Hyunwoo Gus Shim

11/26/06

ENGL 112B

Dr. Warner

Unlimited Possibilities of Sports

When there is a certain personal goal, it is a lot easier to give up on that goal than to strive to achieve it. The limitations that one might have against the possibilities may seem too overwhelming, and giving up on the goal is the easy way out. However, people constantly hear stories about how some people refused to give on their goal and made that minute possibilities into reality. Take Joe Simpson in Touching the Void, a true story about a man�s survival in Mount Andes, for an example. Joe only had a slight possibility of survival, alone in the ice-covered mountain of Andes with his leg broken. He, himself, thought the death was imminent but he kept holding on to that possibility of surviving, crawling with his frostbitten fingers until the help came. Take another example of Kyle Maynard in No Excuses, a man born without arms and legs, who eventually became the state of Georgia�s one of the best wrestlers. These are the people and events that ordinary young adults read about and be inspired by. These are the stories found in sports books that young adults find in libraries and bookstores. With their indomitable spirit and self-belief, they turn �can�t� into �can� and limitations to possibilities.

The following section is the annotated bibliography of four fictions, four non-fictions, and three movies in the sports genre that will inspire young adults. In today�s society where the life is relatively comfortable, the physical and mental trials that each character goes through in each story will make young adults or today realize that they can achieve even more and that human spirit is simply an amazing thing.

Annotated bibliography

Crutcher, Chris. Stotan. New York: Laurel Leaf, 1986. (Fiction)

When Walker and three of his best friends decide to give up their whole week of Christmas vacation for a Stotan week, they have no idea that it will not only test their physical capacity but their emotional capacity and belief in each other as friends. Set in Crutcher�s own neighborhood of Spokane, Washington, the book also talks some of the ongoing social issues such as domestic violence, substance abuse, and racism. The reading of this book will get the young adults to be aware of those social issues and learn the ways to resolve them. I highly recommend this book.

Crutcher, Chris. Whale Talk. New York: Laurel Leaf, 2001. (Fiction)

This is another book about a swimming team in Spokane, Washington that deals with the real social issues�domestic abuse, and racism. T.J. is a talented athlete of mixed racial background in a racist neighborhood of Washington. When his journalism teacher tells him about his plan about the swimming team and that T.J. will be forced to join it, T.J. brings with him a group of outcasts of the school to make up a �mermen� swimming team. The book teaches young adults about friendship and forgiveness even if there might be intolerable hate in this world. I highly recommend this book.

Maynard, Kyle. No Excuses. Washington: Regnery Publishing, 2005. (Non-fiction)

Maynard is born with a rare disorder that stops the growth of the arms and legs at the elbows and knees; but with the strong and loving family, he looks at his life optimistically and slowly matures. Soon, his indomitable spirit and the support from his family and friends help him to become football player in middle school, a Guinness record holder for modified weight lifting as a senior in high school--he can bench-press 360Ibs!--and eventually the state of Georgia�s one of the BEST wrestler! This book is empowering and teaches young adults that with determination, self-belief, and the empowering mentors, there is nothing that a young adult cannot achieve.

Myers, Walter D. Slam! New York: Scholastic Inc. 1996. (Fiction)

Greg Slam Harris a high school basketball star who transferred from an African-American dominated school to White dominated school in upstate New York. He has a dream of becoming a professional basketball player, but he has seen countless number of people with great basketball skills wasting their talents and ending up in the street, like his best friend Ice. As he goes through his high school life as a star basketball player and seeing those with talents fail, he realizes that the game of basketball is about more than just putting the ball through the hoop. He realizes that school is just as important as the game itself. It�s highly recommended for young adults for its realistic social issues such as racism and poverty. It also teaches young adults about the importance of school.

Simpson, Joe. Touching the Void: The True Story of One Man�s

Miraculous Survival. New York: Harper Collins, 2004. (Non-fiction)

In 1985, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates, professional mountain climbers, set out to Mount Andes for an ultimate test of human endurance. On one fateful day as they climb an ice-covered cliff of Siula Grande in Andes, Simpson trips, falls and breaks his leg. Yates comes to rescue only to leave him stranded again when they face another cliff where Yates makes a critical decision to cut the rope that fasten Simpson to avoid his own death. For days, without food and water, and with a broken leg, Simpson crawls on the sheets of Andes� ice, alone against the Mother Nature in his remarkable journey of survival. This book teaches young adults that the humans have immeasurable capacity to achieve anything that they set their minds to. I highly recommend this book.

Twigger, Robert. Angry White Pyjamas. New York: Quills, 1997.

(Non-fiction)

Robert Twigger, Chris, and Fat Frank share a complex in Fuji Heights, Japan. Because of their poor diet and irregular life-style in the foreign land, they become out of shape. After a lot of pondering about their weight and health issues while doing nothing about them, erudite Chris tells Robert and Fat Frank about Aikido (Japanese Martial Arts) and its benefit to human health. They finally decide to stop pondering and take action and sign up for foreigners� class in a highly reputable local Aikido dojo (training hall). Soon, their exercises for physical well-being turn into a full year dedication when they decide to enroll in riot-police (America�s equivalent for Swat team) course. With a blend of farcical humor, British vernacular, and occasional seriousness, Twigger�s narrative takes readers directly to the dojo where he and his friends sweat and bleed with intense Aikido training. With the adult and sexual language, the book is for the older teenagers. The young adults can learn about sport�s amazing ability to bring people together, regardless of race, gender, and religion. Twigger also delves deep into men�s secret obsession with machismo, which can help young adult readers to explore men�s psyche. I highly recommend this book.

