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.
As I get older, I’ve become less tolerant of things that irritate me. One big irritant has been the IJF rules. If you’ve been reading my blog, you know how many times I’ve complained about the silly rules and the clueless IJF luminaries who keep messing with my sport.
This year’s Tokyo Grand Slam was held in the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, which is right next to the 1964 Olympic stadium. Half as many countries participated in this event as did in the 2010 World Championships in Tokyo just three months prior. I wonder if it had anything to do with the fact that, as the host nation, Japan could enter four players per division.
I was minding my own business from the sideline, monitoring the adults who were doing randori. One of my players had scrambled off the mat to get away from a disadvantageous ne waza situation. His training partner, a former Navy SEAL and jiujitsu black belt, mocking his manhood screamed “Coward!”
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.