Judo handshake

Traditionally, Japanese judo players do not shake hands before or even after a judo match. They bow and that's it.

However, in international competitions there emerged a tradition of competitors shaking hands both before and after matches. Perhaps out of deference to Japanese traditions the IJF banned handshakes before matches (only a bow is permitted before the match) but it still allowed handshakes after matches.

If you watch Japanese domestic matches, quite often players still do not shake hands after matches although some Japanese players with international exposure have begun to do so, especially when they have just fought their top domestic rival in the category.

When I used to train in Europe, I noticed a tradition where the coach would make a point to shake everyone's hand after a hard, successful training session. It's a tradition that I'm glad to carry on in our club and I'm glad it's taken root among our players.

Judo is a hard sport and we fight each other very hard during randori. But it's important to always show respect to your training partners and to your opponents. Shaking a person's hand conveys that respect and your gratitude for them showing up and giving you a chance to train with them.

Respect and gratitude

A super productive session (23.12.18)

We had the smallest Sunday class in a long time yesterday. Perhaps this was due to the upcoming X'mas celebrations but only six players showed up.

This could have been a disaster. Instead, it turned out to be arguably the most productive session we've ever had.

With very few players on the mat, we were able to give personalized attention to each of them. And that really made a difference.

We started off with ippon-seoi-nage, followed by a lighter technique: de-ashi-barai. Then, it was a big technique again: ogoshi, followed by a technique that requires a mix of finesse and brute strength: ouchi-gari. That's four standing techniques that we covered. We've never been able to cover that much in past sessions.

For groundwork, I asked them to do a series of hold-downs without letting go of uke. So they would start with kesa-gatame, then switch to yoko-shiho-gatame, then to kami-shiho-gatame, then yoko-shiho again and finally, tate-shiho-gatame. At first it was done without resistance, then later with resistance.

For randori, we did a few rounds of newaza, followed by standing. It was very tiring but at the end of it all, everyone felt that they had a heck of a session.

In general, it's always nicer when there are more people on the mat but sometimes having fewer players on the mat can result in more productive sessions. And these are fulfilling in their own ways.

Our players are not just good judoka, they are good actors too!

The revolving door of judo

Whether we like it or not, every judo club has a proverbial revolving door.

I read with interest an article written by a Canadian coach about the topic of people quitting judo. In it, the coach quoted his own sensei stating the following pearls of wisdom:

Building judo clubs is like building sandcastles. You build them up, and they get washed away. Then you rebuild.

Anyone who has ever tried to start and run a judo club knows what he says is so true. Sometimes when the chips are down and the membership has dwindled, it is easy to succumb to the fallacy that it is only your judo club that suffers from this. But I have been in touch with many judo coaches around the world and this is a problem almost all private judo clubs face.

There are many challenges in building up a judo club. You need to find the right location, you need to get the right equipment, you need to get the right instructors but the most challenging of them all is getting people to sign up for judo and sticking with it. Every coach, every sensei, every experienced player who has been in judo for more than a year will tell you that recruiting members is indeed the single biggest challenge any club faces.

When I first came back to Malaysia, I joined a judo club where the membership at one point dwindled down to two people: me and my long-time judo friend, Jason Lim. For a sustained period of time, it was just the two of us coming to the dojo to train. Over time the membership recovered somewhat. So I know what it's like to struggle to keep a club alive. 

Even with KL Judo we faced a similar situation. At one time, the membership was reduced to just two players, Shen and Eric Chung (one of our pioneer members who has been with the club the longest). She was a -52kg player while he was a -90kg player. Imagine the mismatch. But they kept training and kept the club alive, just like Jason and I did before that with the other club we were at.

The blog posting I referred to lists 10 reasons why people might quit. Some of the reasons are more convincing than others. Injury is a common reason. If a newcomer gets injured early on, you can be sure they will quit judo. That's why it's important to have a culture of safety in the club. Dangerous players who tend to injure everybody need to change their ways or eventually leave the club.

Discouragement or demoralization is another. That one is harder to mitigate because it really depends on that person's own psychology. When I was a beginner, the fact that everybody else in the club was better than me served as motivation. Each time a black belt (or any colored belt for that matter) threw me, it made me more determined to improve myself so that one day I could stop their throws or even actually throw them. It took me nine months of dedicated training before I could throw anyone in the club but not once did I waver in my resolve.

But not everyone is made up that way psychologically. I have met many, many aspiring judokas who gave up before they even got their yellow belt because they were frustrated about their inability to throw others in the club. Sometimes it happens after their very first session, believe it or not. I recall a visitor we had (a black belt from another martial art) who visited us to learn judo. After his very first training, he shook his head in frustration saying his techniques are so bad.

I wanted to tell him, "What are you talking about? This is your first session. You don't have any techniques!" But instead, I just encouraged him to come for more trainings. He came for one more and after failing to throw anyone he quit. This is an extreme example but it is quite common for beginners to quit out of frustration because they expected to master judo skills much faster. When a player has that kind of attitude, its hard to help them.

There is also a group of players who drop out for mysterious reasons. They show a lot of keenness at the start. Sometimes they are the keenest of all. Then they suddenly drop out without giving any reason. That happens too.

