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1000 Words

They say that a picture is worth a 1000 words. The picture above (albeit a little blurry - I need a new phone) is of my brand new black belt.   Nearly 26 years ago, I registered for a college Karate class to fulfill my Physical Education requirement. The class didn't get enough people to register, and the Assistant AD asked if I'd try Judo instead, and the rest is history. I want to start off by thanking my 3 senseis - who helped train and educate me, and help me love this sport/art - Maureen Braziel, Shiro Oishi, and Katsuo Watanabe. I also want to thank the dozens of dojomates over the years. My teammates at Polytechnic U, my afternoon class dojo mates at Oishi's (where seemingly I was only one of a few non-law enforcement officers), and my family for more than the last decade at Watanabe's including all of the WCC students who have passed through our doors. I want to thank all of my virtual judo buddies - from the Judo Forum, Facebook, and Reddit, ...
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Social Media and Youtube

Not sure who is following this blog these days, but I have noticed that my pages get about 50-100 hits (I hope that there are a few real people and not just bots). I have also launched an instagram account as well - you can find me here - https://instagr.am/theroadtoshodan I have also been trying to get to watching some Judo videos on YouTube, a couple of channels that I like are: Dojo Outfitters -  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT-lZUImP2-eOW6Y8GBCbhw  (they have a mix of Judo and JJ videos, but I find both sets useful). Efficient Judo -  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1CsWk5MTssfFt6rb7CXKKA There is also a great instagram account from Israel that does these excellent matrix-style breakdowns for ground work -  https://www.instagram.com/timura_bjj/ All three are worth checking out, and please follow us on IG. Thanks for reading.

March has been busy

March has been busy Judo month. I realized that my last World Judo Tour round up was the Paris GS, and I haven't had a chance to write wrap-ups for the last 3 tournaments - Dusseldorf GS, Marrakech GP, and Ekaterinaberg GS. Hopefully I will get a chance to do a wrap up for this weekend's Tblisi GS. This is one of the busiest stretches on the World Tour Calendar - 5 tourneys in 7 weekends. As for me, I've been getting limited mat time do to family and work obligations. But I am still plugging away, and working on my general fitness (It's much easier to steal 30 minutes to workout than it is two hours for a Judo class). I have also been working on progressing to my Shodan - by getting some of the non-Judo requirements out of the way. For example, I just completed a short online course on Concussion spotting for coaches. Finally, the last few times in Randori, I felt like my timing was coming back. Maybe I'll have to compete again soon :)

2019 Paris GS Round Up and bits from Viszer's Q and A

The Paris Grand Slam was held last weekend, and as the first Grand Slam event of the year, it didn't disappoint (at least for the people who won medals), and as an added bonus, IJF President Marius Vizer hosted a twitter Q and A. Because we're talking about Paris, and France, we need to start with the French Team - or should I say the French Women. According to an article on the IJF site, this is the First time since 1971 that a French male Judoka hasn't gotten a podium spot at the Paris GS. But you know who did get a Podium spot - Clarisse Abegnounou. The hometown star won her fifth Paris GS title in spectacularly dramatic fashion - by beating Tina Trestenjak of Slovenia 3 minutes deep into Golden Score, and throwing out her shoulder in the process (you can watch her moment of glory in the video below) I also want to give a shout out to both Devin Waldenburg (-60) and Ebony Drysdale Daley (-70) who became the first Jamaicans to compete in an IJF World Tour event...

Tel-Aviv GP 2019 - Day 3 and Wrap-up

Day 3, the final day of the Tel-Aviv GP saw the home team end it on a high note. Rio Bronze Medalist Ori Sasson took gold in the -100 category, obviously winning the last medal in the last match on home soil has it's own emotional advantages, but he managed to win it in the weirdest of ways - With two of his opponents being disqualified sandwiching two resounding ippon throws. In his first match, which went a full 3 minutes into Golden Score, he outlasted Russia's Shakhbazov on penalties. In his next match, Ukraine's Kolesnyk only lasted 23 seconds, before Sasson threw him with a resounding Morote Seoinage (as a big guy myself, there's no greater satisfaction than the thud of your opponent on the mat that indicates a sure ippon). In the semi-final, the Azeri - Kokauri, managed to last a full two-minutes before being thrown by Sasson with Kouchi Gari for Ippon. Leaving only the other Ukrainian - Yakiv Khammo - between Ori and the final Gold for Israel. It would take near...

Tel-Aviv GP 2019 - Day 2 (We'll take one of each)

There was no less excitement on Day 2 of the Tel-Aviv GP. After a disappointing hardware-less day for the Israeli men's team on Thursday, they wanted so desperately to get off of the schneid , and the hometown fans would not be disappointed. Israel took home 3 medals on Friday - Bronze in the men's -73, Silver in the Women's -63, and Gold in the Men's -81. In the -73 category, Tohar Butbul took a tour of North America - beating the Candian Bouchard and the American Turner by Ippon - Bouchard with Osoto Gari 3 minutes in, and Turner on a Wazari from a Seoinage 23 seconds into Golden Score. He was cruising in the quarter finals, up by a Wazari with the seconds ticking away - but was thrown by Tajikistan's Khojazoda literally as time ran out - forcing him into the repechage. He ultimately won the Bronze by beating Nils Stump of Switzerland In the -63 category, Inbal Shemesh, despite being the World #37, fought some good battles and came away with the Silver, ulti...

Tel-Aviv GP 2019 - Day 1

Anyone who reads my blog would know how excited I am that the first ever IJF World Tour event is being held in Israel this week - The Tel-Aviv GP. On the one hand, looking at the roster, it seems that much of the top talent (the Japanese team, for example) aren't there - most likely due to the much more established and prominent Paris GS being just a couple of weeks away. The big news on day one isn't so much who made the podium, but who didn't. Out of 8 Israeli men competing, not a single one made the podium. The two biggest surprises were Baruch Shmailov and Tal Flicker - currently the world #4 and #5 in the -66 category didn't even make it into the repechage. Shmailov won his first match against Medves of Italy, but then lost the pool semi-final to Iadov of the Ukraine. It was a good match, and Shmailov nearly had Iadov with Harai-Tsurikomi-Ashi, but Iadov countered with Ko-Soto-Gake for Ippon. Flicker didn't even win his first match, losing after 3 minute...