The Experiment

Homecoming

2010-11-17T19:29:00.000-08:00

It's Happened.

I'm coming home. I havn't really been able to earn enough to survive working part-time here, and can't get anymore hours. Even if I was to get more hours it would seriously cut into my Judo time so it's not going to work!

I'v organised my ticket for the 11th Of December so I can get a last surge of hardcore training in and do my last 3 competitions this month so it all works out pretty well. My plan is basicly to get home work & traing my butt off plus Uni and hopefully have enough ready by semester to come back here for round 2 stint.

My last Shiaii went pretty well, it was the Osaka Open Weight & Age and I managed to get 3rd in my Division (Of 50 players) so that was pretty good. The competitor's were of varying quality, some were rather easy and some were gigantic or brilliant players so it was a real luck of the draw situation. My first fight was easy, and my next 4 were bloody difficult against pretty good players so I really enjoyed that, it was a good opportunity to see what was and wasn't working.

Also I scored a awesome trophy and another 40 point's towards my Nidan( I have managed to get 60 in just a month which is lucky) The trophy is pretty epic so it looks like I won until you ask. So don't ask.

Hugo didn't do bad either, he won his first two fights before being eliminated by a devastating Uchi-Mata (Inner-Thigh Throw) for Ippon.
Bad luck as there is no repecharge, but good job getting there!

Tomorrow Ivica will be coming back to prepare for the OJU & will be coming along to watch Hugo & I fight at the Kiwi International Cup in Saiko ( Or something like that) City Dome.

Conveniently I'll be getting back home just a week before my 21st and Christmass is 5 days after that. I won't be having a 21st party though I'm too broke and would rather just spend my first few weeks back getting my plans sorted out for the next year ecetera!

The two competition's after the Kiwi Cup are both Nidan competition's, for the first one it's a pool style so that will be fun and the second is a Batsugun so that can test my cardio I suppose, providing I don't lose my first or second fight haha.

My students are probably going to be a bit gutted I'm leaving, my company certainly is a bit pissed off, fair enough but if I can't afford to eat and travel to work I can't stick around. One of my kids classes gave me a really cute thank you card for teaching them, its all hand drawn, with pokemon and all the other thing's they like.
On the front it says SANQU!! I think this means thank you, these kids are 4-7 years old so don't expect anybetter! The rest of the card is in Japanese, so it isn't looking that great for me as an English teacer (but come on they are 5-7 ..or 10) years old.

There is even a four leaf clover in there!

In New Zealand by training Schedule is probably going to be Monday :UNI Tuesday : Judokwai Wednesday UNI Judo, Thursday:Judokwai (friday and saturday same pattern)

Hopefully I can get to Western a couple of times each week aswell.

So it's pretty important I get working part time or temping or anything as soon as possible so I can afford to travel around and also pay the fees to both clubs.. I don't think it's that expensive though.

Thats about all.

J

Interested in Training in Japan?

2010-10-30T01:00:00.000-07:00

Some news here,

Anyone who happen's to be interested in Training in Japan, specificly Kyoto; please contact Sensei Rick Littlewood for more details, r.littlewood@xtra.co.nz

Aside from that, everything is the same old... busy month coming for November with 4 Shiaii's so looking forward to kicking some ass and getting on the mat for the competitions.

In the last Month or so I have also become a mater chief cooking up curry, fried rice, donburi and other simple dishes most days which makes life about 60% cheaper and gives me something to do.
Ritsumeikan are at the All Japan Collegiate Games this weekend, hopefully we don't draw Tokai first round...should go quite well.

Ivica has popped back to NZ briefly to Win the nationals and fight at the OJU World Cup then I believe he's coming back, so that should be cool - hopefully he does well there.

Work is going allright, its pretty draining work but I get to train before work with the Riot Police and also train at Ritsumeikan 3 days a week plus Daishin Dojo after work in Osaka so getting in about 9 or 10 Judo sessions a week on top of working.

The main development in Kyoto recently is that it's bloody cold, its gone from the insane 40 degree's to around 10 degree's now which is a bit of a change in lifestyle. Mum's just put a package of warm gear in the mail for me which is brilliant. Tanoshimi.
It's going to get to ice cold snow weather in another month so will need some more gears.

It's halloween in a week or so and the Japanese people are going all out to show just how connected to the rest of the world they are, I think they make more of an effort around here than the Americans do. All week my students (4-10 year olds) have been arriving to class in their costumes (usually a witch, pumpkin, vampire or something totally irrelevant like a top hat and tie, or cowboy hat and suit jacket?! wtf lol) it's pretty cute though..my Tuesday evening kindergarten class had a little halloween party and they walked around the room from parent to parent saying trick or treat and getting a bit of candy. I joined in and got some too. Have to teach by example.

Hugo has changed from Ritsumeikan University to training at Kyoto Uni which is Newaza orientated, he seems to be enjoying it so far which is good.
I'm based out of Rits and the Kidotai with a weekly forray to training at Daishin with Matsuura Sensei in Tsuruhashi, its perfect as it's on my way home from work. Might be visiting Doshisha Uni in the evenings soon as its on my way home from work on Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday, but will have to check the times with Matsuura Sensei as I finish pretty late as I start late after morning training.

I have one pair of socks now, dont really know what happend to the rest of them. This house kinda seems to eat clothes.. things just dont come out of the laundry system or oneday arent in your closet. It happens to everyone I'm not sure whats up with that. Just another mystery. That said I have the same problem back home but blamed it on my dog generally.

J

Oji-San Invasion

2010-09-27T22:27:00.000-07:00

As many of you may know, lastweek the NZL Masters Judo team competed representing NZ at the Asian Judo masters games here in Japan.

Not satisfied with their very impressive results (Rick Sensei Gold, Pat Toner Gold, Robert Levy Silver Open weight & Bronze weight division plus another bronze from Khan) they have come to Kyoto for a week of intensive girl watching, sight seeing, shopping and of course Judo.

The guys are staying here at the fightclub house, liking it so far - no one is adverse to showering with a gas heated hose that intermittently is not heated for days on end, sleeping on the floor with a 2 MM thick mattress or holes in the floor. Infact they seem to actually like the place which is great- located 2 minutes from the Karasuma Subway line (a main artery line through Kyoto) 5 Minutes walk from a shopping mall, 3 Dojo's within 15 minutes and a gym also within 15 minutes.

It's been good having the guys here so far, Robert has been a great help in terms of knowledge regarding nutrition, training, circuits, gym work the list goes on. I have to have a notebook handy to get all the info, especially nutritional.

I met the team at Kyoto Station yesterday afternoon and it was straight into it, home to drop off the bags, a hasty tour of the manor and then we were back on the lines heading to Osaka to train with Matsuura Sensei's club Daishin Dojo also known as "Kiwi Club" (Matsuura was first national coach of NZ and the Dojo is Sister club to many Judo Clubs in NZ). The training there was good, lots of randori's I wasn't fighting that great but towards the end was sharpening up.

I had a great training yesterday morning at the Kidotai.. literally my best training session there ever, period. Something must of clicked, I was using a new throw I devised, new gripping and new combo's and it caught them off guard. I managed to stalemate Sano San and throw Machia San a few times both guys normally deal me hiding's so to stalemate one and get another was feeling great.

I just received my final scholarship payment, which is great...it's not neccessarily the end of the road right now though. I have a job interview tomorow for a part time job so depending on the outcome of said interview I will decide what the next move is. If I get the job I will be earning more than I would fulltime in NZ doing only 10 hours a week plus my Judo so I cant see how it could go wrong. If I dont make the cut then its a few more weeks of training here and back home to prepare financially for Uni and continue my training there as intensely as possible.

So either result I'm going to be happy.
I really would like to see my family but if I did get the job it wouldnt be long before I could afford to fly for a visit, month or 2. I'm not sure how long I would stay if I get the job anyway.. It's something I'm going to need to play by ear and work out myself.

Did a circuit this morning at the gym under Robs supervision, it's best to do leading up towards a competition working on explosive power to peak perfectly for the fights. So right now looking at doing it twice a week, and 2 days of fullbody workout working on mass until 83/84 Kilo's then going on to power. Ivica will be working mostly off the circuit soon as he is leading up to the NZ Nationals and then the OJU WORLD CUP in Samoa 2 Weeks after so explosive power, peak performance and conditioning are really essential.

This afternoon after a Protein & Complex Carbs rich lunch it's Ritsumeikan Judo training which is allways body wasting and then Enshin Dojo training a couple of hours later at night. Will probably finish that around 10 and be in bed by 1130 since I have to be up at 730AM for training with Riot Cops Judo Team to start the day off. Though after that my next thing will be my Job interview in the afternoon then training at Daishin Dojo which is nearby so that works out really well.
Josepha from Daishin who has given me the lead at the company has been awesome and is lending me a Blazer Jacket for the interview, plus I have the inside interview tips so should go well.

Jordan

Times a Changin

2010-09-15T23:31:00.000-07:00

So much has happend in the last couple of weeks that its hard to provide an update that makes any sense if any...so I'm just gonna take the easy way out and stick to basics.

The last couple of weeks of this Month has been some real high's and low's for my exile from NZ to Kyoto. One low point was getting rather sick (viral or bacterial infection on my lymph nodes) which meant 5 days with no training, expensive medicine... unfortunately it got worse; I had to have a blood test.

Now what most people don't know is that I'm freaked out by needles, not knitting needles but injection needles - Syringe is the medical jargon I believe (I'm no doctor) while this was a very unpleasant activity for me, my good friend & landlord Aoki San found it quite amusing - especially when the Nurse got the wrong vein and had to go again. Poor little Obasan (Baba for short (old lady)) nurse could see and hear that I was not enjoying this one bit and got nervous and missed. This had the effect of causing further stress on myself, my vision is swimming, im hyper ventalating... why is my blood coming out black? is this bad? why is everybody laughing (including the old men in the waiting room)these things and more were running through my head.

Finally it was over and the big brave boy got a sticky plaster (no lollypops in the land of Samurai!)

I have to say I'm very gratefull to Aoki San for taking time from his busy schedule as Boss of Total Home Architecture Corp to take me to the Doc a couple of times - its not easy to get medical care if your a gaijin alien and harder still if you dont speak Japanese.

So I'm on this great cocktail of drugs that would make any pensioner proud, taking 12 pills a day at different times plus 3 Doctor prescribed vitamin drinks.. so I'm getting better but have been told to avoid Newaza for a week as it could cause my Neck Lymph Nodes too much stress... will have to try and keep my Shiaii this Sunday to standing fighting then, I'll do what I can.

Well as I before mentioned.. the price of Doctor Visits and Medicine was no small blow to my limited wallet; Budget Cuts that would make the Government cringe had to be made. First off, whats all this Lunch business about then - well whatever all that fuss is about it has to stop. Secondly how much are you spending on breakfast? "300 Yen" 'WHAT! make that 100 Yen! 2 slices of toast quick smart Mr Reynolds.' So by following this formulae of budget cutting popularised by TV's 'Money Man' I cut corners or more correctly whole blocks out of my budget. Things have picked up again and resolved themselves back to a nice balance, but I did have a lean week or two. Currently eating nice, large nutritous breakfast's again but I did learn a couple of good tricks that I'm going to keep in effect.

