[FIGHT] Back in Suidobashi

For several days, we had been trying to get someone on the phone from Academia AZ. We failed every time. So at noon on Saturday, I threw some shorts and an extra T-shirt into a backpack and biked down to Suidobashi. Even though I got a little lost around the border between the Iidabashi and Misaki addresses, I made it there in plenty of time for the beginner jiu-jitsu class scheduled at 1:30 PM. I found the front door to the decrepit Koken building wide open behind a sign that said, "Come up and watch."

As soon as I went up one flight of stairs, everything was pitch dark. Not good. I went up one more flight to the jiu-jitsu floor. There was a little bit of natural light here but no electricity. The door was halfway ajar and exposed the blue mats, with rubbish liberally strewn about the corners. All windows were closed, preserving a palpable smell of sweat and things slightly more foul. Again, not good.

So much for that. I took a walk. It was the day of the K-1 Grand Prix at the Tokyo Dome next door, and there was a certain buzz around the neighborhood. I hopped in and out of the pro wrestling and fight gear merchants before ending up at the old Fitness Shop Kakutogi, where I purchased a pair of Harbinger gloves and my arch-nemesis, the jump rope. Before heading back home, I ate at the well-heeled Men Hitosuji for the first time. I may post a review of the standard Tamashi Ramen sometime, under separate cover.

Last on today's agenda is a great post made by one amlee to http://www.adcombat.com/ADCC_Forum/index.html. I had a hard time reaching this gentleman, especially since I am not an active internet forum troll. The Diseased Monkey Island Theory. Nonetheless, I made a good faith effort to reach him to secure his permission. Moreover, I am assuming that someone this lucid and reasonable also happens to be a nice guy. Many thanks to amlee in advance.

Topic: Saku/Silva 4 is being blown out of proportion. My take on the fight.

Most people on this forum, Sherdog, and the MMA Underground are saying that Silva is going to end Sakuraba for good, the fight is unethical, it should never happen, etc...

I beg to differ.

Now, first of all, let me say that I don't really believe that this fight should be taking place.a. Sakuraba should focus (for the first time in 4 years) on someone in his damn weight class. Instead of fighting Igor, Rampage, CroCop, Silva, Randleman, etc, he should fight B.J. Penn, Henderson, Bustamante, Rodrigo Gracie, or someone like thisb. Silva needs to continue to prove that he is the #1 LHW in the world. Fighting Sakuraba for a fourth time isn't going to prove much.

That being said, I train with someone who works for Pride in the U.S. and this is what he has told me (he is an insider). Contrary to popular belief, Sakuraba is not the only one asking for the fight. Silva wants it too. They both want to fight each other again. In addition to this, Pride (being the ultimate protector's [sic] of Silva's somewhat padded record) did not want to put him up against someone like Henderson, Arona, Couture, etc. two months after he fought a very tough match in the form of Rampage "I've found God" Jackson. So DSE sees this as an easier fight for Silva.

What is to say of all of this information? Well, for starters, call Saku what you want, nuts, obsessed, batty, or whatever, but one thing is for sure, this guy has balls. He literally asked for this fight. I mean he wants to fight Silva.

I am also very sick of people completely trashing Sakuraba just because he is no longer the fighter than he was five years ago. Well, simply put, he is a fighter, and more than any other MMA fighter in the world, he challenged himself. He has told this to dozens of Japanese reporters. He wanted to challenge himself. People ask him why he has lost so much of late and he says that he wants to challenge himself. This whole notion of DSE trying to kill him is basically false. Yes, they are setting up the fights, but he is willing doing them. He is a Japanese fighter and as such, he doesn't have a "Tito Ortiz" mentality whereby a fighter picks, chooses, and ducks fights as he sees fit. Sakuraba more than any other fighter has gone up against the top dogs and never stopped doing that. Believe me, unlike some fighters we know, he's not going to take huge paychecks to fight old washed Japanese pro-wrestlers.

People say over and over, "If Saku would have stayed in his weight class, he never would have been beaten." Perhaps this would have been true, but he wanted to do something else,...Silva is trying to do the same thing now. If Silva goes after Nog, Fedor, or CroCop again and loses, will he be considered a lesser fighter?...I doubt it.

Finally, people are overexagerrating how "terrible" Sakuraba is. Some people are talking as if he is a completely inept MMA fighter. That's ridiculous. In the past year, he submitted Randleman, beat Schembri, and went toe-to-toe with Lil Nog, and lost by decision. Yes, he is not the same fighter, but yes, he is going to continue to keep fighting.

People keep saying "look at his other fights with Silva...he got killed!" Um, did you see Silva's two fights with Rampage? Rampage got more beat up in his two fights than Sakuraba did in his three. Sakuraba lost in big ways all three times, but his defeats did not look like Rampage's. Silva destroys people. That's what he does. But Sakuraba is not a B-class fighter. He has a shot, just like any other top fighter.

Perhaps this will be the defining fight for Sakuraba, but way too many people have forgotten that 1. Sakuraba made Pride what it is today; 2. He is a true pioneer of the sport in term of his ring presence and grappling innovations; 3. He was the first person to completely debunk the myth of the Gracies by tooling four of their best fighters in succession; 4. He is one of the most humble and classy fighters that the sport will ever see. The same cannot be said of the Titos, Baronis and Gilbert Yvels of the game; and 5. Finally, there will never be another Sakuraba. He is classic and that can never be taken away from him. He is a fighter that actually had a real fighting career and has done it with humor, pride, and excitement the whole way through. His role in the sport makes other so-called pioneers' contributions' [sic] (those of Rickson, Frank Shamrock, etc.) look pretty minor. He is the Japanese Royce Gracie, the one who influenced so many people to get involved in the game as a fan or as an athlete. When 39 retires (even if it is after his 4th fight with Silva), the MMA world will never be the same. Period.

