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Showing posts from May, 2005

(Bad) Place!

So here are my shiai results with baited breath: I took second place .... but ... there was only one other person in my division and I lost to him. I was dissapointed for two reasons - first, I thought that there would be more than 1 other person - 2-3 at least. And second, I made a stupid mistake and it cost me the match because it left me significantly vulnerable to be thrown and my opponent took advantage of it. My mistake was that I tried a backward sacrifice throw - a no-no in competition. However, I was happy that I competed, and happy to be there. I met some nice people, saw some old faces, and even saw a couple of great Judo matches. There was one match between a guy from Camal's Dojo in Jersey against a guy from one of the Russian Dojos in Brooklyn or Queens (might have been spartak, but I am not sure). At the end of the match, the two senseis were playfully trash talking each other. I also took my son for a few minutes when I went to weigh in and I think he really enjoye

3 days to go - I think I am ready

So I was hoping to get 3-4 judo sessions in this week, but unfortunately I got a cold and was barking like a dog all of last weekend and Monday and Tuesday as well. I was finally able to get back to practice yesterday, but only did half a session as I didn't want to overdo it. I think that I am ready for the Shiai, I just hope my cough (which is 97% gone) will be 100% gone by Sunday. I also hope to get in another practice tomorrow as well. Ironically, last Thursday morning I got on my bathroom scale and weight 197 and thought to myself that I need to lose a few lbs, just in case my scale is slightly 'under'. This morning I weighed in at 190 -> I don't think I will have many problems making weight on Sunday now. Wish me luck. I will try and update once the Shiai is over!!!!

Still not fully there...

I had another difficult session in Randori Yesterday. I tried springing several traps for my ukes - most of whom were at least equally ranked as well as relatively close in weight - but didn't even land so much as a koka. Part of me wonders if my game plan doesn't work on them because they are used to my 'tricks'. I also heard of another person who might be in my weight class at the tourney - A former Wrestler with minimal Judo experience. The last thing I want is to get a Wa-Zari throwing some wrestler and then get pinned for ippon - or worse, have him take me out with Morote Gari - the two leg takedown. Well, I still have 3-4 more sessions to get into form. Wish me luck!

Competition Update - Less than two weeks to go

I am getting a wee bit nervous, as I only have two weeks left to go to the Shiai. My wife asked me yesterday if I thought I would win, and I said that I honestly didn't know. I am competing in the novice seniors division. The main reason I chose the novice division is simply because since the Black Belt pool had a $500 cash prize, and because 3 people who had strong showings at the nationals (Higashi, St. Leger and Mikolacz (sp?)) are in my weight division and live and train in the NYC area. Seeing that this is my first tourney back, I want to keep it simple and play the novices - I could mop up, if there are few brown belts in the division and my experience conquers the lower ranks, or I could get my lunch handed to me by a quicker, younger yellow belt with one good throw. In any case, it should be exciting. I am going to focus my Randori this week on solidfying my gameplan.

And now a word about our sponsors

To be perfectly honest, when I started this blog it was solely for the purpose of sharing my Judo experience with the rest of the world. And I promise that it will always stay that way. However, I will also use this site and my blog to promote some other money-making ventures from time to time. With that in mind - I have created a web site to sell t-shirts with some Judo slogans that I have come up with. I don't make much money on the t-shirts, but every little bit helps. Check out my t-shirts at CafePress' website

Competition Update - 3 weeks to go.

So I went on the scale this morning and weighed in at 199. Granted, this is also on 'my scale' and doesn't mean that I am truly 199. I want to give myself about 5lbs of leeway so that I don't get on my scale the morning of the tourney at 195 and think that I am safe. Given that I want to weigh 191-192 on my scale the day of, just to ensure that I weigh-in within my weight class. As for practice, I went last Friday and got in a lot of Randori with a black belt of comparable size. But I didn't have focus or a game plan. I have given my plan some thought, and I will try to execute it today in Randori.