The Road to Nidan

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, ...

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.

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 :)

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...

Day 3, the final day of the Tel-Aviv GP saw the home team end it on a high note. Rio Bronze Medalist Ori Sasson took gold in the -100 category, obviously winning the last medal in the last match on home soil has it's own emotional advantages, but he managed to win it in the weirdest of ways - With two of his opponents being disqualified sandwiching two resounding ippon throws. In his first match, which went a full 3 minutes into Golden Score, he outlasted Russia's Shakhbazov on penalties. In his next match, Ukraine's Kolesnyk only lasted 23 seconds, before Sasson threw him with a resounding Morote Seoinage (as a big guy myself, there's no greater satisfaction than the thud of your opponent on the mat that indicates a sure ippon). In the semi-final, the Azeri - Kokauri, managed to last a full two-minutes before being thrown by Sasson with Kouchi Gari for Ippon. Leaving only the other Ukrainian - Yakiv Khammo - between Ori and the final Gold for Israel. It would take near...

There was no less excitement on Day 2 of the Tel-Aviv GP. After a disappointing hardware-less day for the Israeli men's team on Thursday, they wanted so desperately to get off of the schneid , and the hometown fans would not be disappointed. Israel took home 3 medals on Friday - Bronze in the men's -73, Silver in the Women's -63, and Gold in the Men's -81. In the -73 category, Tohar Butbul took a tour of North America - beating the Candian Bouchard and the American Turner by Ippon - Bouchard with Osoto Gari 3 minutes in, and Turner on a Wazari from a Seoinage 23 seconds into Golden Score. He was cruising in the quarter finals, up by a Wazari with the seconds ticking away - but was thrown by Tajikistan's Khojazoda literally as time ran out - forcing him into the repechage. He ultimately won the Bronze by beating Nils Stump of Switzerland In the -63 category, Inbal Shemesh, despite being the World #37, fought some good battles and came away with the Silver, ulti...

Anyone who reads my blog would know how excited I am that the first ever IJF World Tour event is being held in Israel this week - The Tel-Aviv GP. On the one hand, looking at the roster, it seems that much of the top talent (the Japanese team, for example) aren't there - most likely due to the much more established and prominent Paris GS being just a couple of weeks away. The big news on day one isn't so much who made the podium, but who didn't. Out of 8 Israeli men competing, not a single one made the podium. The two biggest surprises were Baruch Shmailov and Tal Flicker - currently the world #4 and #5 in the -66 category didn't even make it into the repechage. Shmailov won his first match against Medves of Italy, but then lost the pool semi-final to Iadov of the Ukraine. It was a good match, and Shmailov nearly had Iadov with Harai-Tsurikomi-Ashi, but Iadov countered with Ko-Soto-Gake for Ippon. Flicker didn't even win his first match, losing after 3 minute...

Well folks, this has been a crazy year in Judo. A year that saw siblings win gold medals at a world tour event. A year that saw returning favorites and rising upstarts and dozens of awesome ippons.  It was a year of peace and friendship in Judo - If I told you 12 months ago that we'd see the Israeli flag hoisted in Abu Dhabi while their national anthem played in the backgroumd, or that a unified Korean team would compete at the World Championships in Baku - you would've thought highly unlikely that either one of those would come true, yet alone both. It was also a great Judo year for me personally. After a few years of spotty practice due to various life events, I've finally got back to practicing regularly. I've also got back to blogging regularly (well, semi-regularly). I am always amazed that people are reading my blog, and I just want you to know that I appreciate it. Happy Holidays and Best wishes for a great 2019. For your viewing pleasure - below is a vid...

