got me a blue name at http://www.mixedmartialarts.com

And if you haven't donated yet and would like a copy of the ebook, please click below (minimum donation: $10)

You can read feedback from the people that have read or are reading the book at this thread:

http://www.mixedmartialarts.com/mma.cfm?go=forum_framed.posts_updsub&forum=1&thread=1650258&page=1&pc=234

Please keep the donations coming in for this and the books coming after this!

PRIDE: Secret Files news

2010-09-03T09:26:00.002+09:00

Hey everyone,

The donations flew up to $940! Thanks to everyone that donated!

I will be putting the file on a host and releasing it to everyone from tomorrow!

Please keep the kind words and donations (at least til $1,000 please) coming in! I thank you all for your generosity.

Get in quick

2010-08-31T21:05:00.002+09:00

It's the last 15 hours before the PRIDE: Secret Files minimum donation goes from $5 to $10, so if you're on a budget, please hit the button below to donate for the book, which is on the verge of being released

PRIDE Secret Files Donations

2010-08-30T20:09:00.002+09:00

Donations are at $835. Thanks again to everyone.

I will be sending the book out once the donations hit around $900.

Sorry to the donators but I do have to avoid the filesharing at least until it seems the donational goal will be met - if you remember, the donation goal was going to be $1500 but I promised to do all of the subsequent books at the $1,000 level because of how great the donations were from the Sakuraba translation.

I will be starting a Genki Sudo book next, and hoping I can do it fast enough that I can also fit in another of Sakuraba's books for this year.

Please bear with me in waiting for the donation goal to be reached. This book was hell! It really ended up being twice the size and twice the time (closing in on 150 hours) of the Sakuraba translation.

And to say once again, from September 1, the minimum donation will be raised from $5 to $10.

PRIDE: Secret Files Ebook Finished!

2010-08-27T10:17:00.003+09:00

I put the finishing touches on the ebook this morning at work, it's all ready, just have to put it on a hosting site and pray for generosity ;)

Please check the previous post for teasers from the book at http://mma-pride-book.blogspot.com/2010/08/pride-secret-files-teaser.html

The donations are at $816 out of the $1000 goal. When the donations reach the low-mid 900's I will start sending the ebook out to the donators on a first-donated-first-served basis until the goal is reached at which point everyone will get their copy.

August 31 is the deadline for a $5 donation. Starting September 1, US time, the minimum donation will be $10.

Thanks to everyone, and damn I'm tired. This was a long book.

If you would like to donate, please click below:

PRIDE: Secret Files .... teaser!

2010-08-24T11:43:00.001+09:00

Some teasers, keep in mind this is before rechecking/editing/proofreading and I've hidden some info ;)

Minowaman: If you look at it as a job, it's like selling seedy stuff. I mean, you hit someone and you get money for it, normally thinking about it, that's strange, right.

Mach: Saying strange, we also have to go out in front of a bunch of people in basically panties.

Minowaman: Hahahahah. Well, that's the place for it so we can somehow let it slide.

Interviewer: Especially Minowa, you wear those short tights. In Brazil, you'd probably be mistaken as a gay.

Minowaman: Y-yea (looking awkward). They say, "aren't you going to put something on over that?"

Mach: Yeah, really (laughing).

Not just in the PRIDE core itself, but also the Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye and Dynamite!, they worked together with K-1 to put on super-events. Rolling up New Japan Pro-wrestling and K-1, dream cards and giant projects progressed, flourishing on the one hand, but omens of the time of mayhem shortly to come could be felt with the 2003 New Year's Eve war between the organizations.......

......they couldn't find an appropriate opponent for Crocop. Sakakibara said to Takada trying to persuade him, "This would be the time for you to fight Crocop." "He beat Fujita and now no pro-wrestler is stepping up against him, don't you think that's strange?" Crocop was starting to be called "Pro-wrestler hunter" and Takada's catchphrase was "I am pro-wrestler," Takada standing in the way of Crocop, it was a situation they could fully make a story out of......