Good things going on this Month would include the 3 Competition's I have happening starting from this Sunday and going through next week including my Shodan Shiaii which is really exiting for me right now. Trainings going completely Ace aswell right now - foccussing on Kumi Kata (tactical grips) to dominate and controll my fights and keeping preasure on my opponents at all time. basicaly keeping them on the back foot physically and mentally from the get go.

I have a very strong lead for a part-time job in a English Teaching company, the pay is great to say the least so this could be the timely miracle I have been hanging out for...fingers and toes crossed. I'v been seeing my (fighting, not fashion)style turn a few corner's recently so I'm hoping to see where that end's up.

Got an unexpected phone call from Bill Vincent from New Zealand a couple of days ago who was hanging out with my old man Greg suprisingly, got to say hi to both of them and got told to take a few days off to recover (which Mum also ordered) was nice to get a call so that was cool.
While I'm at it I should nominate my Aunty Trish for a nobel prize for being such a big help during last months turmoil - without her help I would definatly be back in New Zealand right now not training here at this level.

Also we have Ivica Pavlinic staying here with us now for a bit, which is great; he's enjoying the training and is a real help to have here. It's really good to have new faces here and more people to train, talk and hangout with; which reminds me we have the New Zealand Master's team (which is going to be the strongest yet) coming to stay for a week late this Month. Hopefully they enjoy out Fightclub style accomodation that we have to offer. This building definatly resembles the fight club manpad in more ways than one.

I should have alot of actually interesting news to post next time as opposed to this rather lame rant, so hang in there.

Jords

Up & up

2010-09-05T17:15:00.000-07:00

Things have considerably improved steadily this month since my last posts high.
Have two competitions this month, both in a week and a half so I'm stoked about that.
Watched my crew from Rits Uni fight at the Kansai Uni games on the weekend, we did pretty well winning through our pool until we got caught against Tenri Uni in some sort of final (unsure if it was final or semi) Tenri took us out by winning all the 5 fights (it was a team fight competition) a couple they won easily but there was a couple we came close to getting them in. Kimura San's Seoi Nage (shoulder throw) came close to taking out his opponent multiple times but just wasnt Quiiiiiiiiiiite there, but bloody close. Another one of our guys (known as Tomo-nage San) dominated his fight by using drop techiniques like Tomo-Nage & other sacrafice throws to get his opponent to the ground where he dominated, getting a few small points by pins and coming very close to getting a good armbar and a choke. Unfortunately he got caught by a sneaky throw towards the end of the fight.

Tenri's a tough tough Uni team, so while the guys where obviously a bit gutted they did a pretty good job, especially considering they didn't put in their best team because of injuries they still put on their best effort. Tenri is really high level for Judo, having a much bigger pool of players and the National Coach of Japan Shinoharra coaching them I believe.

We have been day tripping on Osaka most Mondays recently to train at Daishin Dojo under Matsuura Sensei, who has been kind enough to enter us in the competitions and on Saturday night after the competion invited us over for a true feast of a BBQ, no one could finish what was on the table by a long shot. Lamb chops, Steaks, Chicken, Salad, red wine, champagne, white wine, beer, Sake, fish, sausages, giant sea snails (mmmmm!!!!) the list goes on. It was really good of Matsuura Sensei and His Wife to host us - plus his daughter Seiiko and her Samoan Fiance osefa (sorry I dont have the correct spelling for your name so I'm just winging it.) osefa's pretty keen to come train with us at Rits in the next week or so which will be good fun.

Hugo has spent the last 3 weeks or so off the mat due to a wrist injury when he crashed his bike of all things, haha. But its improving lately and he has just started coming along to do a bit of Uchi- Komi and light randori with kiddies and scrawny teenagers :P

Training has been on form for me lately, enjoying it immensley and everthing is back to normal times so I'm keeping occupied and got good focuss. Kasuga Sensei gave me a awesome bag full of Japanese cookie, including some so hard you will feel the pain at the back of your head when you bite them. Not to be attempted without a bit of tea to soften them.

Iv had a big swollen lump of fluid on my shin lately which really sucks! Its not stopping my training at all but when I go on my runs I can feel it bobbing around! gross!!! Also when someone happens to kick be in that spot it hurts like hell. Of course with my infinite ingenuity I have taken to rolling up a sock and taping if ontop of the lump for some protection (I tape it very heavily so you can't see the sock at all, before anyone says otherwise) and now I have a similar lump on my armpit, albeit much smaller (totally unrelated) might have a flu coming on according to google. Hope not.

It's officially Autumn now, so of course Autumn fashion is in! Big coats, leggings for ladies, scarves, long sleeves. Despite the fact that the temperature is still usually above 34 degrees, never mind that.

Decided to get some more protein powder since I'm weight training through a programme right now for more relative strength for Judo and explosiveness. I'm not actually sure if its the right stuff but it says Judo on the front and the lady at the shop said its recovery, and it was relatively cheap, ichiban Yasui.

We have Ivica Pavlinic from NZ arriving tomorow evening to stay and train here alongside us, should be good fun to have another face around the place.

J

Lame Month

2010-08-24T20:16:00.000-07:00

****INCOMING WINGE***

Well, finally doing another update haha.

This month since getting back from training camp has been relatively stink, training hard but had a mishap a few days ago which has caused a fair deal of stress for me and my family, fortunately things look like its going to work out - thank god I decided to get travel insurance at the last moment.

The Kidotai arent training too hard right now as this friday they have the All Japan Police Games so are preparing for that via light light light training, which is understandable. Ritsumeikan have been out of Kyoto but on thursday are back to normal schedule which is good news. so last week and this week have been only about 8 judo sessions for the week which isnt really what I'm after but enough not to complain, hopefully can push at 10-12 next week if everythings back on schedule again.

Went to Daishin Dojo in Osaka to see Matsuura Sensei and enter into the Shodan Shiaii offially, which is exiting so I have that very soon, plus another 3 competitions over the next couple of months so thats at least something to be a bit more positive about. There was a big photo on the wall at Daishin Dojo of my uncle Chris and Aunty Loretta with Matsuura Sensei and his wife when they signed the Osaka Kiwi Club Judo Exchange programme up - so that was really unexpected but quite cool, funnily I dont think Chris is aware that I'm over here at all. Also Matsuura Sensei knows of my father as he had a name board made up through Pops.

Little bit hopesick this last couple of weeks but thats just because a few things have gone wrong, I'm sure when things pick up for me I'll be sweet as again.
Mum went along to Auckland Uni Open day on my behalf to investigate the bachelor in physical education - Looking forward to starting that up eventually, Uni students get awesome holidays which I can use to train over here for 3-4 month stints plus short days so I can try and get double trainings in back in Auckland plus time in gym.

Actually on a lighter note so I dont come accross too negative and mopey; Some of my techniques are coming along alot better now thanks to a few pointers Kasuga Sensei gave me at training camp so getting better execution, and my Newaza has bounced up a notch with some new tricks up my sleeze but mostly a more solid general game and clean basics.

: )

Training Camp

2010-08-12T18:32:00.000-07:00

Havn't done an update in a good halth month as Iv been off the radar.

I went to a training Camp with the guys from Ritsumeikan Uni Judo team on Kyushu Island in the Kagoshima prefecture, at Kanoya University - which is incidentaly the National University for sport and Fitness.

So needless to say they have awesome facilities and take Judo very seriously.
Overall I would say the camp was like being a Spartan for a week, we lived in a guest dorm building for visiting athlete teams, in tatami bunk rooms.

The average day would follow this formulae;

#Wake up 0600- Go for run
#0700 - Eat Breakfast together in the cafeteria (Usually a bowl of rice, a salad, and a suprise)
#0730 - Rush back to the Dorms: spend the next hour chugging down water, taping fingers, organising your gear, quick nap
#0830 - Leave for Judo: We walk to the Judo Dojo on Campuss which is a huge building surrounded by a boat easily 5 stories in height, designed to look like an imposing Samurai Castle. Once there, change into Judo Gi in our own Dojo set aside for us to warm up in each day (Huge area)
#0900 - Begin first training: First we do 5 minutes jog around the mat (which is 4 Competition Mats, in Olympic colours - Blue and Yellow) Then go through the warmups; generally being basic stretches, some situps and dips.
Now the training begins in earnest, we pair off and do Uchikomi Drills (Perfmorming a technique to the point of throwing over and over again) we would literally go through 100's of these. It's excellent. Now ...lets all throw each other as many times as possible in 10 minutes in sets of 10 each - By the way no Minor techniques today only big painfull throws (ouch).

----2 minutes break to cover up any new cuts, and skull some water ( remember its 39 degrees here)----

No messing around, straight into Randori (sparring) now, Standup only. Either 20 Rounds in which everyone has to work their ass off with no rest. Or, divide in 3 groups, 2 groups allways on and 1 off so we go through 30 but do 20 having 1 off every 3. This is better for techinique wheras 20 in a row is good for being a hardass and becoming a beast.

A while later its over, finally.

Not actually, now power uchikomi in groups of 3 - try your hardest to throw someone while someone else stands behind them trying to keep them up. 8 sets of 10 each generally.

Now into pairs, more Uchikomi - this time speed Uchikomi - Major Throws only. Do as many as you can with all your power and speed in 30 seconds, 2 seconds break to change grip then again, and again. 2 groups of 6 sets each. This one is awesome.

Now we go through a circuit, 2 times each. Including things like dips, clapping pushups, situps, chinups on gis, jumping, squats and a whole range of other body killers.
Sometimes to be cruel we just do 120 Dip Pushups ( no shit i counted) 150 situps, then squat jumps accross the whole dojo and back twice - I couldnt walk up or down stairs without SERIOUS pain for days, it still hurts)

Now lets go to the ropes and climb to the top and back down twice each

Ok good work everyone - Bow off. Class over

Is now about 1200 so we all get changed.

#1200 - Waddle over to the Cafeteria and have lunch together, identical to breakfast really maybe a small change in one dish.

#1230 - Get home, Put Judogi in washing machine, organise general laundry, have a protein shake, drink no less than 2 litres of Water, Jump into bed and sleep a bit - next training is at 4 so I can have about 2 hours comfortable real sleep. I set an alarm for each hour though and drink a bit of water though.

#1530 - Head over to training number 2 - We all grab a fresh gi, retape about mangled fingers and torn muscles etc and head over, this time at a slower pace so we leave a bit earlier than in the morning haha.
This training is 100% Newaza (Groundfighting Orientated) the guys here are known around the way for being exceptional groundfighters, verrry technical and well drilled. Warmups are the usual - Dips, situps etc. Then lay on our stomachs and drag ourselves using our arms accross the mats, then go backwards on your back using your feet, then sideways bouncing like a salmon ( I hate this the most ) the Eby movement and a range of others.

