DAIGO UMEHARA - The Will to Keep Winning

Shogakukan eBooks

The Will to Keep Winning

Daigo Umehara

Table of Contents

Chapter
The Road to the World Championship

An Isolated Childhood

My Sister's Influence Rubs Off The New Class Boss

Lessons from My Father

Memorizing the Preamble Letting It All Go

The Arcade

Left Out Again

Climbing onto the World Stage Crowned the World's Best How I Did It

Chapter
Taking Some Time Away From the Game

Withdrawing from Games

Choosing Mahjong

Training at Mahjong

Mastering Mahjong

Earning Respect

What I Learned

Beyond Conventional Strength Regrets

Working in Nursing Care Life without Competition Reuniting with Games

Showdown in Shinjuku

Umehara Is Back!

Chapter
Why I Love Fighting Games

Going Pro

Rematch at EVO

Signing Up

Everyone Has Doubts

My Appreciation for Games

Chapter
Sustainable Goals and Personal Growth

Childhood Dreams and Aspirations You Don't Need a Dream

The Joy of Having Something You Love Spreading Yourself Too Thin Going for Four

Never Work Until It Hurts Quality over Quantity

Distinguish between Goals and Objectives Continued Growth Is the Goal Can You Keep It Up for Ten Years?

The Future of the Band

Wait for Your Moment

Creating a Sustainable Routine My Routine

Stick to Your Routine, in Moderation Five Steps at a Time

Better than Winning a World Championship Lessons from the Dumpling Lady Life with No Days Off

Chapter
Keep Evolving to Keep Winning

Why Losers Can't Win

Maintain Balance

The Power of Exploring

Take Notes

Never Stop Thinking

Growth Implies Change

Work on Your Weaknesses Don't Overthink, Change There Is No Winning Strategy Don't Take the Easy Path There Are No Shortcuts

Target Uncharted Territory You Don't Own Your Strategies Don't Play Dirty

Overreliance on Reads Hinders Growth Focus on Your Opponent

Challenge the Conventional Wisdom Failure As an Indicator of Progress Outside Opinions Don't Matter Concentration

Choose the Most Competitive Game Skill without Imitation The Moment of Happiness

Chapter
Staying On Top

Staying In My Prime

Stay Young at Heart

Play the Day After Winning Number One Can Never Run Feeling Alive

Keep Climbing

Luck

Like a Chinese War General

Shogakukan Inc.

2-3-1 Hitotsubashi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-8001 Japan

Copyright 2016 Daigo Umehara ISBN 978-4-09-388486-0

www.shogakukan.co.jp/en/company

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used, reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For more information, contact Shogakukan Inc.

Publisher: Mamoru Ito (Shogakukan Inc.) First Edition, July 6, 2016

Printed in Japan

Translator: Doug Durgee

Designer: Yuichi Watabe (Tio)

Editorial Consultants: Benjamin Boas, Christopher Sedgwick Coordinators: Shino Imao, Anna Sakagawa, Kay Matsuoka Proofreader: George Bourdaniotis

Editors: Tony Gonzalez, T. Christopher Kusuda (Shogakukan Inc.)

You must understand that there is more than

one path to the top of the mountain.

Miyamoto Musashi, A Book of Five Rings

August 1, 2004Pomona, California. I'm at California Polytechnic State University for the 2004 Evolution Championship Series, EVO for short. Held once a year, EVO is the world's premier fighting game tournament, bringing together the world's most talented gamers and watched by fighting game fans worldwide.

The halls are teeming with rabid American game fans. The venue is shrouded in an uncanny fervor, echoing with a non-stop din of applause amidst the curtained darkness. Cheers and screams resound at the completion of each round.

I am vying for the title of World Champion in Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike , one of nine games in that year's tournament. Having advanced to the semifinals, my next opponent is America's best: Justin Wong. We are about to engage in what will prove to be the de facto championship battle, since immortalized asEVO Moment #37,orThe Daigo Parry.

The Moment comes in the third round of the first game. Justin and I have both taken one round apiece. I'm playing Ken, and Justin's Chun-Li has me trapped in a corner. He has beaten my life gauge down to a single remaining block; if he lands any attack, even if he forces me to block a special move, it will mean a KO.

The American champion picks his shot and goes in for the kill, unleashing Chun-Li's Houyoku Sen Super Art in the hopes of chipping away at my health as I guard. A solitary voice yelling,Let's go, Justin!carries over the crowd, reflecting everyone's assurance of a Chun-Li victory. Still, even with my back against the wall, I remain unfazed.

I use parriesa special way of blocking opponent attacks and special moves without taking any chip damageto individually deflect all sixteen of Chun-Li's kicks, even pulling off a jumping parry for the final high kick in her combo. I link the last parry into a jumping kick, followed by a sweep, then a Shoryuken . By the time I finish with Ken's own Super Art, Shippu Jinraikyaku , culminating in a Chun-Li KO, the whole hall is on its feet, applauding and cheering at this inconceivable turn of events.

A stunned announcer sums it up well:Unbelievable!

I remember feeling the pressure as I watched my life gauge dwindle, thinking this might be the end. But when he had me in that corner, I entered into a Zen-like focus, prepared to do whatever it took. I couldn't even hear the surrounding cheers, building to a crescendo as I successfully parried each hit in the combo. Only the sounds of the game rung clear.

I could sense that Justin was eager to end the match. I figured that he'd expect a win by pulling out his big move, the Houyoku Sen . But I knew that ifjust ifI could pull off a full parry I could catch him off guard. So I lay in wait, and sure enough he took the bait. My hands moved as if possessed, and when I came back to myself Chun-Li was down. It wasn't until then that the screams from the crowd finally reached my ears.

The match made a big wave online as well, reaching more than twenty million views worldwide. And so, the name Daigo Umehara became known across the globe.

* * *

You may be wondering how I got there. Unlike many world-class competitors in other competitive ventures, I never set out to be the world's best. I became World Champion while still only seventeen years old out of a personal sense of urgency. Games provided a self-confidence I lacked and helped me control my emotions.

Still, there are a few underlying reasons for how I made it this far. In this book, I'll share with you how I became the world's best, how to put in the effort needed to win competitions, and what I've learned by making it to the topand staying there.

While eSports might seem to be a niche form of competition, they share many common themes with other activities. Interacting and competing with others, clear winloss results, the planning and effort needed to excelthese all translate well to issues we confront every day. Competitive gaming won't teach you all the life skills you'll need, but what I have learned in my ongoing pursuit of success has helped me immensely.