Judo Heart & Soul

Author: Hayward Nishioka
Pub: 2000 by Ohara Publications
Pages: 255
Ranking:
In Print

This book was personally hard for me to rate. It's absolutely superb in one sense, and yet the book describes Judo in a way that I find too restrictive. If you are a competitor, this book is absolutely superb, and a must read. If, on the other hand, you practice a wider Judo that is not competition oriented, this book will seem too narrowly focused.

If you are no longer competing, this book will not be useful to you ... unless you are teaching young Judoka who do compete - in which case this is a must have book.

Containing no techniques at all, this book is entirely on the mental aspects, and strategy of competition.

                        Contents
 
 CHAPTER 1
 PREPARATORY
  1.1   Judo, The Multifaceted Sport .............. 15
  1.2   Daydreams ................................. 16
  1.3   See It As It Is ........................... 19
  1.4   Getting In Shape .......................... 20
  1.5   To Champion or Not To Champion ............ 23
  1.6   "Gambare!" ................................ 24
  1.7   It's Who You Hang With .................... 26
  1.8   Inspiration ............................... 28
  1.9   "Isho Kemei" .............................. 31
  1.10  A Famous Saying ........................... 32
  1.11  Toughness and Skillfulness ................ 34
  1.12  Making Your Practice Count ................ 37
  1.13  "Tabi" .................................... 41
  1.14  Repetition ................................ 42
  1.15  Randori and Shiai ......................... 44
  1.16  Have You Worked Out? ...................... 47
  1.1?  "Su-ram-pu" ............................... 48
  1.18  Dojo Hopping .............................. 51
  1.19  Mental training For Speed ................. 52
  1.20  Sleep ..................................... 54
  1.21  Carbo-Loading ............................. 57
  1.22  "Fartlek" ................................. 58
  1.23  Injury Excuses ............................ 61
  1.24  Superstitions ............................. 62
  1.25  Mapping Out Your Contests ................. 65
  1.26  Fault-Finding ............................. 66
  1 27  Prepping .................................. 69
  1.28  Shotgun Versus Specialty .................. 70
  1.29  "Koketsu Ni Irazunba, Koji Oh Ezu" ........ 73
  1.30  Critical Moments .......................... 74
 
 CHAPTER 2
 TECHNICAL
 
  2.1   Questions ................................. 79
  2.2   "Semeru' .................................. 80
  2.3   First Levels of Throws .................... 83
  2.4   Second-Level Throwing Techniques .......... 84
  2.5   Higher Levels of Throws ................... 87
  2.6   Tokui Waza (Favorite Technique) ........... 88
  2.7   Losing the Self ........................... 91
  2.8   The Ultimate Throw, ....................... 92
  2.9   When Do I Attack? ......................... 95
  2.10  The Grooming of a Tokui Waza .............. 96
  2.11  I Can See Clearly Now ..................... 99
  2.12  "Koshi Ga Suwatte Iru" ................... 100
  2.13  Perfect .................................. 103
  2.14  Second Effort ............................ 105
  2.15  Death and Life ........................... 106
  2.16  "Omoikitte" .............................. 109
  2.17  Changing Judo ............................ 110
  2.18  Inventiveness ............................ 113
  2.19  Koka Judo ................................ 114
  2.20  Endorphins ............................... 117
  2.21  Belief ................................... 118
  2.22  10 Things for Staying Ahead of the Game .. 121
 
 CHAPTER 3
 STRATEGIC 
 
  3.1   Strategy ................................. 144
  3.2   Increasine Your Chances .................. 147
  3.3   Making Yourself at Home .................. 148
  3.4   How You Look is How You Feel ............. 151
  3.5   Mental Inventory ......................... 152
  3.6   The Advantage Goes to the Champion ....... 155
  3.7   One Battle at a Time ..................... 156
  3.8   Losing is Like Dying ..................... 159
  3.9   Nervous? ................................. 160
  3.10  Fear ..................................... 163
  3.11  Cutting Your Losses ...................... 164
  3.12  Weaker Opponents ......................... 167
  3.13  Tough Opponents .......................... 168
  3.14  Big Man, Little Man ...................... 170
  3.15  Grip Fighting ............................ 173
  3.16  Place Your Bets .......................... 174
  3.17  Nigate.................................... 177
  3.18  Uneasy.................................... 178
  3.19  Staying Ahead ............................ 180
  3.20  Altering the pace ........................ 182
  3.21  Being Prepared ........................... 185
  3.22  "Giri Giri No Kimochi" ................... 186
  3.23  "Sen No Sen" ............................. 189
  3.24  Mat Work ................................. 190
  3.25  Left-Handers ............................. 193
  3.26  Kids Cutting Weight ...................... 194
  3.27  Some Advice for Physical Ailments ........ 197
  3.28  Video Playback ........................... 198
  3.29  Tapering ................................. 201
  
