A few days ago, I stumbled across a review of a coaching conference, at which I was one of the technical, on-the-mat clinicians. The author gave a fair assessment of the five presentations that were offered. I thought his comments on my presentation were positive, except that I was labelled one of the most ‘controversial’ figures in U.S. Judo, and that some of my ideas were “outrageous” by conventional ideologies. Both perhaps true, but nonetheless bothersome. What gives?
Controversial?
March 2nd, 2010If Defense Wins Games…
February 23rd, 2010There’s an old saying in team sports that good defense wins games. I’ve never heard any similar statement applied to Judo but I think it should. If good defense does win games, why shouldn’t it also apply to winning matches in Judo? I can’t come up with a rational reason why it shouldn’t. To be more competitive at the international level, it’s time we change our training paradigm on a national scale to reflect this adage.
Revisiting Hansoku Make, IJF!
February 15th, 2010Back in December when I wrote Hansoku Make, IJF!, I had trouble understanding why actions in certain video clips merited hansoku make. Well, apparently now, so does the IJF. According to a report by USJF Referee Development Committee Chairperson Joon Chi, twelve of the twenty-one clips that I called into question no longer deserve hansoku make. Instead, the IJF being the IJF, half of those twelve now require a shido to one of the players for what I can only guess is illegal gripping or defensive this or that. Clear on that?
Garage Judo
February 9th, 2010I believe that each community in America could support a Judo club if only we had enough coaches. Since we don’t have enough coaches maybe we should take a page from the American Youth Soccer Association (AYSO) when it set up shop almost fifty years ago. The AYSO recruited volunteer parents, mostly with little knowledge of soccer or coaching, provided them with a manual, a brief coaching clinic, a few balls and cones, and then cut them loose to coach their child’s soccer team. Many of these neophyte volunteers actually developed into relatively good soccer coaches after several years, in spite of knowing little initially or never having played the game themselves.
Rumblings in Las Vegas, Part II
February 1st, 2010Just when I thought we had seen the end to the political games being played by members of the USJA Board of Directors, reality quickly reared its ugly head again. In a last minute gambit to protect her presidency, AnnMaria DeMars nominated Jim Pedro as vice-president and forced him to accept being nominated in spite of declining three times to accept it! More surprisingly, and shamefully in my opinion, a majority of board members voted for Pedro rather than Gary Goltz, the former USJA COO. Read the rest of this entry »
Rumblings in Las Vegas, Part I
January 26th, 2010This past weekend I was in Las Vegas attending the All Women’s Judo Championships, a USJA board meeting, and the USJA National Coaches Conference. Here are my thoughts on what I saw and heard.
When I was informed about the All Women’s Judo Championships, my first thought was why do we need a special tournament for such a small segment of our already small Judo population? After attending my first All Women’s Judo Championships as a spectator, my opinion hasn’t changed. But that’s only because what Deb Fergus, the founder of this event, wants for women, I want for all Judoplayers, namely special development events held for the benefit of the players, not the officials and especially not the referees. Read the rest of this entry »
Ten Thousand Hours and Ten Years
January 19th, 2010The initial finding is over one hundred years old. That finding has been validated by several researchers in the last fifty years. Now, thanks to Outliers, The Talent Code and Talent is Overrated, the general public is more aware that world-class mastery in any activity requires 10,000 hours of practice over a 10-year period.
One Step Backward, A Few Steps Forward
January 11th, 2010Contrary to what I was originally told, I received word a few days ago that the Women’s Judo Championships in Las Vegas scheduled for January 23 will use the new rules. How that came about is more troubling and disappointing than the decision itself. An official from the USJA asked several of the referees what they thought we ought to do. Hello! What do you think referees are going to say? Their allegiance is to the rules, not the sport. For the life of me, I don’t understand why the tournament director didn’t make that decision? Meek sheep falling in line?
Mea Culpa, I’m Sorry!
January 9th, 2010I must confess that I was not careful enough in masking someone’s identity in one of my previous entries. Some readers were able to guess whom I was talking about, and I am rightfully taking some heat. My intention is to be informational, not personal. Accordingly, I have apologized to the person in question, and I apologize to those of you who were offended.
Wielding Economic Power
January 5th, 2010To the best of my recollection, nothing has awakened or maddened the Judo community like the new IJF rules, which make their debut in 2010. My greatest fear is that in spite of all the grumbling and anger, Judo people once again will get in line like meek sheep and do nothing to take our sport back from the lords of the rules. Case in point: an official from the USJA told me that although she didn’t like the rules, and considered them stupid, they were still going to run a January tournament with the new rules. Mind you, this tournament is not some national or state tournament. In fact, it’s marketed as a unique tournament devoted to a small segment of our athletes- female athletes. You would think they would ignore the rule changes to make this event even more unique. So far, that’s not the case.