My first thought is if these countries are winning according to our rules with techniques that may not be classical enough or Judo enough, the rest of the world needs to figure out a way to prevent them from winning.  Training needs to change, not rules. Like everything in life, Judo techniques cycle in and out of favor and effectiveness. Constantly evolving, innovative techniques make Judo competition interesting.

Even the Japanese are not totally enamored by a system that may reward them more than it penalizes them. Haruki Uemura, the 1976 Olympic champion, was perturbed to hear that the innocuous Ko uchi makikomi would be illegal if the leg were grabbed. Throw in the grey areas associated with counters to techniques like Sasae tsuri komi ashi, and combinations that culminate in a perfectly good leg grab, and there is enough to not like about the new rules. Too many good techniques are eliminated because somebody wants to purify Judo and eliminate perfectly good, dynamic mongrel techniques.

Secondly, if certain techniques are effective in a Judo setting, we need to embrace them and learn to deal with them, not ban them. This goes a long way in making sure that Judo remains an effective and viable fighting system within the martial arts community, and the grappling community in particular. If we seek to position ourselves as a comprehensive self-defense method, we can’t continue to cut away at our repertory of acceptable techniques and actions

Rule changes to safeguard certain results is not new to Judo. The Japanese created a system for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics to ensure that should one of their players be defeated in the preliminary rounds, he would still have a chance to make the final. In fact, this is exactly what happened to Akio Kaminaga, who lost in the pool play to Anton Geesink, and still wound up in the final against the same Geesink.

Introducing koka and yuko when the Japanese were winning everything is sight might have had some effect against the Japanese, but it was short-lived. Perhaps making Japanese players wear a blue gi flummoxed them even more. Throughout the last forty years that I have followed international Judo, players adapt to the ongoing ebb and flow of techniques, rules, and tactics. And like techniques, national supremacies come and go too. So let’s quit the drastic re-engineering of Judo just because we don’t like who is winning tournaments or what they are using to win.

Back in July, I reported that the IJF is trying to ban bear hugs. While this still seems to be the case, U.S. referees have been told to ignore the preliminary information, until official clarification from the IJF. Boy, I just can’t wait to see the outcome of that decision.

I’ll be attending the 2010 World Championships in Tokyo. I hope to bump into some of the IJF officials. Perhaps I’ll get a chance to quiz them and voice my concerns. I’m sure I’ll have a lot to report about the event itself.

Camps require staff capable of taking time off from work. Although this a problem for most Judo clubs, it wasn’t for us since three of the four coaches are professional Judo coaches. Thus we had 2x Olympians Valerie Lafon Gotay and Israel Hernandez on the mat, in addition to one of my junior class assistants and me.

Valerie Lafon Gotay, Gerald Lafon, Israel Hernandez

Our first decision was what type of camp to hold. My gut feeling was that we would not have enough support from my own club members and the surrounding Judo community (more on that later) to have enough good partner pairings and group dynamics. To increase our participants, I suggested we conduct side by side a Judo camp for Judo kids and a generic sports camp for kids with no Judo background. The idea was that since we had enough space and things to do besides strict Judo training, we would somehow be able to integrate the non-judoplayers with the judoplayers at times, while segregating them at other times. We didn’t want to scare the non-players away by offering too much Judo and too many combative games.

As it turned out, the non-players wanted to do everything the Judo kids were doing! Not only that, but two of the four non-judoplayers liked it so much that their mom signed them up for Judo lessons three weeks after the first camp. From a business perspective, focusing on the kids who don’t do Judo, rather than those who do Judo, makes a lot of sense for clubs that would like to supplement their income and add students to their rosters. You just have to make sure you have enough activities and toys to keep the action interesting and fun.

Tug of War competition

Since nobody had ever run a week-long Judo day camp in San Diego, our biggest worry was whether our area would support a Judo/sports camp. Reality is parents are always scrambling to find summer camps for their kids, especially if both parents work. We found out there is an absolute need and market for such camps. To take advantage of this market, you must get an early start on advertising your camp, because you’re competing against all the other camps offered in your area. Unfortunately for us, our decision to hold a camp was a last-minute one: barely two months before the start of the first camp in July. By then, many parents had already contacted the local YMCAs or soccer organizations to enroll their kids. In spite of that, we still managed to pull off two camps, one in July and one in August, each with fifteen kids.

Cargo Net Climb

We were able to use our own facility to keep the costs down. Although our facility is only 2,400 sq ft, it’s an open, boxy space with a high ceiling, and lots of toys. To supplement our great 1,400 sq ft spring-loaded mat, we have a climbing net, climbing wall, climbing and pulling ropes, tires, medicine balls, bars for Olympic weight lifting, Swiss balls, agility ladder, cones, and a few other rascals to keep the activities varied and fun. We also had access to my neighborhood swimming pool, which we used on two days.

Keep-away: pool competition

Sunning beauties!

Since our target age was 5-13, it was necessary to make sure that we provided enough fun activities to do besides real Judo training. Today’s kids form what I call the “entertainment generation.” They are high maintenance, in constant need of fun games to keep them happy. Technical training for them is not very appealing. Thankfully, we had enough teaching experience that enabled us to incorporate many activities that were dressed in fun but actually added to their athletic, technical, and combative abilities.