Now we do Newaza Drills - Your partner (Uke) starts with a looping hold on your arm and you on your side- he tries to pin you, strangle you or armbar you, and you try to escape and defend. He has about 30 seconds. We do this about 10 times with different partners each time. Once I got lucky an reversed the guy into a pin from a defending, which was a cocky move. I was feeling cool until I got owned by him in 10 seconds next time haha.

----2 minutes break for water and tissues to wipe away tears---

Back on the mat, now 30 minutes of Randori Newaza; It goes until someone submits, then you change partners immediatly. At first each fight lasted 1 or 2 minutes at most for me before i tapped, towards the end of the camp I adjusted my style and wised up a bit - on the last training I had one fight go for 30 minutes with no clear winner - we just kept going back and fowards. Countering and reversing each others positions.

-----2 Minutes break------

another 30 Minutes or maybe 1 hour of Newaza Randori, same style.
Afterwhich we go through more drills, and the Sensei or guest will show us something - main focuss of the camp was Shimei Waza (Strangles and chokes) Usually in the bridge between in standing and ground (for example opponent fails a throw and is on his stomach - now strangle him) Simple in theory and well drilled in NZ - but I really learn alot of new things and ways to go about it.

#1900 - Finished training - Now go to dinner together, we eat dinner and watch Baseball usually, then we head to home and organise laundry - organise for the next day and drink alot of water. Generally I'm in bed at 2130 but dont sleep til 2300 as some people like to play around and bully the Kohai (juniors) for a few hours. Understandable.

--End of day ---- Repeat X6

We got the Camp by Ferry from Osaka Port (Ichiban Yasui - Cheapest way) Ferry took 17 hours but has a games room, beds and restaurant so wasnt all bad. One way the guys entertain themselves is bullying the Kohai, whats accepted as normal here would result in legal actions in NZ.

Its Ok to punch your Junior in the face, Kick him in the Head, Slap him, nipple gripple and twist(This seemed to be popular) get him to make your bed, carry your heavy judo bags to training and back after, walk 3 KM at 2300 to the nearest Shop to pick up some groceries for you, Put deep heat/tiger balm on him in painfull areas, have him wash your back in the Public Baths (no joke) and a whole range of other things.

As I'm here to learn the best of japanese Judo and bring it to NZ, I hope to bring the best of this - aside from obvious parts back to NZ.

So coming soon - Diary Entry #32: A day in the life of a Japanese Judo Kohai.

Alive

2010-07-29T16:58:00.000-07:00

I have recovered enough energy to drag myself to my laptop finally and provide all the sadists out there with another update.

My knee injury is pretty much right now, have to be a big carefull still with leg drop throws but its ok as lately I have been playing lefty alot anyway. I alternate alot trying to build strong left and right so no complaints.

Training over the last week has been good but not as busy as usual as we are still in holiday season. back to fullthrottle 2-3 trianings a day as of yesterday ..and to be honest it was really hard getting back into it. In the morning at Kidotai training there was a team fight event again between our guys from Kyoto and another prefecture. They are doing it to decide on Kansai regions best team to send to the All Japan Police Games, so far it looks like it will be a Kyoto dominated team - the team fight is run as a best of 3. Our guys took the first round very lightly - winning only by small scores and penalty's as they just sussed their opposition out, seeing what they have and what their style is.

Round 2: Ippon, Ippon, Ippon etc etc. We won all but 1 of the matchs and nearly all of them by fullscore Ippon throws ( equivilant of boxings knockouts) so the Kyoto guys obviously did a good job of sussing the opposition out.

After than there was a 2 hour break and then into Tachiwaza Randori (Standing Sparring) After a team fight the other team stays 2-3 days to train like a training camp style so theres allways new faces to train with and new styles to work with. I felt really sluggish ... I think I ate too much within the hour before training. Ughhh. I remember an occasion in which Pudgy from Ak/Uni club did this and was vomiting in the toilet after being bombed on his back... at least I did not get to that point..

Straight home from training and 2 hours to rest for training at Enshin Dojo, that went well and I didnt feel sluggish at all there, got some good techniques in and was happy with my posture. They had one hardcore gun there who usually just chills on the side who decided to partake that day..and bring my ego down to size. Cool dude though.

After training we all went along to Yakitori with some of the Judo guys, which seems to be becoming a bi weekly sorta thing. Sensei Rick came along aswell plus a small french contingent who spent the evening sparring wits with Lee calder and coming out worse or wear.

I have to leave for Judo in 20 minutes so time to get my gear together.

J

Pictures from Riot Police

2010-07-22T20:26:00.001-07:00

Pictures from Team Fight between Kidotai Kyoto Riot Police and their counterparts from another prefecture.

More complaining

2010-07-22T20:13:00.000-07:00

Its too hott!!!

34 Degrees, wearing a double weave Judo gi - going through 10 rounds of randori/sparring. Apparantly I should be happy though as winter is supposedly 10X worse.

Back to fullintensity fighting after doing a medial strain that made me sideline a bit for 4 days or so, now getting back into it after testing the water and finding it ok again. Elbow feeling a bit better now after someones over enthusiastic Juji/arm bar.
Perhaps as revenge for the recent less than flattering video of Sensei Rick showing his technological prowess, we are now expected to go for a run along the river in full Judo gi after Judo while he films it for the infamous Judokong.com unfortunately said video is likely ever to see the light of day as it would result in mutiny at shimei hall.

Training camp is getting closer, just a couple of weeks away. Looking forward to it even though I'm going to be gunning it lone wolf due to everyone else being pansies/having to leave Japan for the OJU's in Aussie. I'm just a bit bitter.
It's taking place in Kyushu - the southern most part of Honshu, the mainland of Japan. Also the hottest part. Woo.

Got another new haircut down the road for the summer months, I asked for a Budo haircut, and I got one. End of story.

Aside from the heat and other pains in the ass, I'm feeling confident about training. Probably because I'm at current reading Lance Armstrongs 'Not about the bike' pretty inspiring read. I give it a 4.3/5 with the .7 deducted for lack of pictures to make it easy for someone whos been thrown on his head 100 times recently to understand.

Sensei Rick, on technology

2010-07-18T19:47:00.000-07:00

Week in Review

2010-07-16T23:17:00.000-07:00

Rainy season finally ended just yesterday, suddenly seeing alot more mamals around the town, riding home yesterday from Judo with Lee we spotted ourselves an Otter hooning around the river at top speeed, saw another Snake (poison brown) slithering about, another Otter by the river at nighttime, he was just kicking back on the land with Tim & I.
So I get home after this eventfull day and park my bike and what do I see, nothing other than a Tanuki *the namesake of Sensei Ricks restaurant* playing around our bikes. We have a tense standoff for a minute then it pounds away into our garden and disapears. Tanuki are more or less a mix of a raccoon and a dog with a splash of badger. Very cute, very cuddly but also very strong , brave and aggresive if circumstances permit.

(Tanuki Above)

(Typical Tanuki goodluck Statue, have one at home in NZ)

On Thursday this week did a really hard training, went really well. I did about 9 rounds of Standup Sparring at Kidotai and then another 10 in a row at Enshin Dojo, went really well my fitness is right up there but I nailed my knee a bit at Enshin and only noticed when I got home it hurts to turn it side to side, wheras straight movements are ok. Suspect its a medial ligament strain, will have it looked at in 20 minutes by an expert and should be fine for the new week all going to plan. Also had someone accidenlty attempt to break my arm off with a strong Juji (armbar, I didnt even have a second to submit!) its very tender now and a bit strained at the elbow but it only popped once before I managed to wrench it out. Its not broken so should also be ok come Monday.

Training wise I'm foccussing ony getting my offence, grip fighting and endurance up and up so I'm good for the training camp. Its a Night and half long ferry trip there plus 3 hours by train - the very south of Japan around Kyushu is the destination.

This coming evening Sensei Rick & us are taking Aoki San to an English Pub which will be a nice change, good time to relax and talk Judo of course...what else do people talk about?>!

Still waiting on Lee to upload those pictures, but should be done tomorow so fingers crossed.

New Arrivals

2010-07-12T20:56:00.000-07:00

Hugo has arrived alive and well on his Judo Scholarship from Auckland.
Word has it that he had to ditch A BLUE GI, plus dozens of pairs of underwear and socks so as he could make the weight requirments for the plane. Said goods can be found in Sensei Rick's house - soon to be on sale for cheap in the AK/Uni Judo Club.

First impression: he is very enthusiastic, as long as he continues to be so he will do fine.

Tomorow evening we have Don from western Judo (also silver fox's/dads flat mate) coming to stay for 2 weeks with his son, they will be training here in Kyoto in preparation for Donalds participation in the Oceania Judo Champs (same event Lee is leaving to compete in).

Tim got an excellent package from his crew at Gisborne Judo Club, which Jun (Manager of Auckland Martial Arts Supplies was kind enough to bring over in exchange for a Beer) She also gifted to us other neglected,lost boys 1 KG of Weetbix and 6 bags of Pinaple Lumps. Shes getting a christmass card.

Well just a quick update right now as I have to shoot off on my 1 hour bikeride to Judo in 10 minutes, after which I have a secondary meeting with Kimura Sempai in regards to Lee & I going on training camp - the itinery seems to be a run everymorning, then a big randori session, then a technical session then another randori session. Sleeping on Tatami Mats in the Dojo I think. We are going via Osaka & Ferry to a large island whichs name I cannot write or pronounce to train for 5 days intensively along side Rits & A Physical Education Uni Judo Team. Which I have been assured are VERY tough. Aswell as getting some hardcore Judo in its going to be good for making new connections around Japan and the region for if we every wish to train around here in the future or if I wish to move to different region later on.

===============================================================================
PICTURES FROM NIGHT WITH THE KIDOTAI JUDO TEAM & PICTURES FROM HUGOS INITIATION COMING NEXT POST
===============================================================================

Jun also did her inspection of Shimei Palace and was astounded at just how shiny and clean we keep the place, not even a spec of dust on the window sill.

Advice for City Hall ( Auckland)

2010-07-08T07:51:00.000-07:00

Well... I have nearly survived yet another week here and I'm looking forward to my Weekend as if promises to be an eventfull one.

We have Hugo arriving around 0100 Saturday Morning, Jun ( Rick Sensei's Daughter) is coming around later on Saturday to clean Shimei Hall, under the guise of an inspection. Being the smart person I am I have deciphered reading between the lines that she intends to clean for us so have dutifully prepared all my laundry and even got the mops and vacuum cleaner ready.

Judo this week has been exceptional, the humidity is doing me no favours, its important to keep your fluid's up, not just important - Critical. Everytime you do something refill your drink bottle. Every year people actually die over here from the humidity so when your cranking out double Judo sessions you must pay heed to the climate.

