Allusion Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 (edited) My Bootcamp with the Osaka Crew Bucko here. I took a sarging road trip to Osaka this past weekend with my friend Benetton. First a little background. I've been active in pickup for the last couple of years, but mostly it's been in the way of theory, with not nearly enough application. I have made progress and lately the quality of girls in my life is definitely going up. I've met girls whom I probably would have tried to rope into a long-term relationship not long ago, but these days I feel like I need to keep pushing until I get what I really want. I'm making some great new friends/wings too. Still, Tokyo doesn't give me the chance to get out as often as I'd like, and I sometimes rely on the energy of my friends to help me get motivated. When it comes to PUA theory, I've read and watched quite a lot - DavidD, RSD, Mystery, BradP, and my favorite, Pickup101, with whom I took a course and a bit of fieldwork in San Francisco. That said, I know enough to recognize the difference between guys who think they're PUAs (which, in Japan, is, like, every guy!) and guys who really are PUAs (which, in Japan, is, like, a couple dozen?). There is a great divide between them, but it may be a bit difficult to recognize at first, especially since there are a lot of new faces in the PUA biz these days. I figured Osaka Crew was one of these new faces, but since they put together a pretty homepage, and they're here in Japan, I made them an offer and wanted to give them a shot. I set up a one-day bootcamp with them and brought along my wing Benetton from Tokyo to see what these Osaka upstarts had to offer. At worst, I'd get to take a trip to one of my favorite places and do some sarging. My expectations were pretty low. Let me say flat out, my expectations were FAR exceeded. On Friday night I met up with an online girl in Kyoto. She proved to be a bit of a disappointment, but we had some nice food and she let me crash at her place, with breakfast the next day. Sweet girl, and I was charged up for some day game. I met up with Benetton in Osaka and we headed to Shinsaibashi. We got there an hour early and walked around the loooong shopping road, and down to Dotonbori where I opened my first set - a couple of 20-ish chicks eating tako-yaki. Turns out they were from Tokyo and just arrived themselves. They were cute and friendly and looked like they didn't want us to go. But we had a date with RedpoleQ and Allusion (I'll call them R&A), and I had "gotten in my first set." I was ready to rumble. I've seen enough PUAs to know they are often not what I would expect. They come in all shapes and sizes and very very few of them could be labeled as "studs" in the traditional sense. I wouldn't want them to be, because then I could pass off their success to their looks. Don't take this the wrong way guys, but I was happy that RedpoleQ and Allusion are no exception. They're decent-looking dudes, but neither is blessed with model looks or the body of a pro athlete. RedpoleQ is a somewhat short and small-framed black guy with a 'fro, and Allusion is a short Asian dude (I'll keep his background secret). Without their flash sense of style, neither guy would turn many heads, and this is the truth. So when they met us at Shinsaibashi, I was glad because I knew if these guys had skills, it would be easy to see, not hidden behind good looks and overt alpha-ness. We went to McD's to talk game and define our goals. I should add that two days before, these two guys had spent almost an hour with me on the phone, and exchanged numerous emails with me inquiring about my and Benetton's preferences, goals, and skill-sets. They really wanted to get to know us and it was a lot of fun telling them. These guys wanted to do a kick-ass job of giving us what we wanted. We finished lunch and moved on to an accessories shop to get some bling for Benetton. I'm pretty happy with my image, but I did pick up a couple of cool little lizard rings that would come in handy later in the day. So enough of the dolling up, I wanted to work some sets. I asked R&A to take us to a place with lots of quality girls. So we went to OPA. . . //OPA Girlie mall// girls: SkiHat, Escalator We started our sarging at a mall called OPA, which is like a mini version of 109 in Tokyo, i.e. nothing but girlie shops and a big magnet for the "gyaru" types, but also for very hot young ladies in general. I was feeling out of my element and with memories of how lost I've felt walking through 109, wanting to approach, but not doing it, I was negatively anchoring. But RedpoleQ and Allusion opened some girls here and there with high energy and good fun. RedpoleQ is a bundle of energy, and is so much that fun girls can't help but break into smiles around him. R&A also had friends (ex-gfs) working in the building, so they were socially proofed