  CHAPTER 4 
  AFTERMATH 
 
  4.1   Look Up, Look Down ....................... 204
  4.2   Small Judo, Big Judo ..................... 207
  4.3   "Anoshito Wa Ningen Ga Dekiteiru" ........ 208
  4.4   Worth .................................... 211
  4.5   Are You Tough? ........................... 212
  4.6   It's Fate? ............................... 215
  4.7   "Shikata Ga Nai" ......................... 216
  4.8   After the Fact, Walter Mitty ............. 219
  4.9   Who Kill Win? ............................ 220
  4.10  'Nebarizuoi" ............................. 223
  4.11  Return Trip .............................. 224
  4.12  Deja Vu .................................. 227
  4.13  Making a Mountain Out of a Molehill ...... 228
  4.14  Taking Criticism ......................... 231
  4.15  Spent ...........,........................ 232
  4.16  Magic Judo Gi ............................ 235
  4.17  One of the Boys (Girls) .................. 236
  4.18  Turning Point ............................ 239
  4.19  Drugs,.................................... 240
  4.20  Judo: The Physics of Drug Prevention ..... 243
  4.21  Judo Politics ............................ 244
  4.22  Referees I Have Known .................... 247
  4.23  Coaches .................................. 248
  4.24  It's Part of the Process; You Never Lose . 251
  4.25  I Am an American ......................... 252
  4.26  Simplify ................................. 254

PREFACE

As I reflect on my experiences in a sport that has so altered my life, I can't help but feel some embarrassment and sadness at the thought that this is an exercise in vanity justification. Some time from now, these words will be forgotten, Do you want to suppose that someone will even remember your book tomorrow?

Still, I must try. There may be someone out there who may find some solace in common thoughts and experiences. The one thing judoka (judo practitioners) have been negligent in is celebrating through words the unique and intoxicating experiences obtained through judo training. Hopefully, this book will do a little of that, as well as provide guideposts to direct your path.

We are each special entities whose very existence is no less than awe-inspiring. First of all, in all the universe we can only contemplate that there may be another planet that holds the promises of life as we know it here on Earth.

Imagine there are between twelve to 200 million sperm in one ejaculation. The average couple performs intercourse an average of three times per week. At the low end, that's 144 million sperm a month searching for existence. To complicate matters, each woman provides only one egg per month. You were the chance result of the union of that one egg and the chosen sperm. You get to live out of your domain and to be the best in your selected endeavor. Now, that's a miracle! Good luck on your journey. May you find these bits of information entertaining as well as informative.

This book has been divided into the following sections: Preparatory, Technical, Strategic and Aftermath. They are self-explanatory. The vignettes in this book are not there to provide answers to your questions. In fact, you may not even find answers to your questions in this book. The purpose of these stories is to spark intuitive thought and discussion.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A member of the Black Belt Hall of Fame (1968, Judo Competitor of the Year and 1977, Judo Instructor of the Year), Hayward Nishioka is not only one of America's premier judo-ka but is also a black belt in karate.

Born in Los Angeles in 1942 of Japanese-American parentage, he began his career in the martial arts at the age of 12 when his father, a judo black belt, dressed him in an impromptu gi consisting of an old army jacket and put him through the paces on a hardwood floor.

Soon afterward that same year (1954), Nishioka began training in judo under Ryusei Inouye at Sen Shin Dojo in East Los Angeles, and in 1955 began training in karate under Tsutomu Ohshima. He received his first-degree black belt in judo in 1957 at age 15 from the U.S. Judo Federation while he was still training under Inouye. From 1959 to 1960, Nishioka studied judo with Kenneth Kuniyuki at Seinan Dojo in southwest Los Angeles.

After graduating from Los Angeles Roosevelt High School in 1960 he traveled to Japan to further his study of both judo and karate. He spent 12 months at Tenri University in Nara studying under Yasuichi Matsumoto, who was the champion of the first-ever All-Japan Judo Championships and one of the art's most respected instructors. From Nara, he moved to Tokyo, where he enrolled as a special student at the Kodokan, the noted headquarters of Japanese judo. While at the Kodokan, he was honored along with James Bregman, another noted judoka, as being the first foreigners to demonstrate the nage-no-kata at the 1961 All-Japan Judo Championships. Also while at the Kodokan, he studied shotokan karate under Shigeru Egami, the direct disciple of Gichin Funakoshi.