Climate aside, I have been an training like an animal and it finally is paying off even more. My Kumi-Kata (grip fighting) has been one of the points I have noticed go through the roof aswell as my attacking combinations, which suprised a few guys at the Kidotai today. Ha. Did 20 Touchiwaza Randoris today (Stand up sparring) between two training sessions so feeling fit, putting the hard work in now so the training camp next month dosn't come as too much of a shock to the system.

The Riot Cop Judo Squad/Kidotai invited us to join them for a few Beers and Dinner tomorow evening at an all you can eat & drink buffet in town, which is well priced. It would be very rude to turn them down, so of course we will be in attendance.

Enshin Dojo has also been really good training lately, it's a great place to try some new technique's without getting thrown through the roof, aswell as improve your over all fitness and strength. Recently the Sensei's Daughter was promoted to Vice- Chairman of the All Japan Judo Referee's Comission - the first female to hold this position, its big news. She gifted to Tim, Lee and I all a copy of Kodokan Judo by Jigoro Kano. Very, very kind of her. Will make an effort to train there regularily on top of everything else as they are all good fun.

The homeless people in NZ should really take note of the hobbo's here, they have tidy little shacks out of the way along the river. Within these little shacks they usually have a table and chairs, a few couchs, a nice little futon bed and a chest of drawers. They occupy their days picking up rubbish that happens to float by to keep the area clean, fishing in the river to catch dinner and conversing with their cats. They even take their shoes off before entering their modest (but comfortable) shacks.

I was reading recently that Auckland City Council is looking of ways to clean up the homeless in Auckland before the Rugby World Cup so that Auckland looks like a slice of heaven. I hearby put it to the NZRU & ARC that they send a homeless emissary over to Kyoto to investigate and liase with the local Homeless population so as information can be gathered as to how they could emulate such an existance.
You can even say it was your idea!

J

Pictures from the Aquirium

2010-07-07T20:53:00.000-07:00

Heres some of the pictures from the Osaka excursion, including the "Creepy Boy Band" picture which has gained so much notority thanks to our friends at www.Judokong.com

Here you can see your's truly washing his hair under a fresh mountain waterfall.

Just about to touch a shark, all in a days work for your NZ Judoka.

The famous "Creepy Boy Band Picture" recording for a fall release.

Just before leaving from Kyoto for Osaaakaaa.

A little known fast is that Uni Judo's own Yoshio hails from Osaka City, Nippon. What he thinks of us ruining his home city with our cheesy tourism, I am yet to know.

Osaka

2010-07-04T19:59:00.000-07:00

The weekend just past was one of the best so far, Eiji from Western Judo came and saw us with his Mother. The weather was wretched, they took us to a buffet breakfast at their Hotel, it was awesome. We decided we would head over to Osaka and visit the Aquirium - we were a bit tight for time as we had to be back in Kyoto by 3pm to report for a special work assignment.

Eiji's mother went to get the car, and came back with a suprise for us all - some flash Yukata ( like a kimono) to give to our girlfriends/Sisters/Mums, it was a really really nice present we were all blown away by it. The drive to Osaka was quick as, went by in only 30 or 40 minutes, I didnt even know we had left Kyoto - theres no country side between cities its just one never ending urban jungle between separate CBD's. The Aquirium was awesome, its huge, Penguins, Otters, Sharks, Whales, Pirhanas; you name it theyr all taking a dip in that pool.

____ Pictures coming _____

After the Aquirium they treated us to a fantastic lunch at Melbourne house, an Australian Restaurant in Osaka. It was surreal having a steak with a VB, allmost felt like I was back home... or only 2,000 K's away from it.
So a big thank you to Eiji and his Mum for teating us to an awesome day, was one of the best days out so far.

Work assignment, we reported to Total Home Corp at 3pm for work, we were detailed to grating ginger in preparation for the noodles, then we set up shop in the arcade markets on Sanjo Dori.
Our job for the night was basicly wear a Male Yukata and yell "Idoshaii, Somen, Oishi!!!!!" over and over. And over and over. For around 4 hours.
The Japanese people shopping at the festival didnt know what to make of 3 Gaijin selling traditional noodles at one of their festivals...so most of our time was spent fending off propositions and smiling in photos with the obligatory peace sign of course.
It was tough work but not many people back home can say they have done something like that so it was a good experience. We even got paid! After work we got treated to Dinner and an ice cold Asahi so it was worth it.

Ritsumeikan went well at the ALL Japan Uni games, the girls got a 5th and I think the men got 8th. Not bad for All Japan thats for sure. The girls lost to Tokai (one of the tougest places on Earth no matter what you do) Rits won the first 2 against Tokai girls by Wazi-Ari (Half Score) Drew the middle fight and lost the next 2 by a Wazi-Ari and a Yuko so for the last fight they needed to draw or win and they would advance. Unfortunately Tokai's last fighter on the line was the current +78KG Japan Champion and member of the Japanese Judo Team.

The guys also fell to Tokai at the Quater's by 7 Ippons ( full score) Ritsumeikan produces great -66, -73 and -81 Kg fighters (Light, Welter and Middle Weights) wheras Tokai has some really big boys, I heard the team was all +100 KG exept for one of they players.

A really good effort by both the girls and the boys though, they both won their way to the Sunday matches by winning their fights on Saturday.

On August 5th I'm attending a training camp with Ritsumeikan University in another city with a few other University squads, it promises to be the hardest training Iv ever had but when I get through it I'm going to be at another level again so I'm really looking forward to getting there and working through it. The Rits guys plan to get there by ferry as its cheaper than catching a train or driving so it should be an interesting way to travel...

Will have more details about it tonight when they are passed to me, at this point I just know its a training camp with a few Uni's, its going to be hard and that its a good opportunity.

Sensei Rick is arriving in a week or so, he can help us appropriate more bikes as mine was recently stolen and the other two are beyond repair at this stage. Tim's somewhat an expert in bike repair and even he cant fix it.

J

Improvement

2010-07-01T20:00:00.000-07:00

As far as the most boring week is considered, its actually not that boring.
Have been lone wolfing it to training at Enshin Dojo plus training daily at the gym with Lee so keeping busy and active.
You have to keep active here or you might lose your grip on reality.
I think without Skype I would go insane aswell hah..

Training last night at Enshin Dojo...where to start, Wow.
Enshin Dojo sure was a good measuring stick for me just like Kyodai, last time I was there I didnt fare badly against their local guns but I didnt fare greatly. Last night after a month between my last visit there and now I was managing to throw the guys, without too much effort aswell, mainly through better grips and cleaner , faster technique. Its really good to see improvement here because sometimes after a few weeks of being bashed over and over you doubt if your getting anywhere,.of course you are.

The guys at Enshin Judo are really friendly guys with a pretty social approach to the sport, they compete but they dont let it consume their lives.

The humidity has just reached untold of levels lately, my vision was literally swimming at training last night from the heat, I felt like I was in an oven. On the ride home I had to stop and sit down for a bit because I felt like I was going to pass out haha. In two weeks its going to be summer proper but the rainy season will ever over, cant wait for some sunny weather. Good training though. Really enjoyed it.

J

The most boring week ever

2010-06-29T04:44:00.001-07:00

It's looking like this week is going to be a boring one, I went to the Police Judo in the morning and we were informed that they are taking a week off because they had a big competition on the weekend just gone, this unfortunately coincides with the Ritsumeikan Judo team taking a week or so off for the same reason + exams.

So what are we going to do this week? Well, Lee & I are hitting the gym each day to put a bit more power on still, Tim is making a good effort running each day. Alot of house work is suddenly being done (including laundry). This Saturday we are working for Aoki San selling noodles for this festival, which will be really weird - all the Japanese people are going to be so suprised seeing a little stall with 3 white men selling noodles. Should be cool.

I have set myself this challenge this week of living on 1000 Yen a day, 2 days in its going good but I'm missing my iced coffee & penguin. The 1000 Yen challenge works out to be roughly 12 dollars in NZ D's so thats for breakfast lunch and dinner.

Robert Levy from the AK/Uni Club was kind enough to go out of his way recently to send me some circuits to use closer to competitions, to help physically peak - aswell as giving me some good advise regarding all things Judo. Cheers Rob.

Also this Saturdau Eji from Western Judo Academy is visiting us in Kyoto for one day only, Lee is planning a Man-Date for all of us to go see some Monkeys, as all guys love monkeys.

Both the other boys have popped their tyres recently which is funny, my bike is this pink thing that cranks, chings and changs as I ride it barely holding together but it seems to be outlasting the other guys flashier new bikes enduro wise. I have some modifications planned for Pinkie, including a low-rider seat, a new paint job , custom mirrors and high rider - monkey bar handle bars. All courtesy of people who leave their bikes lying around the street in Kyoto. Much appreciated.

We are still able to get a few Judo trainings in this week at Enshin Dojo which is a small local Dojo, shaped like a bus; long and narrow. It has the imprints of human bodies in the wood paneling from Judoka being expertly tossed into the wall by their betters.

J

Highlights

2010-06-23T19:24:00.000-07:00

Sorry to all for being slow to update over the last week, have been busy and also not a whole lot of interesting things have happened around here out of the usual routine.

The weeks highlights being:

*Accidently running over a snake on my way to Judo along the side of the river, I wasnt paying attention and only noticed it when it hissed and lunged at me from under my bike. For the record it was not toxic and the snake was unharmed in the making on this ancidote.

*Us all turning up to Rits for training on Monday, without being aware it was a rest day for them, Lee and I noticed no one was there but Tim had allready gotten changed into his Gi and came marching out ready for Judo. Was funnier as a whole lot of people laughed and advised him no judo today.

*Tim crashing his bike at an intersection with a young school kid, Tim falling to the ground in a heap with his bike in slow motion. Both parties where uninjured.

*Lee is currently working doing filing work for Aoki San

*I have a bad cold/flu today, not sure how I managed to get one in super hott kyoto..

*The Ritsumeikan Judo team leave for Tokyo on Friday for the All Japan Teams, I hope they go well and they probably will.

My body is still holding up surprisingly well, its very sore and tender but it still works the way its supposed to so no complaints there.
I'm happy I'm here and not in NZ, since the weather there is supposedly super cold right now, if I'm lucky I'm going to entirely skip winter this year.

I found a new cheap local eatery where you buy a ticket from a vending machine which you then give to the staff who will then make the corresponding dish/dishes. Its cheap-as and fulling. I got myself a large curry, Bowl of rice and egg, Miso Soup, Chicken cutlets, small pudding and a bit of fish for around 900 Yen (10 Dollars NZ) Great deal, would trade again.

My mate Richie has just started Judo at the AK/Uni club back home aswell, he seems to be enjoying it so far - so if you see him on the mat please go out of your way to smash him extra hard :) He's my second mate to have started Judo recently, with Tom having started about 2 months ago, Richies number 1 goal right now being to beat Tom.
He's off to buy his first crisp whitebelt from AMAS (Auckland Martial Art Supplies) who are famed for their extra-ordinary customer service.

