【SURF'N' ENGLISH】

「世界最強の男」を英語で語ろう

BY JAMES WATT，Freelance Writer

　格闘技ファンの習性：試合の前に勝敗予想で興奮する。試合で興奮する。試合の後に勝敗談義で興奮する。そんなあなたのための格闘技系英語サイト情報です。集ってくる人たちは思ったより優しいらしいし…。気合いだっ！

　This month we are looking at sites that highlight those sports in which people hit, jump on, and push each other until one of them falls.

　Ever since humans have been human, they have been fighting each other, and ever since the first fight, people have sat on the sidelines to see who was going to win. The Greeks used wrestling contests to demonstrate their physical strength. The Romans had gladiator battles in large arenas in front of thousands of fans. The European courts had jousting contests, the Mongols wrestled each other every chance they got, and of course, we all know about sumo.

　I have to admit that I love watching sumo. I would watch every minute of every tournament if I didn't know my wife would yell at me for not working. Luckily, I can always get my sumo fix at www.sumoforum.net/forums/.

　There are a number of knowledgeable people on the site from many countries, and English is the main language of the site. These folks watch every tournament, dissect every move and match, and are always very welcoming to newcomers. The site is pretty small -- it only has about 100 regularly posting members -- but it's a lot friendlier than most of the bigger online forums.

　You don't need to be a member to read the forums, but if you want to respond to someone, you can sign up by clicking on "register" at the top of the page. My favorite sections are the "Ozumo Discussions" and "Honbasho Talk" sections. There you can find ongoing discussions (and gossip) about the sumo wrestlers in general.

　If you are interested in more modern fighting tournaments, you can visit the Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Weekly site at www. mmaweekly.com/. The site gives news bulletins about Pride, K-1, and the USA's Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) tournaments.

　You can find all the main links on the upper left-hand side of the front page. Click on the "Daily News" link and then click on any photo to read full articles on recent events in tournaments, and news about fighters in the MMA world. Click on "photo gallery" on the front page and choose an organization (Pride, K-1, etc.) to see fight photos from many different tournaments. The MMA Weekly forums here aren't very big, but you can always jump into a discussion.

　You can find a better forum at www.sherdog.net/forums/. Sherdog's forums are perfect for learning and practicing some of the special words used in the professional fighting circuit. Also, there are many Pride fans on there who would love to hear your views on fights you've seen in Japan. The regulars are very passionate about their favorite fighters, but are surprisingly polite for such a large forum.

　Finally, this last site is a little bit difficult, but if you are interested in European history you can find some great articles, old drawings, and photographs at the Academy of European Medieval Martial Arts at www.aemma.org/. The people who run this Web site are trying to revive old fighting styles from Europe, to keep the medieval martial arts alive. AEMMA is very similar to the groups in the Meiji Era (1868-1912) that adapted traditional katana training to create the sport of kendo.

　The AEMMA site has great pages on how the group is training people in European fighting styles. Click on "training" and scroll down the next page until you see a few hand-drawn pictures in a line across the page. Click on any of these pictures to learn how this group is training with that weapon. For instance, if you click on the horse, you will be taken to the "Mounted Training" page, and if you click on the man's arm, you will go to the "Grappling" page.

　From the training page, move your mouse over the top of "knowledge base" on the purple bar at the top of the screen. When the white menu drops down, move your mouse over "multi-media library" and click once. That will take you to a page with fun training and events videos of AEMMA students showing off their skills.

　Have a look at these sites this month, and don't forget to visit surfin-english.blogspot.com/ to find extra sites to browse under this month's topic. You can learn a lot about martial arts in the modern world, and talk to many people who share your interests. The sumo forum is especially good for those interested in the latest discussion of who will become the next ozeki -- everyone there would be very happy to help out a Japanese speaker of English.

　Good surfing.