My Thoughts 10

Don Werner EM2002-5It is a little while since I put my thoughts to paper. I re-read article number nine and it seems to still be true; what a shame and it is getting worse all the time.

The thing that sticks in my mind is who in the world thinks they can take out Waza that Professor Jigaro Kano developed for Judo. For me Judo is the greatest fighting sport in the world. It is a great teacher of skill, self control and mental exercise; as he intended. He developed his ideas and proved them sound, in a world rather reluctant to accept change. No one can doubt the success Judo has had over the years. An enthusiastic statistics man once told me “in the world, more people practice Judo than play football”.

I think back to when the Russian Sambo wrestling came onto the scene, everyone got so excited and apprehensive. Judo absorbed it without a ripple and it did our sport the power of good.

I can not and would never try to speak for the great man, but I feel sure he would have approved and possibly been flattered that the system he developed could take on board ideas and grow like it has over the past years.

The new rules are making competitions rather boring because it favours the stiff armed defensive fighter, who is trying to get his opponent penalised. Referees seem unable to detect this and with so many Waza taken out that could be used to combat the problem, contests are becoming quite static. If another good form of fighting comes along, I doubt if Judo will be able to learn from it and grow, not with all of these new rules in place.

What they have done is similar to taking heading out of football and only allowing them to touch the ball with their foot, anywhere else would be a penalty; or no kicking the ball in Rugby? Perhaps we should lend these people to other sports and let them improve them?

I have been to five Olympics and found the Judo exciting and dynamic. The London one was rather boring, the Judoka for the most part were looking for penalties. You can not fool Judoka; they will find a way round any rule in a very short time too.

British Championships in January! What poor judgement this was by our organisers. The first two months always have the poorest of weather and a great percentage of the population have a cold, influenza and other debilitating conditions.

When I queried these times, I was told that all of the top coaches had been consulted. I have failed to find a single one who admits to being involved in the discussions. This idea was tried about forty years ago in 1972 and was such a disaster that the event was promptly moved back to the end of the year. Coaches who were about then will remember we had no junior championships in 1973.

Since I started writing this article I see that common sense has prevailed; everything is going back to square one. I find it difficult to keep up with all these changes. I still haven’t found any of those top coaches, whose opinions were acted upon in the first place.

The British Junior National Championships should be held at the end of the year; as the culmination of that year’s hard work and a measure of a child’s progress.

Trials should be held separately late in the year giving the selector’s time to put the squads together for the New Year. This would not affect the senior Judoka much and the under 20s youth would have to decide which path they plan to follow.

Mind you, I have noticed that winning the trials seems to have little bearing on who is selected these days.

With regards to the I.J.F. It is difficult to find out who is responsible for the drastic rule changes but it is probably one or two rather aged Judoka dreaming about what they thought Judo was like in the old days.
The problem with the older Judoka is their memory; they always remember that the old days were so much better. However bad they were, after a few years the memory takes on a different shape and you remember the attractive bits; I know because I am old and I have done it.

We dream and things take on an entirely new aspect in our minds. There is nothing wrong with this but we shouldn’t force these mad dreams on others.

I believe the problem with Judo has always been that the referees have allowed certain Waza to develop which they could have stopped with ease. The one that always sticks in my mind is the drop Kata Guruma when the Judoka drops to his knees and scuffles along the floor until Uke is dragged down: this they leave alone. Try a good drop Ippon Seoi Nage, Uke can often feel it coming and slip off with some ease, and they hand out penalties without taking a breath.

There are few tournaments on the B.J.A. calendar these days. There are dozens of coaching, strengthening, flexible making, child protection, gymnastics in Judo, deep breathing, muscle building, deep thinking and many other types of courses but very few competitions.

Those competitions that are held often have so many restrictions it is difficult to find juniors who qualify; short of taking them straight off the street and giving them a lesson or two. I like my juniors to have all the basic skills needed to avoid injury, before I venture to enter them against strangers in a contest situation.

The one that always amuses me is “No Gong Hunters Need Enter” My children must be a bit odd because they all want to win a medal when they go to a contest. Mind you I can’t see the point in going at all, if you don’t care if you win or not. It takes all kinds; doesn’t it?

I feel it is a pity that the first to feel the cuts are the more successful clubs, we have lost the money we received for having Judoka in the National Squads. Always the successful are cut, not those who don’t produce.

There seems to be an overwhelming desire to work towards the lowest common denominator; seldom do we aim towards the highest C.D. There, you see, I have joined the initials mob.

The magazines are in another shake up. I felt Nik Fairbrother did an excellent job on Mat Side and Koka Kids; everyone got one or the other. The Koka Kids is quite an interesting book for children; judging from the way some of our seniors always pester me for a copy.

For a while we had the Koka Kids sent to the younger children and Mat Side to the older Judoka. This was a great idea giving the Association a line to every member. But, like most good ideas someone always wants to change things. Usually it is to save money so that it can be wasted on something else.

Nik assures me she will go back to the old way with Koka Kids; I don’t know what they will do with Mat Side. I suspect there are very few top Judoka with Nik’s knowledge of Judo, Editing and Publishing at head office.

That is about all I have to say this time, I will just sit here and try to anticipate the next horrific changes. I might also try to have some deep and meaningful thoughts about life and Judo; they are the same aren’t they?

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