Interviewer: You hear often that Japan's entertainment industry [of which MMA is a part] isn't as well maintained as it is in other countries. What do you think about that?

Aoki: But, Japan has its issues and America should have its own difficulties. So, enough, really. When I'm asked about putting the emphasis on entertainment or sport, it makes me "#$%')("#$ (laughing). If you just focus on sport, it gets boring, you lose TV, the sponsors go, and then if the fighters can't eat, then what'll happen?

Interviewer: Entering the PRIDE Bushido ring meant some culture shock, didn't it?

Aoki: It was a pro event in any way you want to think about it. Even the staff, they do as much as they can to make sure that the fighters can concentrate in the ring. Like, they gave us food money, we didn't need to prepare our own ice or water for a bout, and the arena is huge, and also, you come into your locker room and there's food and drink left there for you, there was not a single point of trouble. Seeing how perfectly everything was done there, the first time I was in shock. Like "what am I, a feudal lord?" (laughing)

Interviewer: You made your feudal lord debut at Bushido? (laughing)
Aoki: But for that you were also required to do a lot. There was winning of course, and keeping the excitement going for the fans, making professional speeches, asking for me to perform. In that way, they helped me to gain independence as a pro athlete. It made a huge impact.

Aoki: You know, even if it wasn't MMA, I wanted to do something in the fight world. And then, while I was in police college, an offer came from the UFC.

Interviewer: To the police college (laughing).
Aoki: It went through a foreign associate of mine. The appearance fee they offered was about XX dollars. They said my opponent would be "#$&'("#$.

Interviewer: A "#$%)('#$% fight for XX dollars?

The Ultimate Fighter - In recent years, people from all corners have been asking, "If Japan did a PRIDE reality show, wouldn't it have made it popular here, too?" but in reality they had such a show from many years back!

Fighters from the show can be seen in various places. For example, the winner the second time "#$%'()#$%' has fought in Sengoku, the winner the 4th time, "#$%'#()$% went on to the UFC vying for the title. As well, the fifth winner #$%'()#$% went onto become a Pancrase champ. As further examples, the semi-final winner of the 2nd tournament "#$%)'(#$% went on to work with HERO'S and CAGE FORCE. #$%()'#$% who also eventually fought in the PRIDE ring was in it during the second run along with "#$%)("#$'%. It turned out a number of talented people all over in the world of MMA......

Who fought in PRIDE's boxing event? MS, DB, DF, P, GO, EFB, T, etc.!

Chonan: Well, Dana came along, and I thought, "finally, I'll fight inside the fencing," and I was a little happy.

Interviewer: You're so positive (laughing). There is talk about behind the scenes with that press conference (March 26, 2007), Dana said in front of a bunch of fighters, "Do you want to fight in the UFC?" and with all the other fighters refraining from saying anything, only you raised your hand (laughing).

In return for Liddell's participation in the middleweight GP, there was a natural plan for PRIDE to send a fighter to the UFC. In September of 2003, for a meeting at the Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas UFC 44 event, DSE "#)$%('#$% and #$)%('#$%) along with "#$%)(#'$% flew to the US.
As well, a bit later came a plan for "#$()"'#$) to appear in the UFC......

Preceding that, Dana White announced that he would be going to Japan at the August UFC 49 event. In the main event, Randy Couture, UFC light-heavyweight champion, won and called out "#$%')("#% from the spectator's seats to come to the octagon – a proposition for a double title match.

Of course this all had all been planned out. #"$%()'#$%#, who was under contract with PRIDE, would just go without notice (and, as well, holding the PRIDE belt) into the octagon? PRIDE's cooperation in the UFC returning to Japan was evident. But, PRIDE was in its golden days then. PRIDE was not holding the UFC, before its big break, in high regard...... Getting the help of a Japanese promoter was wise...... the venue was Yokohama Arena.

