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.
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.
Slowly, but surely, more and more coaches are opting to run tournaments using non-IJF rules. Last weekend, I ran the second of my quarterly in-house tournaments using rules that I thought would bring about the best tournament experience for my players. I was not disappointed.
The people to fear are not those who disagree with you, but those who disagree with you and are too cowardly to let you know. Napoleon Bonaparte
If I received $100 every time someone told me that he reads my blog, agrees with much of it, but doesn’t always agree 100 percent, I could retire my substantial house mortgage. I’m not sure why there’s a need to tell me you disagree with me without further explanation. I would much prefer that you engage me in intellectual discourse, and tell me why you disagree or what you disagree about. That would be beneficial.
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.
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.