The Road to Nidan

1000 Words

noreply@blogger.com (yonah) — Tue, 26 Nov 2019 15:20:00 +0000

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, who've bantered with me, advised me, and taught me.

Finally, I'd like to thank all of those of you who've read this blog. (Which I'll still update periodically).

The Road to Nidan has already begun!

Social Media and Youtube

noreply@blogger.com (yonah) — Fri, 29 Mar 2019 16:02:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (yonah) — Fri, 29 Mar 2019 15:57:00 +0000

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 :)

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

noreply@blogger.com (yonah) — Tue, 12 Feb 2019 23:30:00 +0000

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 Men's -100 had an impressive showing from Georgia's Varlam Liparteliani - who beat the WRL #3 and #4 on his way to Gold. The Japanese team did fairly well - including Gold for Ami Kondo in -48 and silver for Aaron Wolf in -100, but the big disappointment for Japan was Hifume Abe bowing out early and not even placing in his division.

As for my Israel Squad, who only brought their men's team to Paris, and coming off of the high of a very successful Tel-Aviv Grand Prix, there are two ways to look at it. You can look at the fact that they came away with 1 silver, 2 bronze and 3 fifth place finishes from 8 competitors. Or you could look at it with the glass half-empty - they were in 4 semi-finals on day 2 and only came away with 2 medals; and Tal Flicker and Tohar Butbul - two of their stronger competitors, didn't make it out of the early rounds.

Sagi Muki, who is one of Israel's brightest young stars, won Silver in the -81, fresh off of his Gold Medal win in Tel-Aviv. But more newsworthy than his medal, is who he didn't play. Iran's Saed Mollaei, the World #1, easily allowed himself to be thrown for Ippon less than 20 seconds into his semi-final match, in order to not be faced with a situation where he'd have to fight Muki in the final. (Mollaei won the Bronze medal, but then didn't appear on the podium, claiming he was injured in his final fight). If you watch the video, you can clearly see the tears in his eyes and a disappointed look on his face. Marius Vizer, the IJF President, addressed this in a twitter Q & A during the tournament. Unlike the situations in Abu Dhabi and Tunis - where the host country is the problem, he very quickly (and correctly IMHO) addressed this situation by pointing out that the course of action here isn't to punish the athlete - who likely was forced to throw the match by his NGB, but the NGB itself. (He was also asked about re-instating the Tunis GP, and said he would do it, when Tunisia agreed to his conditions). I fully back Vizer on this one, especially after he played hardball with Abu Dhabi and Tunisia.

Interestingly, one of the other things he addressed in his Q&A was the upcoming Montreal GP, and spreading Judo in North America. He said he'd be attending the tournament in Montreal, and felt that Canada was a huge potential growth market. He also threw shade on the USA team - suggesting that the USA team would need to produce better results in order to grow the sport in the USA.

To his point - the Canadians had a good showing at this tournament - with teammates Christa DeGuchi and Jessica Klimkait squaring off in the Gold Medal Match for -57. It was a clean match, but DeGuchi catches Klimkait with a Tai-Otoshi with about 8 seconds left in the match for the eventual winning score. (Video below)

In addition to the items mentioned above, here are some other highlights/TL;DR from Chairman Viszer's Q and A:

There are over 40 Million practicing Judoka in the world
The Tel-Aviv GP was a success
He's looking forward to the WC in Tokyo, and the GP in Montreal
It's possible that the WC might return to Paris in the not-so-distant future
They're exploring the idea of Ne-Waza only tournaments in the future
They're considering the possibility of adding another women's weight category below open weight (currently +78kg)
The IJF is trying to grow Judo in smaller countries and is supporting the athletes from those countries - like the 2 Jamaican Judoka who became their country's first world tour competitors
He is open to exploring the idea of a World Tour event in Cuba, provided that the Cuban government and NGB are interested in running one

Here is the full transcript: https://www.ijf.org/news/show/ijf-president-q-anda-transcript

Now for a "lighter side of" moment, I did a double take when I saw that the Japanese competitor in -70 was named "Yoko Ono" - seriously. I don't think she's related (just like I am not related to her teammate Aaron Wolf). While the other Yoko Ono might have collected Gold Records with her late husband John, this one collected a Gold Medal in Paris.

