I reckon the new rules make it harder for the countrys that are better wrestlers.... means judokas have to be judokas to succeed
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France's 21-year-old judo phenomenon Teddy Riner is busy rewriting his sport's record books and aiming this week to become the first man to win five world titles. Already a three-times world champion, the massive Frenchman, who stands 208 cm tall and weighs a hefty 128kg, could claim two more titles at the Sept. 9-13 world championships in Tokyo. The gentle colossus from the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe will compete on Thursday in the over 100 kg category and on Monday, he will try his luck in the "open" division, which is for athletes from any weight class. Only four men have won four titles, Japan's Naoya Ogawa, Shozo Fujii and Yasuhiro Yamashita and Frenchman David Douillet. "My first goal is to win a new title in the over 100 kg category, which will allow me to emulate four prestigious athletes," Riner told Reuters in an interview. "My second goal is to win a second title, in the open division, which would make me the first man with five world titles. To make that challenge come real in the land of (judo founder) Jigoro Kano, our master, would be an honour." Kano, who created this martial art in 1882 and whose photograph adorns every judo hall in France, where the sport is extremely popular, is dear to Riner's heart. "He's our spiritual father, our guide, he inspires us and gives us a boost," Riner said of Kano, whose philosophy was based on respect and fairness. Kano meant his sport, whose principle is to use the opponent's strength to defeat him rather than sheer force, to be a peaceful discipline, as opposed to other martial arts whose original purpose was to kill. "Every day, I salute his picture," Riner said. "Sometimes, I talk to him and ask him for advice." METEORIC RISE A stylist as much as an athlete, Riner said his approach to judo owned plenty to the Japanese masters. "When I was a kid, I watched lots of fights from Japanese heavyweights and I was inspired by them. I think my judo is pleasant to watch, clean, in the Japanese way. The rest is power, strength, the Guadeloupe side of me." The only blot on Rider's meteoric rise to the top of his sport came in 2008 at the Beijing Olympics. The favourite to win gold, he had to be content with the bronze medal. "Since that day I understood that I absolutely needed to give it my very best and should not leave anything to chance, so I worked very hard to tighten a few bolts here and there, to make sure I would not be caught off guard anymore," he said. Already one of France's most popular personalities, the discreet but cheerful Riner said his rise was far from over. "My chance is that I take a lot of pleasure from continuing to grow and to assert my power. I'm the world champion but I still respect everybody and I don't forget that anybody might beat me." France's top all-time judoka, however, is not Riner but the now retired Douillet, for one simple reason. "He was an Olympic champion in 1996 and 2000 and I'm not an Olympic champion," Riner said. "It would be a lack of respect for me to compare myself to him." http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/06092010/2/judo-french-phenomenon-riner-eyes-record-feat.html
Consider that judo has been alive in the United States for a very long time. Will BJJ stay flourishing? Does BJJ have the model to successfully grow for decade after decade? I hope so. I wish BJJ well. But, I don't wish for judo to simply adopt BJJ's business model, and move along its merry way. Judo has issues with identity, purpose, and practice, not with marketing and franchise building. One thing judo must do is adapt; but, before it can do so, it has to come to terms with what it is about, and how it is practiced. It is fracturing over these ideas which are at the center of judo's woes; not how 'popular' it is. Jimmy Pedro, Joshua Resnick, and many other forum posters are all trying out their ideas and experiments. Their attempts will inform the next generation of judoka's. You must understand that judo is not just a sport, or a martial art, or a budo. It is a culture, and in America it is a culture of cultures. You have many different groups of people within judo, and many different ideas about what judo is about and how it should be conducted. It is over these things which judo stagnates, not how 'cool' it is, or how many dojos are on your block. And don't think of this is just happening here. It is happening all over the world. Judo is in the process of assessing itself. Unlike BJJ, judo is not free to expand beyond the legacy of Kano. What judo will be like in the future, I cannot say, but if it doesn't contain certain elements, it will not be judo. BJJ doesn't have that restriction. In fact, you don't even have to call it BJJ. You can call it grappling, you can call it freestyle, you can call it Mission Control, you can call it submission wrestling, you can call it many things. But, you cannot call anything judo. Judo is based on certain principles that are not meant to be changed. It is based on a certain idea, an outlook. What we are in the process of doing is rediscovering, re-debating, relearning what that is. This is nothing new. It's the history of judo. We will find a way to make judo work in the 21st century. Perhaps it will be neo-ultra-traditional. Perhaps we will be in spandex body suits. I have no idea. But whatever it has, it will not be judo without seiryoku zenyo being the basis of physical practice, and jita kyoei being the basis of conduct and personal growth. It will not be judo without rei. It will not be judo without tachiwaza and newaza randori.
judoratt It is much easier to get results in womens judo than mens divisions. It takes much less resorces to medal internationaly in womens than men's divisions. Will this raise some eyebrows? stacey if you think that's true, change your and show us how easy it is. judoratt I was waiting for you to chime in. I belive it is nothing more than a number thing. I belive that the judo population is probably 70% or more male world wide, so there are almost 3 males to every female. If this is so I would say that the talent pool in the male divisions are significantly deeper and take much more effort to get a athlete to the top than the female divisions. Again this is just my opinion, my best athlete results have been with Female athletes that have worked as hard as any males I have known. As far as changes stacy you may want to change my at this point. But I would love to discuss the issue and would never claim that I am always right. stacey arguably, the social and family pressures keeping women out of sports far outweigh those prompting men to get in sport. So, for a woman to actually be in sport, let alone a contact sport such as judo, means that only the most mentally fit actually make their way into judo. In other words, if you imagine the pool of prospective judoka to be equal male to female, and then you add in social mores and pressures, you are naturally going to have a lot more men in sport than women. Further, the women in judo will be far tougher (emotionally at least, and probably physically since most of our male training partners are far bigger than we tend to be) than their male counterparts. Men have to rise from the male judo playing population, women have to rise first from the entire female population to embrace a way of life that's antithetical to most of what we're taught women really should be. Just my opinion.
