Category Archives: Judo Coaching

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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Tiger Mothers, Pussy Cat Moms

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A Chinese mother is talking to her child: “What grade did you make on your reading test today in school? 93? If you had studied harder you would have been able to make 94.” The child returns after the next week’s test. “You made 94. You can do better than 94,” suggests the mother. “Just spend a little more time at your studies.” Finally, after weeks of study, the child proudly reports that her grade on this week’s test was 100. “But will you be able to keep it up?” inquires the mother.  From The Learning Gap by Harold Stevenson and James W. Stigler

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The Case Against Terminal Ippon

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I have often voiced my concerns that current IJF rules are undermining participation in Judo in the U.S., and perhaps in other nations as well, although I don’t have any evidence to that effect.  I’ve also touched upon from time to time how these rules are also undermining the technical development of our players.  With that in mind, I’d like to present a case for eliminating the match-ending terminal ippon.

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On Sheep, Wolves, and Sheepdogs

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I am physically, mentally, and emotionally spent after two days of dealing with the enemy: the IRS, aka Internal Revenue Service.  Completing California and U.S. corporate tax forms has consumed me, so I had little time to prepare a new blog.  Fortunately, I came across an article I had read months ago that I wish to share with you.

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How to Blow an Opportunity to Showcase Judo

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It is said that you never get a second chance to make a first impression.  When it comes to Judo, I believe that we seldom get a second chance to make a good first impression.  A good first impression is one that screams out, grabs the audience by the throat, and compels it to want to do Judo.  Well, two big shots in Judo had an opportunity recently to make a good impression on a bunch of jiujitsu practitioners.  They failed miserably, and probably didn’t even realize it.

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Where’s the Skepticism within our Judo Culture?

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Whether you call it Judo culture, or mentality, or mindset, one thing that’s clearly MIA- missing in action- in our sport is skepticism.  In other words, most of us are meek sheep following some leader who is often misguided, ill-informed, or just simply lost.  We keep marching to the tune of our Judo Pied Piper almost never questioning whether what we are doing makes any sense. Even when it does dawn on us that what we’re doing is crazy, there’s almost no attempt to discuss issues and remedy our lot.  Chalk up this behavior to our traditional hierarchy that instills in the lower ranks unwavering (and unquestioning) respect for our senior ranks.

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