Another week done,

As this weeks comes to a close, I've decided to not compete this weekend. I need more practice and I'm swamped with work. So It's will be 3/1/09 when I hit the mats again for shihai.

Now, the 15th tournament went well for my first and only having seven weeks of judo to prepare. I got fifth out of fifth, yet to the rest of my competition, they had be beat by at least six months. So I did well for where I was and had a blast.

First match.
Really bad on the mat. I had Osoto Gari the whole time and didn't take it.

Second match,
Did a bit better but I hesitated on Ippon Seio Nage and lost the match,

Third match,
This was with the one of two novice who didn't stiff arm. It went really smoothly and we both got in a throw. this match came to pins, and I had my hips up to high and lost my mount.

Fourth Match,
This was the other without a the stiff arm noob, it was pleasant. His Gi was a pain to grab but I lost it when I opened up to Tai Otoshi and he caught me with a Waza take down.

Since It was My first I not too big on four straight loses but it was a lesson in humbleness I will carry forever.

Also after a conversation with one of the black belts from the dojo, I'm always worried about my manners where ever I am. I need to disconnect. We bow to one another as an understanding to do our best, not worry about injuring our opponents or our partners in practice. Now I think it's time that I apply this and see how I do.

Friendship.....

As another practice comes to a close, I had a short but enjoyable time.

I brought a friend to Judo with me today. Although it's new to him, the martial arts aren't. Having two year of Karate under his belt; I found it safe to bring him on the mat for some fun. After warm-up and conditioning he acquired some groundwork skill. Although watching him struggle with the conditioning was entertaining it was reminder that not to long ago i was in the same boat. He was paired up with a collegian wrestler for na-waza (Katamewaza.) So he did have is butt handed to him there but it was a learning process he gathered quite a bit of knowledge from.

It was followed by the movement techniques used to keep yourself uninjured. He mastered the falling skills used in judo and a sweep move rather quickly.

I was paired up with the one kid who until recent, had no desire to progress and was afraid of what little pain there is to Judo while practicing. So I reinsured him that falling and failing at the technique we're practicing is just us learning ways not to such actions.

Throws practiced today,
Ippon Seionage
Morote Seionage
Deashi Harai
Tai Otoshi
Osoto Gari
O Goshi
Kosoto Gari
Kouchi Gari
Okuriashi Harai
Harai Goshi
Tsuri Goshi
Kata Guruma
Plus Combination of listed throws.

A new idea,

This Came to me after attending another Dojo today as a guest. Judo when done correctly does not cause injury.

This I find 100 % true. It's so easy though to be 0.001 % off to be injured. While learning how to do certain throws, you are expected to have some bumps and bruises from learning. I do have back pain at the moment but I was able to help someone learn how to defend themselves and was shown some beautiful ground work. Being a student means you'll have mistakes and those are where the injuries come from.

So to my new Idea, If you double the time you spend practicing technique by attending two dojo's do you increase your potential 2 fold or 3 fold. This is my experiment to see how well my muscle memory works.

Now to list my next tournaments:

2/15 - San Jose Buddist Judo Club Sensei Memorial Tournament
2/22 - West Covina Judo Invitational
3/1 - Nanka Novice Tournament

Pain,

A another weeks of practice is over and my new training is paying off. I find that my back is still killing but only shortly afterwords, it's nothing like how it felt in the beginning. I've Also had an injured joint in my foot, but that was my own doing. Healed quite well though, it's only painful if it's cold out; like tonight.

This is going to be a long month and I expect more from myself now than ever. Three tournaments in the next three weeks. the 15th, 22nd, and 1st.

So I'm off to bed to heal and run in the morning.

Training...

This is the first time I've keep a journal of anything like this. I've considered taking judo again since I was exposed to it while I was a little kid. At the time I found Ninjitsu to be more my style and I've used it to my advantage in quite a few different things, far from the subjective fights than the expected. Marching band was easier for me because of it. It was also a tool in many sports and amazingly journalism, I was the leak of info from the administration to the school newspaper because I was a cleaver little spy... Enough about that though.

This it to track my progress in Judo from rokyu (this means Noob... I.E. white belt) to first degree black belt (shodan.) My goal is to make it in two years. So I need to acquire brown belt by this end of the year if that is going to happen.

This is something that has just sunk it's teeth into me and spread threw out me at the speed of Ebola. I really want this, it's like an addiction. So much so that I think this is how I will achieve one of my life goals. "To compete for an Olympic team."