Another Sport Group Tweaks Its Program

Posted on October 26, 2011 by Gerald Lafon

U.S. Tennis Association is the latest group to change the way things are done in its sport.  Coming to the conclusion that American tennis is at its sorriest state ever- no American player is ranked in the top ten- it has launched a multi-million dollar development program called Ten and under Tennis.

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Posted in Judo Coaching, Judo Development, Judo Rules | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Why is that illegal?

Posted on October 18, 2011 by Gerald Lafon

My colleague Steve Scott, recently wrote in his newsletter, “As an interesting sidelight to how history repeats itself, a variety of these techniques are used in various forms of submission grappling and mixed martial arts, although they continue to be illegal in judo competition.”  He was talking about various forms of shime waza or constricting techniques, not necessarily neck chokes.  Not very long ago, one of my readers commented, “Please correct me if I’m wrong; wrestling, Brazilian jiujitsu, and competitive sambo will allow all Judo throws of the Kodokan in competition.  With the IJF rules, Judo does not.  This is a disgrace.”  I couldn’t agree more.

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Posted in Judo Competition, Judo Rules | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Be Strong, Be Gentle, Be Beautiful

Posted on October 13, 2011 by Gerald Lafon

Be Strong, Be Gentle, Be Beautiful is the title of Yuriko Gamo Romer’s still-in-progress documentary film chronicling the life of Keiko Fukuda. Ms. Fukuda, the last surviving judoka to have studied directly under Jigoro Kano, was recently promoted to 10th Dan by USA Judo.  She remains the highest ranking female judoka in the world, and becomes the first female 10th dan.

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Posted in Judo Coaching, Judo Development | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Judo Stamps

Posted on October 9, 2011 by Gerald Lafon

While growing up in Secaucus, New Jersey, I started collecting stamps as a project for a Boy Scouts badge when I was eight.  My Czechoslovakian grandmother and French father were good sources for foreign stamps.  Dad worked in the restaurant business in New York City and had access to lots of customers from all over the world.  When I moved to France at age ten, my stamp collecting took off like a rocket.

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Don’t sabotage my talk!

Posted on October 5, 2011 by Gerald Lafon

This past Sunday, I ran another quarterly in-house developmental tournament using what I call Judo America rules- no penalties, no terminal ippon, and no banned techniques.  As players started filtering into the dojo, one of my dads approached me with his young son.  He told me his son had fallen off his bike the previous day and skinned his knee.  He brought his son to the tournament hoping that his son could compete, but was worried that he might bleed all over.  I took a look at the “wound” and told his son to get on the mat and be ready to compete.  It was pretty superficial.

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Posted in Judo Coaching, Judo Development | 1 Comment

Keep Your Hands out of My Wallet!

Posted on September 20, 2011 by Gerald Lafon

If there was any doubt that the IJF, and by extension the national organizations, didn’t care for the athletes, here’s proof that the only thing that matters is how much each organization can make off rank and file players, coaches, and officials.  I call this highway robbery.

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Posted in Judo Development, Judo Politics | 4 Comments

Great Statue!

Posted on September 15, 2011 by Gerald Lafon

I thought you would all appreciate this beautiful statue.  It’s located in Chelyabinsk, Russia. Looks like a young Kano or Mifune, although it’s hard to tell from the picture.  Are there any other statues dedicated to Judo in your cities?

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Notes from 2011 World Championships in Paris

Posted on September 13, 2011 by Gerald Lafon

I had the pleasure of attending the first two days of the 2011 World Championships in Paris.  Here are my comments.

I ran into Michel Brousse, the French Judo historian (among other things) in the hotel lobby.  He was kind enough to acknowledge that my daughter Natalie was participating in the championships.  He also informed me that there would be an International Association of Judo Researchers symposium the next morning, and invited me to attend.  I did, and came away with lots of good information from the morning session, which was dedicated to Judo history.  Unfortunately, I had to miss the afternoon session as I was meeting my 86-year old father, whom I hadn’t seen in some twenty years.

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Posted in Judo Competition, Judo Politics | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

News from the WJF

Posted on September 3, 2011 by Gerald Lafon

I just received the following comments from David Gordge, vice-president for World Judo Federation Oceania, in response to my post “Move over IJF!” Rather than bury it under the comments section, I’ve decided to highlight it as a new post.  Let’s hope that the WJF is not just the IJF with a different name.

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The KISS Principle

Posted on September 1, 2011 by Gerald Lafon

Rest assured that I’m not talking about Kiss, the rock group, but rather the acronym that stands for “Keep it simple, stupid!”  KISS is the opposite of information overload.  It’s a simple principle that seems to elude many coaches who feel the need to show off the depth of their knowledge, rather than make it easier for students to learn.  The Japanese call this kuchi waza.  I call this diarrhea of the mouth.

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Posted in Judo Coaching | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments