Judo builds friendships

Impromptu Training (11/12/2015)
We didn't expect to have training today but a request from our guest, Yi Tan, led to an impromptu training that was really quite good!
Posted by KL Judo Club on Friday, December 11, 2015

For those of us who have done judo for most of our lives, it's obvious that judo has many benefits. It's a great sport that keeps you fit and healthy. It also teaches discipline, perseverance and bravery. But one of the things that tends to be overlooked is how judo also builds friendships.

When people with a common love of the sport meet, an instant camaraderie develops. This was certainly the case when I recently met up with Yi Tan, the head coach of The Dojo in Singapore. Although our competition era was roughly around the same time (early- to mid-90s) our paths did not cross until recently. Once we met though, we got along really well. I think that's because we belong to a small breed of judo coaches who happen to have actual international competition experience. As a result our outlook on judo is quite different from those senseis who have never competed at the top level. And unlike some senseis, we don't just strut around on the mat and bark instructions. We actually randori with our players and any guests who come to visit our clubs. That's the difference and that's what makes us kindred spirits.

Yi Tan teaching my junior students some gripping tactics last night.

Like Yi Tan, I'm averse to judo politics. I hate it. Judo politics is practiced by those who can't do judo. So they play politics instead. In contrast, we want the best for our players. So, for 2016, we are planning a whole range of activities so that our players can get more randori and more competition experience. It's very exciting and because we love judo, and abhor judo politics, all our activities will be open to guests who want to join us. Stay tuned for more information.

Judo Chow (second from left) catches up with his old friend Toh Kek Keong (far right), another judo stalwart.

Mr Chow (or Judo Chow, as he is known), an international referee and judo stalwart from Hong Kong, came to visit us last night. He asked if it was ok for him to don his judogi and practice a bit. I said, of course! My junior players had a fun time training with him and I even got a chance to randori with him. We talked a lot about international judo and even discussed a controversial hansoku-make decision at the recent 2015 Tokyo Grand Slam which resulted in Takanori Nagase getting disqualified. We also talked about opportunities for training abroad and possibly setting up friendly matches among clubs in the region.

A good turnout for an impromptu training where some old guards gave tips to a new generation of judo players.

Today's training was unscheduled. But Yi Tan, who was in town for a local competition, asked if he could drop by with a few of his young players. So we called a few of our junior players to join in as well. As a bonus, Judo Chow dropped by and joined in the training. The young players did some rolling about and the slightly older ones got some tips from the old guards. We ended the session with some good, old-fashioned randori. Everybody broke a sweat and had a good time. This is what judo is all about.

There's no better way to end a training session than to have a nice meal at a Chinese restaurant.

After the training, we brought our guests to a nearby Chinese restaurant where we had an excellent meal courtesy of Mr Lim, the team manager and KL Judo co-founder. We started the club in May and it's been an interesting ride to say the least. We've learned a lot along the way and we are delighted with how things have turned out so far. Our club is not exactly filled to the brim with players but our policy has always been "quality over quantity". Since May, we've had players come and go, and we are very happy with the players who have chosen to stick with us. They all have a very good attitude and are the kinds of players we want.

We have an open door policy and welcome all guests. Even if players don't want to be members they can pay a mat fee and train on an ad hoc basis. Actually, we've had a few players from other clubs tell us they want to train with us because they've heard good things about our competition-styled training. But they don't dare to come because their insecure senseis forbid them from training elsewhere. A few actually came to visit but we discreetly did not post their pictures in our blog or Facebook Page because we didn't want them to get into trouble. Isn't it a sad state of judo affairs when players have to train in secret?

Our last activity of the year will be our first Winter Training where we will host players from The Dojo (Singapore).

Time flies and it is nearly year-end already. We thought the Penang team competition that was recently over would be the last major activity for the year but a recent visit to Singapore yielded an interesting proposition. Yi Tan and his team made us feel really welcome and I invited him and his team to visit us for some training in KL. We toyed around with some potential dates for the end-of-the-year joint training camp and he finally suggested X'mas weekend. I wasn't sure if many of my players would be around but as it turns out, only two of them would be out of the country. The rest would be around and could train. So, we decided to make it a Winter Training camp. Well, it won't exactly be cold but it's still X'mas training so we shall call it Winter Training. I have some exciting programs for them and we will probably have a few guests from out of town as well.

We'll be posting us some nice videos and pictures from that training. So watch, this space!

KL Judo Club

66-3, Wisma Alam Damai,
Jalan Alam Damai, Cheras,
56000 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: +6016 6262004 or +6012 3893148