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Styli for different PDAs

A stylus (plural: styli or styluses^[1][2]) is a writing utensil, or a small tool for some other form of marking or shaping, for example in pottery. It can also be a computer accessory that is used to assist in navigating or providing more precision when using touchscreens. It usually refers to a narrow elongated staff, similar to a modern ballpoint pen. Many styli are heavily curved to be held more easily. Another widely-used writing tool is the stylus used by blind users in conjunction with the slate for punching out the dots in Braille.^[3]

Styli were first used by the ancient Mesopotamians in order to write in cuneiform, Egyptians (Middle Kingdom), and the Minoans of Crete (Linear A and Cretan Hieroglyphic) made styli in various materials: reeds that grew on the sides of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and in marshes and down to Egypt where the Egyptians used styli from sliced reeds with sharp points; bone and metal styli were also used. Cuneiform was entirely based on the "wedge-shaped" mark that the end of a cut reed made when pushed into a clay tablet, hence the name "cuneiform" from Latin cuneus = "wedge". The linear writings of Crete in the first half of the second millennium BC were made on sun dried clay tablets that were left to dry in order to become 'leather' hard before they were incised by the stylus. The linear nature of the writing was also dictated by the use of the stylus.

Etymology[link]

The word stylus along with the word "style" came from the Latin word stilus meaning: "a stake; a pointed instrument, used by the Romans, for writing upon wax tablets,"^[4] which derives from the Greek word στύλος meaning "pillar" and "stile for writing on waxed tablets."^[5] A different suggestion is that the word does not derive from the Greek word "στῦλος", but that it has a common root with the Greek verb "στίζω" (meaning "mark"). According to the 1875 London Dictionary of Greek & Roman Antiquities a Stilus is "an object tapering like an architectural column; a metal instrument resembling a pencil in size and shape, used for writing or recording impressions upon waxed tablets. It signifies:

"An iron instrument (Ov. Met. IX.521; Martial, XIV.21), resembling a pencil in size and shape, used for writing upon waxed tablets (Plaut. Bacch. IV.4.63; Plin. H.N. XXXIV.14). At one end it was sharpened to a point for scratching the characters upon the wax (Quintil. i.1 §27), while the other end being flat and circular served to render the surface of the tablets smooth again, and so to obliterate what had been written. Thus, vertere stilum means to erase, and hence to correct, as in the well-known precept saepe stilum vertas (Hor. Sat. 1.10.72; Cic. Verr. II.41)."

There exists minor controversy about the correct pluralization of "stylus". The form "styli" or even "stylii" has become acceptable, even among major American manufacturers of styli and online dictionaries, based on the assertion that it is a direct loanword from Latin. However, "stylus" is in fact an English word based on the Latin word "stilus", and is more appropriately pluralized in English as "styli." Use of "stylii" is considered incorrect, as it would be based on the nonexistent Latin word "stylius".^{[citation needed]}

Use in arts[link]

Styli are still used in various arts and crafts. Example situations: rubbing off dry transfer letters, tracing designs onto a new surface with carbon paper, and hand embossing. Styli are also used to engrave into materials like metal or clay.

Styli are used to make dots as found in folk art and Mexican pottery artifacts. Oaxaca dot art is created using styli.

Use in music recording and reproduction[link]

A gramophone cartridge with stylus for use on vinyl records, a late use of the stylus in audio

In the sound recording industry, a stylus is a phonograph or gramophone needle used to play back sound on gramophone records, as well as to record the sound indentations on the master record.

Several technologies were used to record the sounds, beginning with wax cylinders,almost half a century before the invention of the magnetic cartridge. The harder the material used, the harder the stylus has to be^{[citation needed]}. For shellac records, a disposable stylus softer than the record was generally preferred for preservation of the recording. The styli for playing vinyl records are made out of Sapphire or diamond.

Smartphones and computing[link]

Modern day devices such as touchscreen phones can often be used with a stylus to accurately navigate through menus, send messages etc. As before, the stylus is pointed at one end and is made to fit in the grip of a hand comfortably. These styli can be found in all different styles. For example many new phones like the Nokia 5800 and LG (C) Cookie have a built in stylus which tucks in behind the back cover. Some styli may extend and contract into small, pen-like cylinders, which are easy to put away.

