I have also created a more structured schedule for instruction. From now on, each week will have the following instructional schedule:
Monday: Technical instruction. A specific nage waza (throwing technique) will be presented for each level, according to their promotional requirements. Mondays will primarily focus on presenting details of that new waza, and provide time for students to work on their uchi komi.
Wednesday: Ne waza night. This is the class that focuses specifically on ground techniques, e.g. pins, chokes and armbars, as appropriate for age and level, as well as techniques and strategies for attack and defense on the ground.
Thursday: Review and randori. We will focus on practicing any throw that needs perfecting for age and level, and spend at least 50% of the time in randori (free practice).
Saturday: Special focus/Open Mat. Saturdays will concentrate on special focuses, such as competition, promotional testing, or self defense, as well as provide open mat time for students to focus on the area of their choice or need.

Membership Fees announcements
February membership fees due; Please help us pay the bills on time!
With the new fiscal year, quarterly and annual membership fee discounts will no longer be available. We will continue to have discounts for multiple family members.
Membership numbers are steady. This has been a great year for the dojo with several wonderful families and individuals joining up, but we have also seen some attrition due to moves and the economy. However, as we end the fourth year of the dojo’s life at this location I am determined to make the 5th year our best one yet, and I would like to encourage everyone to help grow our community! As an incentive, if we can increase our membership to 100 members, I will reduce rates.
Saturday, 2/6: Bring a friend to Judo, and get a free patch! Great to put on your gi, bookbag, or favorite jacket! If your friend joins for three months, you get a free month of judo!

4th Annual Anniversary PartySSJ Judo will be four years old this month! Come help celebrate at our annual potluck dinner on Saturday, 2/27 at the Ragosta’s house. If you would like to help organize the event, please contact Katy at kmullin@scitent.com, and Kiyoko Asao at kasao@adelphia.net.

Competition AnnouncementsFebruary starts to get busy in terms of competitions. The Pedro’s Challenge is on 2/13, and is held in Boston, MA. This is recommended for highly experienced players only, and at this point, we only have one player attending. Please be sure to wish Sachi Ragosta the best of luck in her first time playing at this prestigious tournament!

The VA Open is on Saturday, 2/20. This is a great tournament for all levels. It’s a very good way for beginners to get started in competitive judo, as well as providing stronger matches for higher level players. For more information, please see the attached registration form. Let me know if you are interested in attending, or have any questions. I’ll have an official discussion about this tournament this Saturday 1/27 at the end of the kids’ class.

Schedule Changes:
Saturday, 1/30: In the event we get more than 1″ of snow, all classes will be cancelled. I will email by 9:30 a.m. to confirm.
Saturday, 2/20: There will be no class because we will be going to the VA Open. Sprouts Parents: if you would like to attend a makeup class in on Sunday 2/21, please let me know ASAP what time up until 3:00 that day would work best for you.

Demonstrations:Friday, February 19, from 6:30 to 8:30 PM (exact time TBD), SSJ Judo will participate in the Sutherland Middle School 3rd Annual Cultural Celebration. This is great exposure for the dojo and a fun way to celebrate judo with the community! I would love to have representatives from every level participate. This will take about an hour, including set up and breakdown time. Please let me know if you can participate! Tell your friends!

SSJ Judo Needs Rental Partners:The dojo is a great space for all kinds of activities and is available for rent outside of judo hours. If you know of someone who may be interested, please have them contact me.

Special Thanks:To Deb Zehner for bringing in the rugs for the changing rooms! They really make a huge difference!

But I do remember growing up as one of the only Asian kids in an all-white suburb of Chicago, and learning very deeply the lessons of being the Other. Even though my family was very fortunate and strong, even though my parents were the hardest working people I knew, and provided my brothers and me with every advantage and comfort they could, while instilling in us an appreciation for hard work, intelligence, reason, compassion, and joy in life, the simple fact was they could not protect me from the consequences of being half-Korean in a culture that had no room and very little tolerance for difference.

School was the place where I learned many, many wonderful things, but it was also where I learned in 4th grade that when four 5th graders beat me until I couldn’t stand, and then kicked me as I lay in the snow, calling me “gook”, and “nip”, and “chink”, that the beating was nothing compared to the shame of looking up and seeing a crowd of other kids watch and do nothing to help me. The alienation of that moment was a lesson I will never forget.

It was a lesson to be repeated and reinforced in a thousand ways, which I will not recount here, but thankfully my children have never known one day when they were derided, or ignored, or abused because of their heritage. I truly believed this lesson of my childhood has become weaker over time; that the politics of hatred have faded from the national discourse, and we were truly emerging from the long, angry night.