Tel-Aviv GP 2019 - Day 3 and Wrap-up

noreply@blogger.com (yonah) — Wed, 30 Jan 2019 23:00:00 +0000

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 nearly 7 minutes - before Khammo too was disqualified in Golden Score, and the last national anthem played in Tel-Aviv was hatikvah.

In other news - Ireland's Ben Fletcher took home a Silver in the -90 category, a day after his sister Megan took Bronze in the Women's -70. On his way, Fletcher beat former Japanese and current Australian Judoka - Kaihan Ozcicek-Takagi who ultimately took Bronze.

All told, I think Israel did very well in hosting her first Grand Prix, and I hope that this event will continue, however, I hope they find a better place for it on the schedule. Being that it ended just two weeks before the Paris Grand Slam - one of the biggest of the year, a lot of the bigger names stayed home - for example, despite the large Italian contingent, Fabio Basile and Odette Giufrida were not there, nor was France's Clarisse Abegnonou, despite her friendship with tournament hostess Yarden Gerbi. Although the Arena was full, it was held in the Shlomo arena - a smaller venue than the Menora Mivtachim Arena, and than the Tel-Aviv Expo center where last year's European Open was held.

It was also nice to see several teams (including team USA) hanging out in Israel to train in the lead-up to the Paris Grand Slam.

Finally, I was debating about a day one match up - Rishony vs. Cherniak on Reddit. Someone reviewed the video and asked if the throw was really a Wazari or not. I'd argue that it was. After reviewing the video, and grabbing the screenshot below, here is my thinking:

- Rishony throws Cherniak with Soto-Makikomi
- Cherniak's full right side hits the mat, plainly evident to the referee, but not to the camera, because Rishony's body is in the way.
- Since her arm is tied up, and since she wanted to try to sell it as a non-scoring throw, Cherniak tries to pull her arm out and successfully lifts her hips within an instant.

If you slow the video down enough between seconds 29 and 30, this might be more evident, here is a screen shot from the 0:29+ mark - you can see that Cherniak's elbow and tricep are on the mat, because her fore arm is facing up, it's almost impossible for her not to have had her side on the mat at this point. While there is a small gap in the crook of Rishony's body where Cherniak's arm is, the white in the background appears to be her Gi, not the yellow of the mat.

Tel-Aviv GP 2019 - Day 2 (We'll take one of each)

noreply@blogger.com (yonah) — Fri, 25 Jan 2019 17:37:00 +0000

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, ultimately losing to Maria Centracchio of Italy in Golden Score.

As for the -81 category, it seemed as if it was almost scripted. In the last match of the day, hometown favorite Sagi Muki, dispatched Ivanov of Belarus with a beautiful Sode Tsurikomi Goshi at just over a minute into the match. Needless to say the crowd went wild - Sagi was ecstatic and jumped into Coach Oren Smadga's arms right after the final bows. As he walked to the podium, Neta's Eurovision-winning song - 'Toy' was blaring over the speakers. Below is a video of the throw

In non-Israeli news - while the USA and Canada didn't do so hot today, Italy seemingly found its way to the podium in every category - taking Bronze in -81 (Parlati), Silver in -73 (Giovanni Esposito) and -70 (Bellandi) and Gold in -63 (Centracchio). Add that to their Gold from Day 1, and Italy has 5 medals in the tournament so far - only one less than Israel's 6.

There was also a scary moment in the -63 quarterfinal where Emillie Sook of Denmark choked out Barbara Matic of Croatia for the win. The referee didn't see the choke, and as such Matic was out for a few seconds before the match was stopped. Thankfully, after a few moments with the medic, she was able to walk off the mat on her own power - in the video below, you can actually see her face turning blue ( not for the faint of heart)

That's all for today, as they say in Israel - Shabbat Shalom

Tel-Aviv GP 2019 - Day 1

noreply@blogger.com (yonah) — Thu, 24 Jan 2019 17:53:00 +0000

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 minutes of Golden Score to Russia's Ruslan Khametov - who threw him with a slow-rolling, deep crouching hane-goshi.