and right at home. Seeking to get over the limiting belief of "it's not socially appropriate to talk to girls here" I first went into a lingerie shop with RedpoleQ who encouraged me to ask for something for my mother. (Haha!) I couldn't do it, I froze (which, I think, was his plan). We moved along and after that anything would have been easier, so I went in to chat with a striking, SkiHat-wearing shop attendant (a "hired gun") with blue contacts. I had nothing prepared so I complimented her on her SkiHat (wtf was she wearing that for? But it was cute.), and with RedpoleQ barking commands in English "lock in, ask her when her break is, stack forward," I plunged into previously unexplored areas of talk in a matter of minutes. I began to sweat. I asked SkiHat for her number. Hey why not. She said "chotto. . ." (as in, I can't do that here) so I wasn't getting it and I ejected with a handshake and a smile. Yet, you know what I learned? She was NICE. She never stopped smiling, she didn't look around for help, she didn't get offended, she liked being flirted with. I wiped my brow. As we were on the escalator, RedpoleQ told me to open a cute girl behind me. I did with "is that a 100 yen umbrella?" and, not for the second time of so many that day, I thought how nice girls are in Osaka. There seems to be a "low bitch shield" rule prevailing in that city. So EscalatorGirl is smiling but I have no plan. I point to her bag and say "wow, that's big, do you have a tent in there?" (RedpoleQ's line, good one) and she again smiles and asks me something. I'm not ready for such niceness. What to do? We get to the next floor and I just let her go. R&A say "dude, she bit, she was waiting for you!" This was apparently true. And I let her go. Not going to do that next time. I was not prepared for such a positive response. We take the Midosuji line up to Umeda for more sets. //Umeda station - Big Man// girls: RabbitCoat, BenettonSet In Osaka's kita (north) area, the Umeda station Big Man TV screen is a popular meeting place. As there are lots of non-moving targets, it's also a fine place for pick-up. I approached a very pretty young girl with "who are you waiting for?" busted on her RabbitCoat (This year fur trim is all over, and I hate it because I am vegetarian and a strong supporter of animal rights. Regrettably, it seems most HBs have them, and are predictably ignorant of the irony of how they love cute little animals and simultaneously contribute to their brutal and painful death; so this is a hurdle I have to surmount.) R&A taught me a good approach to use with fur - "inu desuka? nan-piki?" ("Is that made of dog? How many did it take?" it sounds funnier in Japanese.) Often it's fake fur so I ask them why they turned their favorite stuffed animal into a coat. Anyhow, RabbitCoat hears me out enough to take out her iPod earbuds (which I just kinda ignored, whatever she was listening to must have been quiet to non-existant). She said she was a uni student, and waiting for a friend and I prematurely slipped into rapport and Q&A. I was intimidated by her prettiness, didn't have rhythm. Her friend soon came in and was a lot genkier. Allusion came in and ran a cool magic trick which they watched rather passively. In all, a dull set, so we bade them goodbye. I joined in w/Benetton, who was running a more pleasant girl, also waiting for her friends. I don't recall much of the interaction. She was a bit older than my last set, late 20s. And her friends weren't so pretty but well presented and really eager to talk. Benetton seemed to be doing very well and had spiked the attraction. R&A were keeping the good vibe going. Everyone left with smiles and laughs, which I think is a good thing. //Benetton store// girls: TallStoreGirl The 4 of us went to Benetton (the store) in Umeda to get, well, Benetton (the PUA) some new duds (and in the process give him a PUA name), pimp him out a little. I never much liked the pastels and preppyness of Benetton (the store) but a couple of their colorful shirts looked really good on Benetton (the PUA). I needed to get in a sarge. I start in chatting with a TallStoreGirl working there. Again, she's a "hired gun" so she has to be nice but she was happy to be chatting and gave off some IOIs. Turns out she was 19. R&A asked me to do a palmreading to see some of my game and to analyze my body language. Afterward, they said that I was showing too much interest and doing some sort of gravity-defying lean-in. I'm not used to running game on tall girls (and with a critical audience), so that's probably part of why I was so on edge and doing gravity-defying maneuvers. I only defy gravity when I'm nervous. She was very playful and bright and perhaps I could have got her contact info, but instead, on R&As advice, I tried to time-bridge and set up a meeting after work. All in the name of game. She didn't bite. It was