Until now.

This presidential campaign has been the most exciting political event I have ever seen, and I feel deeply fortunate to have been able to witness it. I was impressed by Obama from the very beginning, and I was even excited by the best candidates from both parties. They offered a clear hope for changing the disastrous course the Bush Administration has taken the country.

I had already decided that Barack Obama was by far the best candidate for president, for reasons other, far better writers than I have expressed, but, despite the closeness of the race, I felt there was little I could add to the conversation. However, since John McCain has chosen to revitalize his campain through demagoguery, anger, and specious, hateful, lies, I now have something to say.

Oliver Wendell Holmes said “A mind once stretched by a new idea never regains its original dimension.” But I have found that the mind can all too easily relax into familar patterns of thought. America has matured and learned many things, but the lessons of compassion and understanding must be continually learned. I may not have understood the larger political issues of my childhood, but I know what I lived through. America has grown, but as a nation we have learned through great pain that fear, anger, and hate remain powerful forces in the world, both abroad and sadly, as the past few days of Republican campaigning have shown, at home. Out of desperation, McCain is grasping at the darkest elements of our nature, and thereby threatens to erase not only Obama’s chance to be President, but decades of national growth towards the idea that we are all created equal.

Through condescending and cynical tactics, McCain and Palin have shamelessly tried to manipulate the “Joe Six-Packs” and the “Hockey Mom’s” of the nation, to say that they understand “Main Street” America. But as this speech by former United Mine Workers President Richard Trumka, who is now secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO shows, this only serves to draw a false distinction between the “elite” and the “common”, to exacerbate and antagonize, and create divisions.

The tactics of fear and hate must not be allowed to regain their sway. We have a chance to take a brilliant step forward as a nation, and given the current political and financial crises we face, we must call upon our highest ideals, our bravest virtues to meet them. I believe one candidate represents our best hope for leading our continued growth as a nation and a society. Please join me, and help elect Barack Obama as our next President.

If you watch the Top Ippon highlights from the Aug 9th Mens -60 Kg division, take a good look at the Korean coach when his player wins the gold; he’s an old friend of mine, Ahn Byung Keun, who taught me a lot about shime waza. “I’m going to send you to see your father!”

Just to let you know, I was absent for two reasons.

First, I came home from work feeling quite ill, with a severe headache and nausea. After being sick in the bathroom I called Brian and asked him if would be able to run the kids and the adult classes.

I was sitting outside in the sunshine recuperating when I heard a terrible thump and Pilot howling in pain and fear. Asa and Noah were also screaming. I dashed around the side of the house saw that both boys were in the front yard, staring in horror as Pilot was staggering in circles in the road, howling and clenched in a tight half circle. Katy had come home early and was about to pull in the driveway and Pilot ran into the road to greet her, and was hit by a second oncoming car. Both boys were unhurt, but terrified by what had just happened. Pilot was bleeding slightly from a scape on his muzzle, and was holding his left hind leg very stiffly.

The driver never stopped.

After some frantic discussion we bundled Pilot in the car and took off for the vet. At first, we headed for our own, but upon calling his office on my cell phone, learned that he was gone for the day, and his technician said we should go to emergency pet services in Charlottesville. So we turned around and Katy started driving as fast as she could in the other direction. Many of you know that we live on Garth road, and that it is quite winding in places. Taking those curves at high speed was doing my stomach no good at all, but it’s truly amazing what adrenaline does for minor things like that.

Even more amazing was to see Pilot improve clearly with each passing minute. By the time we got to the vet, he was walking on his own, with his ears up and tail wagging, and clearly quite happy to have this unusual treat of a car ride on a Thursday evening. The vet said he looked ok, and gave us some pain medication for him (I’ll talk another time about side effects!), and sent us on our way.

Today, Pilot is doing fine, and I am feeling much better. I would much rather have been at judo, though. Oh, and avoid the egg rolls at the Chinese restaurant downtown.

I must say, his entrance was intimidating. He entered the gymnasium, well-dressed in a button-down shirt and a long pea coat, surrounded by a considerable posse of equally well-dressed Japanese judoka who opened the doors for him. I recognized his translator as the featured Japanese National Collegiate Champion on a television show called “Human Weapon”. They were obviously going to work; their work being to throw people. Once they were inside, however, I did not see what I thought I might see. Yasuhiro Yamashita had a very unassuming presence; he is soft-spoken and humble. Although he has a very strong jaw, his face is friendly and eyes are kind. He broke the intimidating entrance when he and his group stopped to fish for change so he could get some Dasani water. And with that they entered the locker room. That was the last I saw of the judo champion before the clinic began.