I have one caveat about advertising your Judo camp. Judo club senseis will probably not pass on to their students any information you may have given or emailed them. The parents of the two outside judoplayers who came to our camp stumbled upon our camp information by doing a generic Google search for Judo camps in Southern California. Their senseis had not mentioned to them that we were holding these camps, although they were given the information. So, plan ahead and make as many contacts with parents as you can. They, not the senseis, are the ones who decide what camps little Johnny and Jane go to during the summer.

Summer camps are a great tool for dojo operators who are looking to increase revenue and membership. Based on our camp experience, and the response from the non-players to our drills and games, our club will start hosting birthday parties, another lucrative event that will help keep the doors open and provide us opportunities to show parents and kids how wonderful a sport Judo is.

Valerie making Sean suffer!

Climbing our wall

Great group of kids

]]> http://blog.betterjudo.com/summer-camp-anyone/feed/ 0 http://blog.betterjudo.com/our-entitlement-culture/ http://blog.betterjudo.com/our-entitlement-culture/#comments Thu, 12 Aug 2010 22:36:21 +0000 admin http://blog.betterjudo.com/?p=616 When the 2010 USJA Board of Directors was elected, I had high hopes that my two passions in national affairs- coach education and high dan promotions- would be addressed, and glaring problems within the two programs would be resolved. I say “high hopes” because prior to the elections several of the current officers lead me to believe that they agreed that both programs were in need of a serious reappraisal and restructuring. Although it’s only been seven months since the administrative change, it’s still evident, and not surprising, that an entitlement culture still persists at all levels of the Judo community , especially when it comes to high dan promotions. This entitlement culture makes any effort at restructuring a very difficult task, yet we must slay the beast.

During the USJA Board meeting at the USJA/USJF Junior Nationals, it was announced that two more people had been promoted to 7th dan! I am sure these two are great guys who have dedicated their lives to Judo in one capacity or another. But 7th dan should be reserved for people who have accomplished great things in Judo and are well-known in the national/international Judo community. I had never heard of these two. Evidently, our standard promotion operating system is still in effect: gather points at the kindergarten level, survive your time-in-grade, pay the exorbitant fee, and get what pretty much amounts to an automatic promotion. Where’s the quality control? If you are still not clear on what quality control means, read this to get a better feel.

On a positive note, the first salvo aimed at decreasing the ridiculously large number of unmerited high dan promotions to American players was led by the new chairman of the promotion committee, Sid Kelly. Unfortunately, his first attempt to interject a “performance” criterion into the system failed by a large margin within the promotion committee. Kelly had proposed that promotions to sixth dan and above would require that a candidate have placed at our national championships.  How dare he stop marginal 4th dans from becoming 6th-9th dans. Horror!

Once an entitlement program is launched, it is hard to dismantle it. But dismantle is what we need to do to make high dan promotions meaningful, and to reserve them for the few, truly accomplished judokas. Unfortunately, many of the members of the USJA Board of Directors and Promotion Committee are current beneficiaries of promotion largesse. They are heavily vested in maintaining the low standards, which will allow them to reach even greater heights of unmerited promotions. They really don’t have a clue as to why they should not be 9th dans, even when international standards are explained to them. Thankfully, a few do know that they don’t deserve the rank they hold. And a few have taken the bold step of declaring that they are at their terminal rank.

USJA high dan promotions continue to be out of control, yet the current USJA Promotion Committee has voted to maintain the status quo. Therefore, I call on those who deep-down know we have been heading in the wrong direction for the last twenty years to help effect the change we desperately need. Have the courage to do the right thing for American Judo. Return sanity to the rank system. Step up to the plate, especially if you told me you would if you were elected, and put a stop to our promotion-fest, even if it means you will never again be promoted.

With Sid Kelly’s permission, I’ve included a letter he sent to the 2002 USJA Board of Directors. I think it sums up the promotion situation in terms we can all understand. We can easily slay the entitlement beast if we accept his premise.

___________________________

JUDO’S CONSISTENT CURSE

All sports have to endure difficulties which are the by-products of politics. However, no other sport but judo has a reason that causes these  by-products to be so inflated. And this reason is judo’s longstanding curse: the insidious, despicable, inherited system of ranking.

Judo rank is awarded for ability and service. Ideally, higher ranks should only be awarded when lower ranks were gained by ability at a young age, and service ranks acquired at a later age. If service rank is started  at a young age or at an age past one’s physical prime, very high rank should be impossible to attain. Otherwise, it gives the impression that players of limited ability are far more talented and capable than they really are. Unfortunately, we do not live in an ideal world, and judo rank can and is being acquired through other means. Judo rank can now be, and has been, acquired through financial purchase, influence, nepotism, and, most of all, presenting a highly distorted view of one’s judo services rendered. This means, after the passing of time, a player of limited talent and ability can appear equal to, or, in some cases, better than another player of superior talent and achievements.

All too often it is difficult to get a clear picture of things when we are very close to or deeply immersed in a situation. Things become much clearer when we step outside  our environment and view things from a different perspective. To help us understand our judo situation more clearly, let us consider what happens when another sport awards honors to its participants through a system of ranking. We can consider any sport, because the historical consistency of human nature tells us the results would be the same. Let us imagine we are deeply involved in the sport of cycling and asking ourselves, ‘What is happening to our dearly beloved sport of cycling?’ Let us evaluate the effect of what this accursed, despicable thing called rank has on people, and ultimately on the sport of cycling.

