There's a video out there on YouTube featuring Jack Ma talking about how to assemble a great team. It's about getting the "right" people not necessarily the "best" people.
A company could hire some top Harvard grad or some top executive from a
Fortune 500 company but if that person doesn't fit in with the corporate
culture of that company, it just won't work.
And so it is with
judo clubs as well. What makes a judo club succeed is not whether it has
the top players in the country but whether it has the right people who appreciate the
ethos of the club.
When you have the right people training together, you'll have an excellent session. Our sessions are always excellent!
I'm really happy with the bunch of players we have right now. They get along well with others and have good fighting spirit. They believe in fighting hard but fighting safely. And they want to learn and improve their skills. This is what judo is all about.
We'll be live-streaming this Sunday's training. You can tune in via our Facebook Pagefrom 2pm to 5pm. Here's the program:
Filzmoser's Unique Arm-Roll
Newaza (1st hour)
We'll look at the different versions of the Filzmoser/Liparteliani Arm-Roll. In particular, we will focus on the following variations:
a) Head roll to the front (Liparteliani)
b) Head roll to the back (Belgian))
c) Yoko-shiho version (Filzmoser/Liparteliani)
Kouchi-Gake done by Larose of France
Tachi-Waza (2nd hour)
We'll look at the three core variations of kouchi done from different stances:
a) Skipping Kouchi-Gari (kenka-yotsu stance)
b) Kouchi-Gake (ai-yotsu-stance)
c) Kouchi-Makikomi (kenka-yotsu stance)
KL Judo Centre is undergoing a transformation, becoming more and more like the club we all would like it to be.
Currently, our dojo has a decent-sized mat area but there are pillars in the middle of the mat area. We're looking at solving that problem really soon. If all goes well, we'll soon have a mat area that's at least 10m x 10m and pillar-free.
Typically, judo clubs share their mat with other martial arts classes so there's always a bit of a tussle over who gets which slot. Everybody wants to have the prime time slot of between 7pm and 9pm. Which means that each martial arts class would at most have one or two days in which they can have such a slot. We are in the same situation right now but all that's gonna change come
September when we will have more control over our schedule.
Good infrastructure is important but all the best equipment in the world means nothing if you don't have players populating the club. Judo is a niche sport in Malaysia. There are not many enthusiasts but fortunately we have some players who are very dedicated. These people are our core players, the ones who come for training regularly and consistently. But players can't improve if they train with the same people day-in and day-out. They need variety when it comes to training partners. This is a challenge most judo clubs face.
One solution may be to invite players from other clubs to come together and train with us, perhaps once a week. That's easier said than done of course. Firstly, there are not many judo clubs in Klang Valley to begin with. And judo clubs in Malaysia tend to be very insular, sticking to themselves and not collaborating to cooperating with other clubs. We aim to change that mindset by working with those who would like to work with us for mutual benefit.
Being that judo is so small in Malaysia, it is important for us to reach out regionally and foster strong relationships with clubs in nearby countries. Some clubs from different countries are friendly with each other but there a few actual joint activities being done. Why aren't there joint randori sessions involving several clubs in the region? Surely everybody involved would benefit from this. Perhaps nobody has taken the effort to organize this. We will try.
Ultimately, the aim is to create a judo centre providing practical, modern instruction and plenty of capable and suitable training partners for players to do randori with. It's nothing short of creating an entre of excellence for judo in the country's capital.
To grow and improve we have to think out of the box
KL Judo 1.0
KL Judo 1.0 was when we started out in Cheras. It was our first foray into trying to set up a different kind of judo club. When I say "different" I mean it on many levels. There are basically two types of judo clubs in Malaysia. One type are the government-funded clubs like those in sports school and ATM, which are well funded. The other type are those related to state associations. These are usually privately funded but not very commercial in nature. Most barely break even and many get by through the help of benefactors who want to support judo.
