Have judogi will travel

Back when I was a competitor, I travelled the world because of judo. Later, when I was no longer competing, I also travelled the world covering judo events.

Now, as a coach, I still travel a lot -- not so much the world but more to nearby countries -- to bring my players for training and competition.

Travelling for judo events -- whether competition or training -- can be a time-consuming, costly and tiring affair. But ultimately it's worth it.

You can't do judo in a vaccum. You have to visit other clubs, meeting other players, other coaches, train with them and see how other people are doing things.

For your players, travelling abroad means they get more competition experience and also more training experience because whenever we travel for competition we try to train at the local judo clubs there.

From a club perspective, you are also building bonds with clubs from other countries and that's important. These are the building blocks of future exchange visits, which will benefit everyone involved.

Judo is a sport but it's more than sport. It's also supposed to help foster friendship and you can't do that just training at your own club all the time. You have to travel and visit other clubs.

As mentioned earlier, it involves a lot of sacrifice. Even if you plan carefully and travel on a budget (book cheap flights, stay at budget hotels, take Grab, eat hawker food) it still ends up costing quite a bit. And it takes time away from work and family. And you always feel exhausted at the end of a trip. But ultimately it's worth it for all the reasons I mentioned above.