ANNOUNCEMENT:

Hugo Dewar from Wellington Judo has been awarded an A Level Judo Scholarship by Sensei Rick Littlewoord & The Auckland University Judo Club for $6,000 NZD's to live and train with us here in Kyoto (Same deal as Lee & I's). He should be arriving sometime in the next 2 weeks so if you see him around please congratulate him with a friendly ( or not so friendly) choke, strangle, arm-bar or throw.

J

Coming this week:

2010-06-20T19:46:00.000-07:00

I decided on the weekend to draw myself up a training timetable this week coming so I can keep a better record of what I'm doing over a week.

It goes basicly like this :

Monday: Morning - Police Judo. Evening - Ritsumeikan Judo. Night - Gym Workout
Tuesday: Morning - Police Judo. Evening - Ritsumeikan Judo. Night - Enshin Dojo Judo
Wednesday: Morning - Police Judo. Evening - Ritsumeikan Judo. Night - Gym Workout
Thursday: Morning - Police Judo. Evening - Rest. Night - Ritsumeikan Judo
Friday: Morning - Police Judo. Evening Ritsumeikan Judo.
Saturday: Morning - Kyoto University Judo (Newaza Day)
Sunday: Morning, Evening, Night - Zzzzzzz ZZZzzzzz ZZzzzzz

Really pushing the training this week as next week the Universitys go on study break from Judo after the All Japan University Competition, we can make up for this by doing another Police Judo in the Afternoons which is Newaza (Ground Fighting) Intensive so that will be good in its own way.

So thats my plan for the week, by Sunday I'm going to be a broken shell of a man again but its pretty rewarding getting through a training week and going back the next week for another dosage of it.

J

How to efficiently cut weight in 2 days!

2010-06-15T04:58:00.000-07:00

(The Riot Police Judo Dojo & Training Facility)

The occupants of Kiwi House are currently being ravaged by some sort of stomach bug. Fortunately for me I suffered it over the weekend when there was no Judo so was back on my feet to kick off on Monday morning back into the routine.

After being sick for a couple of days I felt as weak as a newborn baby at training, which figures as when I weighed myself after training I was at an all time low of 74.2 Kilograms, down from my usual 77-79 bracket.
Feeling alot better now and putting my weight back on which is good, Lee seems to have had the worst of it and is still recovering from his bout of illness.
Not sure if it was food poisoning or a belly bug, Lee & I have been cooking chicken recently and its rather possible our hunger got in the way of it being cooked as thoroughly as it should have.
Tim has dodged a bullet having opted to place his trust in cold bento boxes when it comes to dinner and not with somanela infested chicken.

(View from the roof of our place)

I have recieved my first Judo Scholarship payment which is good news, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Rick Littlewood, Dave Mair , The Auckland University Judo Club and everybody else who has helped me out. I'm doing my best to make sure I'm worth every penny. Without this, I would still be at home in NZ, training just 4/5 times a week. It just dosnt compare. Thanks again.

Of late I have been thinking about what I'm going to do when I get back, I think this trip is going to help me build alot of momentum with Judo and if I slow down when I get back and launch into a career etc I could easily lose that snowballing momentum I have going for me right now, which is what I want to avoid. We will see what happens . One thing I really want to get involved with is promoting Judo & getting more people into it in NZ, I'm thinking about developing a Judo Programme with my old High School via the Uni Judo Club which could do with a healthy injection of Cadets at the same time. Food for thought anyway.

Training is going great, things are clicking, things are working, and I'm learning and adapting all the time and my conditioning & power is currently the best its been in my whole life X100. Its a great feeling, of course there are days when NOTHING works and you get smashed but its just perseverence. Everyone has a bad day at the office.

(Haha, thats one way to get around.)

We have all been avidly watching the Football World Cup over the last few days, right now the All Whites are playing. Bad news is that the ONLY GAME that the Japanese broadcasters decided not to play on T.V is this one. I would venture to suggest it is because Japan is in victory mode having won their first game last night and thus are playing replay clips of their win as opposed to the All Whites WorldCup debut.
Sorry guys, we tried.

All for now,
J

Lazy Sunday

2010-06-12T19:06:00.000-07:00

And so another week has rather eventfully passed by in the blink of an eye.
This week just past was perhaps one of my favourite weeks here in Japan so far, my body dosnt hurt as much as usual, I dont get half as gassed(modernisation of 'puffed out/knackered') from Judo as I did earlier, all in all I think my body has finally caught up with my lifestyle...it sure took a while doing so though.

You know how you allways here commentators in the Olympics, title boxing matches, kickboxing fights and so forth comment on the heart of the fighter/athlete and how important it is, that something I never really paid much attention too, thinking it all came down to just physical conditioning & skill base. Not true.
Over here I often find myself with literally nothing left, my throat burns, my arms are burning full of lactic acid, I cant replace my air fast enough and theres still 8 minutes on the clock and another 5 Randori's (sparring sessions) to go. Its a hell of mental battle.

In short I now know that having heart & being mentally as tough as steel is not just important, its crucial. Theres allways that point in a fight at a competition, when yourv allready gone through 5 fights to get there and you have nothing. I think the best feeling in judo is when I get to that point and emerge on top.

Saturday morning at Rits is a Newaza(ground fighting, you should all know this by now...) day, I look forward to it all week because we don't actually get so much Newaza in over here - the focuss is generally 70-80 % Tachiwaza (standing fighting) due to IJF Olympic rules making it much easier to win up top than down on the ground.
Rules or not, I love Newaza as much as Tachiwaza and manage to more than hold my own here most of the time on the ground due to AK/UNI Judo having a more 50/50 approach to Judo plus the Sensei's (sensei being ultimate coach/teacher) being Newaza experts.
I remember Rick Sensei telling me about when he first came back from Japan to NZ to fight in the nationals and won with obscure submissions that at the time had never been seen in NZ before (Sankaku - for all you BJJ/MMA players its 'Triangle') and he actually had to show the judges that the move existed legally via a Judo book he brought with him from Japan. Times sure have changed.

After training yesterday we went for the Saturday run with the Rits Judo boys, 10 K's up steep winding mountain paths in 34 Degree heat after already doing Judo is bloody tough. But I felt really good and limber after it. We all must of lost about a kg or 2 in fluids during that mountain assault. The boys & girls at Rits are preparing for the 'All - Japan Uni Judo Champs' which is just over a month away in Tokyo, us guys really want to go watch it live, but it probably costs a fair ammount to get there and lodge etc so we will probably be cheering the squad on as we watch it live on TV at home in Kyoto. I'm not sure how theyr going to do, the girls probably stand a good chance of placing but I feel the guys are going to do their best with the emphasis being on developing more competition experience. With all the world famous top Judo Uni's competing like Tokai & Tskuuba home of Olympic champions, National Champs etc its going to be a tough battle. Every dog has its day.

A few friends have been emailing "Jordan, write about more than just doing the Judo!!" sorry to disapoint but thats actually allmost all I do here. Judo, Judo, Judo, Gym, Run, Bike ride, Sleep" My one sin/vice here being in love with iced coffee...I'm not sure how im going to cope when I eventually get back home without it.

Update on Kiwis in Japan; Word is that a couple of extra Kiwi Judokas are in the process of getting ready to come here to train and live with us. Looking forward to them getting here, including our mate Hugo from Wellington Judo. We will know more about who, when and so forth in the coming weeks so watch this space. We will have to create some elaborate hazing ceremony for NZ Judoka living in the house. Sign your life away on the dotted line.

The NZ National training camp was on the weekend just past, being here I'm a bit gutted I didnt have the chance to compete in NZ so far this year and attend the camp and hope to catch the eyes on the NZ Team selectors as is the purpose of the camp, will probably have to wait until next year for that opportunity.

Take care

Jo'Dan.

P.S - If someone could give me an update of how the competition & Camp went I would be interested to hear, also any news in general in NZJUDO is appreciated.

Update:21304921093

2010-06-09T18:04:00.000-07:00

While I have lost exact track of time I have been here I think this is my 7th week training here. I'm pretty happy with how its all holding up - we are all training twice per day 6 days a week putting everything we have into it.

This trip is a really big deal for all of us, as we have put our whole lives on hold back in NZ for us to have this opportunity to do Judo at this level hopefully giving us the skills we need to chase our dreams in Judo further.
Personally I planned to go to University this year if I hadnt came here to train, while I feel its important to study & prepare for my future I love doing Judo just too much to pass on this opportunity to pursue Judo like this. I dont regret it.

Its definatly a different way to experience Japan, most people we meet spend everyday sight seeing, enjoying fine food and so forth. By contrast we spend our days either doing Judo or commuting between Judo trainings. Most of the people we meet think we are slightly crazy, and...maybe we are.
Example, today I feel like I have been hit by a train, then had it reverse back over me to finish the job, but yesterday I threw someone with Uchi-mata something I have never done even back in NZ so I think its worth it.

There is one Judoka freshman at Ritsumeikan Uni Judo that was on the Japanese Cadet team when he was younger having achieved 4th in Japan at a competition. His Judo is insanely good, as soon as I get a grip he peels it off just by moving his body backwards (his Gi is like sandpaper) and once he has taken a hold of my sleeve its like its locked in a vicegrip. I'm trying to work out exactly what it is that he does so I can attempt to emulate it.

This Sunday we are thinking about going up the river as there is said to be a spot known to be good for swimming, so if the weather decides to behave it should be good.

J

Martial Arts Marketing 101

2010-06-07T06:54:00.000-07:00

Considering giving up Judo for the more financialy lucrative Ninja...
Plus the uniform looks so much cooler, I'm sure they will let me put patches all over it, wear it in any colour/combination of colours. Relaxed Gi requirments = more customers oops I mean practicioners. Or so I was told by an 11th Dan Ninjitsu/Brazilian JJ/Karate Grand master.

So, I like Adidas just a little bit. Thanks Adidas. Buy Adidas.

As I was sharply (and rightly so) berated by my dearest Mother over Skype for not elevating her to celebraty status via my blog for her heroic accomplishment of sending me a fully equiped care package last week...its actually an awesome package, helps me cling onto the last vestige of my sanity just that little bit longer.
Thanks Mum :)

love you

All for now... some interesting things in the pipeline this week so should have an interesting blabber later this week.

J

Videos : Koga & Judo in MMA

2010-06-06T00:51:00.000-07:00

This vid is of Koga, who recently visited Rits Judo just before we started training there: He has an Olympic Gold from Barcelon & Silver from Atlanta to his name, plus 3 World Championship Golds. He is best known for his Seoi-Nage (shoulder throw) as you can see him destroying his opponents with in the video.

This Video features Shinya Aoki, this guy is one of my favourite Judo fighters in MMA. Period.

