|
Post by shuhuqua on Jul 7, 2014 8:02:40 GMT -5
For those who don’t know about my Sasuke history prior to 30, I’ll write a poor grammar condensed summary here. For those who do, please skip ahead to the next post. I apologize for the length, but at the same time I think the people who would bother reading this would appreciate the details.
I used to be very hilariously weak and unable to do pull ups and had no interest in ever competing in Sasuke. I then moved to Japan for work, wound up at Muscle Park in Odaiba, tried the Sasuke course there and failed badly. That was fine, but that 2 minutes of exercise (tried twice because it was fun) made me unable to pull the brake levers on my bicycle when I went home. I was super upset with how weak I was so I started training to beat the Muscle Park course. The park then closed a month later, I went on the last day and was still unable to do anything. The kids at the elementary schools I was teaching at saw me training on the playground, and one kid said “Wow, you should go on Sasuke! If you do I’ll definitely cheer for you.” Then I thought, what the heck, I’ll aim for the real thing for that kid.
I then started to train in earnest and ended up with lots of small injuries and severe muscle pain on a daily basis, but I definitely got stronger. I knew I was still super weak in the grand scheme of things, but I decided to try and send in an application for Sasuke 27. I never heard back about the application. I wasn’t too disappointed, because at the time I definitely felt I wasn’t even strong enough to clear the 1st stage.
Monster 9 then goes bust, but I kept on training because it started to become fun and everyone was hoping that TBS would save the show and they did! I was getting stronger and more and more kids were giving me their support so I went ahead and applied for Sasuke Rising (28). I was selected for the “trials” which was the 30 second appeal and pushup contest. Did 90 pushups and was not selected for the second round interviews.
I applied again for Sasuke 29. I was selected to go to the trials, which was a proper course this time. I cleared with a time that qualified for a spot on the show, but Inui then walked up to me to personally apologize and say that 29 would be Japanese only due to the ASEAN cup and that as a foreigner I could not compete.
I was about ready to give up on ever getting on Sasuke, but when the kids heard that I was in the trials they were really excited and gave me more support. I decided to continue to train and apply for the next Sasuke.
After that I wound up talking with Miska over facebook and helped him arrange stuff on his trip to Japan, and thanks to him I was introduced to Okada and Tada. From there I wound up meeting a lot of the Shin-Sedai and started to hang out and train with them.
Then the announcement for Sasuke 30 came around…
|
|
|
Post by shuhuqua on Jul 7, 2014 8:03:06 GMT -5
I sent in a slightly modified version of the application I sent in for 29, and it’s a rather scary experience because you don’t even get a confirmation e-mail sent to you about your application. The tension built up during the screening process because Inui and TBS were regularly updating everyone on twitter. The news about there being 3000 applications and Inui looking at each one and basically making quick decisions about whether or not to read in more detail based on the job title, made me feel less confident about my chances. Finally, while walking around Akihabara with my friend, I saw that I had a missed phone call and a message from TBS asking me to call them back. I officially got the invite to the Sasuke 30 trials, which unfortunately was the 30 second appeal and pushup thing again.
Over the years of attending the Sasuke trials, the single most important fact about Sasuke had finally sunk in… it’s a TV show. You can’t just show up and say I’m such a great athlete etc. (and I’m not) you have to do something that makes you stand out in the sea of “great athletes.” I anticipated the audition style, so I trained my butt off to do 100 pushups in a row. Even though I know that doing 100 pushups doesn’t necessarily do anything to improve your chances at being selected at the auditions, it’s better to be able to do them than not being able to. A new school year had started and I got grudgingly transferred to new schools where 95% of the kids did not even know what Sasuke was. I decided to go visit my old schools and ask if the students were willing to make posters with support messages on them for me. I figured (correctly) that flashing posters with a few hundred support messages from elementary school kids would make an impact at the auditions.
For those of you curious about the Sasuke 30 trials/auditions, I’ll rather dryly let you know what happened. Everyone had to first show up at a random mobile home looking building across the street from the TBS building in Akasaka to sign in and basically wait. The only person I knew personally at the trials was Yahagi Makoto, but I only met him once or twice before and he’s not the chattiest of people. I was in the waiting room for about 45 minutes before my group was called over to the TBS building, where we had to go to… another waiting room. The wait in there felt like effing forever! My group finally gets called and then we headed over into a large meeting room with all the desks and chairs removed except for the ones for Inui and the production staff. There were a bunch of yellow tissue box sized bricks on the ground where you needed to stand, and later do your pushups.
