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RECAP AND REVIEW OF NEW JAPAN'S LION'S ROAR, EPISODE 3

By James Kurokawa on 2022-01-24 09:30:00

Opening credits

The Hill

The recruits are at One Tree Hill in South Auckland.  Toks Fale explains that he brings the boys out from the Dojo to train in different places to see the scenery.   There is a loop around One Tree Hill.  The recruits must do 10 laps.  If they do not work hard enough, he will make them bear crawl up and down the hill. 

Fale speaks about Richard Mulu.  He is a heavier man and he was struggling with the run.  The other men were cheering him on.  Mulu works full time from 9pm to 6 am.  Then he comes to train with the recruits.  Fale said running hill is hard and life is hard.  But a New Japan training is harder. 

Jake Taylor is introduced.  He is from Victoria Australia.  He heard from his friends that the Fale Dojo was the best place to train.   He signed up and completed a 3 month program with the Fale Dojo.  He described Fale as intimidating, but a caring person.

There is a Line

During the run up the hill, Fale stops the group and questions the leader, Dan Peru.  He asked which way he was supposed to go and they had a back and forth.   Fale said that the recruits need to listen to directions.  He said in this business you need to listen and watch.  Fale tells the story of recruits who think they know more than the coaches and they are kicked out the next day.  

Fale says that Dan has been in the Dojo since he was 15 years old.  Fale has watched him grow.  He says that Dan still acts like a kid so discipline needed to done and there is a line, a line between Fale the coach, Fale the father-figure and Fale the friend.

Otherside of the World

The scene switches back to the Mangere Markets in South Auckland.   Jake Taylor is highlighted again.   He tells the story of the first time he saw wrestling.  He was playing rugby and was feeling depressed.  He had decide on whether he wanted to pursue wrestling.  He feels like he is on the other side of the world from the wrestling business, being in New Zealand.  However, with the growth of pro wrestling worldwide, now in Australia you are able to train to be a real wrestler.  He said the difference between working Indies and getting paid $50 and a hot dog vs. making a real living wage in wrestling is Fale Dojo.   He said the Fale-San is gatekeeper. 

Back at the NZ Dojo, Mark Tui speaks on being hard on the recruits in training because they care about their health and safety first.   They want longevity for all the recruits.  The recruits are doing morning stretches and some look tired or sleepy.   Fale warns them that if he comes in and sees them sleepy, he will wake them up his way.

Drive

Mark Tui, driving a car, continues by stating wrestling is a business so you have to perform at a certain level and they have to take it seriously.   Tui gives some background on the school and general details about incoming recruits.  Once the recruits hit the second month of training, the coaches know what their true colors will be.   Tui states if these recruits get to Japan, they will be well trained and prepared.  There will be no culture shock.

Uniform

Tui drove to pick up new uniforms for the recruits.   The recruits get dressed in their new Fale Dojo sweats.   Fale tells them they can keep it after they complete the 3 month training.  If the recruits leave early and try to take the uniforms, Fale will come to get them because it is company property.

Fale says the uniforms are made in Japan specifically for their Dojo treat it with respect.   They will wear them when they travel as a team.  Mark Tui reminds them to look after and take care of themselves by dressing and washing properly.   A clean appearance shows who they are.  

I am Going to Throw You

Mark Tui explains that they focus on basics, like foot work and where to place your arms or hands.  He says many join the school to learn flashy move early in training.   He said “No” and basics come first.   Fale tells them “I am going to throw you”.   This is where the recruits learned their footwork.   Fale throws a few to the ground who did not have their legs set.   Those who keep their footing, he is not able to throw them to the ground.   

Nice to Meet You

Mark Tui goes to pick up another recruit at the airport.   His name is Sebastian Matters.  Fale saw potential in him.  He went to Japan but could not last one week.   He will be rejoining this recruiting class.

Oskar

Fale and Tony Kozina call a former student who is Germany, named Oskar Munchow.   He went to Japan and had problems there.  He was unable to keep up and did many 1000 squats.  Now in Germany, with the pandemic, many students are just stuck, waiting, getting frustrated.   Fale and Kozina were positive and tell Oskar to not fall into bad habits and be patient.   The borders will open soon.  

Snapshot

Jake Taylor was spotlighted again.  During his first 3 months in the Fale Dojo, he felt everything was a test, from training to cleaning to acting in public to speaking in Japanese.  

Back at the Dojo, Fale addresses everyone to continue training properly.  They are dressed in uniforms and take photos for the New Japan press.  

Taylor says he grew up in a big family and everyone had to do their part.  He says that is what Fale-San expects from them.   If one person makes a mistake, then all are punished because they should have helped that person to not make that mistake.

Mark Tui says everyone does everything together and there will be arguments and fights.  But it is a part of the company because when they get in the ring with someone then they need to know what they can and cannot do.

I’ve Chosen Wrestling 

The recruits are playing basketball at the Otahuhu Leisure Centre in South Auckland.  

Jake Taylor was asked about the hardest lesson that professional wrestling has taught him.    He says “Uncertainty is the hardest thing in life”.   He says that there are no guarantees in life and uncertainty will cripple a person.  What matters is how you deal with it.   He tells the story of moving in together with his partner.  He then had to spend several months in New Zealand for training, and then going to Japan for nine months.  But he knew it was not going to work.  He said he would have married this person one day but it was all gone because he chose wrestling.

My Reality

Back on the basketball court, Michael Richards is speaking to the new recruits and telling them that whatever they do they must do it with 100% intensity. 

Jake Taylor speaks again saying that he and Oskar got to Japan and they would support each other through the experience.  He says getting to Japan was the greatest experience of his wrestling life.  It was also the most miserable experience of his wrestling life.   He problems with his Achilles’ tendon while training in the Japan.  If he favored his injury, he would be told to get out of the training.   He would go back to his room and just sit and be disappointed.   He understood why new wrestlers would quit.  But he made the promise to himself that he would not quit.   

He said what keeps him going is that this is the dream.  When he was growing up he would watch wrestling to escape from whatever is going on at home.  Now he has the chance to make his dream and his escape his reality.  And that is all he wants. He wants to be a professional wrestler.

Trainers:

Toks Fale

Tony Kozina

Mark Tui

Tangi Ropati

Recruits:

Tumanako “T” Te’i (new)

Perenise “Eli” Taito (new)

Warren Walters (new)

Will “Southside” Averil (Returning student)

Dan Peru (Returning student)

Michael Richards (Young lion)

AJ Visage (Returning student)

Lloyd Morgan (Returning student)

Richard Mulu (Returning student)

Andrew “A.V.” Villalobos (Young lion)

Jake Taylor (Young lion)

Sebastian Matters (Returning student)

Tim Hayden (new)

My review:

Another great episode.  Fale and Mark Tui were great at explaining why things were done in a specific way.   We forget as fans at times that this is a business and places like the Fale Dojo have to maintain a high level of quality and the wrestlers need to meet that level of quality. 

Jake Taylor’s stories were great because he spent time in the Japan Dojo.   As hard as Fale is as a trainer, Taylor said it was even harder in Japan, and the mental struggle was tough deal with.   Like with Michael Richards, I am a fan now of Jake Taylor and I will cheer for his success when he achieves his new reality. 

I really like how Kozina and Fale kept in touch with their students no matter where they were in the world, and give words of encouragement.  That shows how much they care about the students even as they send them out into the world.

Three episodes in and not one recruit was shown in a ring.  They are three weeks into training and they are still working on conditioning, stretching and the basics.  Awesome stuff.

Thanks for reading.


 

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