The Hebrew word in the title of this blog post is pronounced - Me-Rah-Gesh (with a hard G). It's loosely translated as 'emotional' - but in this case, I don't know if that does it enough justice.  If you read my blog you know that I am big fan of Israeli Judo, and no where near a fan of the political crap that Israeli Judoka need to endure while they compete around the world. Beyond the a handshake refusal in Rio, or explaining to people while Israel competes as part of the European Judo Union, there was all this drama with the Judo World Tour events in both Abu Dhabi and Morocco over the last several years. Thankfully Mariusz Viser, the Chairman of the IJF, took a stance, and enabled Israel to compete in the Abu Dhabi tournament - under it's own flag. Of course, several Israelis wound up on the podium, and Two, Sagi Muki and Peter Paltchik, won Gold. Some of the nuance missing from this, is that Mr. Viser invited the Israeli Minister of Sport and Culture -...

Sorry to say that I've been busy and haven't been able to watch much of the action of the 2018 World Championships. But there have been interesting storylines: - I don't know which is a bigger story - that Uta Abe joined her brother Hifume atop the podium today, or that she unseated Ai Shishime to do it. - Daria Bilodid of Ukraine continues to impress - not only winning gold but besting Pareto (ARG) and Tonaki in the process. Sky's the limit for this 17 year old - No hardware for my friends from either team USA or Team Israel. World #1 at 66kg - Tal Flicker - sailed through the prelims, only to lose a hard semifinal match 1:35 into GS. Gefen Primo lost out in the Repechage and the other Israelis who've played so far - Shmailov, Temelkova, Minsker and  Rishony didn't even make it that far. Of the 5 Americans who played on the first two days - only Angelica Delgado won a single match. Hope there will be more love for the Red, White and Blue and the kachol v...

I was in Niagara Falls on Vacation last week. But just because you're not in the dojo doesn't mean you can't keep your practice on. Here I am at a bus stop in Niagara falls practicing a little Sasae Tsurikomi Ashi using a nearby pillar.  Years ago, when I would ride the subway home from practice, I'd do the same to the pillars in the subway. Although, to be fair, in NYC, no one would blink an eye at this kind of behavior.

Even with the current state where I can watch literally all of the Judo World Tour Events live on-line, actually watching them can still be a challenge - primarily because of the timing. Most of the events occur in Asia and Europe, so they're actually happening overnight here in the US. Generally speaking, at least for the European Events, I can catch some matches in the morning while getting ready. I manage to catch this match above - Canada's Christa DeGuchi vs. reiging Olympic Champ Rafaela Silva of Brazil. While Silva ultimately wins the Match, I love DeGuchi's attack style and energy. She brings the fight to Silva and has her fighting defensively most of the match. Fighting Silva is not new to DeGuchi as she defeated the -57kg favorite back at the 2013 Tokyo GS to win the Bronze Medal. But then DeGuchi did something interesting - she switched countries - from Japan to Canada. (Her father is Canadian and her mother is Japanese).  Doing so meant having to sit out of ...

One of the biggest emerging names on the Judo scene is Japan's Aaron Wolf - currently the reigning World Champion at -100Kg. Despite having the same last name and the same fighting weight as me, and as far as I know Aaron and I are not related. Although maybe in the right circumstances, he could pass for one of my kids :)

There is a story about two men who go out to seek the advice of a fitness expert. The first approaches him and says, my goal is to run a 5k. The guru tells him to start with 1K and gradually add distance every day for a month until he can complete the 5k. The second man tells the guru that he wants to race a 5k. The guru tells him to run 20k at your fastest speed every day for a month. The second man is flabbergasted - "I don't understand, " he tells the guru, " you told the other man to start with 1k and build up, why did you tell me to start with 20k?" The guru responded: " because if I have you run 20k at your top speed for a month, by the time the race starts 5k will seem like nothing." If you want to compete in Judo (or any sport for that matter), you need to be able to go the distance. Not just the full 3,4, or 5 minutes as it is, but also be prepared for another 3,4,5 or even 20 minutes of Golden Score. You need to be as fresh after 10 minute...