On the Women's side, they were a lot more succesful - of the 10 women that competed, they brought home a medal in each of today's womnen's weight classes - 2 gold - Nelson-Levy in -57 and Rishony in -48, and one Silver - Gili Cohen in 52. Gefen Primo finished 5th in 52, and Noa Minsker finished 7th in 48, so half of all of the Israeli women competing today, finished with at least a shot at the medal.

In news about other countries - one of the few stars here - is Majlinda Kelmendi of Kosovo. Kelmendi missed most of the 2018 season with a back injury, and then bowed out early in her return to the mat in Abu Dhabi because of an injury as well. She jumped into 2019 with a resounding win over the home favorite Gili Cohen. Hopefully this will be a successful year for the Kosovan on her way to defend her title in Tokyo in 2020.

Goodbye 2018, Hello 2019

noreply@blogger.com (yonah) — Fri, 21 Dec 2018 18:15:00 +0000

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 video the that IJF put out with some highlights from this year's world tour

מרגש - Emotional doesn't really describe it.

noreply@blogger.com (yonah) — Fri, 09 Nov 2018 16:46:00 +0000

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 - Miri Regev - to attend along with the Israeli Delegation. He also asked Minister Regev to present the medals to the winners of Sagi Muki's weight class. You could see her get a little emotional when she puts the medal around Sagi's neck, her awkward embrace of her UAE counterpart - Minister Bin Talal, and watch her stand betwixt him and Mr. Viser as the Israeli national anthem is played. She can be seen singing along as the tears roll down her face. That moment of Me-Rah-Gesh, emotion, pride, coming to a point in your life which you'd never thought you'd see.

And while my Jewish and Israeli pride (fyi - I am not an Israeli citizen, I did live there for about 18 months in the 1990s) is bubbling over, my Judo pride is too.

I've met a lot of people in Judo Dojos and tournaments. Many of whom are very different than me, and who I wouldn't have contact with otherwise. Doctors, Nurses and Medical Technicians. Judges, Lawyers, and Police Officers, Construction Workers, Reports, and Salesman. Young and Old. Representing every religion, race, and nation you can think of. Judo becomes the equalizer. We put on that gi, and everyone is the same. We put our politics and religions aside, and we just play. I hope that spirit continues.

2018 WC Baku - notes on the first couple of days

noreply@blogger.com (yonah) — Fri, 21 Sep 2018 21:07:00 +0000

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'lavan.

- I am definitely enjoying listening to the commentary of Neil Adams and Gene Shin.

Practice Wherever You Can

noreply@blogger.com (yonah) — Thu, 30 Aug 2018 00:03:00 +0000

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.

Change of Scenery, Same Good Luck

noreply@blogger.com (yonah) — Fri, 17 Aug 2018 20:27:00 +0000

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 World-Championship Judo for 3 years, but it looks like the time was well spent, as she's already won the Paris GP this year, and is keeping up with the best in her weight class.

Keep an eye on her at the World Championships in Baku

No, we're not related... as far as I know

noreply@blogger.com (yonah) — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 21:30:00 +0000

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 :)

Conditioning

noreply@blogger.com (yonah) — Thu, 09 Aug 2018 03:29:00 +0000

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 minutes as you are after 2!

Don't believe me? Read a Judo biography or two - In his 'Game of Throws' - Neil Adams talks about how he'd beat the students in his dojo at footraces - even though they'd cheated - AFTER he retired. Ronda Rousey talks about training to win a gold medal, ON YOUR WORST DAY.

Years ago, I went to San Jose on business and decided to try out a class with the vaunted SJSU Judo team. I found out from talking to the students that they were doing Judo, Cardio and/or Weights 6 days a week.

The bottom line - if you want to succeed, you need to be conditioned. And if I want to compete again, so do I.

