Yawara Jûdô Association Student Manual Update

I have been working on updating the Yawara Jûdô Association Student Manual for about a year now, off and on. I have been working on a few things here and there but decided that I’d start doing major editing at the Dôjô section.

It’s been said that a picture is worth a thousand words, though I don’t know by whom. In jûdô, the Dôjô, or training place, has very specific locations. While I could say wheat those locations are and describe the locations, it is far easier to develop a graphic and show the student who is curious or needs to know it for advancement.

You may notice that the locations are in Japanese and are somewhat similar, i.e. two words end in –za and two other words end in –seki. The predicate –za is indicative of a seat and is used in other places, such as seiza (sitting on knees) or anza (sitting cross-legged). The predicate –seki indicates a place, well that’s the best definition I’m finding.

So, let’s talk about the various locations in the dôjô. The most obvious area in a well-furnished dôjô should be the “kamiza” (上座、かみざ). This seat is the side of the dôjô where the picture of O-sensei Jigoro Kano is hung on the wall. Kamiza means superior seat and is where the head instructor and any guest would sit or stand during the class and at the opening and closing of the class.

Opposite the kamiza is the “shimoza” (下座、しもざ), which means inferior seat. This is the side where the students, typically the “mudansha” or non-black belts sit. The students are arranged from most senior grade to least senior grade, with the highest on the instructor’s left side when the instructor has his back to the kamiza. In some dôjô there are a lot of students and so the line up on the shimoza can have more than one row. In that case the pattern remains the same with the highest grade on the instructor’s left expanding to the instructor’s right until there is no more room, then the students line up behind the first line and repeat from highest to lowest.

To the left of the kamiza is the “jôseki” (上席、じょうせき), the superior place. This side is where the yudansha, black belt holders, sit during the line up time. These black belts, and occasionally the high kyu if there are no other black belts, sit ranked from highest to lowest with the highest being the closest to the kamiza.

The final side of the dôjô is the “shimoseki” (下関、しもぜき), the inferior place, which I had never known before and discovered thanks to “JoseVerson?” on the JudoForum. This is the place where, should there be too many mudansha sitting in the shimoza, they would then expand around the shimozeki, where, presumably the lowest grade would be closest to the kamiza.

It has been a few years since the New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, NM has had a judo program. As of the 17th of September 2009, that is no longer the case! Brigadier General Richard Geraci made the decision to allow me to teach Judo as a club activity this year. I want to thank General Geraci for this great opportunity and look forward to his continued support!


On to the judo!*


The 17th of September was an overcast day, which makes no difference for judo since we practice inside! After the mat was unrolled, we started with falling. Falling is always a good way to start a class, especially with new students. Starting with back falls we rapidly progressed from squatting to standing and showed our mettle as we ranged through the side and front falls. Only one didn’t do the front falls, but that was due to a shoulder injury.

On we worked! Onto the fundamental hip throw, O Goshi. Old and new cadets alike worked hard to develop the skills necessary to successfully perform this throw. Our first drill was simply learning to turn inside the feet of our partner. Using our shoes to simulate the placement of uke’s feet, we practiced for a time just turning into uke. After a while, we finally were able to develop enough skill to start learning to use our arms, but now we needed a real-live person! Shoes would no longer do for us! So we matched up by size and proceeded to work on O goshi.

The pairing worked well, but for one pair. Of course, when one partner is over six feet tall and the other around five foot nine, it is a little difficult for the taller to work. But prevail they did and soon bodies were flying about! Ukemi, loud in the basketball court, was being done smoothly and with crisp slaps, ensuring the safety of all.

Shortly before we left, Sensei allowed questions to be asked. Today’s question was about the difference between Jujitsu and Judo. Though sensei rambles when he explains things, the explanation was thorough and touched on several key points. The first of these points was which “Jujitsu” were we asking about? Were we thinking of the “roll on the ground fighting for submission” jujitsu or the older samurai jujitsu? Both types of jujitsu were explained in some detail and compared and contrasted with judo as Dr. Kano developed and the current evolved sport version of judo that we see at tournaments.

