Real Western > Rodeo > Japanese Rodeo Cowboys > Makoto Sekido

  

Real Rodeo Cowboys in Japan...
MAKOTO SEKIDO
BORN: 1974 in Komatsu City, Ishikawa Pref. Japan
HT: 5'7" WT: 176 lbs
Favorite Bullrider: Tuff Hedeman
Known as "Mac" Makoto Sekido spends only enough time in Japan to save enough money, then heads to the U.S. to attend various rodeo schools, and to ride in PRCA (Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association) and WCB (World Cup Bullriders) events.  He continuously repeats the cycle in pursuit of his dream of one day becoming a professional bullrider.  Here is his real story.
In an effort to become a professional bullrider, Mac headed for the U.S. once again on July 19th, 2000.  In the "Mac Rodeo Magazine" we will post reports sent to us from him in real time, just following what ever feats or adventures he may have encountered.
Braking three ribs at a PRCA show last year, Mac has recently revived his run for the pros, and in Vol. 3 we will revisit Mac for his latest escapades as they are sent.!

Photo

Mac Rodeo Magazine Vol.1 JUN - FEB 2000

Mac Rodeo Magazine Vol.2 JUL - OCT 2000

Mac Rodeo Magazine Vol.3 SEP - OCT 2001

Mac Rodeo Magazine Vol.4 FEB 5 - 10, 2003
Recently, Real Western received a note from England.  The sender was a producer for the World renowned "Personal Journey" series on CNN.  They had read the English versions of Mac Rodeo Magazine carried on this site, and were interested in doing a story on the cowboy aspiring to be a professional rodeo man, Mac Sekido himself.   Mac Rodeo Magazine Vol. 4 is an account of the filming for that program.
You can watch the short video on Personal Journey. Select 45 Sekido Makoto. You can also download the video.

Mac Rodeo Magazine Vol.5 SEP - OCT, 2003

Written by Sekido Makoto.
Translated by Randy S. Reese Jr.

SEP 16, 2003

I hope all readers are faring well in this autumn heat.  Well, in order to satisfy the want of some of my dedicated fans, I have decided to restart Mac Rodeo Magazine once again.  I apologize for the long delay in doing so, but I do have reasons for this which will become clear later.

On the 2nd of September, I flew into Phoenix, Arizona to visit with Kitagawa, an old college friend of mine, and on the 4th I flew to North Carolina to enroll in one of the Rodeo Schools being put on there by Lyle Sankey.  I had such a gap in time since the last time I rode that I decided to start out by relearning the basics.

Class began on Friday at 0800 with a check of the student's gear and instruction on basic movement and we began riding bulls for real in the afternoon.  Due to the fact that there were so many participants in the school, coupled with the fact that over half of them were novice or first timers, I didn't get to ride as many head as I hoped.  I did ride two head, but was unable to cover either on the first day.

Come day two of the school, I was bucked off my first bull in the morning, but was able to go the entire eight seconds on an easy one in the afternoon, and had hoped to keep the momentum going when tragedy struck.  I was stepped-on by the bull after I came off, and after seven or eight hours in the hospital I was finally told I had broken two ribs and that it would take about two months to heal.  Well, this makes it the fifth time I have broken ribs, with a grand total of 11 broken so far, but I guess I shouldn't be joking...

This one really hit me hard since I wasn't planning on returning to Japan until the 30th of October, but I was told the bones would begin reattaching in about a month, so I hope to get a renewed start come the beginning of October.

I'm resting and recovering in Phoenix right now, but still go to the gym to keep in shape as much as I can without inflicting pain on myself.

As such, Mac Rodeo Magazine will have to take a short brake until I get back on my feet, but I hope to keep the spin-off, Mac Magazine, in print in the mean time.

Well then, until next time.

A Rodeo Cowboy under medical treatment
Mac Magazine Vol.1 (without rodeo)

Written by Sekido Makoto.
Translated by Randy S. Reese Jr.

SEP 17, 2003

Hello all.  It's time for the inaugural edition of Mac Magazine.