Zabgreb GP Day 1 - Israel's strong showing, American Hardware, IJF's improved experience

noreply@blogger.com (yonah) — Fri, 27 Jul 2018 20:30:00 +0000

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 now have a handful of people who have a shot at a medal. Currently 6 Israelis rank in the top 10 of the world ranking and another 6 in the top 20 in their respective weight classes. Although the team suffered a loss when Yarden Gerbi retired, there are many more young women coming up through the ranks, eager to hear Hatikva from the podium.

In other Zagreb news, two Americans hit the podium - Angelica Delgado took home a bronze medal and Adonis Diaz took home the silver.

Finally, since I haven't posted about international competition in a while, I thought I'd take the opportunity to say how Much I am liking the new IJF Web/Video experience. Not only can you chose the mat to watch, but you can also see upcoming matches and the bracket as well. While the timing feature for matches isn't perfect (the occasional Ippon 10 seconds in throws it off), it's still pretty good. I also like that they link video of each match to the results, so I can search for a player and watch each of their individual fights. It makes following these international GP/GS tourneys a lot easier.

I also like the commentating. I don't know who's reading this blog, but if you work for the IJF, and can hook me up as a commentator - feel free to reach out :)

Thank you IJF for doing the right thing...

noreply@blogger.com (yonah) — Fri, 20 Jul 2018 19:00:00 +0000

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 promised to rectify the situation. Viser gave both the Emiratis and the Tunisians a deadline, which they didn't meet, so now their tournaments have been suspended.

Not only that, but I read in the Israeli Press (in Hebrew) this week that a Grand Prix is on its way to Tel-Aviv in 2019. The IJF decided to award the GP tournament to Israel following the success of the European Judo Championships held in Tel-Aviv this past April

Thank you IJF and Mr. Viser for doing the right thing.

The one thing Putin Taught me about Judo... (kind of)

noreply@blogger.com (yonah) — Wed, 18 Jul 2018 22:00:00 +0000

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.

On many occasions, I've seen many beginners and intermediate Judoka try one attack, and when it gets thwarted, they step out to reset. They don't realize that even though their opponent may have defended their first attack, they've left themselves vulnerable to a second attack. In a lot of cases, this has to do with changing direction - for example, my opponent blocks my Uchimata (where he's thrown forward) by resisting backward, so I follow-up with O-Uchi-Gari (since he's already moving back, it's easier to take him that way).

Of course, in the heat of a battle, it's hard to train yourself to attack that way - that's why you need to practice it - practice your combinations, drill them, until they are second nature and you can feel which way your opponent is going to go.

Time to start writing again...

noreply@blogger.com (yonah) — Mon, 09 Jul 2018 14:14:00 +0000

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.

Logging my workouts, and the selfies helps me keep up the consistency. If I look at my run-logging app, and I've had no entries in a few days, then I know it's time to work out. With all of the Judo inconsistency, I thought about how much my blogging helped me keep Judo in my mind, and how much writing about it helped my Judo. So I've decided to write about it again. I am not quite sure how this goes, or where it goes, but I know that writing will help me keep consistent and on the forefront.

As to where I've been - there is an old Yiddish Proverb - Man Plans, G-d Laughs. I could list out all of the reasons why I haven't blogged or why I've been inconsistently practicing Judo, but all of them are excuses, no matter how legitimate they are. I'm sure that some more of them will creep up into this blog over time.

Thanks for reading!

Matside Manner Matters

noreply@blogger.com (yonah) — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 02:10:00 +0000

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, and shouted the right encouragement to his players. Sure, every coach has their sayings and mannerisms, their methods for motivation. Listening to Jimmy's words made me realize how much in tune he was with his team.

In Kayla's semi-final, I remember him saying to her - 'Finish it now Harrison, finish it now'. He wasn't telling her to go to O-Goshi, or to stall the clock out, he was telling her - 'this match is yours, finish strong, and finish it now'. That was all the motivation Kayla needed - tapping out Mayra Aguiar of Brazil for Ippon with 15 seconds left.