Let’s say a man wins for three consecutive years the cycling race the Tour de France. Winning this event is cycling’s most illustrious prize. By winning this, plus some other notable events, the cyclist is awarded, at the age of 28, eight stripes. The highest award possible is 20 stripes. He now retires from competition and devotes the rest of his life to the service of cycling. In his   70th year, he is awarded the revered rank of 19 stripes. A very high honor indeed, as only a few men in the world are deserving of such a meritorious award.

Now competing in the same Tour de France race was another man who came 179^th. Not bad considering the caliber of the race, but not in the same class as our man who came in first for three consecutive years. In his local town Mr. 179 is considered a cycling expert. However, when truly tested in world class competition he had not trained hard enough, and did not fully understand what was needed to go the extra mile (no pun intended) to win the race. But he was fanatically interested in cycling. He would astound the novice and seasoned player with information that flowed from his smooth tongue. He knew the name of every bicycle, their places of manufacture, the number of spokes on different size wheels, materials of bicycle components,    number  of links  in  different length  chains, gear ratios of sprockets, correct greases and lubrications, brake lining materials, names of present and past champions, and who had won what and when and where.

Our Mr. 179 wanted very much to be recognized, and he knew that he could be, because he understood how the ranking system was set up. He knew it was possible, because the powers that be in the cycling world had decided, in their wisdom, that awarding cycling rank through service would help the sport grow. The false logic behind all this was that cycling would become more popular, and standards would improve, if people were motivated and rewarded and recognized with a service rank. This recognition was not done with a belt, as, say, in the martial arts, but by having the bike painted a certain color. So when a person rode by, however slowly, people would drool and say, “Wow, there  goes a 15-striper.”  Besides earning stripes for ability,  stripes could be attained by accumulating service points for attending cycling events, helping at cycling events, attending cycling camps, teaching at cycling clubs, assistant teaching at cycling clubs, officiating at events, getting news and sports media to attend functions, and the list went on and on, including, and especially, raising money for, or donating money to, the cycling association.

Not only did our Mr. 179 assiduously pursue his path of accumulating points, he was also very conscious of the field of public relations. Whenever a camera clicked, he was there in front of it. In the national cycling quarterly magazine he was shown rubbing shoulders with the greats, giving out trophies to 10 year olds, and reporting on clinics he had given. As the years rolled by our Mr. 179 would submit his paperwork in a timely manner to the promotion board. He knew each person on the board intimately, as many of them were of the same ilk. They, too, had worked conscientiously on their points, and had also submitted their paperwork in a timely manner. Eventually, Mr. 179 was awarded his 19 stripes. He was now respected and revered as much as the man who had placed first for three consecutive years in the Tour de France race. But what was more amazing than Mr. 179 becoming Mr. 19 stripes was, he really believed he was equal to the Tour de France winner and other champions. Why shouldn’t he? After all, he had put his time in, and he knew the right type of grease to use on different chains at different altitudes.

As the generations passed by, unhealthy signs began to appear through the cause and effect of awarding stripes. Many champions retired from the cycling scene. This was because they were either too old to challenge the younger competitors, or they were fed up with being surrounded by people far less capable and experienced than themselves, but who were more politically oriented and continually inflating their past achievements. Some of these people had, through their consummate long-term machinations, been promoted to equal and even higher ranks than these ex-champions. On the other hand, these wannabes who had never had the satisfaction of winning high cycling accolades plodded on, driven by several reasons. They plodded on because, to give credit where credit is due, they had a genuine interest in cycling. But the real motivating factor was, they realized that they could be awarded higher and higher stripes, as others had done before– others who had never won a noteworthy cycling race in their lives.

In time, the final outcome of all this was to have disastrous effects on the standards and popularity of cycling. All the committees and sub-committees that made important decisions consisted mainly of people with watered- down stripes. These committees allocated more money for buying buildings,  computers, office equipment, and marketing paraphernalia than they did on any training programs, whether it be for top athletes preparing for international events or up-and-coming cyclists. They made the requirements for stripes more and more service oriented. They selected trainers for teams who were people like themselves. That is, trainers who did not know what they were doing when it really came down to the nitty-gritty of winning a cycling race. So, in the long run, the results were inevitable. There were no results. None of their players ever placed anywhere in world events. There were occasional moments of glory, but it was usually when an individual  went abroad to train under the tutelage of his father or some foreign coach. Never through the system that had become saturated with self-anointed high-stripers did a squad of capable cyclists emerge. The country finally became a joke in the international cycling community. And this was sad, because there were many people who were sincerely trying to help  the sport of cycling.

In the final analysis, the root reason why all this happened was that leaders in other countries took their cycling very seriously, whereas, in the country that had become an international joke, most of the leaders only took themselves very, very seriously.

So, the message to all of you that are interested in cycling is: When you read or hear or speak to someone who has the cycling rank of 15, 16, 17, 18, or especially 19 stripes, and has never won a major competition in his or her life, or has not contributed to judo in a major way: THE BOOKS HAVE BEEN COOKED! YOU CAN BET YOUR LIFE ON IT!

Sid Kelly,

Four Stripes (and working on more).

West Haven, Connecticut, August 2002.