The Wall

2010-06-02T22:39:00.000-07:00

The week is nearly over allready but it still feels like its Monday, sometimes the days here just blur into each other.
Lately things have been pretty good, after our hazing period of a couple of weeks the Kidotai/Riot Police Judo team have accepted us into their ranks and are suddenly really friendly and helping us out a bit with our Judo. This coincides nicely with me figuring a few things out and starting to play alot better all of a sudden.

Today the Kyoto Riot Police Judo team had a team fight against a Riot Squad from a neighbouring prefecture, each team putting forth 1 fighter for each weight category starting at -66 and going to +100's. We were able to watch from our teams side which was cool, the fights were really good to watch, these guys all have pace and go at it with 100% for the whole fight. There werent many big ippon throws, our side won over all, mostly through Hold downs, Small points and penalties to the opposition. While it wasnt dramaticly exiting it was still good to watch especially their grip fighting & posturing for a dominant position. Our side didnt actually put forth their strongest team as alot of the toughest guys are injured or preparing for a big competition.

After the competition we did just 6 rounds of randori(sparring) because the guys were probably a bit knackered from the competition. The K1 Muscle man has returned recently (I think he trains out of a neighbouring prefecture riot squad that comes over regularily for training camps) In the last couple of weeks he has improved heaps, he fights like a mad man and uses all these throws and pick ups that look like something in pro wrestling. He actually tried to Toombstone me.

Yesterday after training in the morning (16 rounds of randori) which were really grueling and ego destroying. I probably only got one or two throws in the whole time, the other guys were feeling much the same. We more or less felt like we had hit a wall with our training and stagnating, just going in and getting smashed and being helpless like a beginner. I think it was more an issue of over training or just not enough recovery time since we have been arriving at training feeling like we allready have trained and allways running on empty.

So after training we went to lunch at a neighbouring Universitys cafeteria with Bill Vincent who had came along & a couple of guys from the Kidotai, one of whom took some time a year or so ago to teach Judo in Australia for a few weeks. While he wasnt overly impressed with Australian Judo he felt that the Australian women more than made up for this. Yoskie, one of the riot cops that came along used to attend the University and train Judo there, so he called one of his Kohai (Judo Junior/Slave) from the university and got him to meet him to give him his cafeteria discount card, I cant wait to get some Kohai to run around for me...I'll have to train my brother cameron to behave in this manner upon my return. Everytime he refuses and order I'll choke him out and he will revive to see me waiting there patiently for my task to be carried out. Bill picked up the bill for lunch which was really good of him and much appreciated.

After lunch we felt really burnt out still from training so decided to take the afternoon off to recover a bit, I hate not going to a training but we were all on less than empty energy wise so it was the smart thing to do. Seeing how I trained really well this morning and felt more powerfull than I have in weeks it was definatly the best choice.

Tonight after training I think we are going to dinner with Kasuga Sensei and the Rits Judo team. Recently Rits High School has been training with us as a training camp for them so the dinner may be something to do with them surviving it.

Getting Lee to upload his Digital Camera pictures soon so will post them all.

Flashing lights

2010-05-31T21:39:00.000-07:00

(Kyoto Tower)

Things have slowed down a bit recently, not in terms of how much we train or the intensity of it all, just nothing much going on when we arent training right now. We have more or less settled into a bit of a daily routine now. Routines are comfortable, but im 12,000 K's from home so I dont want to get comfortable I want to stay on the edge! haha.

It goes something like this. 0730 - I wake up, go downstairs half asleep and make some toast, cofee and have a bannana + 1 litre of water. Tim's usually next down around 0745 and Lee at 0800. After breakfast I spend an hour pacing around the house, packing a gi into my bag, filling water bottles and have a quick shower(which is our of order now :( !) Before I know it 0900 rolls around and its suddenly a change in pace to a mad rush for the door to get out and on our bikes. Someone allways without fail forgets something so we generally get moving around 10 past. Its a bit of a trek/cycle to the Kidotai training compound. We generally arrive around 1010 giving us 20 minutes to get changed, cut our nails and do some light stretching.

The Riot Police Judo training is a simple & effective structure. 15 minutes of stretching, 15 minutes of Uchikomi (repeatative practice of a throw, taking your partner to the point of throwing - this builds muscle memory) then an hour of Randori (free sparring) in 5 minute rounds.
After training we do another stretch and get back on our bikes after using their nice showers and get back home...usually by 1300.
At this point we have 2 hours to sit around, read love letters from female fans back home, do some shopping and take a nap.
And once again, before I know it 1500 is here and its time to get going again, usually with a nice clean, dry Gi. Logisticly this is not allways possible but we do endevour to make this happen.

Hoon along at top speed to Rits University for training, I like getting there 30 minutes early so I can have a quick shower, get changed slowely and chat a bit. We start training at 1600 - the structure here is a bit fluid, with Kasuga Sensei changing it occasionaly. Last night it was 1 hour Newaza Randori (ground fighting) 1 hour tachiwaza (standing fighting) then 30 minutes of throwing drills...which hurt!
After this is all wound up its around 1900 so Lee, Tim & I take 20 minutes to have some water and refresh before hitting Rits nice Gym. The Judo guys come in around the same time and go through these insane circuits, we are working on a different programme here more on putting a bit more power but after a month or 2 will transition into their programme.

2030, feeling really nicely wasted I go home and fall into my bed, after I take it out of storage and unfold it and make it. Zzzz Zzzz Zzz, Alarm goes off. Repeat.

When we have a bit of spare time I like to get out and mix things up a bit so that I dont go crazy doing the same old thing everyday, on sunday it was a really nice sunny day so Lee & I headed down to the river and had a bit of a swim in the centre of town. The water wasnt all that deep but it was nice to splash around and kick back on the river bank in the sun. Some Uni Students making a raft ( which failed miserably) kicked back alongside us and practiced their not so bad but not so good english on us. This coming Sunday we have promised Tim we will go to the local Irish Pub and get a good pub meal of steak and a pint of Guiness...suprisingly it didnt take much encouragement to get me onboard for this.

(Shimei Shaggers)

This morning we turned up at the Kidotai Compound but no one was training, infact no one was there. We were weirded out. Judo is allways on everymorning. "OK, Oh damn we will have to take a rest morning, oh thats the worst thing!" We were saying, while thinking "Oh this is kinda awesome, I'm going back to bed!!" Before we could make a move one of the Riot Cop Judo players came in wearing his running gear saying today they are doing mountain training, and hey! why not you guys come along!! Awesome, sounds interesting.

So we get running with the Squad up this huge mountain covered in forest but with paths and shrines through it, only problem being the fact I decided to wear walking shoes and no socks this morning...this is gonna be painfull. 5 K's later and 1000 Meters higher, yeah this is now pretty painfull I have some wicked blisters growing on my feet, bigger with every step. Tim & Lee with their nice running shoes were feeling good though and up ahead of the squad. When my feet felt like they were about to fall off one of Cops caught upto me and said the finish is just around the corner so I gassed it as fast as I could so I could beat the main pack. Phew.
I took my shoes off and sure enough I have some pretty blisters on my feet. Nothing too raw so I can still train with a bit of tape tonight.

(Relax'in area on the roof)

Word is that the Uni Judo Club is averaging 20 on the Mat on Saturdays, which is pretty cool. Not as good as 60 on the mat here 6 days a week! But still really good.
Also Sensei Ricks operation back in NZ was a success so he will be recovered and back on the mat in 6 weeks or so which is great news.
Bill Vincent is still over here and plans to train with us tomorow morning at the Kidotai, which will be good - hopefully can get a few more pointers from him regarding a few bits of my game I was honed before my competition in a couple of weeks.

Anyway, everything is going well & I'm still enjoying the training and thinkg I'm making some progress so all is as it should be. I'm loving it all

Jordan

What is Judo,

2010-05-27T19:13:00.000-07:00

I know a few of my friends & family arent to sure how Judo works, so heres a really basic run down below.

For those of you that are in the know, enjoy the highlight reels.

This video mostly shows Tachiwaza, which is the standing part of the fight.
The aim here is to throw your opponent flat on his back for Ippon (Perfect score - Instant Win) If you throw him but not with a clean, powerfull throw you may get a smaller point such as Wazari (Half Score) or Yuko (1 point, more of a tie breaker)

From scoring a smaller point you have the option of continuing the fight on the ground with Newaza (see below video & description) or standing back up to continue the fight up top, if your opponent lets you that is.

This video shows Newaza, which is the groundfighting part of Judo.
The aim here is to win either by A) Pinning your opponent flat on his back for 25 seconds B)Forcing him to 'tapout' submit to an Armbar C) Force him to Tapout/Sumbit to a Choke or Strangle, and if hes not co-operative render him unconscious.

Note: If the ref feels the fight on the ground is stagnent with neither party making progress he will stand the fight back up.

1 Month Down

2010-05-27T06:23:00.000-07:00

(Unrelated but awesome picture)

Have now been here for 1 Month, not sure how many more I'm here for but I'm looking at anything between 6-11 which is really vague but I work with what information I have. Initially I planned on being home for the Nationals but thats not too likely now but will play it by ear. I definatly don't think its worth coming back to NZ just for that one competition, but on the other hand I will want to test myself, the Auckland Internationals early next year is probably a better bet.

The last few days have been some of the toughest yet, but everything is still going good. We were invited by Matsura Sensei from the Kidotai Riot Police to come train with the community programme Dojo one evening that he runs. Matsura has been one of the friendliest guys at the Kidotai to us so far, going out of his way to look out for us and smash us extra hard into the mats so we thought it would be good to come along one evening to pay our regards.

So on Tuesday morning at training we told him we would be training with the Dojo that evening, he said thats fine but that he would not be in attendance that evening due to other commitments. No problem we rekoned, everyone over here has been nothing but welcoming to us so far so this will be no problem. We biked to training at the community Dojo run by the Police that evening which is in the same compound as the riot police. The quest took about 1 hour by bike in the rain, so needless to say by the time we finally arrived with burning thighs, we were really hungry to get fighting. One problem. The club is run primarily for Junior High School & Elementary School Students and the Sensei was a real old school Gaijin hater (Gaijin means foreigner). We decided to try and make the best of the situation and at least get warm while we were there, so we went and bowed to the Sensei, who ignored us until training and then told us that we better not injure anybody or else!

The boys both looked at me a bit nervously at this point and hastily warned me not to use any flying/rolling armbars on the kids, haha yeah right. The training wasnt actually so bad once we got into it, we all got a few decent fights with the cops that took the class but nothing too tough. We behaved like true Judoka Gentlemen so were feeling quite chuffed with ourselves as we got changed after class, out of the corner of his eye Tim noticed one of the Judoka from the club rubbing his ribs while talking to Gaijin Hating Sensei and gesturing towards Lee. We decided this would be a timely moment in which to take our leave and so the 3 musketeers rode off into the rain. Not to be seen again at this Dojo.