3 Mats, 3 Israelis competing I captured an interesting moment earlier today during the Zagreb Grand Prix. As I watching the matches streamed on YouTube, There were 3 Israeli women competing simultaneously - poor Shani Hershko (the Israeli women's national coach). The commentators on the broadcast also spoke a bit about the rise of the Israeli Judo team of late, especially the Women. Unfortunately, the Israeli Women's team today didn't perform as well as we would hope - they finished just off of the medal round with two 7th place finishes, and a 5th (with a further two women being knocked out early). The men's team finished a bit better with Tal Flicker and Baruch Shmailov taking Gold and Bronze, respectively, in the Men's -66kg. Overall, Israel has been progressively improving it's Judo, and unlike in the past where they may have had one or two competitors who had a chance at World or Olympic hardware (think Oren Smada, Yael Arad, Arik Ze'evi), they no...

I was pleasantly surprised today, when I saw this press release from the International Judo Federation (IJF). The IJF announced today that they were suspending two of the major events - the Tunis Grand Prix, and the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam - because of the way that Israeli Judoka have been treated when playing in those events over the last several years. In the past few years, when playing at these events, Israeli Judoka have been treated unfairly. For example - at both of these events, they weren't allowed to compete under the Israeli flag, and had to remove all flag patches from their uniforms. When they medaled (and they did) instead of the Israeli National Anthem being played, they played the 'IJF' national anthem. Beyond that, the host countries have also played several games with their visas, and forced them into interrogrations by police upon arrival. Last year, in Abu Dhabi, Mariusz Viser, the IJF Chairman, met with the organizers of the Abu Dhabi event, who promis...

In the early days of this blog, I did some book reviews, including a review of a book written by the current Russian Premier - Vladimir Putin and co-authors Vasiliy Shestakov and Alexei Levitsky (you can read the review here ). Although the book is out of print, you can find it on google books - here . One of the things I really like about the book, is what he refers to as the 'Technical-Tactical Set' (you can see an example for Tai Otoshi on pp. 80-81). For each technique, he shows how to set it up as a sequence both to and from other throws. For example: turn your blocked Tai Otoshi into a Seoinage. Granted, it's not earth shattering, but when I first saw it, it enabled me, (generally a visual learner) better understand how to follow-up one technique with another and, more importantly, that attacks aren't one off - there's no one swing of the bat, or taking a shot and waiting for a rebound - the attacks are continuous, and need to come in rapid succession. O...

Hello blog, how I've missed you. Over the weekend, I decided to casually read some of my old posts, and it bothered me that I haven't written anything on this blog in nearly 6 years. I have no idea if anyone is still reading it, but I also decided that I have to go back to writing it, and there is a two-word reason why - running selfie. Yes, I know that if I played word association with you, you wouldn't quite get 'Running Selfie' from Judo blog, so here's the connection. While I haven't been making it to the dojo consistently in a while, I have been able to go running. Every day that I run - right after my run ends, I take a selfie. Its not about sharing on facebook or instagram (although I sometimes do that), but rather its a way of reminding myself that a) I worked out b) I was happy and tired afterward and c) as my body changes from getting back into shape, it reminds me of what I looked like a year ago - kind of my own personal before and after. ...

I thought about posting an Olympic Wrap-up, but I quickly realized that a google or twitter search turned up dozens of reviews written by writers more experienced and nuanced than I. From an American perspective, it was a great year - punctuated by Kayla Harrison winning Gold, and Marti Malloy's bronze. Thrown in Travis Stevens' Pool win and 5th place finish, and arguably, this was the best US Olympic Judo Finish ever. But I want to talk about someone else - Jimmy Pedro Jr. While there is no doubt that Kayla, Marti, and Travis' success are the result of their hard work, focus and dedication, I think each would credit Jimmy's coaching as an aid in their success. as I watched those early morning matches on the computer (thanks to NBC's awesome coverage), You couldn't help but hear Jimmy's vocal guidance from the side of the mat. Jimmy, looking sharp in a suit (as opposed to the shlumpy warm-ups worn by some of the other coaches) cupped his hands at matside, ...

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 t...