I call this the "hangat hangat tahi ayam" syndrome. It's inexplicable and I've learned not to try to figure it out because there really is no logical reason for this behaviour. Nor is it worth getting perturbed by it. In the words of Paul McCartney, I just "let it be".

Then there are those who you are actually glad to see gone because either they are too reckless and dangerous or they have a bad attitude. We occasionally see those types too. But I won't devote too much time writing about bad apples here. I'll save that for another post. There are many more interesting topics to explore regarding players who quit.

The blogger I referred to posed a few imponderables. For example, what do you do with someone who is just visiting for a short period of time? Do you invest time and effort into training them even though you know they will only be with you for a few weeks or a few months? (Usually these are students who have come back during school break from their overseas studies).

The answer, as far as I'm concerned, is absolutely. I do not discriminate between my "permanent" players and visiting players. If someone has chosen our club as the place they want to learn judo, we owe it to them to give them the very best instruction possible. It doesn't matter that they will leave in a matter of weeks or months.

The other imponderable the blogger posed concerns newcomers who don't seem that certain about judo. Do you invest time and effort into training them given that they might just quit a few weeks down the road? The author says he would generally "err on the side of generosity".

For me, it's simple. It's not an issue of whether you are new or not or whether you have potential or not or even whether you are likely to stay or not. It's all about your commitment to learning. If you show me that you really want to learn, I will teach you. Simple as that.

Lastly, there is the issue of dedicated members who have to leave the club for reasons beyond their control. Usually it has to do with them moving away to another city, state or even country. It's always sad when you lose a dedicated member and we've had that happen in our club in the past. I always view it philosophically though. Rather than be sad over the fact that we won't have them anymore I'm happy that we had them around for the time that we did. They contributed positively to the history of our club and helped to make it what it is.

Two teens that I have been training over the past year will be leaving the country by mid-year. It's sad to see them go but I am glad that I got the chance to train them and build up their judo. Who knows, they might return someday and re-join the club. Anything is possible.

The harsh reality of our sport is that judo clubs have revolving doors. People come in, some stay for a while, some stay for a long time, and some leave very quickly. You can't lament the fact that many people will come and go, and only a few will end up sticking around for the long run. The best that you can do is make the most of the time you have with them. If you think about it, this reflects life itself.

Successful personalized training

Our Tuesday class was a lot smaller than our Sunday class and this allowed us to conduct more personalized training.

Nigel helped teach the beginners some basics like break-falls and rolls as well as ogoshi (on a crashpad). Meanwhile, I worked with the others on transition from ground to standing and how to make full use of the new IJF rules that allow you to throw off the ground.

Midway through the session, we worked together as a group and everyone worked on okuri-eri-jime followed by osoto-gari from a kenka-yotsu (opposite stance) situation.

After that we did randori and wrapped up around 9.50pm. That gave us 10 minutes to roll-up the mats and get out of there!

It was a good session. Players got more personalized attention, nobody got injured and everyone had a good workout. This will be the template for future weekday sessions.

Dec 18, 2018 Session Program

Our plan with the new club is for Sundays to be group training and weekday trainings (usually a smaller turnout) to focus on more personalized training.

For Tuesday's session, for the first half of the class we will divide the groups into two. One will be the beginners who will learn the basics. The other group will focus on some competition skills and tactics.

For the second half of the class we will all work together on Okuri-Eri-Jime and Osoto-Gari.

Okuri-Eri-Jime & Osoto-Gari are the techniques for Tuesday's session.

We've only just begun

We've finally re-opened after a two-month hiatus. Not all of our members could attend. A few were overseas and some had other engagements. But we still had a good turnout.

The good thing about having a critical mass of members is when even as many as a third or even half of your members can't make it, you still have a good number of players on the mat.

That's what I've been aiming for all this while and I'm glad to say we are nearly there with our good mix of old and new members.

It was the first time being in the studio for most of the players and the feedback was  very positive. The space isn't huge but they really liked the ambience and fittings. The lighting is elegant and the aircond much appreciated. The high-quality roll-out mats were a big hit too. Too many of us have had bad experiences training on hard, thin mats and having quality mats that provide adequate cushioning makes a big difference.

I had set a modest and simple training program for our first session, taking into account that most of our players are not in shape, having not trained for two months, and the fact that we have some beginners among us. Because the program was not overly ambitious, we managed to get all the things we wanted done and on time.

Videos are important training aids

Iatskevich Rolling Juji-Gatame

Gripping

Skipping Kouchi

Fantastic group of people.

We are off to a good start. I'm hoping we can sustain this momentum so we can achieve greater heights in the weeks and months to come.

Dec 16, 2018 Session Program

Our roll-out mats are finally here.

Warm Ups
a) Rolls
b) Durian Ball Game

Newaza: Iatskevich Roll

Gripping: Aerial Judogi Challenge

Tachi-Waza: Skipping Kouchi

Randori:
a) Newaza
b) Tachi-Waza

Judo for the rest of us

Amber was quite a natural!

It's not often a supermodel visits your judo club but Amber Chia dropped by KL Judo earlier this year to give judo a try. She was a real good sport about it and did all the exercises and drills just like the other members of the club. At the end of the session she even took part in some sparring.

The feedback she gave us was really instructive. She liked the training because it really made her sweat. She found the session intense but satisfying. Overall, she felt it was a really good workout.