just nice talking and laughing with a sweet girl. Benetton (the PUA) was paid up and pimped out, so we moved along to Starbucks. //Starbucks// Dangit if Starbucks isn't the worldwide recognized leader not only in mindnumbingly repetitive café design and underwhelming coffee, but in drawing hot young ladies. Osaka's no different. And I'll give this one props because they have customers line up if they want a table, and they actually take you to your table. This is instead of that whole "I put a pack of tissues on the table so it's mine even if I just walked in and you've been waiting for half an hour" game that pervades in every other S'bux (and Tullys, and Dotour, etc. . .) that I've been to in Japan. girls: Young 2-set s, CanadianBackpackers While in line there was a pretty and short girl in rather unwieldy high heels. Banter, play, she loved it and enjoyed the laugh. Probably a high-schooler, giggly as anything, and friend soon joined. Is it this easy making all Osaka girls laugh? Are there no b*tch shields in this part of Japan? While I got my drink, R&A opened a pair of CanadianGirls weighed downs with heavy backpacks, very much the Foreign Girls. But upon being introduced into the set by RedpoleQ (who picked up on how the girls were going to Cambodia and remembered I had lived there; nice bit of winging), I see the shorter of the two is pretty cute. We find an immediate warm vibe, straight into rapport, and I flat out thank the girl for being so very pleasant to talk to. I might have even met her again if she was staying in town. She was quite doggy-bowled and I was quite "oh...right...talking to foreign girls can be nice too!" heeeeee, who knew... Gave her my email. Good kid. We sat down and I opened the young 2-set at the next table but it wasn't going anywhere. They were busy putting on makeup and after having a "normal human" conversation with the Canadians, it was hard to slip back into silly talk. R&A continued to rattle off advice and theory and story upon story. These guys never rest. It was getting around 6 p.m. and I was getting tired from all this talking. So it was very good timing when Kid44 joined us. Believe the write up of this guy on the Osaka Crew page. He is one strong-framed character. Kid44 has trained under and rolled with many of the big names in social dynamics, and it shows. And he doesn't seem to give a crap what anyone thinks, that's how confident he is in his frame. Like him or not, this guy has a lot to teach and I was surprised to see someone of this caliber in Osaka, Japan. R&A briefed Kid44 on what they'd seen from us so far before they split to take a rest before the evening, leaving me, Benetton, and our new guide Kid44. Off we went to an international party. Kid44 told us he wanted to see us work the room. Instead of the high energy, fun approach of R&A, Kid44 emits a vibe of "so why are you so special?" Very much like what I've seen from Mystery. Everywhere we go, he's saying hi to people, smiling at eveyone, all the while never breaking his loping stride. Following him was like chasing after the cat in the hat. Kid44 is unique and contagious and I took that frame to the party, immediately entering set from a high-value standpoint. //International party// girls: ChibiPair, AChan, Betterofthe3, more, not worth mentioning As for the party itself, there wasn't much to it actually. One pretty attractive approaching-30 girl (I got contact info, I think Benetton did too), a few OK and nice girls who were fun to play with, and a smattering of guys with no semblance of game who seemed to spend half the evening drinking and watching me and Benetton clean house. Thanks for the audience, guys. This is not bragging, just what happened. It was like dynamiting fish in a barrel. If Benetton has a longer FR about this, I'll leave it to him. I left with a handful of contacts but not much worth pursuing. Good practice and a good warmup. After the party, the 3 of us bounced to the Digmeout Café, a laid-back 24-hour, diner-style place, to get Kid44's breakdown of our performances. He asked me to name 3 things I did well, and some things I didn't do so well. It seemed like he was impressed with both of us, but I really would have liked to have seen him at work, and to have gotten his feedback in a more challenging/active place. That said, his advice cut to the point and, more significantly, the nuggets of PUA wisdom he passed on would stay with me. R&A rejoined us, Kid44 peeled off, and we again headed up to Umeda. //Sazae- night club// Sazae is a 3-floor dance club in Umeda with a very manageable scale - not too big and not too winding , but VIP seats, and plenty of corners to isolate. Also, a lot of hot club girls. I am not a big fan of the Club Girl but I realize that some club girls are not club girls but just nice girls who are in a club. OK, I'll be honest, clubs intimidate me, but I'm