About Us

About Yonah

Yonah Wolf started practicing Judo in 1994, almost by accident. As a Freshman in college, his class schedule had one measly class on Friday, not wanting to go into school (he was a commuter) for just one class, he decided to fulfill his PE requirement by taking a Karate class. Unfortunately, the Karate class didn't have enough students and was cancelled, but the assistant AD convinced him to join the Judo team, which she was the coach of. For the next 3 years, Yonah was part of the Judo Team and club. As a senior, Yonah transitioned to being a part-time student, and left Judo.

Fast forward 7 years later, now married with 2 children, Yonah decided to return to Judo. While he had hoped to achieve his Shodan at this point, life has had a way of getting in the way. Yonah still practices Judo in the NY Metro Area and still blogs about his experiences.

About this Blog

Upon returning to Judo in 2004, Yonah want to track his own progress in Judo as well as share his experiences with whomever would listen. Being that social media, by and large, didn't exist then, Yonah started this blog - The Road To Shodan - to chronicle his experience and progress. Although the world has changed, two things haven't - Yonah's Belt Color (yet) and his passion for sharing his passion.

The Continuation...

In November of 2019, after many starts and stops and lots of hard work on the mat, Yonah received his Shodan - his first degree Black Belt in Judo. Now that Yonah reached Shodan after a long and winding road, he is on the road to Nidan - hopefully on a more direct and quicker route.

Articles Elsewhere

One of the most read and most plagiarized articles I've written about Judo is this one - Individual or Team Sports for Kids (on the Judo Information Site)

Comments

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

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,

2019 Paris GS Round Up and bits from Viszer's Q and A

The Paris Grand Slam was held last weekend, and as the first Grand Slam event of the year, it didn't disappoint (at least for the people who won medals), and as an added bonus, IJF President Marius Vizer hosted a twitter Q and A. Because we're talking about Paris, and France, we need to start with the French Team - or should I say the French Women. According to an article on the IJF site, this is the First time since 1971 that a French male Judoka hasn't gotten a podium spot at the Paris GS. But you know who did get a Podium spot - Clarisse Abegnounou. The hometown star won her fifth Paris GS title in spectacularly dramatic fashion - by beating Tina Trestenjak of Slovenia 3 minutes deep into Golden Score, and throwing out her shoulder in the process (you can watch her moment of glory in the video below) I also want to give a shout out to both Devin Waldenburg (-60) and Ebony Drysdale Daley (-70) who became the first Jamaicans to compete in an IJF World Tour event

The Road to Nidan

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