In stark contrast, I am reminded of a scene at a competition I attended a few years ago. During a match, one of the coaches grabbed the competitor's teammate, and was showing the competitor how to grip, and telling him what techniques to use - as if the competitor's looking at the sidelines was not enough of a distraction to their opponents' advantage. I thought to myself - if you feel the need to teach technique at matside during a match, clearly you didn't do your job right with your student.

The truly good coach knows exactly what his player needs to hear during a match, what kicks in their x-factor, and how to bring out the best in them. And that coach is embodied by Jimmy Pedro Jr. - I hope USA Judo keeps him around for Rio.

The Internet Never Forgets...

noreply@blogger.com (yonah) — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 22:34:00 +0000

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 :)

Lemonade

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 03:25:00 +0000

Just when you think you have life figured out, it throws more lemons at you. I had finally gotten to the point where I was consistently going to practice and watching my skills steadily improve, and then in February it happened. I was thrown by one of our less experienced players, but it was a bit off-balance and even though I was able to to take a good breakfall on the throw, my Partner (who had a fair amount of weight on me) lost his balance and landed directly on top of my shoulder. In the mirror the next morning, it looked as if someone had implanted a grapefruit underneath the skin of my right shoulder. I figured I would give it a couple of days to heal before seeing a Doctor, but it definitely hurt and it was hard to use my hand for the first few days.

Of course, two days later, on Friday, as my physical pain was slowly melting away, my emotional pain exploded. You see, that was the day that my mother was diagnosed with Actue Mylogenous Leukemia - AML. Suddenly the pain in my should didn't matter. Nothing mattered except my mom. Mom put up a good fight, but after two months and several rounds of chemotherapy, she succumbed to her cancer and passed away towards the end of April.

Regardless of the emotional pain, there is also the functional responsibilities that come with losing a parent, which have unfortunately caused me to have to give up Judo in the short term - at least until I sort some things out.

At least I can still blog :(

New Rules = New Strategies

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 03:15:00 +0000

I don't mean to harp on the no leg grab rules, but I just saw this on the USA Judo site, and I needed to share. First and foremost, I congratulate Travis Stevens on his hard-fought Bronze medal, and I also commend him on his quick thinking of how to use the new rules to his advantage.

By his own admission from the USA Judo site, he coaxed his opponent into an illegal leg grab to win his match and put him in the semifinals:

"I was shaking my arm out and trying to figure out how I was going to beat this guy when I remembered from watching his other fight that he was always trying to grab [Takahiro Nakai's] leg when he stuck it out," Stevens said of his strategy to capitalize on a new rule that bans grabbing your opponent's leg during a match. "So I decided to go with that and I was able to trick him into grabbing my leg and trying to throw me with a te guruma [hand wheel throw] and it worked."

Stsiashenka's failed te guruma attack resulted in a hansokumake (disqualification), making him one of seven players to be removed from the tournament for violating the new rules.

I will re-iterate, that they need to add a shido for these rules (at least for the time being) to help set the tone. In this case, Stevens' opponent might have had the ability to change his game to prevent being disqualified (and if he didn't, he'd deserve it). At first, the IJF was reluctant to change the rules during the qualification period for the Olympics. If only one or two people had been dq'd by the new rules, I'd say that the effect was not as bad as I thought, but 7!

Baseball, Neil Adams, and the New IJF Rules.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 03:15:00 +0000

If you are a practicing Judoka, and haven't been living under a rock for the last few months, you should already know that the IJF has put a lot of rule changes into place as of January 1st. Like everyone else, I will give you my two cents, but first, in order to paint the picture, I want to talk about Baseball - specifically about Balls and strikes.

Two rules that even the most casual observer about Baseball knows:

- If you hit a ball that lands outside the foul lines it is considered a foul ball, and is out of play.

- If the umpire considers a pitch to be hittable, even if the batter doesn't swing, he can call it a strike.

These rules are considered fundamental rules, and even my 6 and 8 year old kids know them already. The first rule, the fall ball rule, has very objective criteria. If the ball lands on one side of the line it's fair and on other side it is foul (yes, if the ball lands close to the line on either side, it is subject both the umpire's perspective but you get my point). The rules have very clear application. As for the calling of balls and strikes by the umpire, while there are official guidelines, every umpire has a slightly different strike zone. But, even though the umpires have leeway and are allowed to use their opinion in the calls, the very nature of the game, rules it out as a factor - for example, after the first few batters, it is apparent to each team what the umpire is calling as a ball and what he is calling as a strike. Even for the first few batters, players can gage the size of the strike zone by the first few pitches thrown.