When I was brainstorming with Wenisa about designing a fitness program based on judo, one approach I took was to think: What kind of program would someone like Amber enjoy?

Ultimately, what non-competitive judokas want out of a judo session is a good workout. And with that in mind we came up with Judo Fitness which is basically judo without the brutality. To borrow a phrase from Steve Jobs, it's judo "for the rest of us".

Below are highlights from Amber's first judo session:

Growing club membership

Judo is a niche sport in Malaysia. It's not easy recruiting members but thankfully, we already have a critical mass of players in our club so we are in a good position to grow.

It's important to have a critical mass because when newcomers check out the club for the first time, they'd get turned off if they see only three or four player on the mat.

There are a few ways we plan to attract new members:

1. Social media is something we've utilized from the start and it is a key differentiating factor. Most judo clubs around here hardly have any online presence. No website, no social media pages, no blog. We have all three. So this is a differentiating factor for us. Through our online presence people can get to know more about our training philosophy and they can also get a sense about what our club culture is like. We will continue to create more online content.

2. Starting in January, Activ Studio will be running Judo Fitness classes, which are fitness training classes based on judo moves and techniques. These won't be judo classes per se but exercise programs for people who want to build strength, fitness and agility. Will some of these participants migrate to judo proper? Maybe a few. But even if it's just a few, it's good.

3. There's not a lot of judo in schools right now. Although I don't have ambitions to go into a lot of different schools, if some schools were to have a interest in having a judo program, that's something I'd like to help out with. The students from school programs might want to take their judo to a different level and when they do, KL Judo Centre will be there for them.

4. It helps that we are located in KL, the capital city of Malaysia. Lots of foreigners come to KL to work. Some of them might have a judo background. Lots of students from other states (and indeed other countries) also come to KL to further their education. If they have some judo background, KL Judo Centre is the ideal place for them to continue their training.

Grand Re-Opening (Dec 16)

After a two-and-a-half-month hiatus KL Judo Centre is almost ready to re-open. We're just waiting for the mats to arrive from China. Actually, they should be arriving by today but it will take a few days to clear the customs and get them delivered to the studio where our club will be housed.

If all goes well, we can have a soft re-opening on Friday just to try out the mats. It'll be a chance for our players to get their judo feet wet again. Then on Sunday, Dec 16, we'll have our proper first session.

I'm delighted to say that most of our "legacy" members have decided to follow us to the new location and we've also had a few new members who have decided to give our new club a try. Together, it's a really good mix.

We will have classes three times a week, twice on weekdays (Tues & Fri) and once on the weekend (Sun).

The plan is for Sundays to be very much a group training situation where everyone works on the same thing. Sundays usually see the biggest crowds so I'll design activities that the whole group can do.

Weekdays will be when players can focus more on what they want to achieve. For example, some might want to focus more on belt grading techniques while others might want to focus on competitions. We can have small groups working on different things. So, weekday trainings are a little more personalized.

That's the plan anyway. We'll adjust and adapt as we go along.

Ev'rything You Want Is Here

If you're looking for bluebird, look in a tree
If you're looking for an oyster, look in the sea
If you're looking for a pebble, take a walk on the beach
Ev'rything you want is here and all within reach
~ "Ev'rything You Want Is Here" by Michael Feinstein

Everything you want in a judo club is here and it's all within reach!

Imminent move (get ready for KL Judo 3.0)

KL 1.0 in Cheras. We've come a long way since then.

If all goes well, our first session at our new location in Activ Studio (Bangsar) will be on Dec 9. All of this depends on whether our mats arrive on time. We had ordered some roll-out mats from China which are on their way to Port Klang at the time of writing. They should arrive early this week. But then there's the paperwork and customs clearance, which may take some time. Hopefully, we will get them delivered to Activ Studio in time for Dec 9.

If not, Dec 9, then it would be Dec 11 that will be our first day. But of course Dec 9 is better because it's a Sunday and more people are able to attend on a weekend. So, fingers crossed. Let's hope the mats get here on time. For our grand re-opening, it would be nice to get as many of our members together as possible.

The first iteration of KL Judo, based in Cheras, came about more than three years ago. We started really small and at one point, our membership consisted of three or four students only. The fact that we focused on training working adults made it pretty hard to grow the club. No other judo club in Malaysia has managed to build their membership based on that demographic. All the other clubs are aimed at juniors, not seniors.

But just because something is hard doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. Sometimes, you do it because it is hard. So, we stuck to our guns and pursued our vision of building a judo club where adults could come together and enjoy training judo with each other.

Over time, through hard work, perseverance and a bit of luck, we did manage to build up a critical mass of players, mainly working adults but also a few teens who are happy to train with grown-ups. In order to take KL Judo to the next level, we felt we need to collaborate with a partner that could offer us more value and who supported our vision for the club.

KL 2.0 was when we moved into Muayfit in Damansara Perdana. The cost was higher but the benefits were good. Below the dojo was a gym with exercise equipment that our players could use (the fees included use of the gym equipment). The mat area was big and they had nice roll-out mats that provided good cushioning. They were very flexible and accommodating when it came to scheduling and use of the mats. They also expressed a lot of interesting in helping us grow the judo club. Although they didn't end up promoting judo all that much, we were generally happy with the location and facilities. Our membership grew, a bunch of our beginners got their belt promotions and training was good.