The material of the clinic itself was as modest as the man. We examined five throws: osoto gari, ouchi gari, ippon seoinage, tai otoshi and what looked like a variation of sumi gaeshi, I think. The emphasis for all of the throws was kuzushi. Sensei Yamashita demonstrated several nuances of throws that were very helpful in improving my uchikomi. Each throw was explained and demonstrated in fine detail. I felt that this was a great lesson. Many people seem to rush through the first sets of the Gokyu no Waza, believing that they have these techniques down. Here there were Shodans being corrected on their technique for throws from the Dai Ikkyu. Many martial arts seem to have become so competition oriented that practitioners try to learn many techniques as fast as they can. I do not find this focus appealing and I felt affirmed in that sentiment when Sensei Yamashita emphasized the importance of continual uchikomi for these early throws. His technique was amazing. Each repetition was exactly the same, from where his hands were positioned to the point of his toe. His intensity during uchikomi was exemplary. The strain and focus showed in his face as he gave demonstrations. This is how one should practice if one is serious about improving technique; thinking only about position and directing all effort towards keeping it perfect. This is important in the development of muscle memory for correct technique.

Yamashita showed one newaza technique; okuri eri jime. Here he emphasized using your knuckle to “skewer” through the neck to make the opponent uncomfortable and to reach deep to the opposite lapel. Although some may think this seems brutal, I enjoyed it because I often try not to be too mean on the ground, as I am larger than most judoka that I train with. As a result, to avoid hurting anyone, I often do not hit many techniques with much force. It was nice to feel like I can be just a little bit mean, even if just for this one technique. I suppose when one gets into higher levels of competition, some ruthlessness may be in order to offset the fact that many competitors are so canny on the mat.

At the end of the day, we engaged in standing randori. Sensei Yamashita’s Tokai students were the stars. I had the privilege of moving with two of them, including the “Human Weapon”, Yasutaka Okawa. I could not off-balance either of them for the life of me. They were deceptively strong and had solid bases. However, they were not in an obvious jigotai position; they stood straight up. Their defensiveness seemed to be based on discreet steps and movements that can only come from experience. When I compared their style to those of other Westerners that I sparred with during the day, they were calmer and their movements were not as wild. I watched other players move with them; the players appeared harried and desperate to make them move. The Japanese judoka kept their calm demeanor and continued to smoothly throw challengers. Yamashita himself did not participate in randori, but his students represented him well.

The modesty of the Japanese judoka was as stunning as their technique. After I played each one, they bowed profusely and appeared very grateful, even though I am nowhere near their skill level. The power that they have does not seem to have affected their humbleness. Sensei Yamashita displayed this as well. During instruction, I was trying to sit in the formal seiza position for long periods of time (for me) because I thought it was more respectful. I am not sure if he noticed that I looked uncomfortable or if he just felt that it was unnecessary, but he told me to go ahead and sit in the informal position. Now that I think about it, maybe I was just in somebody else’s way, but for now I will go with my former interpretation. Either way, I was particularly impressed with the respect and modesty shown by him and his judoka.

As I was heading home, it was the concepts and character that stuck with me more than specific technical points. I remembered the effort that Sensei Yamashita showed in his osoto gari. At times, the idea of continuous repetition of uchikomi can seem very tedious. However, if you are working on improving the minute, sometimes seemingly picayune details of position, you may find that you did not know a throw as well as you thought. The monotony will give way to discovery, and all of a sudden, a throw is no longer banal. This way of humbly working on each move in order to get to the point at which one can hit a throw without thought, and to do it as smoothly as Yamashita and his Tokai students did, is the way I want to study a martial art. I believe that the modesty that I saw in these men also contributes to their work ethic and success. I think the moment that you become complacent with where you are, in technique, fitness, or anything else in life, you start to slip. If you are humble, you may never be pleased enough with yourself to say, “Okay, I’ve got that down.” And you will get better every day for it.

Undefeated Olympic judo champions can be terrifying.

