The Importance of Shiai for Judoka…

The training of combat skills always has one major flaw - they can’t be practiced for ‘real’.  You can’t arrange a mugging to test your skills learned in the dojo - nor is there any easy way to emulate the adrenaline rush and fear of a truly random personal attack.

The best way to see if your Judo has gotten better is to simply walk down a dark alley in New York City with $20 bills hanging out of your back pocket (to paraphrase an old Cosby monologue on Karate).  Unfortunately, such attempts may very well cost your life, and therefore should be reserved for Hollywood movies.

But there is a form of Judo training that comes close to providing this adrenaline rush and fear that an unprovoked attack can give you - and that is Judo’s shiai.  Going to a tournament, and facing someone you’ve never practiced with in the dojo, indeed, don’t even know - can be an emotionally wracking experience.  And while it can’t exactly compete with the mugger on a dark alley - it’s as close as we can come and still have perfect safety.

How many Judoka have had the experience of going to a tournament - and having all their training & experience simply fall to pieces??  I well recall when I was much younger - having been promoted to a rank I didn’t feel I deserved… so I promptly began losing tournament after tournament.  Once I’d grown adjusted to my new rank, and began to believe I deserved it, I again started bringing home the trophies…

Your ability at randori isn’t going to necessarily translate into ability at shiai - there are different factors at play - and it’s the closest a Judoka can get to seeing if his skill works in a self-defense situation.  I know several Judoka who’ve started as adults, and are unsure of whether they should go to tournaments or not.  They consider tournaments to be something for young athletes, not for more ‘mature’ Judoka.  But they miss one of the major training advantages of shiai.

Nothing in Judo comes close to actual self-defense situations, but shiai comes the closest… and you need the ability you gain in shiai to have confidence when facing a stranger in a simulated ‘life & death’ situation.  I highly recommend that all Judoka compete in tournaments.

One last thought - don’t be afraid of the really BIG tournaments… they are precisely the ones you want to go to… you’re far more likely to face someone that is exactly your weight and skill level.  Small tournaments often have many matches that are completely unfair…