The Road to Nidan

As I've mentioned a couple of times before, I have 3 sons, the oldest of which, my 6-year-old, is currently a Judoka. As a father, one of the toughest things that one does is take a reality check whenever you want your children to start an activity to determine if this is something that they would want for themselves or something that you want for them to live vicariously through them. The minute that someone suggested he try martial arts as a means to build up his discipline and self-confidence, was the minute that I began looking into Judo options for him. Yes I considered both TKD and Karate as valid options for him (of course I would have never consented to some of the McDojoes that I had visited in the process), but once my own dojoes class schedule changed to make Judo available to him, I jumped in with both feet. My son is 6 and has an attention span to match. So clearly his focus is not as good as that of a 9-year-old. Yet at the same time, each week, I see him making stea...

Because I competed yesterday, I had my dad take my son to the kids' class yesterday. He was impressed with the skill and patience Sensei exercised with my son. He also told me that my son has very little Zitsfleisch (A Yiddish term for patience or attention span). I explained to him that as bad as my son might have seemed yesterday, his attention span has grown exponentially over the past two months since he started Judo. My son also mentioned that he had a new 'partner' in class, as one more younger sibling of one of our current students started Judo. In addition to that, at the tournament I ran into two more dojomates - one who's family just returned from a few months overseas, and one who's son is turning six -  that they are going to enroll their kids for the next semester. This is awesome, I love that the kids class is growing, and that the number of kids the same age as my son is growing too. Sensei is looking to add a second kids class during the week, whic...

I only managed one practice of my own last week - as my wife even protested that one, and even though I went to practice last night, I am not sure I'll be able to swing it on Wednesday. Things have been pretty tough at home since our 3rd was born, and I consider every Judo practice that I get in as a gift. When I came home last night, I was told that I was definitely getting up in middle of the night. Personally I didn't mind it, despite the lack of sleep, it was worth the Judo excursion. On Sunday, I was helping out the kids class. Sensei asked me to give one of the kids his yellow belt test. I was very apprehensive, and had a ton of questions. It's funny, at work, I have no problem taking charge of things and taking ownership. As well as giving people on my staff guidance, but as a Judo instructor, I have very little confidence. I don't know what was my greater fear - failing a kid who was worthy, or passing a kid who was not. Last night, at the adults class, I went...

I went to my son's class yesterday, and at my Sensei's request, put on my Gi to help him run the class. I spent a lot of time working with my son and the 4-6 year old group in teaching them some of the basics of throws '1,2, and 3' (one of our Sensei's teaching methods, which I like, is that he numbers throws. Ultimately, each student will need to learn the names, but for the little kids, the numbers make it easier to learn. 1= O Soto Gari, 2=O-Goshi, 3=Ippon Seoi Nage). Of course, my son is the hardest to get to listen. Still it was very fun to participate, and challenging, because I needed to take moves that I have been doing for years and do without thinking, and then break them down step-by-step for little kids. (For example, I was teaching them Zenpo Kaiten - the forward roll - and I had to remember which hand to use with which foot forward. I want to think that I was helpful. One of the parents, who is an on again off again player in our club, indicated that...

When my son started Judo last week, one of my pre-Judo admonitions was not to use it outside of the Dojo. I did this for two reasons - one, I didn't want this to turn him agressive, and two, I know that if he did this one too many times either the principal or his mother would have prompted me to pull him out (Just like my own parents did to me when they felt that I was being too aggressive in my karate class as a kid). Last night, he turns to me and says "Daddy, I'm sorry, but I didn't listen to you ." I was stunned, and I asked what he had done, he informed me that he used O-Goshi on his friend Ben. While I admonished him, I also told him how proud I was of him that he told me this, and finished by explaining to him that part of the trick of learning Judo isn't learning what techniques to use when, but rather when not to use any techniques at all.

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, especi...