We thought we'd be there for a long time. Then, out of the blue, the gym closed down and relocated to another place where the facilities were just not suitable for judo. With a higher rent and unsuitable facilities, we really had no choice but to move yet again.

I'm not one who believes in fate. I don't believe in the notion that "things happen for a reason". But I do believe in the notion that sometimes, not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck. Being forced to look for another venue led to our partnership with Activ Studio, which will be KL Judo 3.0.

How will it be different? Our core mission of building up a judo club for grown-ups is still the same. Our values and club culture will of course still be the same. The training program will also be pretty much the same, although training methods are always a work in progress. I am constantly fine-tuning the training modules so our members can learn effectively and have fun in the process. What will be different is that we will have a Judo Fitness program that will run in parallel with the regular KL Judo Centre's competitive judo training. In a nutshell, it is an exercise program based on judo movements and techniques but is not judo training per se. The objective is fitness not fighting.

The thinking is that this approach will make judo more accessible to the general public. Of course we do hope that those who try this will become intrigued with judo and will over time, decide to try out judo proper. This is something completely new and we don't know if it'll work but our partner in this effort, Activ Studio is keen to give it a try. And so are we.

Judo for strength & conditioning

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Strength and Conditioning Journal
December 2011 (Vol. 33, pp 60-63)

Judo training is an intermittent metabolically demanding activity that has historically been connected to physical education and development. The health impact of practicing this Olympic sport and martial art highlights the benefits of combat sports. Various physiological improvements, including those in the areas of body composition, strength, and endurance, as well as enhanced cognitive performance and life satisfaction have shown to result from participation in judo.

Judo has fundamental ties to strength and conditioning. The founder of judo, Jigoro Kano, was an educator by trade and coupled the education of knowledge and morality with that of physical education.

Judo, as a martial art, was developed from various schools of jiu-jitsu dating to an era preceding the samurai. Kano recognized that each of these forms of jiu-jitsu possessed specific strengths that could be incorporated into a combination of techniques that would provide a unique method of training.

Judo competition has been a part of the Summer Program of the Olympic Games for men since 1964 (and 1992 for women) and has become one of the most highly practiced sports worldwide. Judo has since developed into a grappling-based sport with practitioners focusing largely on the execution of dynamic throws and quick submission attempts.

Judo's seminal texts and manuals include sections devoted to strength and conditioning. Draeger and Inokuma published “Weight Training for Championship Judo” in 1966, well before the popularity of the film documentary “Pumping Iron” in the United States. With a concentration on the importance of training the mind and body, practicing judo provides numerous health benefits for people of all ages.

Jacini et al showed that judo athletes with more than 10 years of judo experience possessed higher grey matter volume in various regions of the brain associated with motor learning, planning, and execution, as well as memory and cognitive processes when compared with healthy controls. The authors hypothesized that these adaptations were the result of the complex motor skills required during judo training. Male individuals with judo experience have also shown to have superior postural control when compared with ballet dancers in instances when visual cues are removed or instability is instituted.

Judo is an intermittent physically demanding activity that requires both power and flexibility. Basic judo training begins with learning break-falls as a means of practicing safely. These particular techniques involve rolling to one's back when being thrown to the ground to distribute the force of the impact and has shown to be effective across the lifespan, including in the elderly.

Judo technique progresses to include all muscle actions from isometric holds during grip fighting and groundwork to plyometric movements using the stretch-shortening cycle while engaging in throwing techniques. Repetitive movements during judo training include unloaded body weight exercise and loaded partner exercise.

Classifying judo as a high-intensity weight-bearing sport, Andreoli et al showed that judo athletes exhibited higher appendicular muscle mass than normative controls and greater bone mineral density values than karate athletes, water polo athletes, and a control group.

Experienced judo competitors have enhanced upper body strength and have been shown to be superior in trunk extension, trunk flexion, rotational isokinetic torque, and power when compared with elite cyclists.

With respect to lower body strength, Fagerlund and Hakkinen reported greater strength-velocity curves during squat jumping exercise in high-level judo competitors. In addition to possessing greater aerobic and anaerobic power than healthy controls, elite male and female judo athletes have shown to possess left ventricular hypertrophy, increased stroke volume, and decreased resting heart rate. As a result of these findings and in contrast to being classified as strength-power athletes, Laskowski et al noted that cardiac adaptations to long-term judo training are similar to those exhibited by endurance athletes.

Benefits of judo for children & adolescents

Strength and Conditioning Journal
December 2011 (Vol. 33, pp 60-63)

Judo founder Jigoro Kano understood the potential physical and health benefits of judo and, therefore, worked to have it included as part of Japan's physical education system. Judo has recently become part of the national curriculum in Japan, as outlined by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport, Science, and Technology.

In support, judo is a safe contact sport for children, and the scientific literature has demonstrated that the practice of judo can improve cognitive performance, enhance motor learning, and increase the sense of well-being and life satisfaction among youth participants. Furthermore, research has shown increased cardiovascular fitness, anaerobic capacity, flexibility, strength, power, and improved body composition with judo training.

Judo has been mentioned as one of the safest contact sports for children. Matsumoto and Konno reported a positive correlation between judo participation and both life satisfaction and quality of life in U.S. adolescent judo players. Furthermore, the well-being and life satisfaction scores from the young judo players in this study were higher than comparative non-judo participant norms.