I couldn't help but notice that the situation is very different in Singapore. Over there, they don't really have state-funded judo clubs. All the clubs are private endeavours and most are run commercially (with great success, I must say). Many of the clubs there have several branches and are present in community centres, secondary schools, junior colleges and universities. So, it's really quite an active judo scene there. I wanted to build a club that was closer to the Singapore model but that's not easy to do of course. If judo is a niche sport in Singapore, it's super duper niche in Malaysia.
Most of the clubs in Malaysia are very Japanese-centric and their teaching style is based on the Japanese system. But the situation in Japan is totally different from that in Malaysia. In Japan there are many judo players. If you go to a university with a strong judo program, you can easily find 50 black belts on the mat to do randori with. In Malaysia, you wouldn't be able to gather 50 black belts for randori if you brought the whole judo population together. So it is really not practical to look at the Japanese system which is geared for a different demographic where judo players are plentiful. Rather, it makes more sense to look at countries where the judo population is small.
Have a look at what Israeli Coach Shany Hersko and US coach Jimmy Pedro have to say about not mimicking the Japanese but instead, creating their own training systems to suit the conditions in their respective countries.
This is what we have to do too. Take a long hard look at our situation here. It's very different from Japan or France or Brazil where judo is popular. We have to come up with a system that suits our needs.
I, myself, was trained in the West. I have been to Japan for
competition and I did visit one of the judo universities to do some
randori but my competition training was in the US and UK, where judo is not a big sport. Naturally, I am inclined to adopt some of their training philosophies.
I also wanted to create a club where adults could do judo. Most of the clubs in Malaysia cater to kids and young teens. The focus is very stacked in favour of junior athletes. Adults find it challenging finding a place to train. I have a new student who told me she went to one local club where all the players were kids. I also have a black belt whose home club consisted of kids and just one other adult. So, there is a need for a club that university students and adults could train in. That's a huge challenge on its own -- university students have got assignments, exams, active social lives and a tight budget to contend with and working adults have got 9-to-5 jobs and families to take care of. That doesn't leave much time for judo. But I do believe there's a market for it.
KL Judo 2.0
In order to bring my ideas to fruition I needed to partner with an organization that believed in my vision and would help me make it a reality. I was introduced to the good folks at Muayfit Damansara Perdana and after discussing with them, I felt they were the right people to go with. We negotiated a deal which made it practical and affordable for my members to train judo there and also gave them value added benefits like use of the training equipment (there's a gym on the ground floor).
We've only been there for a few months and so far we are very happy with the partnership. Membership hasn't grown as much as we'd like but that is due to some of the limitations of the current set up, which is going to change (for the better) very soon.
KL Judo 3.0
Although I'm not at liberty yet to reveal the awesome details of what we have planned in the coming months, I can say I had an excellent discussion with the good folks at Muayfit on ways we can improve things for everybody -- for the gym owners, for our club as an organization and for our individual members. Hopefully, once we implement the new ideas and programs, we will see a spike in membership, which is necessary for the club to grow. Some things still need to be finalized but once done, I will detail all the wonderful new things that we will be introducing. Suffice to say for now that if we are able to get these ideas of the ground, we will be offering a very special proposition for judo enthusiasts in this country. It will be a very unique judo club, unlike anything you have ever seen. Stay tuned.
1. New friends Judo attracts different people from all walks of life. In your school or working life you will tend to meet the same kinds of people day in and day out. Through judo, you will interact with people you would not normally mix with. And that makes your life more interesting!
2. Physical fitness Judo players regularly rank among the fittest athletes. The reason is that judo is a sport that requires a mix of strength, stamina, speed and agility. Very few sports work out your body the way judo does. 3. Competition Our club participates in many competitions around the country and even in neighboring countries. Whether you wish to compete in a small local competition or at the national or regional level, we can get you there.
4. Self-defence Although judo's emphasis is not self-defence but sport, skilled and experience judokas are naturally very capable of defending themselves. Judo is a practical and realistic combat sport that will train your body to react when attacked.
5. Personal development Beyond the physical benefits, judo players also learn: a) to overcome fears b) to control their emotions c) to deal with pressure d) to be disciplined and hardworking e) to be respectful and courteous to others
