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!
Nail them!!! That seems to be the new mantra of a large group of ‘A’ referees and their acolytes, who care more about punishing players than they do seeing Judo survive as a sport. Two San Diego County national referees, one of whom is my student, tell me that’s the atmosphere they work in, at least in California.
I had the pleasure of attending the referee meeting during the USJA-USJF Junior National Championships in Irvine, California. Although I couldn’t stay for its entirety- I needed to head over to the USJA Board meeting, which unfortunately was held at the same time as the referee meeting- I gathered a wealth of information, which reinforced my opinion that Judo is committing suicide by rules. Needless to say, I didn’t leave the meeting with warm fuzzy feelings.