Inui introduced himself and explained the situation. He was VERY honest about how the selection process was going to happen and reminded everyone that Sasuke is a TV show which is why these factors are looked at. He then said that we would all get 30 seconds to make an “appeal” and if we went over by more than 5 seconds we would be cut off. He also said, to just talk and not to do back flips or anything because he’s seen enough of those already (haha). I forgot how many people were in front of me, but my turn came up fast, and I was super nervous. I had been practicing my 30 second speech for a couple of days but once you’re there, your brain blanks! Also 30 seconds goes by in a flash! I pulled out the support message posters from a paper bag just as the person before me was finishing and everyone in the room just stopped, looked at me, and you could hear people muttering “I wish I had stuff like that with me,” or, “I never thought about doing something like that!” I even got a “That was smart” point and laugh from Inui. I basically got through half of my speech then forgot the other half, but I was able to save it by giving it a decent ending remark.
Once everyone’s appeal was over we entered the 100 pushup contest. In the 28 trials they hit a taiko drum to mark each rep you were supposed to do, but I guess they got cheap this time and just used a whistle. The pace at the beginning was slow, with about one pushup every 2 or 3 seconds. If you fell behind at any point you were out. The room was dead quiet until we hit about 25 and then the groaning started. The groaning increased in volume until about 50, then it gradually got quieter and quieter as people started to drop out. The Last 10 reps were FAST, it was about a 2 pushup per second pace and that took out quite a few people. At 100 they said okay, “you can stop now, and those that did 100 please stand up,” but in an effort to do everything I could to “stand out,” I alone continued for several reps then stood up. Quite a few people were able to do the 100 this time compared to the 4 in my 28 trials group, so I was glad I put in the extra reps. As a side note, the room got super hot and humid once the pushup thing was done!
Now if you thought I was nervous during the 30 second speech thing; that did not compare to the wait for your number to be called (or not). Inui and the producers had a small meeting during and a bit after the pushup contest and started to call out the numbers of those they had picked. I don’t remember exactly, these are just estimates to get the idea across, but I think two people were called from the first row, a whole row was skipped, one person from the next row was called, and then the person next to me got called! My heart was about to explode at that point, but then I heard my number called and I teared up and whispered a thank you to the kids who wrote the support messages for me and promised not to let them down.
Fortunately, Yahagi also had his number called and he was actually next to me during the pushups thing, so he probably felt more pressure than I did seeing two people directly in front of him get called. The round 2 interviews were to occur in a couple of hours, so I went and got lunch with Yahagi. While waiting for the waiting room to open up again, I was able to talk to a few other applicants and everyone expressed supreme envy at my support message posters.
So then it was back into the waiting room with the 1st round survivors. We were told to change into our “work clothes,” but as an elementary school teacher my work clothes are exercise clothes (haha). I was so nervous about the wait for the interviews that I started pacing annoyingly up and down the waiting room. Thankfully, due to this I was able to talk to and become friends with quite a few people including the legendary (for NDA reasons) Ryoma. We were all split into groups of 5 and were then called into the same room as the 30 second appeals. The production staff and Inui then asked specific questions regarding stuff we put in our applications one by one. Everyone in my group was effing amazing, which kind of made me nervous. The first guy worked at a bank and was in charge of South American investments, but also was an American Football player who used to play professionally (in Japan). The staff was very interested in his responses. Next was a firefighter who placed second in Samurai (look it up it’s really hardcore stuff). Then there was a carpenter named Onobori (I’m now friends with him too) who performed close up magic. Following him was Ryoma who has been to many trials and even made it to the metal spin in Sasuke 27. Finally, there was some random elementary school English teacher with no sports background who felt like he had nothing impressive to say about himself after the four people in front of him. Fortunately though, Inui remembered me from last year and the fact that I did clear the trials course as well.
We then exited the room and were expected to exit the building with our belongings with the promise of being contacted in the future about whether or not we would be selected for the show (it was a nerve wracking week). I however, was stopped by the staff and was asked for a favor. There was a guy from Australia who had impressed enough to make it to the second round, but he spoke zero Japanese. Your application has to be in Japanese, so TBS had no idea he had no Japanese skills and did not prepare a translator! At this point it didn’t matter if you had plans for that evening or not; you do not pass up an opportunity like that, so I definitely agreed to stay behind to translate.
I noticed quite some time before this that there was a couple of people in the back of the room speaking in Chinese, but I was afraid to approach them because my Chinese and Japanese skills constantly fight for brain cells in my head. Usually if I start speaking in Chinese, my Japanese skills die (and vice versa), but with my interview over, I decided to go and talk to these guys. If you’re an avid reader of the forum you will know I had actually met Yukari Lin and Man Liao from Taiwan. They were super happy to finally meet someone who spoke Chinese because they were getting around with poor English and hand waving with the staff. I then offered to translate for Liao’s interview which he and the staff instantly accepted. Liao’s interview was first so I went in with his group and did my best to translate with my nearly dead Chinese skills (due to speaking in Japanese all day), and thankfully it worked out because guess who was #2966 in the Sasuke 30! I’m super ultra glad that I met those two at the trials because I’m now very welcome in Taiwan’s Sasuke community. Also they are just wonderful people, and it’s nice to be friends with them. I later went to dinner with them and took them electronics shopping.