workin' on it OK? The clubs are where guys like RedpoleQ & Allusion come to life. They love it there and it shows. With them, we were able to cut the entrance queue on a chilly evening, for which I was grateful. They gave us a tour of the venue and sent us into set. girls: FirstTwo, Keitai, ChibiTouchy (and friends), AMOGDrinkWhore, BenettonSetIBlew, TallModels, Musty Girl FirstTwo Wish I could recall this set because it was my first and there were all sorts of things I tried to do before the girls ejected or something. Benetton may recall it better. What I do remember is that as soon as I was in, there was Allusion (actually it might have been RedpoleQ; I forgot), right over my shoulder, "get between them, spin her around, start talking about Benetton, bring him into set." This might seem a bizarre scenario that would just freak the girls out. . . wrong! They barely noticed. Not only that, I turned around a number of times to ask for Allusion for advice and the girls didn't seem to care. Who knew? It was a good warmup and I was feeling better. Keitai Saw a girl sitting and pounding away on her mobile so I went in and stuck my head in front of her phone. "You are being very antisocial. Here, give me your phone." She did. I sat next to her and stared entering the Japanese for "I am in a club. I just met a really handsome and cool white guy…" She liked it and we chatted for a bit, but she seemed to lose interest quickly, and was pulled away by friends. ChibyTouchy There was a group of about 5 college girls (ohhh yes!) out for a fun fun evening and darned if all of them weren't cute as anything and very very genki. Benetton had already opened and done well with their alpha girl (GreenShirt). She was tall, curvy, and very much to Benetton's liking. I somehow reengaged her later as she was talking to another friend, RabbitScarf (because she was wearing a wraparound fake black fur scarf thing, which would prove a very useful prop). RabbitScarf was pretty cute in the club light and easy to kino and talk with. I took her aside to a quieter spot and told her to put her scarf on me ( this dawned on me in set, and was something Kid44 had mentioned earlier in the evening, I think it's called a reverse lock-in and it's the first time I'd ever tried it on purpose), then just walked away to where B enetton was engaged with another of her friends. She of course had to come racing after me. I tell RabbitScarf to put her prop on Benetton , which she does. And sometime in all of this, an absofreakinglutely adorable little friend enters (she looks like this actress- http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Konishi_Manami). She is not highly made up, not overly accessorized, and has yet to develop attitude. S he couldn't have been over 155 cm. This is soooo my type and I was smitten. I quickly seized her, thrilled that this little girl had just entered my life and was happy to be there. There was no need for game. I just pulled her in to me. She didn't resist. We chatted for about 15 minutes and pulled her to a quiet corner. R&A popped in occasionally to tell me to try and escort her upstairs. She wouldn't go, but Benetton took RabbitScarf for a walk. So I'm vibing and heavily kino-ing with ChibyTouchy. I should have just kissed her but even though we were glued to each other almost from the first minute, she was 20 and I could tell she was overwhelmed by my aggressiveness and I know part of her compliance was a lack of familiarity with the situation. (i.e. the "so I guess this is what foreigners do?!" syndrome) Her friends, probably concerned for her, pulled her away but I had already gotten her info. AMOGBuyMeADrink She was not a whore, but her and her friends' strategy, along with the other 2 and 3-sets around the bar was to line up and wait for the JGuy chodes to roll in, buy them drinks, which gets them a phone number if the girls deem them worthy enough, and then roll on out. It was working well for these 3. The Leader (AMOGBuyMeADrink) was about a 9 by most guys' standards (8 in my book, since I'm not as into the really done-up girls with the requisite shorty shorts and long long eyelashes). Her friends were 7s at best, by anyone's standards. R&A said I had to approach. I know! I went in while another in the line of J-chodes was running his lack of game and hit up AMOGBuyMeADrink with "hey, is this nampa? This is so cool. I always wanted to learn to be cool at nampa!" The guy peeled off. "So, give me a nampa line." The girl was flustered but giggling almost deliriously, overwhelmed. "Uhhh, issho ni nomimasennka?" she said. "OK, I'm going to be cool nampa guy." I stepped back did a Lance Mason-style lookaway and turnback, puffed out my chest all cool-like and came in with, "Hellooooo ladies! Issho ni nomimasenka?" AMOGBuyMeADrink busts out laughing and AMOGBuyMeADrinkFriend is just like "eeeh? Wtf is this?" I