The next class will be on Tuesday, the 22nd, and I expect that all six, perhaps more, of Thursday’s class will return.
*Readers take note: I will speak not as the instructor but from a fictional student point-of-view when I talk about classes, sometimes. I think it makes the reading more interesting. Let me know!

Over the past week I have sought information regarding the United States Judo Association's certifications and associated procedures. I have asked questions and cited references for my questions and yet no one bothered to look at the references, or, if they did, didn't bother to state that there existed a conflict between the reference and "the way it is."

I've developed a fair amount of respect for many of the people on the JudoForum and believed that the answers I sought could be found. Unfortunately I was proven incorrect in my assumption that educated members of this forum or senior people in USJA would be willing to have a concept of research or references.

It is frustrating to me how one could be provided with a reference and not at least look at that reference and say its full of malarkey or say, I didn't realize that was there, or some other such.

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A word on my situation.

I don't like bureaucracy. I understand its reason and how it works. I don't like it, but I can work within its confines.

In working within the confines of a bureaucracy, one must look at the procedures and structures of that bureaucracy to see how one can advance within such if one has that desire.

The United States Judo Association, the NGB I like, has two student manuals, one for senior and one for juniors. The senior manual, which is where I seek how to advance, references the various ways and means of points. If such means are no longer acceptable, the USJA should post such documentation. Manuals which are of later dates than the forms available on the website should be more up to date. Yet this is not so.

I recently sought information on how to become coaching certified which was answered.

I then sought information on Rank Examiner certification which was not answered and instead evolved into an argument stating that as a shodan I was ineligible. I was informed that one must be a Yodan to be a Senior Rank Examiner. The USJA Senior Manual references four classes of rank examiner of which Senior Rank Examiner was the second level. There existed a lower level according to the USJA Senior Manual. I sought this information, quoted chapter and verse and received nothing but bitterness.

Later I sent an e-mail for clarification on coaching certification and received bitterness which I believe was based on the Rank Examiner thread. I don't appreciate such.

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Regarding Titles, Certifications, and Points

If an organization plans to use titles, certifications, and points for advancement and require titles or certifications and points in order to advance, how can that organization actively discourage people who seek out information that will lead them to developing their own personal path?

I'm not sure JI does such a thing. I don't know that JF does such a thing. I don't care. I belong to JI until the membership dues fall off. I've never and probably will never belong to JF.

Yet I have been actively discouraged in JA. It has been by one member and I don't believe that member was acting out of malice, yet the actions make me wonder why I should even engage in JA/JI/JF?

I came up in judo from the outside. I can go back to it.

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"Rogue" Judo

Where is the law which states that judo can only be practiced by members of JA/JF/JI?

If I cease to belong to any of these NGB's will they come to my door and take away all my judo knowledge?

No, no one can take away knowledge.

Will they put me on the "don't learn judo from this guy because he's not a JA/JF/JI member" list?

They might, but they'd best have darn good reason, like convictions lest they be liable for libel.


They won't let me participate at their clubs or their tournaments or clinics. But that just makes them a closed to me affair. It makes them similar to other pay-to-play organizations.

This does not prohibit me from learning judo. This does not prohibit me from studying technique or developing my abilities. It only shuts me off from their particular spigot of knowledge, officially.

They won't promote me. Big deal, I can call myself whatever rank I chose and do what ever I chose. They don't have a sufficiency of control over judo in the United States to make it illegal to teach judo if I'm not a card-carrying member of the club.

Many have said that it doesn't matter what one calls oneself if one can back up the claim. I can.

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Right now, though, I'm just miffed at the lack of ability of professional educators to see that some people seek information to better learn how to make the system work and how to help themselves develop into the most qualified individuals possible.

There is no one out there who can tell me, "You will never be <whatever>."

I refuse to accept that.

For as long as I can remember, judo has been around me. My dad picked up judo as a young teenager, probably around 14 years old. From then until this morning when he went to his match with Kano, he spent 50 years in judo.

It was so much a part of his being that I can hardly separate him and judo. His love of judo was such that it was no longer an external thing that he did, it was him.

