AAU Freestyle Judo Championships

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Gerald Lafon

For those of you who have been turned off from competing under the restrictive IJF rules, the National AAU Freestyle Judo Championships, which take place on March 23-24, 2012 in Kearney, Missouri, offers you a great opportunity to compete under more sensible rules that allow the full complement of Judo skills.

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A History of Judo

Posted on January 17, 2012 by Gerald Lafon

While there are many books that cover various aspects of Judo history, they always seem to me to be incomplete, maybe even superficial.  That all changed when I read A History of Judo by 1964 British Olympian Syd Hoare, 8th Dan.  Finally, this was the book that I had been looking for.  A History of Judo was so informative and transformative that I bought out Amazon’s stock twice in order to offer the book to my assistant coaches.

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Who Scored?

Posted on January 4, 2012 by Gerald Lafon

Happy New Year!  Let’s start off 2012 with a bang!  Here’s something I’ve been thinking about for a long time.  I know my ideas probably won’t get very far officially, but it’s important that we at least discuss them to see if they make sense for general skill development and self-defense.

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Think Small!

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Gerald Lafon

I’ve noticed recently that many coaches are thinking about running a “good” tournament.  I’m not sure what “good” means, but it probably indicates that most tournaments have lots of negative aspects to them, which leads many to think that they can do better.  I do know that it’s very difficult to get a good turnout for your event, especially if it’s your first.  Couple that with what’s typically a lack of support from the local clubs, assuming you even have other local clubs besides your own, and the prospect of renting a facility, getting awards, and running an event that doesn’t take money out of your pocket is a scary proposition.

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IJF Responds!

Posted on December 22, 2011 by Gerald Lafon

Two weeks ago, I emailed four IJF officials asking what prompted the latest IJF edict against coaching from the sidelines.  Marius Vizer, IJF President, and Vladimir Barta, IJF Head Sports Director, responded to my inquiry, for which I am grateful.  This is what Mr. Vizer had to say:

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Defiant or Incompetent?

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Gerald Lafon

Every now and then, I stumble across a concept that is so obvious that I wonder why I hadn’t thought of it myself.  Last week, I read that a good portion of a student’s non-compliance to directions is caused not by his defiance, but by his incompetence: the student misinterprets or doesn’t know how to follow directions.  Honestly, it had never crossed my mind that incompetence could be the root cause of not being able to focus or follow directions.  ADD, ADHD, yes.  Incompetence, no.

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Canada Pulls the Trigger

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Gerald Lafon

In my last post, I suggested that we should be concerned that national federations would jump on the bandwagon and start implementing the latest IJF rule concerning matside coaching.  This new rule states that coaches will only be able to coach between ‘matte’ and ‘hajime’. Well, it took less than 24 hours to find out that Canada had already issued the command to go forward with the rule.  According to a Canadian colleague, the new rule will be enforced in November at a local event in his province of British Columbia (BC).

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More from IJF and WJF

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Gerald Lafon

The heavy hand of the IJF has once again come down hard on coaches.  Good grief!  Why the continued assault?  While the new directive applies only to IJF events, we must be concerned that national federations will jump aboard and start enforcing a similar rule for national and perhaps even local events.  Here’s the IJF ruling, which I only found out about because my American colleague received it from a Mexican colleague.

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Physical Education Gets No Respect

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Gerald Lafon

According to Greek philosopher Aristotle, “Education is the process of creating a sound mind in a sound body.”  Mens sana in corpore sano (a sound mind in a healthy body), a famous Latin quotation, supports that concept.   Yet centuries after these pronouncements, what’s the first thing that gets axed or limited, or is used as a form of punishment when a child falls behind in his schoolwork or grades?  Extra-curricular physical education.  In other words, sports like Judo.  And the reason for sports taking such a big hit is that in spite of all the positive information available regarding the value of participation in sports, physical education still gets no respect.

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Winning on the Mat

Posted on November 1, 2011 by Gerald Lafon

Winning on the Mat: Judo, Freestyle Judo and Submission Grappling is the title of Steve Scott’s massive (over 400 pages) book on Judo.  Scott, a key leader in AAU and Freestyle Judo, is like me a rebel with a cause and admirer of Geof Gleeson.  He feels that Judo gets no respect and is headed in the wrong direction.  About a month ago, out of the blue, Scott was kind enough to send me a copy of his book.  In return, he asked for nothing.

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