Yesterday, on Wednesday when riding our bikes home from training with the Kidotai for our between training naps/snacks/cry in the corner, out of the blue an undercover cop jumped out from behind a train station pulling Tim over. This guy was part of the super secret elite undercover stolen bike detection squad so he wished to check Tim's bikes rego. We all suddenly got really nervous because all of our bikes were found abandoned around Kyoto so any of them could have been reported as stolen a long time ago before being abanndoned by the thief in the junkyard that we found them.
Lee did not seem to see the police badge, and suggested that we all gun it as fast as we can back home. Before this idea could come to frutition the officer was allready on the radio checking the rego number. We decided to sweet talk the officer, saying we did Judo with the riot cops who are way tougher than him and theyr our mates etc. He then decided they had no data on the bike and we were free to go. Props to Tim for keeping a cool head while Lee & I suggested alternatives that would of not worked out so well.

Phew...that could of gone bad.

Today I recieved a package from home, from my much loved aunty Trish (thanks your the best) containing essentails like Cadbury chocolate, Top shelf cofee, Soup & Pinaple Lumps. In the bottom of the parcel was a lovelly note from Trish saying keep up the good work etc, but there was one offending clause in the letter which the guys noted immediatly "I sure hope you and the guys all enjoy this" they then decided this obviously meant that this is a communal care package for the shared welfare of all in Shimei Hall. Sorry guys, not a chance.

Olympian Bill Vincent from New Zealand came around to visit today, which was good - he was totally blown away by our huge place & how great a facility it was. Bill said he would show us the way to Ritsumeikan University & sit in on our training that night there. So off we went to training with 3 on bikes and one running on foot (Tim on way there, yours truly on the way back) The Judo players at Ritsumeikan are some of the nicest Judo players we have met so far, joking around with us from the start. Of course they had to be the toughest we have met so far aswell, taking us all to bits during the randori's (sparring), their grip strength is alot better than ours and they have really good technique. After being smashed about 5 times in a row I decided I would try and out muscle them as being a Kiwi lad familiar with the gym I can do. Wrong. These guys are also twice as strong as us. Luckily there is a really well equiped gym attached to the Dojo which we have the run of now - so we can get some good weight training done now and deliver some real power.
Ritsumeikan are currently Number 1 Uni Judo squad in Kyoto having bet the prior title holders in the city: Sangyo University in the most recent competition, ranking now 3rd in the whole Kansai region (Kansai being South-West Japan)

It was a good experience; as I was training at Kyoto University recently and getting alot of the guys (including with a few 'Robert Levy' rolling chokes) that used to throw/submit me all over the place showed me how far I have come so far. Tonight at Ritsumeikan showed me how far I still have to go. Which is allways a good wake up call.

After training we went to dinner at a Chinese Restaurant with Bill who gave us all some good pointers on our Judo & discussed Judo NZ in general aswell as his experience as a Judo player. Bill competed in 2 Olympics & qualified for 3 (not doing one due to the Moscow boycott) so he knows what hes talking about and has been where we are right now himself so it pays to listen to this guy.

It has come to light that I sleep shout so I may soon be forced to start taping my mouth shut at night, as this scares Lee who thinks the place is haunted.

Plan for the near future is build up towards our competition training mornings at the Riot Police, Ritsumeikan at night and hitting the weights when we have the time.

Jordan

The Storm Of the Century

2010-05-23T23:43:00.000-07:00

Recruitment add for Japanese Police.

Last week training at Kidotai Tim & I were both feeling cool about having both had the better of the muscle man Judo cop in randori, who we had been informed is a Pro K1/MMA fighter. Upon learning from Sensei Rick that he has only been doing Judo for 2 weeks'ish our ego's were fairly deflated.

I have been feeling pretty good lately about being the only un-injured Judoka in the house, untill this morning when I woke up with a really sore shoulder, I'm not sure how I did it as it was fine when I went to sleep lastnight.
It's a bit of a pain, this morning at training I couldn't do much with my shoulder and felt really wretched for not being able to get fully into the training, but because it's only Monday none of the Kidotai (Riot Police Squad) were really going too hard anyway. Hopefully it clears up overnight with a good sleep flat on my back. Nobody has anything serious though, just a few niggles in our backs & shoulders.

Coming into the Riot Police Compound every morning for training is a pretty cool experience, as its run like a military unit we get greeted at the gates by a uniformed officer who holds us up and makes a call through to command who say they are expecting the Kiwi Judoka - now that most of the guards know us they just wave us through with a quick salut.

For the last 5 days it's been raining non stop, it's not the heaviest rain but after a few days of it the river is going insane outside.

River going hardout.

Smart homeless man builds his house higher up.

This homeless guy aint so smart "Oh no my house!!"

Stairs out of order, please use awesome waterslide - Kyoto City Council.

On Friday night we hosted the goodbye party for Rick & Yumico, also in attendance was Aoki San & his lovelly wife whos name escapes me at this moment. After spending 3 hours cleaning up, setting up & shopping for the snacks and drinks for the party our guests all arrived and we all got chatting about how we had found Japan so far. The general consensus was that the people are nice, the food is cheap if not allways filling, the training is awesome but the language is pretty tough. After a while an awkward silence emerged, because it would be rude for us to speak to each other non stop in fluent english, but we had run out of observations about japan/interesting facts about NZ/bad jokes (after the Geisha joke going astray I'm pretty carefull with humour)to tell our Japanese guests who have fairly limited English.

Suddenly we get sideswiped with a request for the Haka which after a small ammount of heckling we agree to do, so with no further adue we get up and perform like the fullblooded white boys we are. Aoki & his Wife found it pretty entertaining so we taught Aoki San the Haka and got him to perform it for Ricks camera, so it will inevitably end up on Judokong.com in the near future. After being warmed up by the Haka & a fair ammount of Lee's 42 Below Fejoa Voda, Aoki San just didnt want to stop singing so he got up and sang another. A few song later the wives hustled the men home so we could start cleaning up and get to bed. The cleaning didnt eventuate for a day or 2 when the smell in our bedroom became a bit too much.

Tomorow will hopefully be feeling fitter in my shoulder and be back to fullthrottle at training, especially as we are starting at Ritsumeikan on Wednesday I want to be 100%. Fingers crossed.

J

A new way of dealing with the guard

2010-05-20T02:03:00.000-07:00

(Tim, lee & I with Sensei Rick & The Riot Police Sensei's)

Today I decided my current mop of a haircut was too sissy and definatly not tough enough for me. So, thinking along these lines I rode lee's pink bike to the local barber shop and requested the shortest cut possible. This was a slow process as I had to say no to each razor size from largest to smallest in that order until the correct one was produced. The haircut was cheap as, probably for good reason as the useless barber missed a spot that I had to correct upon checking it in the mirror back at Shimei Manor.

Training twice a day again today, currently in between sessions. Body is still holding up well even though I have to run to training and back due to the missing bike key dilemna, which will be resolved when sensei Rick leaves for NZ - then I can use his bikes. Yesterday training at Kyodai I decided I wanted to test their style of Judo which has not followed Olympic rule changes which have geared Judo towards 70 percent fighting standing up. These guys love to just drop to the ground on their buts and try and fight you there everytime(Very similar to BJJ/Brazilian Jits). Personally I love Newazza (ground fighting) with it being one of my strengths but enough was enough I wanted to throw people around. I saw their most notorious butt flopper battling Coosez the french player, doing his usual drag downs and dropping to the ground.

I waited right next to their fight for the timer to hit zero so I could request a randori with butt flopper #1 before anybody else. As soon as we both get a grip on each other he drops to the ground on his bum, and begins attempting to tangle me up. Ha, I came prepared with a stragety fool. Before the thud from his butt smacking the matt has finished resounding around the Dojo I lift him back to his feet using a strong grip and a power squat lift. He still dosnt get the idea after this and immediatly drops back onto his backside, so, I repeat this again...and again...and again. After this has happend about 4 or 5 times he seems to get the picture and stays standing, due to his lack of Tachiwaza practice( standing fighting ) his game is terrible and I throw him flat on his back pretty quickly his a simple foot sweep. He then decides hes had enough of this so goes back to his original strategem of dropping to his backside. Grrr. Stand up!! This time I enact some advice Lee gave me regarding these sort of situations and I let him drop, keep a strong grip and use him to mop the matts, dragging him back and forth, side to side around the Dojo. Tim & Coosez both watching found this really funny. Unfortunately before the I have time to clean the whole Dojo the timer hits zero and times up. No hard feelings between me and butt flopper #1, infact I think he rather enjoyed the new challenge. Perhaps by coincidence the technical training that day after Randori (Sparring) consisted of how to deal with people who stay standing when your on the ground & how to get them on the ground.

Training this morning with the Riot Police went better than last time, we still got roughed up. I had a couple of good fights with the muscle-man riot cop I saw on my first visit and he got me a couple of times but I also got him with 2 Seoi-Nage ( shoulder throw) and a Tai-Otoshi (Leg Drop, see picture in one of the earlier articles) One of the Senseis (Judo teachers) gave me a decent thrashing, he was having fun playing with me even pretending to karate chop my neck after throwing me on my back. One day I'll throw him and do the same...but not anytime soon.

Our competition in Osaka has been postponed for some reason or another until the 15th of next Month, little disapointed but no drama's as it's more time to prepare. If I win X amount of fights in a row I get my Blackbelt so heres hoping. Tomorow we need to spruce the place up & do a shop for Sensei Ricks going away party. Other than that no new news has emerged from the New Zealand/Shimei Manor, though there are rumours of more Kiwi's coming over to live & train with us or even possibly Brits.

J

The Beast of Shimei Hall

2010-05-18T20:12:00.000-07:00

(Statue of a Fox at a Shinto Temple)

This morning, I feel like I have been beaten non-stop with a baseball bat for hours on end. In a way I have, as yesterday morning we trained with the Kyoto Riot Police Judo Squad.

These guys are tough. I was starting to think I was getting good a few days ago as we all threw a few of the guys at Kyoto Uni around + the french contingent, Lee threw the -90 Kilograms frenchie so hard that he didnt get back up for 5 minutes and to rub salt into it he choked another player unconscous (he didnt tap) I bombed a few guys (including Coosez the smaller frenchie) with my Tai otoshi and managed to submit a few of them on the floor aswell. So of course we were feeling a bit flashy. If only we knew what ashita (tomorow) had in store for us.

The next morning at 1030 we caught the underground to meet Sensei Rick at the Police Dojo, as we walked into the compound I realised this was going to be something else as a 6'4 Japanese Riot Cop got out a van, slung his Judo-Gi over his shoulder and walked in the dojo, this guy looked like monster with a shaved head and bodybuilder muscles. I was thinking, ah whatever...must be be local giant. 5 Minutes later after getting changed and entering the Dojo we saw that there were another 40 just like him, with many even bigger.
I'm not going to go into the next 2.5 hours in detail as its all a bit of a blurr, but we got a decent hammering, it was a good session though and I like to think I learned. So we will be going back on Thursday morning this week out for revenge, or another hiding. Either or, perseverence.