Today, the term stylus often refers to an input tool usually used with PDAs, graphics tablets, Tablet PCs, and UMPCs. In this method, the user operates a touchscreen with a stylus, rather than using a finger, which avoids getting the natural oil from one's hands on the screen. It also improves the precision of the touch input, allowing use of smaller user interface elements. Styli may be used for handwriting or drawing on the touch-sensitive surface (e.g. the Nintendo DS).

Styli are also found in use with commercial devices, particularly for electronically retrieving signatures.

Scientific instruments[link]

Stylus may also refer to the instrument used to scribe a recording into smoked foil or glass. In various scientific instruments this method may be used instead of a pen for recording as it has the advantage of being able to operate over a wide temperature range, does not clog or dry prematurely, and has very small friction in comparison to other methods. These characteristics were useful in certain types of early seismographs and in recording barographs that were once used to verify sailplane records. The styli used in scanning tunneling microscopes have only a single atom at the tip; these are effectively the sharpest styli possible.

References[link]

1. ^ Wiktionary
2. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, 2009, Houghton Mifflin Company
3. ^ "What is Braille?" (web). American Foundation for the Blind. http://www.afb.org/Section.asp?SectionID=6&TopicID=199. Retrieved 2008-04-02. 
4. ^ ND.edu, University of Notre Dame online latin dictionary
5. ^ Tufts.edu, στύλος at Liddell & Scott

See also[link]

Look up stylus in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: stylus

• Digital ink
• Slate and stylus
• Stylus (magazine)

Satoshi Kojima
Kojima in November 2011.
Ring name(s)	Satoshi Kojima The Great Koji The Great Kosuke Joe-Joe Lee Lion Satoshi
Billed height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Billed weight	112 kg (250 lb)[1]
Born	(1970-09-14) September 14, 1970 (age 41)[1] Kōtō, Tokyo, Japan[1]
Trained by	Animal Hamaguchi[1] Kensuke Sasaki Hiroshi Hase NJPW Dojo[1]
Debut	July 16, 1991[1]

Satoshi Kojima (小島 聡, Kojima Satoshi^?) is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently signed to New Japan Pro Wrestling.^[1] He is currently in his fourth reign as one half of the IWGP Tag Team Champions. As a singles wrestler, he was the first wrestler to hold NJPW's IWGP Heavyweight Championship and All Japan Pro Wrestling's Triple Crown Championship simultaneously. As a team, he and Hiroyoshi Tenzan became the first team to won G1 Climax Tag League and World's Strongest Tag Team League on the same year.

Before Wrestling[link]

Like many Japanese wrestlers, Kojima has a background in Judo, but he chose not to continue the sport when he went to college. He got his start loading trucks for New Japan Pro Wrestling & after some months of persuasion finally convinced head trainer Animal Hamaguchi to accept him into the dojo.

Career[link]

New Japan Pro Wrestling (1991–2002)[link]

Kojima entered the New Japan Pro Wrestling dojo in February 1991. He debuted as a wrestler on September 14 in a match against Hiroyoshi Yamamoto, who would later adopt the stage name of Hiroyoshi Tenzan. In 1994 he defeated Manabu Nakanishi in the Young Lions Cup finals, winning the tournament. In the end of that year he went to Europe, and returned to NJPW in January 1996. When he returned, he formed The Bull Powers with Nakanishi, who had returned from WCW. In May 1997 he defeated Riki Chōshū and Kensuke Sasaki with Nakanishi to become an IWGP Tag Team Champion for the first time. At the end of 1998 he joined nWo Japan, by Keiji Mutoh's leadership. Kojima and Tenzan (known together as Ten-Koji, a portmanteau of their last names) formed a tag team and ended up holding the IWGP Tag Team titles together twice.

All Japan Pro Wrestling (2002–2010)[link]

In January 2002, in opposition to Antonio Inoki focusing the IWGP title on unreliable shoot style wrestlers such as Kazuyuki Fujita and Tadao Yasuda, Kojima left NJPW with his mentor Keiji Mutoh, and joined All Japan Pro Wrestling where he was finally able to receive the push of a top star. He held both of the company's tag team titles, the AJPW Double Cup Tag Team Championship twice. On February 16, 2005, he won the Triple Crown, AJPW's unified heavyweight championship from Toshiaki Kawada. Only four days later he won NJPW's heavyweight championship, the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, from his former tag team partner Hiroyoshi Tenzan in a cross-promotional double title match. On May 14, 2005, Tenzan won the IWGP title back, but not the Triple Crown.^[2]

Upon joining AJPW, Kojima began to use the Great Koji (copying The Great Muta) and Great Kosuke (copying The Great Sasuke) personas for special matches.

