Mahjong Pro - Visualizing the Amazingness of Professionals
Click HERE for the original article on Fukuchi Makoto's A Former Tenhou Meijini Blog.
*Translation of the original article start below*
After the end of today's M League draft, I want someone tomato this happen:
To make a demo video displaying how amazing professional Mahjong players actually are.
For example, being able to see what the waits are for a Chin-Itsu within 1 second.
Or memorizing all the discards from the previous game.
Or memorizing the Te-Dashi (Discard tiles coming out of a hand) and Tsumo-Giri (Discard tiles that come from the immediate draws) for 100 turns.
Or prepare 10 questions from something like a Uzaku-Book (G-Uzaku is a co-author that works with Fukuchi Makoto for What Would You Discard type books), and being able to answer immediately like a simulator.
Or Chi-ing something, and being able to answer all the possible Manzu/Character tile waiting patterns when discarding the 3 Man/Character.
Or being able to play an entire game with the tiles faced down, because the can memorize all their initial tiles at the start of the game.
Or being able to answer the point requirements to change placements at Orasu/All Last immediately by looking at the total points from all 4 players.
Or having a really high accuracy of reading the remaining tiles in the walls.
Or having a really high accuracy of how likely they are able to win a hand by looking at the initial 13/14 tiles at the start of the game.
Or being able to invision their final winning hand by looking at the initial 13/14 tiles at the start of the game.
It can be a demo video, or even a variety show.
The commentator can be any professional player too.
If people see this, they will understand how amazing these group of professionals actually are.
If this can't happen over night, it's ok to train for a month or so.
The main thing to display here, is to show the amateur players how difficult these things are.
I beleive what is missing from the Mahjong professionals right now, is the lack of demonstrating how amazing they actually are.
Because of the nature of the game, the strongest player does not necessarily win all the time, so they can show their actual skills, and not the end result.
If they do something along this line, I think even I will take my hat off and have a fresh mindset towards them.
To be honest, I want something like this to be part of the pro test.
The word professional itself will have an even more convincing meaning just by doing that.
Translation of the Tweet:
by @SAM_BUNJI
to @fukuchinko
When Hiroshi Kume (Well known announcer in Japan) was on News Station (Well known news show in Japan) back in the day, Janki was on TV. They were showing all the cheating tricks on TV with confidence, and I loved that about Janki! I want to see skills like that.
23:54 - August 6th, 2018
Check out other Tweets by SAM_BUNJI
If I'd give an extereme logic, it doesn't even have to be about Mahjong.
For example, there is a story where a Shogi player plays a card game called "Dai-Hin-Min", they can memorize all the cards felt, and which showcases their skills at the highest level.
Or a person is shown a video with a bunch of birds flying, but they can count how many birds were in the video with their eyes closed.
Translation of the Tweet:
by @yo_kokaicho
to @fukuchinko
In that sense, Janki-Ryu is amazing!
They are so fast and so strong!
0:25 - August 7th, 2018
Check out other Tweets by yo_kokaicho
Translation of the Tweet:
by @higeme
to @fukuchinko
That is so true! Shogi Pros can see ten steps ahead, or showcase some acrobatic moves, and can make amateurs feel that "there is no way they can beat a pro". The thing with Mahjong is that there are cases where people misunderstand without the help of a commentator, and that leads to amateurs thinking a certain pro is "really weak".
0:44 - August 7th, 2018
Check out other Tweets by higeme
Translation of the Tweet:
by @komacchan0822
to @fukuchinko
When it comes to Shogi, professionals are able to impact people who don't know about Shogi by memorizing the Ki-Fu (Track record of all the turns in a Shogi game) or play blindfolded, and I hope this can be done in Mahjong too.
0:50 - August 7th, 2018
Check out other Tweets by komacchan0822
Translation of the Tweet:
by @blue_mary0231
to @fukuchinko
Or something like saying that I can Mou-Pai (Being able to know what tile it is by feeling the engraving) with my ring finger!
Or saying that I play with my right hand during "regular mode", but if I play with my left hand when in "serious mode", my chances of drawing needed tiles increases!
1:08 - August 7th, 2018
Check out other Tweets by blue_mary0231
Translation of the Tweet:
by @nokuro7700
to @fukuchinko
How about a project where all players have headphones on, and they explain what they are thinking of during their play?
2:45 - August 7th, 2018
Check out other Tweets by nokuro7700
Translation of the Tweet:
by @tsukunenn
to @fukuchinko
Here's a great idea. Do it with UNO.
If you play with all Mahjong professionals, it becomes really hard to win when it comes down to the very last card. This is because the way you read the hands is the same as Mahjong. This is because the percentage of them being able to avoid certain colors and numbers is much higher compared to normal people.
10:26 - August 7th, 2018
Check out other Tweets by tsukunenn
Translation of the Tweet:
by @chuuya0427
to @fukuchinko
I totally agree because it really is difficult to explain how amazing professional Mahjong players really are.
It seems like a lot of the sponsors make it their job to explain these things, so I think it is very possible, and I really wish they will do it.
20:51 - August 7th, 2018
Check out other Tweets by chuuya0427
Translation of the Tweet:
by @Suda_Yoshiki
to @fukuchinko
I can Mou-Pai all tiles with my middle finger.
18:03 - August 10th, 2018
Check out other Tweets by Suda_Yoshiki