After this, they were asked to exit the building, but I had to stick around a bit longer for the Australian guy’s (Anton) interview. I talked with Anton for a bit before his group was called in, and he’s an amazing guy and I’m glad to have met him. He’s primarily working as a sports scientist, but he’s also an actor. He gets regular roles in commercials and was even in X-Men 4. Unfortunately though, he was not selected in the end to appear on Sasuke 30.
So uh yeah… I was in the interview room 4 times! Once for the appeals and pushups, once for my own interview, and twice as a translator. It was one of the single most interesting days of my life. At the time I almost didn’t care if I got into Sasuke 30 or not just because I had such an amazing day.
To wrap the story up, I’ll end with this; which seriously sounds made up. Heck, I wouldn’t believe it if I heard it from someone I had just met, but this is genuinely what happened. A week later (it might have been two I forget) I was over at Okada’s place and just as we were all about to leave for the day, Hioki gets a call on his phone and says, “YES it’s an unknown number so maybe this is the call I’ve been waiting for!” He then talks very excitedly into the phone, hangs up and starts dancing because it was TBS telling him that he would be in Sasuke 30. I then checked my phone and there was a missed call from an unknown number! Hioki’s wife convinced me to try calling the number back, but unfortunately the line was busy. Then Yuuji (yeah that Yuuji), who drove to Okada’s that day, offered to give me a ride to the train station. While we were chatting in the car, my phone rang and he immediately told me to answer it… and it was TBS calling to tell me that I was going to be in Sasuke 30! I told Yuuji the news and he high fived me and was genuinely happy that we would compete together in the next Sasuke. The funniest thing about the phone call was when I said “That’s right (that’s my name),” Yuuji said, “and I’m Urushihara” really loudly. I still can’t believe that I got the call to Sasuke 30 while getting a ride to train station with the two time Sasuke champion, and who was the first to congratulate me!
|
|
|
Post by thatoneuser on Jul 7, 2014 8:50:01 GMT -5
Congratulations on making it to SASUKE 30 and clearing the First Stage! I really hope to see you back in SASUKE 31. Thanks for giving us this insight!
|
|
arsenette
Administrator
Rambling Rican
Posts: 16,617
Staff Member
|
Post by arsenette on Jul 7, 2014 10:18:05 GMT -5
Thanks Jin for posting the story! I laughed the whole time all of that was happening to you. Getting the updates and trying to convince you that all of that was really happening. LOL!!!!! I'm so happy it all worked out and you finally got to go AND clear the First stage on your first shot!
|
|
|
Post by dudesky1000 on Jul 7, 2014 10:21:19 GMT -5
This is so awesome, finally a full account of the process from the inside! Thank you Jin! And great run as well. Hope to see you get a chance to improve in the next tournament!
|
|
|
Post by LusitaniaAngel313 on Jul 7, 2014 10:24:04 GMT -5
You're so lucky to have been invited to SASUKE 30! I'd never be able to make it there myself. How'd he do? I wasn't paying too much attention to names
|
|
arsenette
Administrator
Rambling Rican
Posts: 16,617
Staff Member
|
Post by arsenette on Jul 7, 2014 10:27:54 GMT -5
You're so lucky to have been invited to SASUKE 30! I'd never be able to make it there myself. How'd he do? I wasn't paying too much attention to names .... He passed the First stage.. I just said that.
|
|
|
Post by TCM on Jul 7, 2014 10:28:14 GMT -5
Awesome account and congrats on all your success! The chat got pretty excited when we noticed you were one of the clears, really hope TBS shows you on YouTube.
|
|
|
Post by LusitaniaAngel313 on Jul 7, 2014 10:36:57 GMT -5
You're so lucky to have been invited to SASUKE 30! I'd never be able to make it there myself. How'd he do? I wasn't paying too much attention to names .... He passed the First stage.. I just said that. sorry I kinda overshot that... I just woke up... O.O
|
|
|
Post by yamfriend on Jul 7, 2014 10:48:43 GMT -5
This is awesome! Thank you very much for sharing your story with all of us, and congratulations on your First Stage success! It's really interesting hearing about a first-hand account from a prospective competitor's point of view!