On July 3, 2006 Kojima lost the Triple Crown to Taiyō Kea. Three days later it was revealed that Kojima would return to New Japan to compete in the 2006 G-1 Climax, where he would go to lose in the finals against former tag team partner and rival Hiroyoshi Tenzan.

In October 2006 it was announced that TenKoji would reform for the upcoming World's Strongest Tag Team League tournament. On December 2, 2006 the reformed TenKoji won the Real World Tag League defeating Kohei Suwama and RO'Z in the finals when Kojima used a lariat on RO'Z. The duo next faced Masahiro Chono and Keiji Muto at NJPW's Wrestle Kingdom in Tokyo Dome. They lost when Chono forced Tenzan to submit.

In July 2007, Kojima shocked the All-Japan Army when he betrayed them and joined the Voodoo Murders, where he was quickly made the group's co-leader along with TARU. Soon after joining, Kojima and TARU won the AJPW Unified World Tag Team Championships from Toshiaki Kawada and Taiyō Kea. Kojima left the group in 2008 after returning from injury to side with his sworn friend Hiroyoshi Tenzan and to feud with the alliance of Great Bash Heel (Tenzan's former group) and the VooDoo Murders.

In 2008, Tenzan and Kojima became the first tag team to ever win G1 Climax Tag League and Real World Tag League in the same year. Later he started his 1st stable named F4 (Friend Fight Fan and Future) with young proteges YAMATO and KAI. A 4th member in ZODIAC joined later in 2009. On September 26, 2009 a few days after his 39th birthday Kojima lifted the All-Japan Triple Crown off of Yoshihiro Takayama, returning the titles to All-Japan and winning them for the 2nd time. He lost the title on March 21, 2010 to Ryota Hama.^[3]

Kojima's AJPW page was taken down soon before he agreed to compete in New Japan Pro Wrestling's 20th annual G1 Climax. It's reported that he was plagued with an arm injury that required surgery and needed time off to heal. AJPW then refused to discuss resigning Kojima until he was healthy. It's been reported Kojima was not pleased with this and began entertaining other possibilities.

Return to New Japan (2010–present)[link]

Kojima returned to New Japan in August 2010 in order to take part in the 2010 G1 Climax tournament. His return match took place on August 6, 2010, when he teamed up with El Samurai in a tag team match, where they were defeated by Hirooki Goto and Ryusuke Taguchi.^[4] In the round robin stage of the tournament Kojima won five out his seven matches and won his block to advance to the finals, where, on August 15, he defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi to win G1 Climax.^[5] On October 11 Kojima defeated Togi Makabe to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship for the second time.^[6] On December 11 Kojima made his first successful defense of the title, defeating Shinsuke Nakamura.^[7] On December 14 Kojima announced that he was starting his own stable, tentatively named Kojima Office, and named Taichi, who had accompanied him to the ring for his Nakamura match, its first member.^[8] Kojima turned heel on December 23, when he hit his number one contender Hiroshi Tanahashi with a lariat after a match, where he and Kota Ibushi had defeated Tanahashi and Prince Devitt.^[9] On January 4, 2011, at Wrestle Kingdom V in Tokyo Dome, Kojima lost the IWGP Heavyweight Championship to Tanahashi.^[10][11] On January 30 Kojima defeated Togi Makabe to earn a rematch with Tanahashi.^[12] Meanwhile, the newly renamed Kojima Army expanded to include TAKA Michinoku and NOSAWA Rongai, who in turn used his connections to get MVP to also join the group.^[13][14] Kojima received his rematch for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship on February 20, but was again defeated by Tanahashi.^[15] After Kojima was defeated by Togi Makabe on May 3, Taichi and TAKA Michinoku turned on him and named the returning Minoru Suzuki as their new leader, while Kojima himself formed a new partnership with Makabe and MVP, who left the stable after Suzuki took over.^[16][17][18] On July 18, Suzuki defeated Kojima in a singles match.^[19] The two had a rematch on August 1 during the first day of the 2011 G1 Climax, where Kojima managed to pick up the win.^[20] Kojima managed to win five more matches in the tournament, but a loss to former partner Hiroyoshi Tenzan on the final day eliminated him fron the running for a spot in the finals.^[21] After the tournament Kojima was sidelined indefinitely with an eye injury suffered during the match with Tenzan.^[22] On September 19, it was announced that Kojima had signed a contract with New Japan to become an official member of the promotion's roster. Kojima then announced that he would make his return on October 10 and challenged former partner Hiroyoshi Tenzan to be his opponent that day.^[23] Kojima would end up defeating Tenzan in his return match.^[24] In the 2011 G1 Climax Tag League, Kojima teamed with Togi Makabe as the "Beast Combination".^[25] After picking up three wins and one loss in their first four matches, Kojima and Makabe were defeated by the Billion Powers (Hirooki Goto and Hiroshi Tanahashi) on November 4, causing them to narrowly miss advancing to the semifinals of the tournament.^[26] Kojima and Tenzan faced each other yet again on November 12 in a match, which was won by Tenzan. Afterwards, the former tag team partners came together to fend off an attack from CHAOS.^[27] Ten-Koji wrestled their return match as a tag team on December 4, defeating CHAOS members Hideo Saito and Takashi Iizuka.^[28] On January 4, 2012, at Wrestle Kingdom VI in Tokyo Dome, Kojima and Tenzan defeated Bad Intentions (Giant Bernard and Karl Anderson) to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship for the third time.^[29] On May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2012, Kojima and Tenzan lost the title to Takashi Iizuka and Toru Yano in their third defense.^[30]