This is the seventh time I've been to the U.S., but since all of my time has been spent rodeoin' I never did anything that resembled site seeing or tourism.  However, with tongue in cheek I say that thanks to my injury, I have plenty of time to enjoy the sites and life in the U.S.

Last Saturday, I got up early in the morning and the Kitagawas took me out to Lake Apache, located in the greater Phoenix area.  We took the highway part way, but as soon as we left the highway it was country roads (although such roads have an appeal all their own), but as we traveled further, we had to go up mountain roads that were left unpaved.  Now, I say `mountain' but we are talking a scene where boulders are out in the clear and all about, with little vegetation except for the cactus; a truly Arizonian environment
to say the least.  According to Kitagawa, the scene was much similar to that which one would see climbing up the Grand Canyon from the canyon floor.  Although, I myself have never done it, so I will have to refrain from commenting.  What I can say though, is that the scene was nothing short of spectacular, what with the deep blue sky above, and an even darker blue lake surrounded by rock and stone.

In the afternoon, we took in an Arizona State football game, the team which Kitagawa serves as a trainer for.  I had seen a few games in the past, but the scale of game at a major school is just amazing no matter how many times I see it.

The next day we went back to the stadium, this time to take in an NFL game between the local Arizona Cardinals and the Seattle Seahawks.  Neither of the teams were my favorite, but being that this was my first time to see an NFL game, along with the fact that Emmett Smith, a great player previously of the Dallas Cowboys, had relocated to the Cardinals did help to excite me quite a bit before the game.

Kitagawa called in some hook-ups he had, and we were able to get into the stadium through the back entrance, weaving and bobbing the cheerleaders that were warming up back there as we went.

Kick-off wasn't until 1300, and with the heat so intense I ended up shirtless after a bit, and though alcohol is not the best thing for you when you're injured, I did cave-in and have one beer.  The game wasn't the greatest ever played, but because it wasn't, much of the crowd began leaving early and Kitagawa and I were able to watch the end of the game from only three rows back.  And what a sight it was!

Tomorrow (Wednesday) morning, I'm going to get a check-up at the hospital, then it's straight to Texas from there.  I plan to spend a few days at old man Gibbfs place, then on Sunday I'm heading off to Beirut, Lebanon via London.

Well, see ya next time.

OCT 7, 2003

Well, the long awaited second part of Mac Magazine is finally here.  There may be rumors I've died floating around, but to the contrary I am alive and well.  This issue had to be delayed because as soon as I got back from Beirut, the Gibbs' computer broke.

At a bit past noon on the 16th of September, I left Phoenix by car, drove through New Mexico and in to Texas and the Gibbs' place.  I only had to cross one state, so you may be thinking it was an easy task; but this is the United States, and just for this one trip, I logged a thousand miles.  And that's not all; out there on the Arizona-New Mexico line, there's an area surrounded by nothing but hills and nothing but wide open road ahead.  Surrounded by such a monotonous scene, I failed to pay attention to the speedometer, and before I knew it I was doing 100 m/hr on a 75 m/hr road; as luck (bad luck I guess) would have it, I was stopped by a cop and charged a fine of 325 dollars.

The Gibbs and I enjoyed a brief reunion, our first since February, then at 1700 on the 21st, I headed off to Beirut as mentioned in the previous volume.  It was supposed to be some kind of awards ceremony with the dress code a tuxedo, so it was not without some reason that I thought the film I was featured in may have won some kind of award and was a bit excited.

We landed in Beirut at eight in the evening the next day, met up with the series producer, as well as some folks who were featured in the Brazilian, British and Greek versions, headed to the hotel were it was a quick beer and off to bed for me.

The 23rd was spent sightseeing in Beirut.  You mention Beirut and most people are likely to envision rough images of war and terrorism, but I was surprised to see how quickly this historic country had repaired the scars of war, and though some still remained, it reminded me of cities in Europe.

We were treated to a traditional Lebanese lunch in a restaurant near the ocean, but I have to say it just didn't fit my taste.

