Enjoying the physicality of judo

It's obvious to anybody who knows me that I'm really into judo. What might not be so obvious is why. That's because different people take to judo for different reasons.

Usually there are a variety of reasons involved and so it is for me too. I like the fact that judo is a gentlemanly sport with a lot of good sportsmanship on display all the time. I like the fact that you get to meet a lot of different people through judo training. I also like the mental aspects of judo, because it trains you to strengthen your resolve.

But most of all I like the physicality of judo. All those other things I mentioned earlier are real reasons why I like judo but they came much later. What initially attracted me to judo, from Day One, was the physicality of the sport.

I liked grappling and taking on an opponent in unarmed combat (but in a safe way). It's just you and the other person, battling it out using your strength, skills, stamina and agility to force the other  to submit. It's very primal but that's probably the reason for its appeal. Deep down inside, we are all still cavemen!

Some clubs require you to learn ukemi for weeks or even months before you can even start to play judo. I went to a club where I was exposed to randori on Day One. I still recall how a skillful player named Brendan foot-swept me across the mat. And how a French student named Dominique threw me all over the place with standing morote-seoi-nage. I was pretty athletic so I was able to take the throws and it really ignited the fire within me.

I couldn't accept that people who are more or less my size could take me down almost at will. Never mind that they were black belts with years of experience behind them. My stance was "They are not supermen, they are flesh and blood just like me." So if they can be so good at judo, so can I.

Until today that's what still drives me in judo. During training if I find it hard to overcome someone it drives me to be more innovative, to fine-tune my existing techniques and to develop new ones. There are always new challenges in judo because other people are constantly improving too. You might be beat someone today but tomorrow they might beat you. That's what makes judo so fun and interesting.