In talking with referees who espouse the ‘nail them’ and ‘punish them’ creed, there are three main thoughts that come out clearly. One is that the players and coaches should know better; two is that time is wasted when rules are not adhered to and gis have to be changed; and three is that it’s not fair if the gi isn’t legal, and illegal gis prevent Judo from being performed, blah, blah, blah.  All of this is fine if we are talking about the Olympics, or major national and international tournaments. It’s not fine if we are talking about grassroots development tournaments. This is what “nail them” referees don’t understand. Their pigheaded insistence on enforcing strict IJF rules at the grassroots level hurts Judo.

Sure, excessively small gis can pose a problem especially if it gives one player an advantage. But what if both players have the same fit? Small gis are worn all the time in dojos and they don’t prevent Judo from being performed. Most of the sleeves of my junior players are not legal since they might be an inch short. The gi is perfectly fine and my kids have no problem doing Judo in them. And why is it a crime if 6-year old Johnny’s pants are a half inch too short? You can’t grab the darn thing anyhow? Where’s the common sense?

Yes, time is wasted when players have to change gis. So what? What’s more important; making sure we keep players coming to tournaments or cutting the day short so referees, and the rest of us as well, can go home early? If you really want to minimize wasted time in tournaments, stop calling matte for no reason. There is far more wasted time on unnecessary calls of matte than there is for gi change stoppages. And less time would be wasted if referees off the mat were more proactive in gi control, instead of lying in wait to “nail” the players.

Regarding the statement that players and coaches should know better, at face value that makes sense. Unfortunately, rules change so quickly that there is no way to be totally sure of what’s legal and what’s not. Within the span of two recent national tournaments in the U.S. that occurred just three weeks apart, either the rules were changed or we received a new set of interpretations from a different group of referees. For example, in Irvine, California we were told that only matte should be called for the now illegal bear hug. Two weeks later, in Altanta, Georgia we were informed matte is called the first time, but shido is awarded the second time around. So, which version is correct?

Not only is the bear hug illegal, but so is a double belt grab, used ostensively to lift the opponent up before sending him crashing onto the mat. Good grief, that’s Greco-Roman wrestling! Can’t have that in Judo. One arm over and one arm under the shoulder may be legal, depending on the intent! But wait. Maybe the bear hug isn’t illegal if you are not trying to break your opponent’s spine. Oh, heck, it still looks like wrestling, so it’s probably not a good idea to try this. Get that? How the hell are coaches supposed to run programs with rulings like this? Why should we coaches send our players to tournaments so “punish them” referees can nail our players?

OK, enough of my whining. Let’s hear what an American national referee has to say about her colleagues and the referee culture. If only more of you referees would pipe up, we might return some common sense to our sport.

I just wanted to put in writing something that concerns me, and advocate on behalf of athletes.

This year, many new rules were rolled out.  I attended a tournament as a (returning national) referee.  The tournament welcomed novices.

From what I have since gathered, our area, region, and probably the country are in sore need of referees.  As always, new people taking up judo would be welcome as well.

Why, then, is gi control, even in an atmosphere of new rules, *local* tournament, and novices welcome, used as a ‘gotcha’??  There were lower-ranked judoka, and some folks who clearly came to compete whose first martial art was jiu jitsu, a sister art of judo.  When it was clear that some did not have properly-fitting gis, I inquired about who was doing gi control.  There was a passive/aggressive disgusted response about how folks ought to know better.  Well, maybe they don’t, but they *showed up*!  Why not honor that and take people at face value? Tell them the problem with the gi, encourage them to make friends with other players, and swap out until they find a legal gi….and then Get On With The Fight?!  Or is the idea to keep the judo tournament to a certain privileged few, a certain tribe, a certain etiquette and training ritual?

My fellow referees made the comment:  “Don’t do anything! Just let ‘em walk up, and we’ll nail ‘em!”  Huh?  I started to ask each judoka to please go over the fancy plastic thingy and help themselves in measuring their gis.  I was overruled and outranked by the presiding referees, but my disgust with that whole scene didn’t end there.

Two heavy-weights faced each other on the tape.  The refs paused the start of the fight to look at the gi measurements.  Well, these two guys had very ample torsos.  Their gis were legal in every measurement except that the lapels did not reach far enough around to overlap the required number of inches.  These two guys were equal in their gi fit in every way.  In my view, it was the epitome of a ‘fair fight’.  You won’t believe what happened next:  the refs decided that both players would receive hansoku make, disqualifying them from the match for ill-fitting gis.  A disgusting display of abuse of power, in my humble opinion.  But no, these refs could not leave it at that: two players having the courage to enter a dojo *to begin with*, to put on a gi and plan to go to a tournament, to step on the mat and face whatever opponent got there on that day, and then going home humiliated at not having the opportunity to even participate.  No, that was not enough.  As the next guys stepped on the mat, the tournament went on, and the refs, on the sidelines, engaged in what can only be described as playground bullying and a filthy display of immaturity and lack of decorum.  The refs gossiped, loudly, about the ‘fat guys’.  They laughed, they bellowed, they screeched their bullying comments Within Ear Shot of the two (non) players!  This joking, guffawing and laughing, throwing their heads back, wiping tears, slapping their thighs, was all Very Obviously in ridicule of the ‘fat guys’, who Dared to walk onto the mat.