Kawajiri: Yeah, if I wasn't getting the results I wanted by 25, I was thinking of becoming a police officer. And then, I'd be wearing the police hat with Aoki (Shinya) [kun] (laughing). After all, maybe being a public servant is better. A policeman or a firefighter. Hmmm. At the time when I hadn’t yet thought of going to PRIDE, I was just thinking to give it a go to a certain degree then become a cop. You can easily become a cop at 28, right? So, I thought it’d be good to do it til that age and then look for a job. When was it I went into PRIDE Bushido…

Interviewer: October 2003.

Kawajiri: Oh?... I was just 25 then.

Interviewer: So if Bushido had been even just a little late in hoisting their flag……

Kawajiri: I probably wouldn’t be in MMA.

Interviewer: Another safe but close-call (laughing)!

Mirko left K-1 that was trying to damage him and decided to make PRIDE his main battleground. And without even talking with K-1 about it, he decided to agree to participate in the PRIDE match against Herring, and without the K-1 people even knowing, the fact that the match was decided was told directly to the Fuji TV staff......

PHOTO – PRIDE Bushido, started in October 2003. In expectation, Inoki and "Bushido fighters" entered the ring at the Saitama PRIDE GP 2003 opening round event in August of the same year. But it received the sudden blow of a "no" from Sakakibara.

New Year's Eve 2003, just before the opening of Otoko-matsuri. Ryan Gracie asked something like this to Kawasaki:
"Kawasaki, what's up? Did those fuckers (Chute Boxe) say something about me?

"It's really no good putting Krazy Horse and Chute Boxe in the same locker room." Unconscious, spread-eagle on the floor, Bennett finally comes around. Well, his eyes were blank and he seemed unable to get a grasp. And when he stood up, for some reason he went after Wanderlei Silva punching......

.....Saeki: From me being tight with Takaiwa. #W$%)('"# went for a piledriver in his fight against #$)%('#$%, and said things like, "Next, I'll do a death valley bomb," and if you think of the death valley bomb, you think of Takaiwa, right?

Interviewer: A fight based on the gimmick of a death valley bomb? (laughing)

To RTT, it was like Fedor had just forgotten about his debt of gratitude. The RTT team members' anger was horrific. Han said, "Obliterate Fedor," making a declaration against him.

"Russians take care of Russians."

The front-runner candidate to take care of it was #$%#$&'". But he wasn't the only assassin enlisted to "take care" of Fedor......

PRIDE Secret Files Update

2010-08-19T08:07:00.002+09:00

As previously written, the "PRIDE: Secret Files" translation is done!

The schedule is now to finish the creation of the full ebook, ready to send out to donators, on Tuesday the 24th. I made a schedule for each task, so it should be golden.

The donations are at $725 out of the $1,000 goal. I will have to hold the book ransom, unfortunately, until I guess around the $900's, as I expect like when I sent out the Sakuraba book that more people will donate after the book is actually ready to be sent out.

Please be advised that the minimum donation amount will be $10 after the 24th.

With the length of this book, I'm just happy to be on schedule! It was three months ago I said I'd finish this 300 page book in August and everything looks clear.

If you would like to donate, please click below:

"PRIDE Secret Files" Translation Finished!!!

2010-08-16T07:34:00.003+09:00

Good news, everyone. I finished the last 40 pages and the photo captions over last week and the weekend. So, the entire book translation is finished!

Donations are at $698. Thank you to all the donators.

My vacation starts today, so I'll relaxedly go through the rest of the steps of rechecking the translation, proofreading, editing, layout, PDF formatting and all that over the next week or two while waiting for the $1000 donation goal to hopefully be reached.

PRIDE: Secret Files update

2010-08-05T09:10:00.003+09:00

Hey everyone. Three bits of news!

1) Donations are approaching $650! Thank you very much once again to all the donators.

2) I had to change my summer vacation from September to mid-August so that's going to get in the way, but we are still on schedule for an August release (even if it's the last day of August, sorry!)

3) I'm really into the last stretch of the translation (40 pages or so plus photo captions left) then it's on once again to rechecking the translation, proofreading, editing, layout, PDF formatting and sending out to everyone.

PRIDE: Secret Files new date

2010-07-26T10:44:00.003+09:00

After a good weekend translating, it seems "PRIDE: Secret Files" will be done August 16!