I don't know that he ever won major awards or competed internationally, but I don't think that matters. He spent a huge amount of his life bringing judo to people who otherwise would never have known this gentle path and helping them to become better people. He strove to make jita kyoei a reality to everyone he met. He truly believed that through treating everyone with great respect they would, if only for those few instances, become greater than they had been.

I don't remember a lot about growing up before we moved to Las Cruces. I do remember that he stopped working for Radio Shack because it was too hard on me as a little boy. He went back to teaching at a very rural high school in Anthony, NM (which sits right on the New Mexico/Texas border) and started a judo club there. The judo club ran the entire 10 years he was there. Many of these students were immigrants or children of immigrants (legal and otherwise), but where they were from never really crossed his mind. Just where they could go and how he could help them get there. Through those years at Gadsden he held judo clinics at least once or twice a year, many times have around 100 people from all over show up. These were some of the happiest times for him and for many of those students.

The last time I saw him, he was smiling and trying to be happy. He was probably one of the best men I have ever known. Probably the best I will ever know. Judo will be just a little bit less without him here but all the brighter because he showed up and showed how.


We'll see you next time, Dad

I recently posted five videos on YouTube.

I would like some critiques on them.

Well, I ordered four new books for my personal library.

Judo Formal Techniques: A Complete Guide to Kodokan Randori No Kata
The Secrets of Judo: A Text for Instructors and Students
The Complete Seven Katas of Judo
Judo: History, Theory, Practice

I've heard wonderful things about these and am hoping that I can dig things out of them!

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As for my kata guruma, well, I have received the critique, unfortunately I have not had any time to apply the corrections suggested. Perhaps on Wednesday.

I finally got video of my attempts to learn how to do kata guruma right. I'm not real keen on it just yet. I can get uke up and over like nothing, but uke gets no opportunity to do ukemi. Its bugging me. But my back doesn't hurt.

Saturday, a crisp clear morning in Roswell, NM. The temperature low, for Roswell. The wind not yet blowing. A calm before the storm. Today would be the first promotional for five of our students. Ranging in age from 7 to 13, today would be a testament to their willingness to stick to something for an entire semester.

My morning, however, started out with a quick romp through town to get everything I would need to ensure that everything was in proper order. Certificate paper for recognitions, juice for the after-promotional cake, and to print those recognitions because my printer likes to misprint. Wal-Mart, the always open, carried the juice, but not the certificate paper. Target did not carry the certificate paper either. I had to wait for the local Office Max (or Depot or whatever, I never can remember which) to open to pick up certificate paper.

With certificate paper in hand, I dash to my parents' house to use their printer to print off the certificates. My phone rings, its my senior student! She asks, "Where are you?" I tell her and explain that I am running late. She says she will get things taken care of and she does!

Finally things are done and I dash away to the Yucca Recreation Center which is swamped with people for the basketball games. My students are warming up under the watchful eye of my senior student. Things are going well! I get things set up (the video camera, the paperwork, the table, the chair I need).

Finally, the ten o'clock hour is upon us. Time to start!

First the ukemi, but I forget to tell them I want to see their shoulder rolls.

Next the techniques from those going for their first yellow belt. Because I have an odd number testing for yellow I have my senior student, who is testing for her second green belt, work with the oldest. They do their five nage waza (De ashi harai, O goshi, Tai otoshi, Ippon Seoinage, Ko soto gari) and their two osaekomi waza (kesa gatame and kata gatame). Then they go back to their spots.

It is my senior student's turn under examination. She comes up and demonstrates the three new techniques she has learned (Koshi guruma, Okuri ashi harai, and Tsuri komi goshi). Because she must demonstrate choking techniques and there are no others at a level or age to learn chokes, I must be uke for her three chokes (Hadaka jime, Okuri eri jime, and Kata ha jime). She finishes and remains.

The time has come for the examination of character. Short story shorter, they passed.

They all passed their promotionals and were awarded their next kyu-grade. Applause sounded at the announcement of each name.

Here they all are sporting their new belts.




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In other news I got published! In the USJA Growing Judo.