I am obviously still spitting mad about this whole show.  I want to know about the morals and ethics of this organization.  What is the recourse, and how to move forward?  Judo is bleeding, and these refs are, literally, chasing new people off the mat??

In my role as an athletes’ rep, I am asking for guidance in how to address this matter.  Is judo, and more particularly, judo officiating, in such need of leadership at the highest levels that we need to workshop Bullying by the Refs?  Apparently.

I would like to report on more positive aspects, and the gains made, but I don’t see how athletes can improve and gain experience if they are not even allowed onto the mat!  I am willing to have a sit-down with yudanshakais and referee chairs, other refs, etc. In my role as athletes’ rep, it may be possible take a grievance like this and use it as a teaching tool up the ranks, but I am not that optimistic.  See, the problem that day was not only with the individual refs who acted exceedingly poorly, it was their abuse of power in the tournament milieu and among fellow refs.  It was/is a fundamental problem with how they answer the question:  Why do you want to be a judo referee?  The license-to-abuse-power people ought to be weeded out, or at least kept in check with due diligence, at the very first levels of refereeing, but that is not happening due to a lack of leadership on the mutual welfare and benefit philosophy that ought to drive judo activities at all levels.

In order to prevent what occurred that day, as a yudanshakai, I believe we can think about the role of athletes’ rep and how they can be empowered to make a difference.  I felt I was as confrontational on that day as possible, but my colleagues did not have a head’s up about what to look out for, how to address a problem such as out-of-control hansoku makes, and what redress to ask for.  Thinking out loud, perhaps athletes’ reps get together with tournament organizers/directors and lay some ground rules for referees and open the dialogue?  Refs are not irreplaceable, and perhaps, others will want to join a less corrupt organization of referees if that day comes.

Along with the above quoted national referee, there are a few ‘A’ referees who do get it. Gary Berliner is one of them. Referees are told to decline to do gi checks, which puts the onus on players to get it right. At the USA Judo Junior Olympics this past weekend, Berliner, who was the head referee, encouraged referees who are off the mat to be kind to tell players to change gis when it’s apparent the gi isn’t legal. Furthermore, he indicated for the sake of common sense that at times referees must close their eyes and allow a match to proceed. If only this were the rule rather than the exception.

While the Wimbledon Tennis Championships still clings to “white only” outfits for participants, Judo is not far behind in its love of traditions and dislike of color. Sure, we now have blue uniforms, which is a good start, but we should think about doing more for several reasons.

Like it or not, we must develop a Judo industry that enables judokas to earn a living teaching Judo and selling Judo products. Once we develop additional streams of revenue for judoplayers, more of them will make Judo their profession, and Judo will grow. Unfortunately, most Judo coaches have little to sell; a gi every 1-2 years and a few $6 belts perhaps twice a year per student. Contrast that to all the sparring gear, weapons, and team uniforms that the striking arts require. It’s easy to see that the average Judo coach is hampered by a lack of moneymaking opportunities. Like it or not, color sells, and not everyone likes blue. And keep in mind that what sells helps keep the dojo doors open.

For years, the Europeans have allowed colorful gis in their team championships. Jimmy Pedro’s Abensberg Judo team wore black and yellow gis. Another team had red and black gis. While team competition may not be big in the U.S., mostly for lack of clubs with large enough student population to have teams, there is much to be said for Judo adopting team/club colors, like every other team sport does. In team sports, teams typically have a home and an away jersey, and sometimes a third combination to prevent a clash with the opponents’ uniform. For Judo competition, we could retain the white gi for the white side, but allow for any color combination on the blue side. That would retain the need for differentiating the competitors to aid the referees, while developing a team visual for the spectators and athletes.

Abensberg Judo Team Gi

Even if color is not allowed in official competition, color could be used to encourage kids, and perhaps even adults, to remain in the sport. I know it sounds silly, but this simple vehicle is a great way to create extrinsic motivation for promotions, tournament participation, tournament performance, demonstration teams, etc. Years ago, I rewarded my national champions by instituting the wearing of a red, white and blue braid at the end of their pant leg. It was a discrete use of color, and no more intrusive than the shoulder stripes worn on current gis. Eventually, referees objected to them, and I was forced to discard the idea.

I’ve talked to several gi distributors about expanding the range of colored uniforms. They are in favor. It’s good for business, and I think it would be good for Judo. The new gi manufacturing standards, which allow for increased chemical fibers such as nylon and polyester, will help with color retention. Shoulder seams allow for sleeves to be one color, while the body is another. Pants can sport stripes, or they can be one color, while the jacket is another color. There are ways to be colorful, while not being gaudy.

I know that emotions can run wild when discussing colored gis. There’s a current thread in the JudoForum that exemplifies this sometimes irrational dislike for color with religious-like invocations of Kano and the Kodokan. I don’t know what Kano would have thought about colored gis, nor do I care. We already know that the Kodokan has fits when it comes to the blue gi, so my guess is that an additional color, or combination of colors, would be considered taboo too.

The Kodokan has problems. So do we. What we are doing today isn’t working very well. I’m all for traditions, but not if they drag Judo into irrelevance or oblivion. I’m willing to step outside the box to see if we can better our collective lot. Maybe a dash of color can help.

Note: please participate in the “A Dash of Color” poll situated at the top of my blog. Thanks.