|
|
|
Post by RiderLeangle on Jul 7, 2014 12:30:52 GMT -5
Awesome story! Thanks for sharing. Also great job clearing Stage 1 on your first time, I hope they show the non FF version on youtube. Shame your stage 2 run ended so fast but after hearing this I'm sure you're not too disappointed since it sounds like making it there anyways was icing on the cake. (think of it this way, you got to be in the commercials, that's something ) You're so lucky to have been invited to SASUKE 30! I'd never be able to make it there myself. How'd he do? I wasn't paying too much attention to names
|
|
|
Post by LusitaniaAngel313 on Jul 7, 2014 12:50:37 GMT -5
Awesome story! Thanks for sharing. Also great job clearing Stage 1 on your first time, I hope they show the non FF version on youtube. Shame your stage 2 run ended so fast but after hearing this I'm sure you're not too disappointed since it sounds like making it there anyways was icing on the cake. (think of it this way, you got to be in the commercials, that's something ) You're so lucky to have been invited to SASUKE 30! I'd never be able to make it there myself. How'd he do? I wasn't paying too much attention to names thanks... ^^; I'll look it up now since I should have paid more attention
|
|
|
Post by urgentemente on Jul 7, 2014 16:43:00 GMT -5
Great story Jin, really good to read/hear what it's like to go through the application process (several times!).
Well done on your performance in 30 as well . Hope you get to do it again in 31.
|
|
|
Post by RiderLeangle on Jul 7, 2014 16:45:01 GMT -5
I'm glad he has an invite for 31 considering he cleared Stage 1
|
|
|
Post by mindwarp on Jul 7, 2014 21:23:19 GMT -5
Actually, are there still auto-invites for passing the first stage? That said, doing so on your very first try should impress the production team enough to invite you back, I hope. Plus, were you the one translating for Drew during his later stage interviews? In any case, thanks for sharing, and congrats again on making it to Sasuke and passing the first stage! You'll go further the next time, especially considering how far you've already gotten in such a short amount of time.
|
|
|
Post by lostinube on Jul 7, 2014 23:30:12 GMT -5
Great story.
One question. And this is very important.
Was Yuuji driving the Nissan Fuga he won in SASUKE 24?
|
|
|
Post by yamfriend on Jul 8, 2014 0:07:52 GMT -5
Expanding upon Ube's question, how did Yuuji manage to fit the key in his pocket after removing it from the ignition? After all, it seems just a tad larger than most car keys. Hopefully I didn't kill the joke by asking that.
|
|
|
Post by shuhuqua on Jul 8, 2014 2:20:40 GMT -5
Thanks for the support everyone!
Yuuji sold the Nissan Fuga and bought a small Honda Fit. He said the Fuga was too much car for him, plus it's HUGE on Tokyo's narrow streets, and expensive to fill up and insure.
Considering Yamamoto Keitaro got to the backstream in 29 and wasn't invited back for 30... I don't think the automatic invites function the same as before.
So about the cross slider. I just had some bad luck and failed to get advice about it since people usually have no problem with it. Basically, I had no idea that once you put your hands on the thing a guy starts the countdown beeps. I didn't like the ways my hands were oriented so you can see me attempt to dismount to adjust, but the beeps started so I just had to hold on. This caused my legs to swing while the thing started and caused the rig to swing violently. I looked at the slow motion replay and I don't think anyone could've held on till the end. The swinging motion was HUGE compared to everyone else, including Kinukun, who looked like his arms just gave up half way down. Personally I'm happy with the results, but everyday I go into work now, kids keep asking me why I failed the cross slider (in a disappointed rhetorical question way), and that definitely makes me wish I did better.
I actually translated for Li, and Drew during conversations with other competitors, there were pros available for the actual interviews.
|
|
|
Post by LusitaniaAngel313 on Jul 8, 2014 2:48:05 GMT -5
Thanks for the support everyone! Yuuji sold the Nissan Fuga and bought a small Honda Fit. He said the Fuga was too much car for him, plus it's HUGE on Tokyo's narrow streets, and expensive to fill up and insure. Considering Yamamoto Keitaro got to the backstream in 29 and wasn't invited back for 30... I don't think the automatic invites function the same as before. So about the cross slider. I just had some bad luck and failed to get advice about it since people usually have no problem with it. Basically, I had no idea that once you put your hands on the thing a guy starts the countdown beeps. I didn't like the ways my hands were oriented so you can see me attempt to dismount to adjust, but the beeps started so I just had to hold on. This caused my legs to swing while the thing started and caused the rig to swing violently. I looked at the slow motion replay and I don't think anyone could've held on till the end. The swinging motion was HUGE compared to everyone else, including Kinnikun, who looked like his arms just gave up half way down. Personally I'm happy with the results, but everyday I go into work now, kids keep asking me why I failed the cross slider (in a disappointed rhetorical question way), and that definitely makes me wish I did better. I actually translated for Li, and Drew during conversations with other competitors, there were pros available for the actual interviews. No worries I'd probably fail the cross slider about the same way! XD But I'd never make it that far! XD
|
|
|
Post by lostinube on Jul 8, 2014 3:05:11 GMT -5
For those not familiar, Japanese car insurance/safety checks/taxes (it's all sort of intwined) depend on your car/engine size. Bigger cars cost more so kei cars are popular.
|
|