Nishioka returned to the United States in 1963. Progressing rapidly in the martial arts, it wasn't long before he began to accumulate an impressive list of accomplishments as a judo and karate competitor. As a judo competitor, he won the coveted Pan-American Games gold medal in 1967; he won the United States AAU National Grand Championship in 1965 and the National Champion-ships in 1965, 1966 and 1970; he placed fourth in the 1967 World Judo Championships; and he has been National Masters Champion in the 189-pound division many times. Twice overall champion in kata 1978, 79 with teammate Jim Yamashita and member of four United States International teams.

As a karate competitor, he won the 1965 Nisei Week Karate Championships. As of the 2000s, Nishioka is a 7th-degree black belt in judo and a shodan (first-degree black belt) in karate. (Nishioka has twice been inducted into the Black Belt Hall of Fame: as the first Judo Competitor of the Year in 1968; and as Judo Instructor of the Year in 1978.)

In 1968, he acquired an associate's degree from Los Angeles City College. He later acquired a bachelor's degree (1972) and master's degree (1974) in physical education, and a master's degree (1975) in administrative education from California State College, Los Angeles. Soon afterward (1975), he became an assistant professor of physical education at Los Angeles City College, where he has instituted one of the more extensive martial arts programs in the United States. He became a full professor of physical education in 1980, and as of 2000 still continues to teach there.

Nishioka has done much to promote the growth of judo. He is the founder and first president of the Southern California Collegiate Judo Conference (1977-1980). He has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Southern California Judo Association (NANKA) since 1968, a life member of the United States Judo Association (1978), the United States Judo Federation (1977) and United States Judo Inc. (the national governing body of judo in the United States) in 1984. He was the president of California Judo Inc. (1980-1983) and an athletes' representative to United States Judo Inc. (1980-1984). Nishioka has served on several committees for U.S. Judo Inc. and the U.S. Judo Federation. He has also been a class "A" national coach since 1980 and a class "A" International Judo Federation referee since 1991. In 1978, the National Collegiate Judo Association voted him Coach of the Year. Nishioka was technical advisor at the 1996 summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.

Drawing from his considerable knowledge of all aspects of the martial arts, he has written several articles on the subject for Black Belt and Karate/Kung Fu Illustrated magazines as well as the book The Judo Textbook, and Foot Throws pub- lished by Ohara Publications, Inc. He has also conducted many forums, clinics and training sessions. He also produced and directed over 50 Judo videos and is a member of S.A.G. (Screen Actors Guild)

All his achievements and successes in the martial arts notwithstanding, Nishioka's most important and proudest accomplishment of all is his three wonderful children: Faith, Alicia and Eric.

Judo... Judo. Any writing on my father should begin and end with this word. The space between which would contain forty-four years, and not one day passed between them which were empty of thoughts of judo. What follows this page are some of the many observations my father has made and taken away from judo, but what goes unsaid is a small collection of his personal memories which I will now try and briefly unpack. They begin, as all judoka know, with a picture of Kano sitting, watching his idea move alive. We thank him more in our uki goshi than we ever did with a bow. Next, the smell of a dojo; Cornhusks? No, better. There in no other like it. The faded green ribbon of a medal from the Pan American Games, stubbed toes from old canvas mats, the heater and makeshift shower room with its tilted floor at Seinan dojo, trophies-actual. metal ones-with small figurines frozen in seionage-uchimata-osoto-gari, two piles: one of zoris and one of gis heaped on a judoka for warmth during a particularly cold winter, and finally a snapshot of Ushijima, "calves thick as thighs, small, balding and tough as nails."

Prior to judo, which unfolds to me through photographs and pieced together stories, is my father growing up in East Los Angeles in the late 1940s. He stares out from these photographs-impossibly young. For awhile, my grandmother was the sole support for a family of three. When she finally remarried, she unknowingly found a life and love for her son also, for she had married a judoka. My grandfather is where my father really starts and it is important that his name, Dan Oka, should help begin this book, simply because his understanding of a twelve-year-old boy's need for something of his own, inspired the love which wrote it. I cannot over emphasize the impact my grandfather has had on my father's life. He took him to his first tournament. It was a long time ago, far enough back that instead of medals, winners left with sake, shoyu and hundred pound sacks of rice. It was here, at Nishi Hongangi Temple that my father first really saw judo. He watched wide-eyed as they cleared the mat for the black belts who entered and filed down the center aisle to take their seats mat-side. For at least one young boy they were giants, and the temple-over-filled-pressed to contain the force of their size. My father could not forget what he could not express until at home, on a wooden floor, in old army jackets, my grandfather, threw him over and over again, My father, continually bruising his heels loved every moment, loved his father, loved judo.

Once I saw my father doing a spinning uchimata. I had never seen one before. No one else was watching, but I knew that if all of his work had converged at that point, unnoticed, under dingy lighting, he was still able to make a promise-small, delicate, terribly important-of joy. That throw, father, it sings for me still. Judo.

Alicia Nishioka