My first impression was one of negativity: penalize and punish the players. Referees were told to “manage the match” by using penalties as tools. They were also informed that they should make sure matches didn’t go to Golden Score, or, heaven forbid, to a hantei decision. Use those penalties!  Are we simply looking for shorter days for the officials, or should we be allowing players to decide the outcome of the match regardless of how long it takes?

Joon Chi, the chairman of the USJF Referee Commission, was as always pretty patronizing and insulting. We few coaches who attended the meeting were made to feel like we didn’t know the rules. How could we possibly stay abreast of all the rule changes and tweaking that occur after almost every World Cup or Grand Slam event?  We’re in the same boat as all the local referees who are out of the informational loop, or if they do get the information hear it as an interpretation of an interpretation. Why can’t the IJF transmit the information to the whole international Judo community? Why does it still rely of the old, and not very effective, “referee to referee to referee to coaches/players” model of information transmittal when we have the Internet? And whatever happened to the notion that rules only change once a quadrennial?

We’ve all been told that the rules are changing because the International Olympic Committee (IOC) doesn’t want Judo to look like wrestling. We were reminded of that at the referee meeting. I don’t know whether this is true or an outright lie. It’s easy for one organization (IJF) to blame another (IOC) for the changes it is making. My gut feeling is that a few people in the IJF want Judo to be radically transformed. To push through the changes more easily the onus for the changes is placed on the IOC.

If it is true that the IOC wants Judo to change, then the IJF is not doing a good job at representing the facts and defending Judo as it is today. Judo has 198 national federation members. Wrestling has only 168. Judo at the Olympics is very popular: Judo events sell out, and do so quickly, second only to the opening and closing ceremonies, and the basketball finals. If Judo looks like wrestling, what can be said of beach volleyball and indoor volleyball? Or water polo and team handball, both of which have teams of six field players who attempt to throw balls into goals? Or how about the three disciplines of foil, epee, and saber within fencing?  Why not eliminate foil because it looks like epee? So a little honesty is required here. Is the IOC picking on Judo when it ignores the obvious similarities among other sports, or is the IJF lying to us to make it seem like we are powerless to stop the emasculation of Judo and the penaltyfest that is supposedly mandated by the IOC?

The new rules are still being talked about, tweaked, and new interpretations are making their way downward to us peons at the local level. Confusion still reigns supreme however. Combinations that end with a leg pick up still have too many ifs and whens, and words like “simultaneously” remain ill-defined to have a firm grasp of what’s legal and what isn’t. To complicate things, “intent” is now coming into the picture. Referees are being asked to guess the intent of the player when it comes to combinations that end in a leg grab. Was the player’s intent from the get-go to grab the leg after let’s say an O uchi or Ko uchi, or did he grab it as an afterthought because the first throw didn’t work? In the first case, it’s hansoku make. In the second case, you may score with it. Crazy, isn’t it? So much for combinations where the first throw is the set-up for the second throw. Another aspect of Judo fighting hits the dust.

On the positive side- I think- the rule against a hand blocking a hip as a defense is being relaxed, as is “incidental” contact with a leg. Get ready for the tweaking and interpretation of the definition of “incidental.”  Muddy as ever, isn’t it?

The IJF is not finished screwing with us. The further denuding of Judo techniques continues unabated. Now, bear hugs from the front are illegal if the arms wrap completely around the opponent’s torso, even if hands don’t interlock. We still don’t know if it matters whether you hug under or over the arms. And what if the hug is from the side? Either way, this is a new rule change, which should not be allowed in the middle of a quadrennial, let alone two months before the World Championships in Tokyo. But when did the IJF ever give a hoot about how its last-minute rule changes affect the competitors? And surprise! The illegal bear hug is not penalized. I know it’s hard to believe, but the referee merely calls matte, then restarts the match. Why couldn’t the IJF do that for leg grabs?

I’ve been a proponent of Olympic Judo for decades, and I believe in Olympism. After all, one of my daughters is a two-time Olympian, and another is vying for the 2012 Olympics. In spite of this, I am seriously questioning the wisdom of keeping Judo in the Olympics, especially if it means that the IJF will continue to mess with the repertory of acceptable techniques. I don’t know how Judo fares against other grappling arts and MMA in the rest of the world, but I know these arts are beating the snot out of Judo in the U.S., primarily because our rules have infantilized Judo and made it an unrealistic fighting form.

We have a dilemma in the U.S. Is it more important that we remain an Olympic sport or that we survive in the martial arts community? How do you feel about Judo remaining an Olympic sport? Take the ”Olympics or Survival?” survey situated at the top of my blog. Thanks.

A Dash of Color

(polls)

Olympics or Survival?

(polls)
]]> http://blog.betterjudo.com/poll-olympics-or-survival/feed/ 0 http://blog.betterjudo.com/judo-and-soccer/ http://blog.betterjudo.com/judo-and-soccer/#comments Wed, 23 Jun 2010 19:18:50 +0000 admin http://blog.betterjudo.com/?p=538 Over two billion people worldwide are now watching the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa. That includes me. You’re probably wondering what that has to do with a Judo blog. Well, there are things that the soccer world can teach the Judo world. If we are perceptible enough, soccer also serves as an example of what Judo should not be.