Please click below if you would like to donate:

PRIDE: Secret Files Update

2010-07-20T09:12:00.002+09:00

Hey everyone, three news updates:

1) The donations are at $500! Thank you very much to all the donators!

2) The english ebook is now around 270 pages long!

3) I'm looking at a deadline of August 22 for getting the ebook done and ready to send out!

For everyone to read

2010-07-06T09:17:00.006+09:00

Hey everyone,

Thank you very much to the donators!

I've been getting a lot of questions on this project, so I'm going to run down the basics in this one post so that everyone will be able to easily know what's going on.

But first, the news, in no particular order:

1 - Donations have passed $420!

2 - I will be halfway done with the "PRIDE: Secret Files" translation by this Friday, then I'll put in a marathon on the weekend to try to hit around page 170 out of 289.

3 - Probably my favorite Asian MMA news site- Nightmare of Battle has put a link to the project up! Check it out at top-right, and bookmark this awesome site!

4 - androushka from the UG added the project to his Swedish MMA news blog!

5 - I am sending out the last of the paper Sakuraba books to the $90 donators this week! Very sorry for the delay, though I have to kinda blame paypal ;)

Now, the quick and dirty explanation of this whole project:

1 - I am translating Japanese MMA books to English well-formatted, photos-included PDF ebooks. I have finished one - Kazushi Sakuraba's "Me..." and am near halfway finished with the second one which has an August deadline. I continue to do at least 10 books, basically all of the Japanese MMA books that would be of interest to Western readers. You can read more about it all and the positive feedback I have received at either of these forum threads:

mixedmartialarts.com PRIDE thread

sherdog.net Saku and PRIDE thread

2 - The donation goal for each book (disregarding the length of the book - the book I'm doing now is twice the length of the previous book) is $1,000 (with around $3,000 being the average industry standard). When that goal is reached, the ebook is sent to all the donators. I then wait 6 months before releasing the ebook out in the wild to non-donators.

3 - I ask a $10 minimum donation for the most recent book as that gives me the drive to keep translating it. Though if you can spare it, a more generous donation is highly appreciated :D

4 - If you make a donation of $90 or more, you will receive in the mail a paper copy of the original Japanese book I am working on at present, and you will also receive all ebooks I do from now until I reach my last (tenth?) book.

The book I am working on now is "PRIDE - Secret Files!" - December 2008, 298 pages - A total of thirty plans that PRIDE had in place, was conducting, or had been put on the drawing board throughout the life of PRIDE. Also includes six long interviews with Aoki, Misaki, Sakurai and Minowa, Kawajiri, Chonan, and Sasaki of DEEP.

If you would like to see this great PRIDE book and others translated to English, please help by donating! You can find the donation link below.

News Updates!

2010-06-19T12:09:00.003+09:00

Hey everyone,

The donations are reaching close to $400 now.

Translation progressing smoothly, on target for August, I should hit page 100 by next weekend.

To those who donated $90 for the saku book, I haven't forgotten you! I have had to find 7 copies of the book at various bookshops (mine is too dog-eared to send). I will be shipping them all within two weeks.

The PRIDE Secret Files book is about twice the length of the saku book, so it's a lot more work.

After PRIDE Secret Files, I'm going to start two smaller books at the same time - the two highest books in the poll after Secret Files - One Saku book and one Genki Sudo book.

If I can do Secret Files in 3 months, I can do two shorter books in 3 months, so I will start to take donations for both of those books in August with a December deadline.

Why the rush? I'm getting married in December!

PRIDE Secret Files donations

2010-06-10T10:15:00.000+09:00

PRIDE Secret Files donations have passed the $300 mark.

Thank you to all the donators!

PRIDE Secret Files Donations

2010-06-09T07:53:00.002+09:00

PRIDE Secret Files donations have passed the $200 mark.

If you would like to contact me, please use nethackrtk@gmail.com

More news below, including the full table of contents.

PRIDE - Secret Files Table of Contents!