In wrestling[link]

• Finishing moves^[31]
  • CCD – Cozy Crush Dynamite (Over the shoulder reverse piledriver)^[1]
  • Koji Cutter (Three-quarter facelock bulldog, sometimes from the top rope)^[1]
  • Lariat^[1]
  • Rydeen bomb – innovated

• Signature moves
  • Arm trap neckbreaker
  • Bakayaro Elbow (Diving elbow drop)^[1]
  • Brainbuster
  • Koji MAX (Modified seated armbar)
  • Lifting DDT
  • Moonsault – 1990s
  • Pumphandle sitout powerbomb
  • Rapid knife–edged chops to a cornered opponent
  • Roaring elbow
  • Running elbow smash
  • Senton
  • Sitout double underhook powerbomb
  • Sitout scoop slam piledriver
  • Slingshot crossbody

• Entrance themes
  • "Crush Dynamite" – NJP Unit (NJPW)
  • "Ride Hover" – NJP Unit / nWo (NJPW)
  • "Rush!!" – Production theme (NJPW / AJPW)
  • "Stylus" – Production theme (AJPW)

Championships and accomplishments[link]

• All Japan Pro Wrestling
  • AJPW All Asia Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Shiryu
  • AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
  • AJPW Unified World Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Taiyō Kea (1), Kaz Hayashi (1), and TARU (1)
  • Champion's Carnival (2003)
  • World's Strongest Tag Team League – with Taiyō Kea (2002), Kaz Hayashi (2003), and Hiroyoshi Tenzan (2006, 2008)
  • January 2 Korakuen Hall Heavyweight Battle Royal Winner (2003) ^[32]

• New Japan Pro Wrestling
  • IWGP Heavyweight Championship (2 times)^[2][6]
  • IWGP Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Hiroyoshi Tenzan (3), and Manabu Nakanishi (1)
  • Super Grade Tag League/G1 Climax Tag League – with Keiji Mutoh (1998),^[33] and Hiroyoshi Tenzan (2001, 2008)
  • G1 Climax (2010)^[5]
  • Young Lion Cup (1994)^[34]
  • Fighting Spirit Award (2001)^[35]
  • Tag Team Best Bout (2000) with Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata on October 9^[36]

• Major League Wrestling
  • MLW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[37]

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI ranked him #3 of the 500 best singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2005

• Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX
  • Fire Festival (2003)

• Tokyo Sports Grand Prix
  • Fighting Spirit Award (2010)^[38]
  • Most Valuable Player (2005)

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
  • Tag Team of the Year (2001) with Hiroyoshi Tenzan

References[link]

External links[link]

Professional wrestling portal

• New Japan Pro Wrestling profile
• Official blog