Hello everyone? Remember me? I am the guy who used to write this blog. I came back to it today for several reasons - partly because I am feeling the itch to start playing again, and partly because I've been getting up early to follow the Judo action at the London Olympics. But the real impetus to be writing again is because of a phone call I got from my brother yesterday.
He told me he was searching for a family video I had posted on YouTube, entered my name in the search box, and stumbled across this:
This is a video of the last non-dojo tournament I competed in. About 2-3 months before hurting my shoulder, and 6 months before my mom died. Needless to say the Judo is sloppy - I never claimed to be an Olympic-quality competitor, nor am I the perfect example of how to execute technique in a tournament setting.
I remember this tournament well - it was a small tourney- my group was only 3 people - me, this opponent, and one other guy. This was my first match. I remember the throw - I was trying for Harai, and then as he changed direction, I started to move towards Tai Otoshi, but somehow caught him midway. When he landed, I assumed it was a Wazari and was about to follow up matwork when I heard the Sore-Made.
Unfortunately, my next match was better (the ones not recorded always are :) ). I tried throwing my opponent with O-Soto-Gari and he started to counter - I thought he had me - but a slight hesitation by him enabled me to pivot and WHAM - I threw him with Harai. Once in awhile - either in Shiai or Randori you get to land one of those textbook throws. And when you are in the -100KG weight class, it causes one of those loud thuds where the whole room turns aroumd.
I really felt good about that tournament, and watching this video (which I'd forgotten had existed) made me remember how much I love Judo - which means I'll need to keep playing, and keep writing - hopefully someone is still reading :)
He told me he was searching for a family video I had posted on YouTube, entered my name in the search box, and stumbled across this:
This is a video of the last non-dojo tournament I competed in. About 2-3 months before hurting my shoulder, and 6 months before my mom died. Needless to say the Judo is sloppy - I never claimed to be an Olympic-quality competitor, nor am I the perfect example of how to execute technique in a tournament setting.
I remember this tournament well - it was a small tourney- my group was only 3 people - me, this opponent, and one other guy. This was my first match. I remember the throw - I was trying for Harai, and then as he changed direction, I started to move towards Tai Otoshi, but somehow caught him midway. When he landed, I assumed it was a Wazari and was about to follow up matwork when I heard the Sore-Made.
Unfortunately, my next match was better (the ones not recorded always are :) ). I tried throwing my opponent with O-Soto-Gari and he started to counter - I thought he had me - but a slight hesitation by him enabled me to pivot and WHAM - I threw him with Harai. Once in awhile - either in Shiai or Randori you get to land one of those textbook throws. And when you are in the -100KG weight class, it causes one of those loud thuds where the whole room turns aroumd.
I really felt good about that tournament, and watching this video (which I'd forgotten had existed) made me remember how much I love Judo - which means I'll need to keep playing, and keep writing - hopefully someone is still reading :)
Comments
I have been reading your blog (over and over) about once every 2 months or so.