On the surface these rules may not seem to have any connection to Judo, but if you think about it for a moment, it illustrates a good point about the rules of sport and how they're applied by officials:

- Try to make the rules as objective as possible

- If you must make them subjective, at least allow some opportunity for the competitors to understand how the particular judges judging the match might apply the rules.

While following these two rules does not guarantee that refereeing will be free of controversy (for an example, google Douillet vs. Sinohara, Sydney Olympics), it does at least help the players understand the referees perspective and enables them to understand what is allowed and what is not allowed - even if that is defined in part by the referees judgement.

So here is where my complaint comes in - the new leg grab rules in Judo violate both of these principles:

- They are not truly objective as they require that the referees asses the situation in which a leg grab attack is made.

- They also do not allow for any margin of error, as the result is a direct Hansoku-Make.

When they were testing these rules, the initial infraction was Shido, and the second infraction was Hansoku Make. At least in that case, no matter the situation - try a specific technique once, if the ref didn't like it, you get a Shido, and you make a mental note not to try it during a match. Now, even if the most natural tendency is to grab the leg while countering or completing an attack, if the referee feels its not the correct sequence of events, your SOOL, and you've lost the match.

Neil Adams, the legendary British Judoka, has a great video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8tGY-oKhK8&feature=player_embedded) illustrating plenty of gray areas brought about by these new rules. For example, the rules show that if your opponent grabs your belt from over the back, you can grab his leg for a takedown, so what happens if he grabs your gi, just above your belt? Most importantly in the video, Mr. Adams keeps reiterating that this is according to his interpretation of the rules - i.e. YMMV (your mileage might vary). Mr. Adams also posted a blog entry (http://naeffectivefighting.wordpress.com/2010/01/24/the-new-ijf-rules-out-of-hand/) as well, indicating some other things that I never even thought of. For example, if referees are overzealous with dishing out the Hansoku-Makes the first day, they might be more lenient the next and vice-versa.

I guess ultimately, what I'd like the IJF to do is either a) Ban leg-grabs altogether or b) Give warning Shidos for the first infraction. Let's watch the upcoming European tourneys and see how it plays out.

NOTE: As I wrap up, I just thought about this one - if my opponent tries a leg-grab, and gets Hansoku-Make, do I get the win by Ippon? I imagine you would, which looks to be fodder for a whole 'nother blog entry.

Club Competition

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 04:00:00 +0000

We had our Annual club competition, and all told it was a weird experience for me. Last time around, I had just started refereeing. Fortunately I had Sensei Jesse Wang with his years of experience as a guide. In addition, Larry and Wilson - who both had significantly more experience than me were there as well. All 3 gave me advice and tips as I was going through the matches. Unfortunately, Sensei Jesse passed away earlier this year, and Larry wasn't able to make it. Thankfully I still had Wilson and Mark joined us as well, but I was refereeing a lot more matches this year. It was just strange on so many levels without Jesse.

The beauty of Refereeing was that I was able to see all of the matches. It was nice to see all of our students - both young, old and in between get a chance to compete - even if it was against the same crowd. My son Mitch took second place in his division. He led most of the way through his first match - with a Wa-zari and a couple of Yukos, but then was caught in the last minute and thrown for Ippon. In his second match he also had 3 Yukos and a Waza-ari and held on to win. I am happy with his progress - looking at the video replay, his focus and intensity was there, but still has room for improvement.

As I've mentioned many times before, our Sensei teaches Judo at two colleges, and our competition also included these students as well. The were some great ippons that left no doubt, and there were other calls that, while watchin the video, probably should have made. Still, all told, I don't think too many people were upset with the officiating.