[posted 12-01-2004 12:30 by amlee]

[RAMEN] えるびす 西口店 Erubisu (from May 16, 2002)

Ramen This Week: えるびす 西口店 Erubisu

えるびす 西口店 Erubisu

So I'm not feeling too inspired lately. Too bad. My faculties have been dulled by the vagaries of transfer accounting systems and mysterious one-off HCM recruiting function charges for les demitasses styrofoammes at Taillevent Robuchon. Also, I've been investing far too much creativity in things like producing a J-Rap version of that already annoying Fish Song.

It had come time to trek to the so-called Ramen Capital. To secure safe passage without incident, I gave up all traces of my Kanto 893 (not 吐くぞ) heritage. Off came my customary gold-plated stainless steel wire-rim tinted fade sunglasses, the punchy perm, and the plaid-patterned pocketless golf trousers. I even took time to shave the wispy hairs at either corner of my grin . . . WHILE SMOKING! Ikebukuro. Nishi 3-30-2. Plus on Monday I had a little bit of a limp on the left side.

(Needless to say, I also removed all Goldman Sachs business cards and paraphernalia from my person, since I really didn't want to be caught doing anything that would reflect poorly on the firm, other than my usual work.)

The shoyu ramen is at heart a clear-colored soup, with precious philtrum-sized globules of gentle fat on the surface, one Cupid's Bow for every spoonful of broth. The overall blend -- I think pork rib, tonkotsu, and torigara -- whelms the senses nicely, with varying gruffness and season. Homemade noodles just this side of ultra-thin were fragrant and faintly roasty. In addition, the must-order egg extra was perfectly luscious. I found myself puzzled by how they infused the hard-boiled white with so much taste while the yolk was left so positively creamy, not at all sticky or adhesive on the lips. On the other hand, the meat-to-fat ratio in the charsiu is less than optimal. There was the vaguest murmuring of chaos between the charsiu and the other elements, but that soon passed over. Perhaps a meatier cut would have saved the pork.

The flavor of the whole is spiky and tinny in places. Inhale deeply while carrying some soup and noodles on your tongue, and you will sense the slightest hint of iron at the roof of your mouth. The effect is unmistakably ducky, which bears promise for the Higashi-guchi branch and its lure of an actual duck broth! But the shoyu ramen is certainly very salty. Between the two sorts of pork bones and the chicken, there's already a lot of sodium on that them there ranch; the soy sauce tare does not help the matter and is probably unneeded.

In all, this place is a winner. And I would be first in line if anyone wants to venture in search of the duck broth ramen.

[RAMEN] 虚心房 Koshinbo (from May 1, 2002)

Ramen Golden Week: 虚心房 Koshinbo

Finally.


虚心房 Koshinbo

For months and months, I have contended that Sul Long Tang (Korean oxtail soup) would be a sure-fire, can't-miss inspiration for splendid ramen. In fact, I remember screaming this very fact while watching an episode of TV Champion in which two ramenists battled fiercely to create a ramen that would "please women's palates." Whatever. Instead, these jokers toiled around breeding purple vegetables and using brown rice as a soup base. But one visit to Gam Mee Ok on 32nd Street in Manhattan reveals Sul Long Tang's mysteries, its gut-warming and healing properties, the unforced and fleeting but impressive elegance of its flavor, and thus its promise as a foundation for ramen.

However, testing my theory would require me to end my seven-month abstinence of Wagyu, the feared Japanese Mad Cow (not to be confused with Wagyaru). I had already passed up Daigo near Omotesando, Genkotsuya in Mita (a Kekke-san dig), and the mythic stamina ramen at Genkai in Mito city. But to tell you the truth, we had no clue walking into the place that the beef was already in the pot. And since Koshinbo is miles from nowhere, hopping along to another joint was not an option.

In any case, we ordered the house Koshinmen. My my my, what a find! This is mojo in a prom dress. The whitish broth is slowly drawn from the bones of three animals: cows, pigs, and chickens. Very sensual and loving soup, yet somehow light to the touch. A daring formula but hardly overwrought, no ingredient insistent or distinct, though I surmise that the smoothness is mediated by the cow.

The noodles are wonderful vessels for the broth. The standard men come in thick or thin and have a nice, easy chewiness. In addition, Koshinbo offers a remarkable noodle made from tofu milk (?). I gnawed at a few skeptically and was surprised by their consistency; these, too, would pleasantly complement the soup. Perhaps another homage to Sul Long Tang, the charsiu is thin but savory and refuses to be considered alone. The nori and slightly cooked, julienned white negi were wise additions. And the egg was delectable, mild and just orange enough.

Dan Leone of the San Francisco Bay Guardian would say, "The burps taste good too," but I am not so crass.

We pushed on and played badminton on the same Tama River bank where the country folk were playing baseball and trying to get drunk, rode bicycles up to the hills where Kamen Rider used to fight the Shockers, and watched Pride 20 for dinner. What a great day.

Incidentally, I should note that the feel-good story does not end there. As it turns out, the women who run Koshinbo were once on the television show "Ai no Binbo Dasshutsu Daisakusen," or "The Mission to Set the Poor Bastards Free." The shop is just a few steps from Yanokuchi station in Inagi-shi on the JR Nanbu Line. Go spend some money.