Volponi, Paul. Black and White. New York: Viking, 2005. (Fiction)

Marcus (Black) and Eddie (White) are best friends and talented basketball players who go to a high school in inner-city New York. Marcus, unlike Eddie, is poor and his weekly allowance is less than Eddie�s daily allowance. That doesn�t bother them because they got �past all that racial crap�, but when Eddie and Marcus decide to rob people to make money for their high-school graduation festivity, everything changes between them. The book teaches young adults about the social issues such as racism, poverty, and peer pressure. Like Crutcher and Myers, Volponis deals with serious real-life issues. I highly recommend this book.

Yu, Byong. Inside U. Carlsbad: Hay House, 2003. (Non fiction)

Born in the Japanese colonial period in Korea, grandmaster Yu not only faces virulent racial prejudice but the congenital mental retardation as well. The doctors tell his parents that it is better to have him left alone to die for his family can�t afford to rear him and his siblings all together. Mr. Yu�s parents decide to take care of Mr. Yu instead of abandoning him, even though they can barely afford to. Mr. Yu slowly gets better and when he takes up Tae Kwon Do from Master Ko Su, his condition drastically improves. With both the physical and metal strength he gained from Master Ko Su�s lessons, he excels in school as well and enrolls in one of the best colleges in Korea. Upon graduating and winning numerous martial arts tournaments, he comes to United States in the 1960s to spread the art of Tae Kwon Do. His initial encounter with United States is hostile; and with no money or English, he becomes a homeless in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, and brings himself on the verge of suicide. With a belief in himself and Tae Kwon Do, he pushes on through his life and succeeds. This book will teach young adults about self-empowerment and Korean culture. I highly recommend this book.

Movies:

Crying Fist. Dir. Sungwan Ryu. Per. Minshik Choi, Sungbum Ryu.

C.J. Entertainment. 2003.

Tashick (Choi) is a retired boxer whose glory as as silver medalist in 1986 Asian Olympic is in the long past. Now he�s in his mid 40s, his house is being repossessed by the collection agency, and his wife wants to leave him. He, somehow, scrapes a living as a �human sandback� for distressed people of Seoul, Korea, in a street of Myongdong, calling himself a �boxer from your memory� over the megaphone. Songwan (Ryu) is a trouble youth living in a poor neighborhood with his father (ex-convict), grandma, and his little brother. He doesn�t work nor go to school. He makes money as a petty thief and a bully and when he gets arrested for stealing a stereo set, he steals again to come with the bail money knowing that for his father to come up with that kind of money would strain his whole family. He gets arrested again and sent to jail where he picks up boxing and dedicate himself to it, calling it �my repentance.� The story of each boxer is juxtaposed to give a clear sense of time track and development of each character in relation to one another. The film is rated PG13, but it�s fraught with sexual and adult language. It is definitely not for younger teenagers, but older teenagers can learn the values of hard work and family through this film, especially in the emotional climax where each boxer finds what he has been missing in his life. Highly recommended.

Fighter in the Wind. Dir. Yunho Yang. Per. Dongeun Yang, Masaya Kato.

C.J. Entertainment. 2002.

Based on a true story, this film chronicles the life of a karate legend, Mas Oyama, who became almost a mythical character and an icon of Japan as a Korean.

When Baedal (Mas Oyama before he took up the Japanese Name) smuggles into Japan during the Japanese colonial period, Baedal is treated almost like a sub-human by the Japanese who has Koreans under their ruthless regime. He tries to become a bomber pilot for Japanese air force but is turned down for his ethnic background. After the defeat of Japan in the WWII, the Koreans in Japan face even worse prejudice, and Baedal and his fellow countryman operates a slot machine business (pachinko) in Yakubukuro, Japan, with one pachinko machine. Their profit is meager but the money is slowly accumulating until a local gang (yakuza), not happy about Koreans making money on a Japanese street extort their money; breaks the pachinko machine; and makes Baedal leak the urine stained boot of the gang boss while crawling under him and yelling, � I�m piss leaking Baedal of Yakubukuro.� Humiliated Baedal runs into his former house sevant in Korea, and he teaches him karate that eventually makes him a hero of Japan and �the strongest man on Earth� (Time 1976).

This movie will teach young adults about how a sport/martial art can change a man�s life. For Yongiee (Mas Oyama�s/Baedal�s real Korean name), karate was something that made him get through racial prejudice and personal obstacles. Highly recommended.

Riki Do San. Dir. Haesung Song. Per Gyunggoo Sul, Miki Nkatani.

C.J. Entertainment. 2003.

Also based on true story, Kim is a Korean immigrant of post WWII Japan with a dream of being a Yokozuna (sumo champion-sumo is a revered sport in Japan both in the past and present. To be a Yokozuna means incredibly a high honor). However, his Korean ethnicity keeps disqualifying him from sumo match. After undergoing harrowing prejudice, he runs out of the sumo dojo. With no place to go, a kind and wealthy Japanese fight promoter, Kanno, takes Kim in, and Kim takes up the Japanese name, Riki Do San, and picks up pro-wrestling. Already over thirty years old, Riki is determined to succeed as a pro-wrestler and asks Kanno to fund his pro-wrestling lessons in United States. Kanno agrees and for three years he dedicates himself to pro-wrestling. When he comes back to Japan, Riki and Kanno arrange a pro-wrestling match with two American pro-wrestlers. With Japan�s morale still very low because of its loss to America in WWII, Riki knocks out two American wrestlers and Japan regains its confidence. What the Japanese public doesn�t know is that Riki is Korean.

This is a movie not only about sports but war and imperialism. As young adults learn about how a sport can change one man�s life, they will also learn about dark history and politics of post WWII Southeast Asia and United States� involvement in them.