Finally, it was my turn to compete. I got to compete against Mark and Mike. Quite frankly, I didn't bring my "A" game. I played Mark first, and got a Yuko off of a Sloppy Tani-Otoshi attempt. I managed to quickly transit into Ne-Waza and pinned him well enough to hold on for a Waza-ari to win as time ran out. Unfortunately for me, I had to play Mike immediately after. Mike managed to throw me for two Yukos, and I lost the match. He told me afterward that he thought I had him a couple of times. Watching the video, I saw that I had several opportunities to throw him, but I was so winded that I couldn't capitalize. That, coupled with how fat I look in the video is my motivation for losing weight for the new year - at my next tournament, I'd like to play 198!

Trophies, we don't need no Stinking Trophies

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 02:01:00 +0000

When I try to explain Judo tournaments to people, I say that they're a lot like Disneyland - you wait in line for two hours for 2 minutes of excitement, but those two minutes give you enough excitement to make you want to wait inline all over again. I competed today, and I had exactly that experience. I fought two quick matches, won them both, and took first place

This morning when I woke up, I was a little worried. The bathroom scale read 220.3 - 0.3 lbs over where I wanted to be. I skipped breakfast, and dressed in layers - I also cranked the heat up in the car on the way over. I even parked farther away from the venue and jogged from my car to the registration desk. Whether driving in the heat paid off, or whether my bathroom scale was a few lbs over, I wound up being safe - I weighed in at 217.7.

I must say that for the most part at tournaments, I tried spending as little time at the tournament as possible. i.e. Show up for my matches, and then leave when I was done. This time around, however, I decided to stick around and catch as much of the action as possible, even encourage and/or coach my dojomates. I have to say it was a lot of fun. A lot of our guys managed to bring home the hardware, and I got two watch at least two of my teammates pull off some great moves in matches that they, unfortunately, ultimately lost. Brandon, one of our teenagers, was trapped in Sankaku against a player who had him wrapped up real good. I thought he was done for, but Brandon managed to get out of the Sankaku by sliding his hand in a preventing the choke. Ultimately he lost the match a few seconds later, but it was a great escape. Then there was Chuck. Chuck is one of our lighter adults, and was playing in a division where he was one of the only non-black belts. But Chuck is in awesome shape and is very athletic. I saw one of his opponents throw him with Seoinage, and his feet sailed over his head and I though he would fall into a picture perfect Ippon, but somehow Chuck managed to twist in midair, and landed on his feet. It was amazing. I think that everyone watching that match was stunned that he managed to escape a certain Ippon.

But on to my matches. First and foremost, this wasn't a big competition. My division only had two other competitors and I didn't want to be the 'default' third place guy. I got the luck of the draw in the sense that the other two guys fought first, so a) I would be a little fresher for at least my first match and b) I could see their style. I gleaned a couple of points about their techniques and their gripping styles, and got prepped for my first match.

My first match was against the loser of the first match in our group - a guy from Long Island. We came in a couple of time trying our throws, on the third try I got in deep enough for an O-Uchi-Gari, and I threw him to the mat. Based on the throw, it seemed to me that it wouldn't go for an Ippon, so I immediately began an entry into ne-waza. I pushed him down to the mat and started to attack his arm. Of course, what was really about 4-5 seconds since my throw seemed much longer, and it seems that two judges called off the initial wa-zari in favor of Ippon in my favor. 1 down, 1 to go.

My second match was against a guy from New Rochelle. I knew that he liked playing lefty like I did (from watching the first match) and I thought I would play to my strong, left-handed, side. I came in for O-Uchi, and it failed, so I pulled out. He realized I was stepping back, immediately jumped in for an O-Soto-Gari, I felt him catch my leg, but I knew that I had one shot to wiggle out of it. I spun around to my right and countered him with a Right-handed Harai-Goshi. It was timed almost perfectly, and he landed on the mat with that loud thud that is the telltale sign of a beautiful Ippon. I was told by someone watching the throw that it was a really nice technique. No matter, I was just happy that I had taken home first place.

When I got to the awards table, they had ran out of first place trophies. No matter, I got my win, I played well, and I didn't need no stinking trophy to remind me of that.