One of my readers is a father of four young, dynamic Judoplayers, who have great potential as Judo competitors. His kids have been to my practices and have competed in my in-house tournaments. He has participated in a USJA Coach Education Program I’ve run. He hates the new IJF rules. Who can blame him? So now, in addition to Judo, his kids are doing jiujitsu. His latest comments to my posts have encouraged me to address issues he brings up.
This is my final report on the 2010 World Championships. I was fortunate to speak with many foreign coaches, officials, and athletes in the stands. They provided me a non-American perspective on our sport, which not surprisingly mirrors how I feel about Judo’s new direction.
Most of the Europeans I talked with are not in favor of the new rules. The paradox is that it appears that an EJU clique of “reformers,” consisting of Marius Vizer, Vladimir Barta, and Juan Carlos Barcos, has hijacked the IJF, and is most responsible for the remaking of Judo along the lines of professional tennis.
Before I left for the Worlds, one of my readers suggested that the Judo at the World Championships in Tokyo would probably be more exciting than what many of us had witnessed on TV during the Miami World Cup held just ten days prior to the Worlds. Truth be told is that he was both right and wrong. Let me explain why.
I’m back from the World Championships in Tokyo. It was a good trip, but for the first time ever jet lag is kicking my butt big time. It’s been a week since I returned to San Diego and I still can’t sleep. I might have to buy some valerian today to see if that helps.
I gathered so much information that my report on the Worlds will be in several parts. The first part will be devoted to the officiating and rules. With all the recent rule changes, I was looking forward to seeing what Judo would look like at the international level. I was in for a surprise, and a good one at that.
The good: we finally got to see some Judo on an American TV station! The 2010 World Cup Miami was televised on Versus yesterday, and we were “treated” to two hours of finals. The bad: it was boring, terrible Judo, and painful to watch. If USA Judo thought this telecast would garner interest in Judo, it probably had the opposite effect. What we got was too much grip fighting, too many penalties, and too little Judo. Who wants to do a sport like that? The new rules are making what was already a relatively boring sport to watch even more boring. Thanks a lot, IJF!
While the IJF marches forward with its effort to create a Judo that looks more “classical”, there are stories trickling out from several sources that the IJF is messing with the rules to prevent some countries from winning Judo tournaments. In the past, these countries were lumped together under the generic “East European” label. Now, it appears that Georgians (leg grabs) and Mongolians (bear hugs) are specifically being singled out. So what’s at work here? Chauvinism, aesthetics, or both?