should have then tried to win over the friend but she was backturned so I persisted with AMOGBuyMeADrink. I shook her hand, introduced myself, spun her out, stole her place at the bar, and locked in, creating what R&A seemed to think was my prize moment of the evening - a hot HB9 clubgirl standing in the middle of the floor looking absolutely flustered and disoriented, laughing helplessly as I busted on her for being tricked out of her spot at the bar. This was not a place she was used to. I noticed Benetton nearby so I pushed her over in his direction to try and win over the friends. Now, what I should have done, as R&A pointed out later, was talked up Benetton before I sent the girl over. But it was all kind of confusing and thrilling at the same time and I was not very much in my head. Now, somewhere in all of this, a couple of J-chodes had wandered in. RedpoleQ took this opportunity to put on a school of overwhelming and humiliating AMOG destroying. He jumped on the 2 guys with a burst of energy, grabbing them, slapping them, complimenting them, wrapping them up in his frame. Man, he looked like Jet Li. I busted out laughing. The guys were overwhelmed, happy, and just plain confused. And not only did they look like absolute dopes, they did not speak to the girls again. But somewhere along the way, AMOGBuyMeADrink had signaled for backup and was now with a tall, strapping, and very handsome J-guy who said "these are my friends" and boxed in the girls. After RedpoleQ's inspiring piece of work, I could not have this. "Hey man!" I introduced myself. "Woow, you are a good looking guy. Girls he is handsome! You look like a foreigner. Are you half black?" He was beside himself with happiness about the compliments. Another very handsome J-dude came in and tried to AMOG me and he got the same heaping praise. AMOGBuyMeADrink is again babbling with confusion. I am still in set. The J guys were happy and liked me, but they were not leaving, so I ejected. Numerous times I looked over again and AMOGBuyMeADrink was smiling right back at me. I should have re-entered. BenettonSetIBlew This was a lesson to me - don't enter wing's set too soon. Benetton opened a 2-set at the bar - decent looking club-type girls. He was doing well, and honestly, I noticed that AMOGBuyMeADrink was watching from nearby and wanted to give her something to watch. So I went uninvited with a spin move on the one Benetton was not talking too. Bad move by me because for all appearances I may have just been some AMOG. I need to work with my wing. Something happened and they bailed. Sorry B enetton. I'll be better next time bro. Thing is, without R&A, I would not have known what I'd done wrong. I would not have even been in that set. TallModels R&A mentioned to me there were possible racequeens in the venue. One of my ultimate goals is get a racequeen and I felt the sweats coming on because I knew I would have to open them or I would be a big loser. I spotted the pair once, both standing around 180 cm in their heels and looking very very sharp. Was I really going to open them? Argh! Gotta do it. Benetton, I, and R&A went upstairs and, before I had time to react, there they were - the possible racequeens. "Hey wait!" I started in with and held out my hand to stop them. "This fashion is not going to work." I said, trying to grin. I was closest to TMLargeNose and thus talking to her. "Are you a designer?" she said. I think I said yeah. (bad move, as we'll see) Benetton quickly moved in on the other TM, the prettier one, probably a 9.5 if not a 10, and seemed to be doing really well. My girl was intrigued. I told her to turn around for me so I could check out her fashion, which she did. I should have gotten off of that thread immediately because I knew I had to be powerful in this frame if I was going to spike the attraction, and I did not have anywhere to take it. The two of them were in fact TallModels. I commented on her height and how her belt and shoes were not a good match, all while smiling, but it seemed like she was honestly looking to me for fashion advice (ha!). Something clicked and I saw I'd lost her. A snap, a moment, but her interest vanished. She grabbed her friend and they dashed off downstairs leaving in their wake a dazed looking me, a broadly grinning Benetton, and R&A who enjoyed the heck out of the interaction and congratulated us on our boldness. After that, anything would be easy, which brings me to... MustyGirl Saw her from the back - short, stylish, skimpy club gear exposing shoulders, standing next to the dancefloor. I go in, tap her on the shoulder "Hey, you're not dancing. And you're not going to make any friends standing here by yourself. Here I'll show you how to be sexy." I don't know how much of this she understood but I was physical and she was smiling. Very cute face and nice body. She's also giving off a healthy dose of BODY