In previous blogs, I’ve talked about positive aspects of soccer that we in Judo should emulate: how soccer grew in the U.S. through the efforts of volunteer coaches and the AYSO, and how an innovative training tool, futsal, lead to an increase in the technical skills of Brazilian soccer players.

Watching this year’s World Cup reminds me that soccer also has an ugly side to it that parallels the ugly side of Judo. Both have to do with rules, referees, and the use of distasteful tactics to manipulate the outcome of matches. This is not Pele’s beautiful game at all.

Since the 1970 World Cup, soccer referees penalize players for infractions to the rules by using a yellow or red card, which correspond to shido and hansoku make in Judo. If a player receives two yellow cards (2 shidos) in a game, he is then shown a red card (hansoku make) and is sent off the field. His team then plays one man down for the rest of the game. If he receives a yellow card in two different games during a tournament run, he must sit out one game. His team is however allowed to field the requisite number of players.

Every soccer referee, like every Judo referee, seems to have a different tolerance level for awarding penalties. Some prefer to let the game flow naturally and let the players play the game, while others try to over-control the game and become penalty obsessed. Needless to say, the latter unfortunately have the power to change the outcome of, and ruin, the game.

Both Judo and soccer are low scoring sports, so the awarding of penalties becomes ultra-critical in determining the outcome of matches. Players in both sports have caught on to this and have found ways to win ugly via tactics. In Judo, far too often it’s easier to get your opponent penalized than it is to throw, pin or submit him: a little foot work here and there, some movement, a few disingenuous “foot sweeps” that make it look like you’re attacking, and voila, the opponent is penalized for non-combativity. Ugly Judo.

In soccer, players know that a good acting job of falling to the ground and writhing in pain can get the referee to issue that dreaded second yellow card or red card to the offending players. Scoring against ten players is a lot easier than scoring against eleven. If the acting job is done in the penalty box, the not-so-innocent victim of the foul is afforded a penalty shot, which almost always changes the outcome of the game. The acting and the dishonesty that goes on during a soccer match make for an unpleasant game.

Both sports have the technology to make sure that referee decisions are accurate and fair. Soccer refuses to use that technology for some reason, in spite of all the blown offside calls, disallowed goals, and phantom infractions leading to penalty shots. Judo has thankfully shown more willingness to use technology to get it right. It fails too often to get it right, but at least it’s trying.

On the bright side, more and more soccer players from Africa, Mexico and the U.S. are now playing in England, Spain, Italy and Germany, homes to the toughest professional leagues in the world. The experience gained from playing overseas helps their national teams’ efforts. U.S. Judo should one day recognize the benefit of placing some of our players overseas, whether in Japan or Europe, where they will be challenged day in and day out by numerous, high-quality training partners. Except for a very few exceptions, our domestic programs are simply not getting the job done at the international level. I think it’s time to do what our 1964 Olympians did: get more and more players to be based overseas for extended periods.

Lastly, I suggest we send our penalty-driven Judo referees to the soccer world, where I am sure they will at least be able to tell when a player is really tripped or knocked down, and when he is acting. Seems like a win-win situation for everyone.

Then, a few days ago, we received the following double whammy from USA Judo. “To help us grow Judo in the U.S., gi and no-gi jujitsu divisions will be included in all national events, and USA Judo will now be know as USA Judo/Ju-Jitsu.” Say what?

If you are like me, you should take these announcements with a sense of despair about Judo in the U.S. for they officially suggest that the ship is sinking while the captain claims all is well in la-la-land.

It’s hard to visualize the IJF respecting the United States because we are doing such a great job at developing and promoting Judo. Frank Fullerton, former USA Judo president, promoted Judo, and paid for it out of his own pocket. What has the current USA Judo done to suggest that it is developing and promoting Judo? Sure, USA Judo started a few small projects here and there, like the Boys Scouts of America program that didn’t quite reach puberty, let alone maturity. But other than those embryonic efforts, what else is there to show besides its continued attempts to thwart and bury the U.S. Judo Association? How’s that for developing and promoting Judo in the U.S.? Whatever USA Judo is doing to promote and grow Judo, it simply isn’tt filtering down to the grassroots level.

The number of competitors participating in our national/international events has diminished over time. The U.S. Open, which is almost entirely a domestic event now, should be euthanized. Its Canadian counterpart, the Montreal Rendez-Vous, has been discontinued. If we have developed Judo so much, why are we adding ju-jitsu to the fray?

USA Judo CEO Jose Rodriguez says that, “Judo and ju-jitsu are sister sports and many of the techniques are very similar.” True: similar like team handball and basketball, both of which are played with a ball that needs to go into a net to score a point, but different sports nonetheless. For obvious reasons, USA Team Handball doesn’t seek to run basketball divisions at its national events.

So what are these announcements all about? Well, I think they are merely about fundraising, not developing or promoting Judo. The latest fundraising effort will add members to USA Judo’s rolls, increase income derived from rank promotions, and probably make more money off national events. What it won’t do is create more or better judoplayers, because in spite of Judo and jujitsu being sister sports, they are not the same sport. The crossover will be negligible, especially at the elite level.

Decades ago, the USJA under Phil Porter initiated the same fundraising scheme now being launched by USA Judo. USJA brought in new members, created jujitsukas out of judokas, sold rank to them like crazy, and tried to treat them as equals. Ultimately, many of the jujitsu people realized that although there were some common grounds between the two sports, the two were in fact different. Disenchantment set in, political battles raged, and members departed.