Aerobic capacity in junior judo athletes has been shown to be greater than non-athletes, as well as soccer players and gymnasts. This adaptation may manifest itself in the previously described cardiac changes displayed by older judo athletes and would be of benefit during training and competition by maintenance of high-intensity activity, delayed fatigue, and enhanced recovery.

The rate of motor development in young judo players has shown to be steadier than healthy controls during the ages of 11–17 years and may be at its peak during the ages of 11 to 12 and 14 to 15 years. During this same timeframe, young judo athletes exhibit greater handgrip strength and pull-up performance than age-matched non-judo athletes. Jagiello et al hypothesized these differences, and the linear strength increases specific to the upper body are the result of the “directed loads applied in the process of the athletes' training.”

Participation in judo has also shown to be beneficial in an even younger population. Studies by Sekulic et al and Krstulovic et al showed that nine months of judo training in 7-year-old boys (B) and girls (G) improved shuttle run performance (B: 10%; G: 13%), sit-up endurance (B: 30%; G: 46%), sit and reach (flexibility) (B: 34%; G: 45%), and flexed arm hang (B: 72%; G: 76%) to a greater degree when compared with children engaged in recreational sporting games. Both conditions were shown to similarly augment coordination, shoulder flexibility, speed, and cardiovascular endurance.

In a follow-up publication, Krstulovic et al noted that 7-year-old male judo participants gained more weight, increased flexibility, and improved both sit-up and flexed arm hang performance more than soccer and track and field participants over the course of nine months of training. The authors determined that judo training improves specific indices of fitness in children.

Wenisa Ng introduces Judo Fitness

Wenisa Ng's Certifications

• Personal Training
• Health Coach
• Advanced Health and Fitness Specialist
(American Council on Exercise)

• Women Fitness Specialist
(National Academy of Sports Medicine)

• Movement Based Flexibility
• Resisted Movement Training
(Premier Training, UK)


How did you first get involved in the fitness industry?
I started teaching aerobics 20 years ago. I later joined an international gym chain and worked my way up the ranks – from fitness instructor to personal trainer to fitness training manager – before I set up Activ Studio in 2011.

Why set up your own studio?
I wanted my own place so I could focus on personal training for specific demographics – geriatrics, people with health challenges, those recovering from injuries – groups which require specific skill sets and knowledge. The group classes were a later addition for clients who had progressed well, believe in our training philosophy and wanted to broaden their experience with us. Each instructor is handpicked to give the best class experience based on their abilities in handling special groups. The group fitness programmes offered here are designed with our clients in mind. For example, barre classes for toning, fat burning and flexibility; TRX classes for cardiovascular fitness and strength; airflow yoga for postural alignment and myofascial release.

No martial arts?
We’ve had martial arts instructors approach us before but we felt they were not a natural fit. There are other gyms which offer a range of martial arts classes but that’s not part of Activ Studio’s DNA.

Why Judo Fitness then?
When Oon Yeoh, a former national judo champion, approached me about offering judo classes at Activ Studio, I saw the potential of making judo more accessible to the general public. Together, we conceptualized a unique training programme called Judo Fitness. Although judo is a martial art, it is also very much a sport and there’s an underlying athletic foundation that includes a holistic combination of strength, agility, balance and coordination that manifests itself in very dynamic, fluid movements. It is these elements that set Judo Fitness apart from the usual group fitness programmes. I see Judo Fitness as an interactive and enjoyable way to achieve fitness goals such as weight loss, cardiovascular fitness and functional movements relevant to daily life such as learning how to fall safely. 

Is Judo Fitness basically judo without the uniform and without the sparring?
There may be some sparring but it will not be competitive-oriented as Judo Fitness has a very fitness-based approach. What you can expect are judo-based drills and movements that will be performed without having to wear a judogi (uniform). For those who want to take it to the next level, there is a competitive judo class which will also be available at Activ Studio.
 

Who can attend Judo Fitness and when does it start?
Anyone who wants to try a new fitness programme which uses core judo techniques and movements to increase calisthenics strength, cardiovascular fitness, flexibility, agility and balance are welcome to give Judo Fitness a try. Don’t worry if you’re an absolute beginner, we will be nice! Judo Fitness classes commence at Activ Studio in January, 2019. But we'll probably have some free trial classes in December so contact us if you are keen to give this a spin.

Click here for more information about Judo Fitness.  

The secret value of games

Some new equipment for games just arrived.

Some people feel that judo games are for kids only. While it's true that kids love judo games (certainly more than they love judo drills), it's not true that adults don't like games because they

Games are more fun than traditional warm ups.

We often play judo games as a form of warm ups, especially on Sundays when we have a little bit more time. As warm up exercises, games are far more fun than boring traditional judo warm ups. But games also serve another important function. There are skill sets that can be improved through games. Reflex time, balance, coordination -- all these types of things can be improved through games.

One of our instructors, David Potts, usually leads the games. Each weekend he comes up with fun, innovative games that are designed to teach certain principles and help improve motor skills, etc.

Still think judo games are for kids? You can see from the clip below, three-time World Champion Clarisse Agbegnenou of France playing some judo games with her teammates to improve certain skill sets.

Certain skill sets can be improved through games.

