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| ISSUE #1 - July 9, 2003 | We're looking for new writers. [Click here to apply] |
| This e-zine is not intended for readers under the age of 18. |
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Written by Hody Huh and revised/edited by Gordon Wilson http://www.hannan-u.ac.jp/~wilson/PrideCast/index.html  The PRIDE Audio Broadcast is the brainchild of Gordon (AKA OsakaWilson). Prior to the creation of the broadcast, hard-core fans had to either wait until they could see the delayed broadcast or would have to read the text play-by-plays of other hard-core fans that were lucky enough to see it live. Luckily due to Gordon’s computer and technical background, he was able to create a live audio broadcast.
The early beginnings of the broadcast, about two and half years ago, were touch and go. We had to get accustomed to using the computer, cope with technical difficulties, get the word out, familiarize ourselves with the fighter’s histories, learn technique names, etc. We are by no means experts at what we do, but I feel that we are starting to get the hang of it. I hope the guys that have been with us from the early beginning can notice a difference too. J We’re still basically a bunch of guys, sitting around in OsakaWilson’s living room, downing the occasional beer, watching and commenting on the fights. The living room just happens to have a mini-studio with a mixer, mics and an Internet connection. We are constantly surprised at how many people we have tuning into the broadcast and the various countries our listeners are from. It’s difficult to determine exactly how many listeners there are, since there can be one or even multiple listeners at each computer that is logged in. We’ve heard that some gyms put the show on big speakers and have a big "Pride Night" with 50 or so people showing up. However, what we know for sure is that an average about 170 computers are logged in at any given time. It just goes to show how international MMA is. We even have Pro fighters and their families/friends who also listen in. It’s difficult to confirm all the people who listen in, because we have no way of knowing if people are really who they say there are, but we have confirmed that Gary Goodridge and his wife listen in, as well as some members of the Lion’s Den. If there are any other Pro fighters that listen in, please drop us a line and let us know how we are doing. We receive no monetary compensation for doing the broadcast (we don’t even have a sponsor - although Sherdog.com and Ironlife.com have been great about giving us free press and links to our site). We do it simply because we love the sport and want to share it with others that feel the same way. I guess our payment is the knowing that those that follow the sport can receive some enjoyment from knowing what’s going on during the fights and from the family and friends that are worried about the fighters. With all that said, however, feel free to make any monetary donation made out to Hody at ¡K¡K. The PRIDE Audio Broadcast consists of the following members: Gordon (AKA OsakaWilson and WilsonJP) teaches Computer Technologies and Communications in a Japanese university in Osaka. He has lived in Japan for 11 years and does research on and designs internet-based multi-user communication for education. Part of what motivates putting this whole show on is that it gives him the chance to test out the technology, so he has a handle on it before he uses it in class. MMA experience: "I once submitted a sheep, so we could pour disinfectant into its wounded leg." Spike is Japanese and has been a pro-wrestling fan since he was a child and brings us a great deal of knowledge about the Japanese fighters, so we do our best not to give him too bad a time about it. He also does all the translations during the broadcast and often does a lot of research on the fighters. I should also mention he’s AC/DC’s biggest fan! J-rod is a doctoral candidate at Kyoto University. He's been here for a few years and plans to stick around for at least another two. MMA experience: Extensive experience telling us what he would do in any given fighting situation. (Spotting a theme here?) Gabriel makes his living in Japan as a Wedding Chaplin ("I even have a minister’s collar.") and is our newest addition to the crew. Being new, he usually plays the role of newbie, asking questions so our more knowledgeable people can spell things for everyone and blessing our pay-per-view box while we wait for the signal to arrive. Big Steve has lived in Japan for five years with a couple of brief stints back in the states. A minimum danger with a 5 kyu in aikido, his MMA experience is limited to "staring down" others smaller than him to get a seat on rush hour trains. (Which usually does the trick, at 6' 5"and 270 lbs.) FluffyWolf is our PalTalk room lead moderator and you could say he is responsible for keeping the broadcast going smoothly (and sometimes going at all). He is located in England, so we've never actually met in person, but in spite of having never drunk beer with us, he's an integral part of the crew. He also ads a bit of credibility to our crew by actually doing MMA HeadKick is one of the bouncers in the PalTalk room. Along with FluffyWolf he maintains order during the broadcast. Refer all trivia question to him. He straightens us out whenever we get the facts wrong. Without either of them, the broadcast would not go smoothly. Hody I train full-time in Shooto at Shooting Gym Osaka (home of pro fighter Juntaro Nakao - famous for submitting Pat Miletich VIA triangle) and I have trained under various martial arts and teachers, most notably Rickson Gracie. To support myself, I teach English (but not very well, I might add). J As you can see, we all have different backgrounds and specialties that we bring to the broadcast. As we have always stated, we are by no means experts at what we do but we enjoy it. All of us have full-time jobs, so it’s difficult to put more time and energy into the web site and broadcast. However, we hope in the near future to secure more interviews with fighters and start a picture gallery. I will also be finishing an article about training in MMA in Japan, specifically Shooto and STG Osaka. I know there are some people interested in coming to Japan and training full-time and have many questions--I hope this article will address many of those questions. It should be up in the near future. Feel free to visit our site for more information and to drop us a line with any comments and suggestions. Hope to see you at the next broadcast. Gordon (wilson@hannan-u.ac.jp) Hody (rgracie@hotmail.com) Back to Issue #1 Frontpage |
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