The morning of the 24th was spent rehearsing for the ceremony along with folks from Mozambique and New York, who had arrived that morning.  That was were I was first told of what the ceremony was about.  It turns out, the whole to-do was to award areas in the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe who have shown high sales of Johnny Walker, and we were there as the presenters of the awards.  The ceremony wasn't until eight, so I enjoyed a bit of shopping and the famous mid-East water pipe before going back in to the hall.

The ceremony's name was in lights outside the building it was to be hosted in, and women who must have been models manned the reception desk.  The room was separated into two parts, and we had a few drinks in one part while we waited for the ceremony to begin, then later we were led to our tables.  The host strode out on the stage, then there was some local song and dance, followed by the first few announcements of award winners.  As my own turn to present crept near, I was called backstage, then, after a shot of me was shown on the big screen, I strode down a set of stairs to the stage, basked in a spotlight.  The nominees were shown on the screen, I was handed a card and announced to the crowd "The winner is, ****!" then handed the winner a trophy, and after they had finished their speech, we strode down a catwalk, like you see at fashion shows, and off the stage.  It's not that I dislike stage events, but being that was the first time I had worn a tuxedo and the fact that I had to do this in from of 400 odd people made me sweat profusely.

The ceremony continued on 'till sometime past midnight, and though I had to checkout of the hotel and be on my way at 7:30 the next morning, I managed to enjoy a good time until about four in the morning.

A Sequel to Mac Rodeo Magazine Vol.5

Written by Sekido Makoto.
Translated by Randy S. Reese Jr.

OCT 26, 2003

Howdy folks!  Sorry for the wait; Mac Rodeo Magazine is back.  However, because I am due to leave the U.S. on the 31st of October, this may be the last issue I write from the states.

I am told the injuries will require several months to heal completely, but since they have started to reattach themselves, I have begun lifting weights and getting myself in shape in Phoenix, deciding to risk it all on one rodeo the last weekend I am here.

Some of you may have tired of reading about this, but I had another documentary filming to do, and entered Texas early in the morning on the 15th of October.

It was supposed to be five days of shooting starting on the 15th, but since I wanted to spend as much time as possible getting myself in shape without injury or re-injury, we decided to focus this shoot on filming my daily activities outside the arena, and a few interviews.  They've said they are eventually going to film in Japan also, so I hope I can interest them in filming some of the Japanese rodeo scene.

On the 19th, last day of shooting, Mr. Gibbs was able to arrange a slot for me in the "Bulls, Babes & Bikinis" event down in Gonzales, TX.  When I got to the location, I was surprised to see a high level of competition, to included the 1996 PBR Finals Champion, Ronnie Kitchens.  Although I was able to draw "55" of the Gibbs string, I couldn't keep up with his spin, lost my footing and bucked right off.  The ride itself, of course, wasn't good by any means, but I was pleased to notice no pain in my ribs, which was a major concern for me going into the event.

The 20th found me riding in a practice event in George Town, TX.  The first bull I drew was a hard kicking jumper, but I was able to make eight.  I only made about 5 or 6 seconds on "Shorty" my second bull, but it was a good enough ride that many of the cowboys there wanted to talk about it later, and I was able to get some of my feel back concerning the tightness of my rope, squeeze with my legs and shifting my weight.

I was hopping to keep this run of good luck going to the weekend, but, the very next day on my first draw, a bull named "Melon Head" I was thrown to the ground and kicked, cutting my jaw, twisting my neck a bit and bruising my chest.  So, I decided to play it safe and just did light exercise in the gym until the 24th.

Today, the 25th, I am riding in the Kicker's Corner 30th Anniversary Bull Riding in San Antonio, tomorrow, the 26th, I am wrapping it all up with the Relief Fund Benefit Bulls & Broncs in Bastrop, TX, a town which holds not so good memories for me from three years ago.

I am going in injured and far from my best shape yet again, but, I don't enter these things to loose and don't intend to this time either.

Stay tuned 'till next time.

Currently back in JAPAN

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