Monthly Archives: June 2011

USJA: getting back to our pioneering spirit

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My mom used to take a wooden coat hanger or her high heel shoe to beat my little butt when I misbehaved.  Why the behavior modification tools?  Her excuse was that when she used her hand, she’d break blood vessels and would become black and blue.  From time to time she’d remind me that the only reason she beat me was because she loved me.  Well, I’ve been beating up on the USJA, and I do so, just like my mom did with me, because I love the USJA.  More precisely I love the USJA that I joined back in 1975.  Unfortunately, I hate seeing what it has become.

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Judo gets no respect!?

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One of my favorite comedians was Rodney Dangerfield.   His classical catchphrase was “I don’t get no respect.”  The first half of his autobiography’s title is It’s Not Easy Bein’ Me: A Lifetime of No Respect.  If Judo were a person and could scream at the top of his lungs, I’m sure he’d be yelling “It’s not easy bein’ me. I get no respect.”  Since Judo is not a person, we judoplayers must step up to the plate and do the screaming.

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More IJF and Modern Kata

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The IJF has struck once more.  To placate the Japanese who have complained that their fighters are not seen often enough in a white gi- a crime for sure!- the top seeds will now wear white and be listed on top of each match, thus making sure they remain in white as long as they win.  Scoreboards and match sheets will have to be changed to reflect the change.  At present, I don’t know if that also means that white is now to the right of the referee or whether the placement of white and blue on the mat remains unchanged.  As always, while the IJF claims that this flip-flop is only for major IJF events, will national organization also make the change to stay “current?”  How much will this needless change cost the Judo community?

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Ode to Natalie: The cost of living the dream

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Most of us in the Judo community understand that it takes a great amount of sacrifice to be able to compete at the international level.  And it goes without saying that most American players get little or no financial support from USA Judo.  I have personal experience with the money end of Judo because my oldest daughter Valerie has been to two Olympics.  I raised the majority of the funds the first time around, and thankfully we had a sponsor the second time around.

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What Other Sports Can Teach Us

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We just aren’t very good right now!  Countless reasons have been put forth to explain our repeated failure at international tournaments, so here’s another one- a lack of intelligence!  The previous sentences were gleaned from two different articles.  You might guess they were talking about American Judo, but in reality the first comment is about U.S. tennis, and the second is about British football or soccer.  If these two powerhouses are having trouble, what can we expect from American Judo, which has never been a big medal winner?

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