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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Vizer’s Vision

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If you haven’t yet read IJF President Marius Vizer’s latest interview, which appears on the EJU web site, you should.  It’s pretty obvious that he intends to take Judo into the ranks of the elite, professional sports in which only the countries that are Judo powers, and moneyed athletes can afford to participate.  I’m not sure how this is going to play out in the long run, but if tennis is any indication- and Vizer’s camp has alluded to the fact that Judo should emulate tennis- fewer countries and fewer athletes stand a chance of competing fairly in the big leagues.

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The Evolution of an Art

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Last week, I had the pleasure of attending a promotion ceremony for my business partner, Parker Linekin,  a kenpo karate and tai chi instructor.  His sensei, Brian Adams, was flying in from the East Coast to promote him to grandmaster 10th dan in Adams’ Integrated Martial Arts system.  Adams had been one of the first students of Ed Parker, founder of American Kenpo Karate, and had studied a variety of striking and weapons systems before founding his own system.

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The Birth of a Judo Club

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Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the Grand Opening of Migoto Judo Club’s new facilities. Migoto’s home is a commercial building in a new business park in Chula Vista, California, which is located in South San Diego County.  Its previous home was the home of its coach, Roland Fernando.  Migoto’s story deserves to be told and emulated.

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