Creating a repository of judo knowedge

Our club's closed Facebook Group will become a repository of judo knowledge once we re-open.

When I was training in competitive judo as a brown belt in Los Angeles, I was given a stack of VHS tapes containing competition footage that my coach wanted me to study. I found the tapes fascinating and watched them over and over again.

Until today, I'm still fascinated with judo videos, which I think are incredible tools for learning. There's nothing like watching actual footage of top competitors doing their favorite techniques. It's even better watching on video than watching the competition live, in person, because with video you'll be to watch instant replays in slow motion, which is great for analysis.

So far at our club we've used video for two purposes. Firstly, I use video to show the players how certain techniques are performed in top-level competition. Sometimes I teach unusual variations of techniques which are very different from the classical versions and it's understandable if might be some skepticism or doubt as to whether such a technique could actually work in a real competition situation. Well, seeing is believing. Judo videos are really good for that.

We also use videos for publicity purposes. We are very active on social media, often posting highlight clips of our technical, randori or shiai sessions. We also regularly do livestreams of our entire training sessions, which can last two to three hours. Our highlights and livestream videos have proven to be very popular. I guess people like to see how we train and what we do differently from others.

We will continue to use video for these two purposes. But, I plan to use video in another way starting in December, which is to provide an in-depth recording of technical instruction.

This is important for two key reasons. Firstly, it's easy to forget aspects of newly taught techniques. With these detailed videos in place, our players can refer to them to refresh their memory of what had just been taught. Secondly, sometimes people have to miss class. With these videos in place, they can catch up with the rest of the class at their own pace.

We have a closed Facebook Group for our members which is currently not very active. Once we re-open the club in December, I plan to turn our FB Group into a repository of judo knowledge. There will be a lot of instructional videos in there.

We've occasionally had some non-members come across our closed FB Group and request for permission to join. Unfortunately we've had to say no because that group is for members only (yes, there are privileges to membership).

As a coach, I believe in teaching my players everything I know, which is quite a lot as my involvement in international judo spans nearly three decades. Putting all that knowledge down onto video will be a major undertaking but it's something worth doing as it will make that knowledge so much more accessible to our members. One of my players is a professional video editor so hopefully she can help me with this endeavor!

The JudoCrazy interview

German Judo Magazin, November issue.

I was interviewed in the November issue of the German Judo Magazin. The interviewer was Iljana Marzok, a former German international, who asked me a bit about my background in judo as well as my views on the recent 2018 Baku World Championships. The article was published in German. Below is an English transcript of the interview.

I heard that you've been throwing people since 1990. What’s your history with judo?
Unlike many of my judo friends, I did not pick up judo at an early age. My first experience with judo was when I was studying at the University of Texas in Austin. I was hooked straight away and trained as much as I could. The next summer I went to Los Angeles to seek out competitive judo training and spent three months there training under a former US national coach named John Ross. He taught me a lot about gripping and how competition techniques actually worked (as opposed to traditional Kodokan techniques). The next summer I went to London to seek out competition training and ended up in Camberley Judo Club for three months. I also visited Germany to do some training at the Russelsheim Judo Club. I did the same thing the following summer and later that year I took part in the 1993 Hamilton World Judo Championships. My friend Hans-Jorg Opp, whom I had met in Russelsheim was my mat-side coach then. I had three fights in all. Both Hans and I thought that’s a pretty good result for someone who had only been doing judo for four years.

Competing at the 1993 Hamilton World Championships (top) and 1995 Tokyo World Championships (bottom).

(Photos by David Finch)

Lately I discovered that you have actually been involved in judo publishing way before the advent of the Internet. What’s your history in publishing?
While I was training in the UK, I met Nicolas Soames, the owner of Ippon Books Ltd, a specialist judo book publisher. We got to talking and I pointed out some mistakes he had made in some of his books. They were just some minor factual errors but he was impressed and asked if I wanted to work on a judo book project called “Great Judo Championships of the World” which is best described as a pre-Internet version of JudoInside. It’s basically a book containing results from the major judo competitions of the time (Olympics, World Championships, European Championships, Tournoi de Paris, Kano Cup, etc). He told me to compile the results, provide some background to each competition and do brief profiles of top champions from those competitions. Then he introduced me to David Finch, the legendary judo photographer, and told me to get the pictures from him. That was our very first collaboration. Later we worked together on a book with American World Champion Mike Swain. I helped Swain write the book and David did the photography. This was while I was still in the university. After I graduated from university in 1995, I moved to London and worked for Ippon Books as general manager – basically helping Nicolas with everything from editing to marketing to distribution.

Representing Malaysia at the 1993 Hamilton World Championships.
(Photo by David Finch)

What is so fascinating about judo to you?
I like the fact that judo is always evolving and never stagnant. When I trained under John Ross in Los Angeles in 1991, he gave me a bunch of competition videos to watch. I learned so much from analyzing those videos. Each time I watched something, I was learning something new. Fast forward to 2018 and I’m still learning something new every time I watch competition videos. In judo, the learning never ends.

With Hans-Jorg Opp, a former German international who is now technical advisor to KL Judo Centre.

