Skip to main content

Improving my judo - one tea break at a time.

By
I don't know if I've talked much about my Judo class. Essentially it runs from roughly noon to roughly 1:30. Usually speaking there are about 8-12 people in attendance, and most of the crew is fairly regular and consists of people working in the area. Ocassionally, we get a visitor from out of town, or someone who normally goes to our Dojo's nighttime classes and has part of their afternoon free.

Generally around 1pm, our sensei gives us a tea break. He prepares a pot of tea the old fashioned way (from loose tea leaves) and pours a glass for everyone. While we drink we usually b.s. about Judo, our club's results from the latest tournament, or get a verbal lesson from our sensei. On Monday he spoke about the following story, and I was really inspired:

"When I was a Junior at Meiji Univeristy, my Sensei asked me to coach the team of another university over spring break in preparation for a tournament. I was perplexed because I couldn't understand why he would send a student to coach a college team. But he told me 'Go, and you will understand'. While I was there, I realized why he had sent me. While at our school, we would leave practice tired and worn out, they would leave practice to play mah-jongg. I realized that the difference between those that are good and those that are great is the desire for constant improvement, and the idea that practice isn't repeating the same mistakes over and over, but rather the quest to improve ones technique, timing and reflexes."*


I realized, then and there that maybe that what was missing from my routine. That was what separated the fraying brown belts from the fraying black belts - the desire to improve.

I think that today, I will work on my weaker techniques to improve them. Hello Sasae Tsurikomi Ashi and Tsurikomi Goshi.

*My Sensei's english isn't that great, so this isn't a direct quote, but I am sure that he will be pleased by the eloquence I put into his mouth

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Catch-all Post for April

By
So I haven't posted anything in six weeks, and yet I still hope I have some loyal readers left. April has proven to be a busy month for me - I am about to switch jobs, and I took a two-week vacation as well. April was also a great month in Judo for me, as my Son passed his Yellow belt test. He also executed a picture perfect ippon seoinage in a 'Mock Shiai'. My wife, who seldom comes to practice, was very impressed. Although he'll be playing some baseball over the next few weeks, he will be coming back to Judo soon, and is excited about working towards his orange belt. The other day, we were at a family get-together, and one of his cousins was bullying him a bit, hitting him a couple of times. Mitch stepped in and was about to throw the kid with O-Uchi Gari just as my wife, the kids' mom, and I intervened. At first, I scolded him. But when I realized he was defending himself, I apologized, and told him that if that happens again, throw the kid, pin him and call for
4 comments
Read more

1000 Words

By
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,
Post a Comment
Read more

Social Media and Youtube

By
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.
Post a Comment
Read more