They can also be quite pleasant and approachable. Yamashita-Sensei and his students gave an excellent technical analysis of practical judo moves and were always appeared happy to teach or give a few pointers. I found their breakdown of throw-execution versus their uchikomi very enlightening. Their emphasis on the finer points of uchikomi speaks to their belief in correct practice as the foundation of skillful play. That being said, their genuinely pleasant attitude didn’t retract from the sheer intimidation factor of their technique. I’ve seen plenty of good seoi-nages, both in person and on World Championship DVDs, but when one of the Japanese players demonstrated his favorite ippon-seoi-nage I was taken aback. My first thought was “I’ve never seen that much power in that throw before.”

My second thought was, “I’m pretty sure he just killed his uke.”

Of course everybody was fine, but you couldn’t ignore the effectiveness of the judo they were practicing. When Yamashita-Sensei demonstrated his choking techinques on one of his students, the message was written all over his uke’s face. The message was, “I wish I was dead right now.”

The clinic was also a great opportunity to play with other skilled players who I’ve only seen or faced through competition. It was wonderful to play without the burden of competition: winning the match or competitive egos. Everybody was just there to have fun and learn. Unfortunately, I reinjured my side during the early randori sessions and missed my opportunity to play with the Japanese students, but it was still very enjoyable just to watch them. They were living examples of the judo our dojo strives for: upright stance, emphasis on techinque, and smart, skillful play.

It’s a nice confirmation that we’re on the right path, and we’ve only got a few million more uchikomi’s to go.

Furthermore, his explanation of nage waza parallel what I teach in the dojo almost exactly. Although his technique far outshines my own, there could be no better proof that we practice very classical judo. That validation confirmed that we are on the right track, but, watching him and his students move, I was reminded how such extraordinary ability is only possible when based on a deep, technical foundation, and that foundation is only achieved through countless uchikomi. It was both exhilarating and daunting!

I have been developing training material from the video recording, and will make them available for all via the internet in installments. But in the meantime we will be increasing the depth and extent of our uchikomi. Every adult practice will begin by doing 100 uchikomi of a throw in common, and then each person will do another 100 uchikomi of the throw of his or her choice. This way, we will continue to build basic instruction while giving everyone space to develop independent study.

Here is the first of five videos now available on Youtube:

I’m convinced that we have everything we need at SSJ Judo to develop truly great judo; we have a world-class mat, we have the technical knowledge, we have talent. All that’s needed is time and effort.

What a terrific lesson: to see that we have right here everything we need to be world-class. All we have to do is do it!

Pros: Excellent content and useability for both competition training and general instruction. Extremely high production values.
Cons: Some touches are over-produced. The second highlight montage is annoying.
Score: Ippon! Definitely a useful addition to any judoka’s video library.

Nicholas Gill’s DVD of the same name is an impressive collection of his best moments in competition. It is also a well-produced instructional video that could be very useful as a teaching aid for a wide array of techniques. For those who have not watched Mr. Gill closely in action before, you will be impressed both with his very physical, dynamic judo, and his excellent demonstrations of nage- and ne-waza.

The video is organized into chapters, with each chapter covering a specific throw. The DVD allows you to watch each chapter individually, or you can select “Complete” to play them all together. Each chapter opens with a competition highlight that is run several times, including slow motion, so you get a good look at what happens. The production values on the video are professional, although occasionally overdone; while watching the DVD with my son, he suddenly asked why the comp clips all looked so old. They have been computer modified to replicate the look of scratchy, reel-to-reel film in a mild way. Despite this bit of overproduction, the competition video content is all first-rate.

Following the competition film in each chapter, Mr.Gill then demonstrates he specific technique while a narrator describes the fine points in great detail. This is where the technical quality of Mr. Gill’s judo becomes apparent, and the instructional use really comes through. In each demonstration, Mr. Gill exhibits excellent control and skill, and his judo will appeal particularly to those who enjoy physical, power judo. The great use of multiple camera angles showcases multiple elements of each technique, and the explanatory narration is very detailed, clear, and well written, although the pronunciation and delivery is sometimes stilted. Liberal use of editing makes the instruction clear, such as highlighting specific sections of the screen, using arrows to show directional movement, and tight close-ups to showcase key nuances.

In addition to excellent expositions of well known classics like o uchi gari, o soto gari, and uchi mata, Gill also demonstrates very practical applications of more unusual throws, such as kuchiki taoshi and uki otoshi. I was particularly interested in seeing how this last throw was different from kata guruma.

I do have two technical quibbles. The first is with the chapter on ko soto gake; I would call the throw Mr. Gill demonstrates a variation of left-handed sasae tsuri komi ashi, as he clearly reaches with his left foot across uke’s body to block the far right ankle and pull uke forward. With a left-handed ko soto gake, you would use the right leg to hook uke’s near left knee, and drive him backwards. Still, it’s a very good sasae, and I look forward to trying it.

