Skip to main content

How do you say Nachas in Japanese?

Nachas, is a Yiddish word which loosely translated means 'parental pride'. What relevance does this have to Judo? Well, yesterday my oldest took his first Judo lesson, and I have enough Nachas to fill a size 8 Judo Gi!

In the picture at right, my Sensei is teaching my son how to grip, as a precursor to learning O-Soto-Gari. I was such a happy dad yesterday, as he put on his gi and started to learn. While he showed moments of frustration (i.e. when he didn't get the throw concept right away, or when he lost in Sumo wrestling), there were enough bright spots - a couple of sumo wins, 'throwing' sensei, and even a 'win' in Randori (thanks to a very nice orange belt).

The highlight for me was him using Ko-Soto-Gake in Randori, even though he was only taught O-Soto, O-Goshi, and Ippon Seoinage!

Originally, I was concerned that he wouldn't enjoy it, or that he wouldn't stay focused for a two-hour class. He has attention issues (yes, all 5 year-olds, especially boys, have attention issues, but his are a bit more pronounced), and I worried that he wouldn't even make it through the first class. But my fears were quickly allayed by the smile on his face, and how he quickly made friends with the other boys and girl (just one of them) in his group.

Now my biggest fear isn't so much that he'll like it so much that he'll use it against his little brother - or worse, in school. I think I need to have the 'Judo is for the Dojo' talk with him.

Comments

Andy said…
Great photo! I liked this so much I linked to it from my JudoNotes blog.
Unknown said…
Careful how you bad mouth size eight gis there buddy! :P

Just kidding, I'm only 5.5. LOL.

Nice photo...hopefully he sticks with it.

Popular posts from this blog

The Catch-all Post for April

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

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.

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,