(Photo by David Finch)

You run KL Judo Centre in Malaysia. What’s the status of Malaysian judo scene regarding international competition?
Judo is not popular at all in Malaysia. It’s mostly done by kids but by the time they enter university, most of them drop out of judo. And by the time they graduate, almost all have dropped out. So, we really don’t have many senior players in Malaysia. Malaysia sent just one judo player to the 2018 Asian Games. That’s all. And there was not a single Malaysian player at the World Championships in Baku. So, Malaysian judo has got a long way to go before any of our players could be ready for international competition. My judo club is rather unique in Malaysia in that it’s really the only club that caters for adults. All the other clubs consist mainly of children and junior players. In contrast, my club members are mainly adults, with just a few teens who like to train with adults. I don’t have any children in my club at the moment.

Uta and Hifumi Abe won gold medals on the same day and with the same technique!
(Photo by IJF)

Looking back at the 2018 World Championships in Baku which female and which male player impressed you the most?
I have to say the obvious: the Abe siblings. Uta and Hifumi Abe are now the darlings of world judo and their stars will shine for many years to come. 

Who was the biggest surprise in Baku?
I thought Frank De Wit of the Netherlands might become the gold medalist but instead he lost by ippon in the first round to a player from the Dominican Republic. And it wasn’t even by some lucky footsweep or uchimata-sukashi or even a counter. He was thrown with a massive osoto-gari by Medickson Del Orbe who then lost in the next round. So that was probably the biggest surprise.

There‘s now a different scoring system that's been implemented. What do you think about that? Did you see any new trends?
In terms of scoring, there were lots of waza-ari. Some might argue too many because some waza-aris really didn’t look like waza-aris. There’s a big debate about that and many people were talking about that in Baku. Will the IJF change the rules so that waza-ari can only be scored if uke truly falls on their side rather than towards the front? Who knows but I don’t think it’s good for judo is waza-ari is devalued by allowing front-inclined landings like it is now. I also saw quite a lot of scores from tewaza, where tori simply used the hands to drive uke to the mat. Sometimes this happened when uke was simply unbalanced but often it was after uke tried to do a sacrifice throw. In the past, these were often not scored but in Baku, a lot of them were scored. Something else that was very obvious was that many top players were attacking uke off the ground. So instead of engaging in newaza when uke is on both knees, tori would try to throw uke instead (usually with sumi-gaeshi). And a lot of the times, they scored. So that was interesting.

What were your intentions you first starting the JudoCrazy blog?
My long-time collaborator David Finch and I were in Paris for the 2011 World Judo Championships. He was there to take photos but I was there just for fun. I decided to start a blog to report on the competition just so I’d have something to do besides just watching the matches. So, that was how it all started.

I see that you started to use Patreon as a membership platform. Looking into the future what are your plans with JudoCrazy?
Actually, it’s not meant to be a membership site. Most of the content on my Patreon page is absolute free. The Patreon platform simply allows me to reserve some bonus content for people who support my work. You’re allowed to set the patronage amount and I have set it to a nominal US$5. It’s like a small tip that readers can contribute if they want to, that’s all. One reader was upset and posted that he would “unlike” my Facebook Page because I am now charging membership for Patreon. He completely misses the point. I’m not charging for content. Like I said, most of the content (maybe like 95%) is still free. The other 5% are special postings to reward my patrons, that’s all.
 

With Hans Van Essen (top) at the 2013 Rio WC & David Finch (bottom) at the 2018 Baku WC.

Next to you, who are the most “Judo Crazy” persons you know?
I can name two who are absolutely Judo Crazy. And they are my two frequent collaborators. One is David Finch, who has been shooting judo photos since 1973 and hasn’t missed a single World Championships since then. Imagine what can be done with his extensive archive. The other is Hans Van Essen of JudoInside who is a statistics nut and who works extremely hard to update his site manually every day with results, pictures, stories. He doesn’t do as much original articles as I do but he collates judo information from all over and his site is an immensely useful tool for anyone wanting to write about judo. I use it all the time.

Why judo is great for women

Just as there are many reasons why parents like to send their kids for judo lessons, there are also many different reasons why women may like to take up judo:

a) Judo is a high-intensity physical activity which is great for building up fitness and losing weight
b) Judo involves a lot of calisthenics-like movements which helps build strength
c) Judo involves many acrobatic-like actions which will help improve agility and balance
e) Judo naturally improves a woman's ability to defend herself

Let's look at each of these items in detail. The first three (a), (b) and (c) are somewhat obvious and do not require that much elaboration. The last point (d) however does, and we will go into detail about that.

Fitness and weight loss
The high-intensity nature of judo training will increase your metabolic rate long after you finish your session. This is due to Excess Post Exercise Oxygen Consumption which allows your body to continue burning calories even when you are resting later on. High-intensity, anaerobic exercises double the amount of fats burned at the same caloric expenditure. That means if you if burn 400 calories doing judo, you will end up burning twice as much fat as someone who burns 400 calories doing a regular cardio routine like jogging.

Strength
Judo-related movements are basically calisthenics done with a training partner. These motor movements which involve pushing, pulling, bending, twisting and grasping will increase body strength in a natural way by leveraging your own body weight as well as a partner’s resistance and body weight. It also has the added advantage of being a lot more fun than lifting weights!

Agility and balance
Judo requires you to react immediately to your partner's actions and movements, change direction constantly and still be coordinated enough to stay on your feet. A 2002 scientific study on gait and posture showed that individuals with judo experience have superior postural control when compared to even ballet dancers in instances when visual cues are removed or instability is introduced.