The other technical quibble is with the chapter on Mr. Gill’s second variation on o soto gari. The competition clip clearly shows a fantastic o soto guruma, but the instructional section deals with a ken-ken o soto. Again, this is a small quibble, and the o soto application Mr. Gill demonstrates is very impressive.

There is also a chapter on Mr. Gill’s application of sankaku jime, and provides as good an exposition as I have seen on this very popular attack. He shows two different ways of executing the turn, and how each one can finish in shime-, kansetsu-, or osaekomi-waza.

Finally, the video includes three music montage highlight films. Each one is produced differently, with different music and pacing. I like the number one the best, as it contained many of the same footage as in the main chapters, but it was well put together and fun to watch. Again, I was stuck by Gill’s very physical style of play, and this video let me see the action clearly. Number two was annoying. It had a few new shots, but it was mostly the same material, and seemed to be an amateur videographer’s first project trying to use sound effects and editing. Number three was better; it had some additional footage, and was much more like a music video than a highlight film, with lots of very quick cuts matching the music. This was more fun to watch, but it was too fast to get more than an impression of the action.

Overall, this is a very good video of a fine competitor whose physical, powerful, style earned him international honors, and I highly recommend it.

I hope you have had a wonderful holiday! We did, and are very rested and ready to get back into the dojo! We have a very full year ahead, and I look forward to working with you to make it a great year of Judo!

January Fees Due
Please help us pay the bills on time!

Developing your goals and a plan for the year
In order to help people plan training schedules, track progress, and set goals, I am working on a training template, but in the meantime, I would like to confer with each one of you over the next couple of weeks to determine what your goals are for the coming year.

Please think about what you would like to accomplish; consider a range of terms, such as technical development, fitness, competition, or promotion, to name a few.

If we have not yet filmed you attempting the nage waza you need/want to develop, please let me know and we will schedule that. Remember to bring a flash drive and you can have a copy of your video recording for your own records.

Competition Schedule
Here are the competitions I have marked for all interested and eligible members to attend.

Shufu Open* 2/3/2008, College Park, MD
Shufu Open Registration Form
Virginia Open 2/16/2008, Arlington, VA
VA Open Registration Form
waiver-virginiaopen.pdf

Ocean State International 3/1/2008, Providence, RI
Beltsville Open* 3/15/2008, Beltsville, MD

USA Judo Sr Nationals 4/12-13/2008, Virginia Beach, VA
Shufu Spring Promotionals* 4/26-27/2008, College Park, MD

Am Can Judo Challenge 5/24-5/2008, Amherst, NY

Shufu Jr. and Youth Open* 6/7/2008, College Park, MD
USJA Jr. Nationals 6/28-9/2008, Boston, MA

USJF Jr. Nationals 7/5-6/2008, Tinley Par, IL
USA Judo Jr. Open 7/19-20/2008, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
USA Judo Jr. Olympics 7/26-7/2008, Orlando, FL

Shufu Eastern Open 8/30/2008, Beltsville, MD

Ken Tamai Memorial* 10/25/2008, Beltsville, MD

Fall Promotionals* 11/8-9/2008, Beltsville, MD

There are two events per month from February to April. Competitions particularly suited to beginners are marked with an asterisk (*). I will provide more information as we get closer to each event, but feel free to ask questions at any time.

General info on competition costs and training may be found in the SSJJ Handbook, which you can access online.

New Program! Judo Sprouts!
Beginning in January, SSJ Judo is proud to announce the beginning of a new program, specifically geared to 4-6 year olds: JUDO SPROUTS! This is a weekly event held on Saturday mornings from 10:00 to 11:00, and focuses on games and fun to develop fitness and coordination, while introducing younger kids to basic judo skills and culture. Costs:
• $50 per month for Judo Sprouts only.
• Full junior members of the appropriate age may attend for no extra charge.

Do you need a new Gi?
Several people do, so we will be placing an order for new gi’s next week. Please let me know this week if you would like to participate. An order form for Bear Brand Uniforms can be found on the document tab. If you would like to order another brand, let me know. For price information on Mizuno and Fuji, go to www.hatashita.com.

2nd Annual Anniversary Party!
SSJ Judo will be two years old on February 14th! Please mark your calendars for our 2nd Annual SSJJ Anniversary Potluck Party on Saturday, February 23rd. Location and time to be announced.