USA Judo is diversifying because it doesn’t know how to make its main product- Judo- more palatable to the American public. By adding jujitsu to the fold, it may solve the financial crisis it’s facing, caused in part by the USOC’s cutting back on funding of NBGs that don’t produce international medals. What it won’t achieve is get more people to do Judo. Our competitive ranks will remain just as shallow as they are today, and our international medal count won’t change much.

What I find the most irritating about the latest USA Judo announcements is that it is openly admitting- at least for those who wish to read between the lines- that to survive as a sport we must embrace other sports in our midst. Contrary to that, I believe USA Judo must find ways to provide its clubs and players services that are needed and valued. It must recognize that to survive we must make our own product better by developing better coaches, better facilities, and most importantly by refusing to allow IJF rules to marginalize our sport within the grappling world. What we need is a Judo version of the Manhattan project that would include the USJA and USJF.

I am not totally against incorporating jujitsu into our programs, but it should be done for development purposes, not financial gain. If we are going to incorporate jujitsu why not make it of the Kosen Judo type? We are missing the boat by not having Kosen Judo classes and tournaments. By adopting Kosen, rather than some jujitsu mishmash, we stay truer to our Judo culture and technical base, while still being able to attract more people to our sport.

And for heaven’s sake, if we do but one thing to better Judo, let’s change the damn rules of Judo! Quickly.

We have so many 9th dans that you would think we are the Mecca of international Judo, the Kodokan of the West. We have more 9th dans than France has in spite of having less than one tenth of their Judo population, and so many fewer world and Olympic medalists. Why are we so special?

One good piece of news for those of us who are eager to return credibility to USJA ranks is that the new USJA Board of Directors seems to be willing to start closing those floodgates. The question remains whether the new promotion board will be capable to choosing the harder right over the easier wrong. I’m not on this committee, but if I were, these are the suggestions that I would recommend.

Revisit the notion of terminal rank. Terminal rank is the highest rank one would be eligible for. It would be based on your performance as a competitor or coach. At the USJA’s inception, terminal rank for most mere mortals was 5th dan. Now it seems it might be 9th dan if you live long enough. That’s unacceptable. We must go back to reserving the high dan ranks- 6th dan and above- for the few and truly deserving.

We must be honest about testing for ranks. Although there are technical requirements for 6th dan, many players are by then physically incapable of passing a technical test. Thus, all formal testing should end at 5th dan, which should be the terminal rank of the average judoplayer.

Promotion to 6th dan should require a whole different set of requirements that must be fulfilled at the national or international level.  This alone would stop most of the high dan promotions. Although his name doesn’t appear as the author, Phil Porter, former USJA President, most assuredly had a huge hand in A Study of the Criteria For Promotion to 9th and 10th Degree in Judo. In this study, Porter rightly suggests seven main areas to be considered for high dan rank: competitive record, coaching record, organizational leadership, refereeing, teaching Judo, creative contributions to Judo, and devotion to Judo. Although the document was self-serving- it was created to justify his promotion to 10th dan- the ideas within are certainly valid for all high dan ranks.

A Study of the Criteria For Promotion to 9th and 10th Degree in Judo is an excellent document that makes a serious attempt at defining the accomplishments for high dan ranks, and the level at which these accomplishments are to be performed. The USJA Promotion Board will be wise to take a good look at this document and adopt many of the ideas within.

It’s no secret that I am not a proponent of traditional, formal kata. I find it a total waste of good training time that should instead be devoted to drill training (informal kata if you will) and learning international Judo skills.  Kim Sol from the University of Montana pretty much sums up my feeling about kata:

Kata was a cultural holdover, an artifact of history.

To make Judo acceptable as a martial art in Japan, it had to include Kata, even as Judo was breaking tradition by its emphasis on Randori. But, one step at a time. At one point in the evolution of Judo, Kata was important to Judo for historic, cultural, political and public relations purposes. That era is long past.

Kata may have served an important transitional purpose in Japan and in a Japanese cultural context, but the transition is over and that purpose has disappeared.

Therefore, I would recommend that kata no longer be a requirement for promotion- any promotion.  Kata performance is already often overlooked when it comes to promotions. Again, a little honesty is required here. Either require kata and hold all candidates to it, or accept the fact that its purpose is passé, and drop the kata requirement altogether. I favor the latter. Needless to say, I favor eliminating the promotion requirement of kata, but not the activity itself.

I would also recommend that we remove the financial incentive to fast-track people through the promotion system. Take away the $200-300 promotion fees the USJA charges, and the organization might not be so happy-go-lucky with promotions.

Lastly, I believe the promotion board needs to take a more active and preemptive role in monitoring, reviewing, assessing, communicating with, and mentoring all candidates for high dan promotions. This would eliminate, or at least minimize, the need for candidates to submit their own request for promotion, which most candidates do because they invariably no longer have a sensei to recommend them for promotion.

If we are unwilling to stop the floodgates, and are all eligible to make 9th dan, then rank becomes meaningless. Like kata, perhaps dan ranks have served their time and should be abandoned. Or, we could make rank requirements more stringent, accept the fact we are not all destined for high dan rank, and once again make it a meaningful accomplishment if we legitimately have what it takes to be one of the few high dan holders.