Overview

On his fiftieth birthday, British journalist and self-described “indolent sportsman” Mark Law decides to take up judo on a whim and ends up getting hooked on the sport. Falling Hard is Law’s love letter to judo—the culture, drama, history, and practice. With journalistic zeal, he delves deeply into the sport’s history and lore, and interweaves his own judo experiences with the development of judo in Japan, the life and vision of its founder Jigoro Kano, the export of judo to the West, the emergence of women in the sport, and detailed descriptions of competition on the world championship and Olympic levels. Law’s account is as much for the sports writing fan and armchair enthusiast as for the judo practitioner. With humor and skill, he describes grueling training sessions and matches (including his own), famous Olympic bouts, and legendary rivalries between judo players and national teams, and he speculates on the future of the sport.

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9781590307151

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Reviews

A fascinating journey in which the author unravels this most opaque of sports with humour, verve and style. Part travelogue, part history, part chronicle of midlife discovery. --James Corbett, The Observer Sport Monthly<br> One of the year's most entertaining books, and the best one to be written about a martial art since Robert Twigger's Angry White Pyjamas, It's lively, it's witty and, above all, so persuasively enthusiastic that<br>by the end you'll find yourself feeling an intense urge to try it for yourself. --James Delingpole, Mail on Sunday<br> Beautifully written, and no interest in the martial arts is required to find it absolutely riveting. --Independent

This is a must-read for every judo enthusiast. --Jimmy Pedro, two-time Olympic Bronze medalist, four-time Olympian, World Judo Champion <br><br> Beautifully written and absolutely riveting. -- Independent

This is a must-read for every judo enthusiast. --Jimmy Pedro, two-time Olympic Bronze medalist, four-time Olympian, World Judo Champion Beautifully written and absolutely riveting. -- Independent

Author Information

Mark Law is a former feature writer and commissioning editor for the British newspapers The Times, the Mail on Sunday, and the Daily and Sunday Telegraph. He is also the founding editor of The First Post (thefirstpost.co.uk), the online news magazine. He lives in London, England.

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