(Sorry, long story, could have been even longer!)
The first time I saw Mr. Moori, I had stopped by a local pool hall for some practice and noticed a railbird sitting at one of the tables watching the three-cushion action. Something struck me as kind of odd about him, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I later realized that he was watching the table intently, but his eyes weren't following the balls around. It was like he was listening, not looking.
Occasionally, people would come up to him and show him their cues, some really nice ones as well, but he'd just look at the tip, give it a squeeze and nod in approval. Then someone brought a cue over and asked him to replace the tip. He proceeded to pull out a selection of tips, a tube of glue and a Japanese leather knife and started working right there on the spot.
I change my own tips by hand, as many players here do, but it was clear this guy had the process down pat, just from the way he seemed to do everything in one smooth motion. I couldn't help but watch as he cut the excess leather off the tip and then trimmed it flush to the ferrule with lathe-like precision. When he was done, the owner of the cue came over and said, "Thank you, Moori-san" and I finally realized what he had been listening for.
On another occasion, I had a chance to actually speak with him about his products, and pool in general and it was clear the man is obsessed with cue tips. He asked if he could try out my cue, and after a couple of shots, he gave a nod and said, "I see, you're one of those players". Before I could ask him what he meant, he walked off, then reappeared with a tip packaged in that familiar plastic and foil package and told me, "Here, you'll like this".
We spent almost an hour talking about tips, cues, the state of the game and I was very impressed by his knowledge and understanding of the game and its players. I also asked him about some of the rumors floating around about Moori tips. He said he still makes them himself using the same process as always, and he takes great pride in that. No gimmicks or false marketing claims, just quality tips. In fact, for a few years recently, due to his own health issues, production nearly came to a halt since he does so much of the work himself.
He asked me to help translate his website into English, which I'm very happy to do, since it's packed with interesting information about his products, the history of Moori tips, and even a detailed look at the production process. I'll share it here when it's all done.
Oh, and I went home and put on the tip he gave me, and Mr. Moori was right, it's the nuts.
The first time I saw Mr. Moori, I had stopped by a local pool hall for some practice and noticed a railbird sitting at one of the tables watching the three-cushion action. Something struck me as kind of odd about him, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I later realized that he was watching the table intently, but his eyes weren't following the balls around. It was like he was listening, not looking.
Occasionally, people would come up to him and show him their cues, some really nice ones as well, but he'd just look at the tip, give it a squeeze and nod in approval. Then someone brought a cue over and asked him to replace the tip. He proceeded to pull out a selection of tips, a tube of glue and a Japanese leather knife and started working right there on the spot.
I change my own tips by hand, as many players here do, but it was clear this guy had the process down pat, just from the way he seemed to do everything in one smooth motion. I couldn't help but watch as he cut the excess leather off the tip and then trimmed it flush to the ferrule with lathe-like precision. When he was done, the owner of the cue came over and said, "Thank you, Moori-san" and I finally realized what he had been listening for.
On another occasion, I had a chance to actually speak with him about his products, and pool in general and it was clear the man is obsessed with cue tips. He asked if he could try out my cue, and after a couple of shots, he gave a nod and said, "I see, you're one of those players". Before I could ask him what he meant, he walked off, then reappeared with a tip packaged in that familiar plastic and foil package and told me, "Here, you'll like this".
We spent almost an hour talking about tips, cues, the state of the game and I was very impressed by his knowledge and understanding of the game and its players. I also asked him about some of the rumors floating around about Moori tips. He said he still makes them himself using the same process as always, and he takes great pride in that. No gimmicks or false marketing claims, just quality tips. In fact, for a few years recently, due to his own health issues, production nearly came to a halt since he does so much of the work himself.
He asked me to help translate his website into English, which I'm very happy to do, since it's packed with interesting information about his products, the history of Moori tips, and even a detailed look at the production process. I'll share it here when it's all done.
Oh, and I went home and put on the tip he gave me, and Mr. Moori was right, it's the nuts.
