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 :)

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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,

The Road to Nidan

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