2010-06-08T14:14:00.001+09:00

I've finished the table of contents for "PRIDE - Secret Files" so you read a bit more about what's inside the book.

Pride - Secret Files

If you would like to donate, please click the button below:

Sakuraba "Me" and PRIDE Secret Files joint donation

2010-06-06T08:11:00.002+09:00

A number of people have been mailing me to ask for a discount because they missed out on the Sakuraba book while I was translating it. After the translation was finished, I asked for a minimum $15 donation for the Sakuraba book.

I thought of a new way to do it.

For a $10 minimum donation, you can get a copy of both books (the minimum $5 donation per book).

Please click below to donate:

PRIDE Secret Files Update

2010-06-04T20:07:00.002+09:00

Donations for PRIDE Secret Files have hit $150!

This weekend I'm starting a translation marathon. The full table of contents containing hints of what secrets it contains will be up around Monday or Tuesday.

Donations for "PRIDE - Secret Files"

2010-06-03T09:55:00.003+09:00

Donations for "PRIDE - Secret Files" have reached $130!

Thanks to everyone that has donated.

I will put in the first marathon translation session this weekend.

Full table of contents up for your perusal soon.

Please scroll down if you would like to donate.

Accepting Donations for Project 2

2010-06-01T10:53:00.003+09:00

The Sakuraba book translation was finished and sent to the donators. You can read more about it below or here:

http://www.mixedmartialarts.com/mma.cfm?go=forum_framed.posts_updsub&forum=1&thread=1610668&page=1&pc=296

The next book is "PRIDE - Secret Files!" - December 2008, 298 pages - A total of thirty plans that PRIDE had in place, was conducting, or had been put on the drawing board throughout the life of PRIDE. Also includes six long interviews with Aoki, Misaki, Sakurai and Minowa, Kawajiri, Chonan, and Sasaki of DEEP.

If you would like to see this great PRIDE book translated to English, please help by donating! You can find the donation link below.

Project Details:

Book: "PRIDE - Secret Files: 30 Sealed Plans"

Translation:
Full translation (Japanese to English)

Schedule:
From: Translation work commenced on June 1, deadline in August, possibly late July. I am going to try to get this done ASAP, as people are also asking for the Genki Sudo books and other Sakuraba books!

Donation details:
As a project of this size takes a considerable amount of time, knowledge, and resources, the standard industry fee averages about $2500-3000 (not including proofreading, editing, layout, etc.). The donation goal is $1000.

Donation amount: Any amount helps but I ask a minimum of $5. A donation of $90 or more will get you an original of the Japanese book shipped to you along with the translated ebook in PDF or other ebook formats. Note that the book costs around $18, so if 56 people donate the cost of the book, they each get an English version of it, the same amount you would've paid for the Japanese one!

Donation goal: $1,000. Once this goal is reached and the translation is finished, everyone who donated will receive the ebook.

Please click below to donate:

Poll closed!

2010-06-01T10:51:00.001+09:00

The poll for the next book translation is closed!

The winning book with 36% of the votes is "PRIDE - Secret Files: 30 Sealed Plans."

Poll ending tomorrow!

2010-05-31T09:02:00.001+09:00

The poll for the next book translation project is ending tomorrow.

Please scroll down to the next post to vote!

Poll for next translation

2010-05-26T12:26:00.003+09:00

Please choose one book you wish to donate to have translated. One vote per IP. The poll will last one week, you can vote at the bottom past the book descriptions:

Kazushi Sakuraba "Me." (different from "Me..." which was already translated) April 2000, 212 pages - His first autobiography covering up to April 2000.

Kazushi Sakuraba "I've Returned Home" August 2002, 218 pages - His second autobiography covering up to August 2002.

"PRIDE - Secret Files" December 2008, 298 pages - A total of thirty plans that PRIDE had in place, was conducting, or had been put on the drawing board throughout the life of PRIDE. Also includes six long interviews with Aoki, Misaki, Sakurai and Minowa, Kawajiri, Chonan, and Sasaki of DEEP.