ODOR. Thus the monicker. She must have had a long day. Turns out she's also standing next to TallFriend, who is friendly and speaks a bit of English. I go into banter with TallFriend and I notice Benetton in my periphery. I introduce him to MustyGirl and start to sell TallGirl on Benetton's qualities because I think he's going to like her. And I like MustyGirl. Somewhere in there Benetton has also been selling me and how I was on TV because all of a sudden MustyGirl is clinging to me and asking about my TV commercials. I try to shrug it off because getting a girl to like you for your job or money is weak (i.e. J-guy) game, but she keeps pressing me. She hadn't even seen my commercials and I realize it really wasn't so much that I'd been on TV, but that Benetton had sold me so well. So he engages TallGirl, I take back MustyGirl. The 2 of us sit down and I go into a bit of rapport but she's easily distracted and it's loud. So I tell her to kiss me. She thwaps me but she's also really happy. I do a magic trick (disappearing cigarette) for her and she just loves it. That gets me a kiss on the cheek. I do a couple of other things and keep it light with lots of kino. Trying for the kiss, but she won't do it even though obviously enjoying the attention, and I push her away every time she refuses. Great tension. She notices TallGirl is gone (and so is Benetton) and it's 03:30 with the lights going up. I've already got her contact at this point. Try to bounce her for food but she's not going without her friend. So we part. Spot her again on the way out and she extends her hand with a big smile. Wow, she's cute. (btw, I did mail her the next day to meet for okonomiyaki, but she said she was busy, though she's eager to keep in touch. She'll be taking a good shower too if we ever wind up in the same bedroom.) Thank you MustyGirl for the nice closure on a marathon of sarging. The four of us bounce back to Digmeout to recap. There are a few nice sets in there, but I do not have the energy to approach. Lame, I know. But I was still feeling good about the number of sets I approached and the terrific stuff I learned in this 17-hour marathon of sarging. Incidentally, I only had a couple of drinks the whole night, and those were juice-based, I smoked no cigarettes, and as a result, at 6 a.m., though I was tired, I was not wiped. If anything, I felt better than 12 hours before. I dragged my butt to an internet café for some well-earned shuteye. There are plenty more details I left out of this, and a few more sets too. It would be impossible to chronicle everything that went down. Let me just say, I left Osaka with a lot more than I expected, some great new strategy, and a very bright view and eagerness to keep building my game. Thanks a ton guys, you were great! The end. -Bucko in Tokyo Edited July 18, 2007 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 24, 2016 Share Posted August 24, 2016 Nice post, Bucko. I managed to read the whole thing, unfortunately not allowing for much time to read Benneton's post. But, since you both took the time to contribute the first posts to this forum, I'm congratulating you on being thorough. I hope you tear it up in Tokyo like you did in Osaka that night! I'd like to say more, but I'll comment on only one aspect. I couldn't agree more with the "don't buy girls drinks" motto. I hate when you hit on a girl and she's like, "My throat's dryyyy..." Yeah, right, mine is too, bitch, the bar's over there. However, when I was new to picking up, although I still never bought girls drinks, they would make me feel like I should've. Being cheap and without any sex, date, or even mail contact guarantees, the results have always been the same. Only now I don't feel bad about it. the JGuy chodes to roll in, buy them drinks I quote this for the purpose of discussion. I have seen these losers (or studly bitch-layers, however you see them) buy drinks for girls who previously didn't talk to me because I didn't buy them drinks. You can never buy just one girl a drink, you have to buy a round for her friends, too. So, if you do buy a drink, you're a good 4000 in the hole. However, you do usually buy some talk time with the girl. Having never done this, I can't speak from experience, but from observing Japanese guys, they usually get the girl's contact info and introduce all their friends to the girls' friends. I'm not ruling out that I'd never buy a girl a drink. If her looks were at a level correlating to hotness I see only a few times a year, and if she were interested in me and seeming like she were going to stick around, I'd consider it. I might as well try it once. Why not? The Japanese guys do it with some (assumed) success. What about you? When do you think it'd be beneficial to buy a girl a drink? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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