Self-defense
​Let's be clear about something: Judo's primary purpose is not self-defense. It's a sport, first and foremost, and it's a great form of physical exercise. But it does have a martial arts background and any woman who trains consistently in judo will naturally develop instinctive self-defense capabilities even if that's not her intention for taking up judo.

But what if it is? Well, the good news is that for a sport that is not specifically designed for self-defense, judo happens to be darn good for it.

A trained judoka will react instinctively when accosted from behind. There is no time to think in situtions like this.

Judo consists of throwing and groundwork techniques. There are many different types of throws generally classified under hand, leg, hip and sacrifice techniques. On the ground, there are pins, armlocks and strangles. As a grappling sport, judo does not involve any punching or kicking. Some see this as a weakness when it comes to self-defense. They feel that in order to defend herself properly, a woman should know how to deal with punches and kicks rather than grappling situations.

Really?

Even if forced onto the ground, there are actions a judoka can take to prevent the assailants from having his way.

Ask yourself: What does a thuggish assailant try do as he attempts to subdue his female victim? Does he come up and punch her in the face? Does he try to kick her in the head to knock her out? No, he will grab her and take her down to the ground. He will then try to immobilize her, twist her arm or perhaps strangle her to get her to submit and comply to his demands.

Guess what, judo players train for those kinds of scenarios in every single practice session. Takedowns, pins, armlocks and strangles — that's par for the course in judo.

The other important thing that consistent judo practice does is it trains you to respond instinctively. When an untrained woman suddenly gets seized, either from the front or behind, she would typically go into shock and freeze up, allowing the assailant to subdue her. Judo is a grappling sport, so a female judo player will react instinctively and take the necessary evasive action without even thinking about it because she encounters similar situations all the time on the mat.

In collaboration with Activ Studio, starting in December, we will be offering both competitive judo training as well as a special exercise program called Judo Fitness, which is a modified form of judo training that does not involve fighting. Women who wish to take up judo can choose between the two options depending on whether they prefer a harder or softer activity. Both types of training will help build up fitness, strength, agility and yes, self-defense capabilities.

www.kljudo.com

Why judo is great for children

Parents send their kids to judo for many reasons and judo is good for all of them.

Parents love to send their children for judo lessons. There are many reasons for this and usually it's a combination of the following:

a) Parents want their child's excess energy to be expended on positive things like excercise
b) Parents like a sport or activity that instills discipline and respect
c) Some parents want to give their child an early head start in competitive sports
d) Parents want their child to be equipped to handle bullies

The first three: (a), (b) and (c) are pretty straightforward and self-explanatory. There isn't a need to expand further as it's pretty clear judo is good for all these things. The last item (d) is however something that does need to be explored. Bullying is a very challenging issue to deal with. When a parent says they don't want their child to be bullied anymore what exactly do they mean?

It could be they feel the child is physically weak and they want the child to be able to physically defend himself or herself. Or it could mean the child is meek and not willing to stand up for himself/herself. Bullies can smell that and will prey upon those who are lacking in self confidence. Quite possibly it's a combination of those two things.

The good news is that judo will help with both points. To deal with bullies, you need to be physically capable of literally pushing back if things get physical.

This clip shows the value of confidence

But beyond the physical aspect of self-defense is the psychological component which is just as important. If a child is confident, it shows. And bullies will generally think twice before harassing someone who projects a strong sense of self-belief regardless of that person's physical size.

Of course self-confidence offers no immunity against bullies. Bullies will be bullies and sometimes they will go after someone just because they can. We never advocate violence as a solution to any dispute but if you are being physically assaulted you have to know how to defend yourself. Judo's full-contact, grappling nature is good for that.

When I was a young man training in competitive judo in Los Angeles, I overheard a conversation between a parent and the head coach at the judo centre where I was based. The father said his son was getting beaten up at school and he wanted him to learn judo so that he could defend himself.

The head coach said something which I found to be profound then, and it still resonates with me today. It's something I would gladly repeat to any parent who wants their child to learn judo to deal with bullies.

"If your son learns judo, I can't guarantee that he will never get beaten up," the head coach said. "The other person might be that much bigger or stronger. But what I can guarantee you is that your son will never take crap from any bully ever again."

The father said that's good enough for him because he knows the greatest value that judo can give to his son is the fighting spirit to stand up for himself.

There's no question size does matter. That's why judo contests are run according to weight classes. But during practice, you train with everyone including those who are bigger than you. This is common. It happens in every practice. Judo practitioners are thus acclimatized to fighting bigger opponents. And that will come in handy when dealing with bullies who might happen to be bigger.

As the head coach rightly pointed out, knowing judo does not necessarily mean you won't get beaten up but believe me, that big bully will have the shock of his life when the person he is picking on fights back and gives as good as he's got.

This ethos of standing up for yourself will be useful for the child as they grow up because in life there will be many instances of unfairness. They will need to be able to stand up for themselves and push back, sometimes against much stronger forces. A strong fighting spirit is the greatest value that judo can give to a young child.

KL Judo Centre in collaboration with Activ Studio plans to offer children's classes in the near future. If you have a child below 12 whom you would like to sign up for judo lesson, please contact us to so we can notify you once our classes begin.

www.kljudo.com