(Wolf or not, you be the judge)

After the training we went and saw a few temples in the near locale, I went upto a girl dressed as a Geisha and asked for a picture in Japanese only to hear her respond in a thick american accent " I dont speak Japanese! I speak enlish allright!!" it was a little but embarrassing but I got my picture. Also saw what I believe to be Wolf off the track, aparantly theres lots of wild animals around here: Boar, Fox's, Snake's, Badgers etc.

When we got back home after what felt like the longest train ride, made harder for my as I lost my bike keys and had to run the 5 K's from the train station to our house (wow crazy doing that after hours of Judo, have gotten so much fitter since getting here) we did a quick clean of the house as a mutual friend of Rick Sensei & I's Greg was coming to visit; Greg has lived in Kyoto for 8 years so is a great contact to have aswell as being a good guy. He has a few leads in helping to get me a bit of part time work (1 or 2 hours a week for 10,000 Yen an hour for group teaching) which works out to a couple of hundred NZ'ds!!! would make it easier for me to stay here a longer time as long as it dosnt mess with my Judo schedule - which comes first.
He was totally in awe of our place, hes coming over on friday for our BBQ/Ricks Farewell so that will be cool. Sensei Rick & Yumico also came over and brought us some crackers & half a bottle of wine. Thanks.

(Pocari Sweat, the power of 10 Powerades the ultimate in sports recovery)

After everybody left we all took a power nap to get some energy for that nights training at the local Dojo, we got there an hour early so had to join in with the kids class. When the olds eventually got there and seniors training started it wasnt so bad, especially compared to the hell we had went through that morning haha. We all got thrown a couple of times but we all got some decent throws back on them. The club is more relaxed in its attitude, allmost like the Uni Club back in Auckland.
After training Rick took us guys out to Ramen for dinner, it was really good; for some reason my one was bigger and had extra meat & eggs so I was stoked about that.
Finally dragged ourselves through the door sometime after 10, Lee & I immediatly took care of the bottle of wine which went down a treat.

A few days ago I had a bit of an experience while using our hose shower, this is the 100% honest version before the overly exagerated versions get out from the boys. While I was having my daily shower a HUGE Millapede/Centipede came hooning out of the drain at my feet, seriously this thing was about 25 centimetres long and had big pincers snapping open and shut loudly enough for me to hear the clicking. As brave a man as I am, I did not want to mess around with this thing as it was obviously deadly poisonous - anybody with a brain could tell that. I emmited a loud (Deep) roar, not out of fright but so to warn all the others in the vicinity of this potential threat. I then hastily made my way up stairs, in my haste forgetting my clothes & towel. I was in such a rush as I wished to get a stick to take care of this thing, not run away.

(The Beast of Shimei)

When I returned the beast had been dealt to by Lee who had been informed of the threat by my very vocal warning and so goes the tale of the beast of Shimei Hall.

Training is coming up soon, so time to get my gear together, hydrate and prepare to deal death to my enemies.

J

Ippon

2010-05-16T21:01:00.000-07:00

This video shows Ten of the top Ippons between 03-04, good to watch for some of my followers who dont watch Judo - Ippon is an instant win (Submission or a big throw onto someones back)

Dealings with Samurai-Jin

2010-05-16T20:03:00.000-07:00

I saw a Turtle in the pond by our place, everybody loves turtles.

As there are a few new faces lurking around in my Castle, introductions were required to the Shatcho & his vice president.

We were ordered to meet them at 1630 on Saturday, not wanting to scew this up and taking into account that the company's HQ is on the other side of time we left on our bikes a whole 40 minutes before we were due to meet our benefactors...Sometimes the world just conspires against you in these situations.

Not long after we had departed Shimei Castle, Lee and I heard a distant shout as we rode along the waterfront, Southwards towards Total Home HQ. Turning to investigate the source of this commotion I saw Tim 50 meters back furiously working on his bike. His bike donated second hand by the People of Kyoto (abandoned) felt this was a timely moment to introduce us to its broken chain.

The chain was shortly fixed but it managed to fall off every 5 minutes meaning we arrived at the bosses place 15 minutes late. While they were OK with this, we lost a bit of face and probably appear to be unrealiable. Hopefully Tim's gift of Red Wine from NZ & Kiwi Chocolate and Lee's present of Kiwifruit 42 Below Vodka & Kiwifruit Chocolate smoothed things over well.

That night we went to Rick's house warming party, we were told to come late to scavenge all the left over food & drinks which we did in a very smart fashion. One of the guests was Toyoda Sensei who is the coach for a High School Judo Team, he gave us all his Biz Card and invited us to come train with his squad on the 28th. Apparantly he has a few adolescent monsters training in his team so it will be good fun.

I'm the only single one living in the house right now, the guys like it when I wink at the girls to see their reactions. As they would get murdered by their respective girls back home for such an act.

We all did a day trip with Nakakuras daughters and a translating Mother-Inlaw to Nijo Castle on Sunday our day off. It was really cool, the Castle was really amazing (see the pics) the floors all wistle like a bird when you walk on them - this was so that Ninja could not sneak up on the Emporer when he was relaxing with the Geisha (Ancient Prostitutes) I made a joke in bad taste about the Emporer and the Geisha forgetting our gentle company, it did not go down so well.
Nijo Castle is where the Emporer took the power back from the Shogun Warlord after 300 Years of Military rule, as the Shoguns Administration was too corrupt.

We are doing 1 more week of training at Kyodai to harden up our bodies & minds before launching into Ritsumeikans fulltime programme next Monday. The reason we are not starting today is because they have a big competition this Saturday and don't want us to interfere with their final build up of their preparation programme which will be tapering off this week. Despite them being busy with this their Sensei Kasuga is coming to visit us with Rick Sensei tomorow at 1200 to meet us etc which is a very generous gesture. They currently have a Mongolian Champion living & training with them who was selected for the 2008 Olympics but did and injury - he is training with Rits in preparation for 2012 London so thats a testament to how good their training is. It works out best this way also as Tim & lee are both only just newly arrived and a week of training at Kyodai will be usefull for them to build up.
We are hitting 100 pushups & situps morning and night, we are lucky to have Lee in the house as he knows all about nutrition, weight training and stretching having worked in the gym and played the World Circuit for years.

We went over to Aokis for dinner last night where we got to join in the cooking of of Japanese Pizza/Pancakes which was fun. We made a shopping list in English for his daughters to test them & got stuck into mixing the bowls and making the food so it was nice and relaxed. Our different personalities work well in these sort of things as Tim is more of the silent type, Lee the natural entertainer and I'm somewhere in the middle ( more of less perfect) so theres no personality clashes. We invited Aoki & his family to our House Warming next week which is a Kiwi Themed BBQ, its also going to be Sensei Ricks farewell as he is back off to NZ next week. We have the mission ontop of Judo this week of getting Sausages, Steaks, etc for the event.
Lee asked Aoki what Japanese people like to be called, with NZ'ers being Kiwis as an example, Aoki was unsure as to what their collective name is other than Nihon-Jin(Japanese People) but said he would like it if they were to be called Samurai-Jin (Warrior-People) I thought that sounded cool enough so perhaps it will catch on.

Noooo!! You cant Choke out the Squirels Jordan!

General Status Update

2010-05-14T03:57:00.000-07:00

For the last couple of days things have been going well, the house is starting to come together and the other two guys from NZ - Tim n Lee have both arrived ( with the later arriving outside our house at 2am last night unexpectedy), theyr both decent guys and train hard so no problems there.

Training is going better and better, starting to catch some of the guys that made mincemeat of me when I first arrived, even managed to sneakily catch Wailou once Yesterday with a Tai otoshi (Body drop throw - see pic for reference) Tonight was especially good, went full throttle - both the other guys from NZ also went hard and did well.

We have our first competition on the 6th of next month in Osaka City, so we will be training as hard as possible in preparation for that. Looking forward to having a competition and seeing how I go aswell as travelling to another city.
Last night at training there was a Batsugun for the team captain, who I think was getting a Dan promotion - he fought 10 members in a row winning all fights, then after training began as normal though slightly later & he still trained just as hard as everybody else for the next 3 hours. Never seen somebody that fit before, really impressive fighting spirit.

Our house dosnt have a shower so we have made do with this short nozzle in the laundry area that you can point at yourself, since the floor has decent drainage it seems to work. The universitys all have free showers we discovered today so will probably be using them from now on even when theres no training.

Due to it being a really busy last week I havnt really had much time to keep up with people back home, I havnt forgotten about anyone but just have been flat tack with Judo, Judo, working on the house, the guys arriving etc. I hear from reliable sources that I'm to be recieving a parcel early next week containing essentials like Coffee, chocolate, vogel, cheese, vegimite, some dvds and honey. I'm not a big muncher of honey usually but you cant get it for less than 2,500 Yen here so I really am looking forward to using some of that.

We got some pots and pans courtesy of Byan, who also provided us with a toater (thanks) which will be awesome so we can now make some scrambled eggs, being dying for that for the last week or so...

Tomorow we are training at Ritsumeikan University & Monday we are training with the RIOT POLICE(as there arent riots often all these guys do is Kendo/Judo/Karate all day long) which will hopefully be hardcore!Maybe now the picture at the start of this post makes a bit more sense. we also will be training with the normal police squad aswell. My body is a bit tender all over right now but holding up well with no injuries and not long to sunday when I do some serious recovery & start next week fresh.

It's time for me to nake a power nap for the evening then catch up with Iraklis as I havnt seen him in a bit.

J

Kiwi Judo's Kyoto Bastion

2010-05-12T09:28:00.000-07:00

Here's a few pictures of the Bastion - Pre my DIY makeshift renovations.

-Above is our swanky lounge, featuring chinese machine crafted couches, Ministry of Education (JPN) standard issue carpets and interior room design courtesy of Kyoto Education Board.

-See the above hall, perhaps later we will see this metamorphis into a makeshift gym/dojo. Only time will tell.

- Now if you would care to view the above section of the Tatami Mat room that I personaly am in habitation of - prior to it's renovation.

- Ah, now allow me to direct you to the roof-top balcony. Weather not permitting it to be viewed in all it's glory, but it does not take great imagination to see a lively BBQ scene on a clear blue summers day.

One must also be aware of local pollution by-laws, as the drains in this particular locale are most sensitive as can be seen clearly from the look on this examples face.

A most vivid reminder of where not to take the kids to eat,that is unless you wish for them to move up a weight category or become Sumo wrestlers - in which case this an ideal eatery to frequent.

New week, New house

2010-05-11T03:34:00.001-07:00

Picture: My new place from the outside.

Rolling my way through a new week, loving being over because I never get the midweek blues that I get while working in NZ.

Today I moved into the School building with the help of Aoki San, Sensei Rick advised it would be wise to gift them a case of top Japanese Beer, so we headed over there and I grabbed a case which they gift wrapped. They had a real struggle putting my name in the Hirigana on the box - interestingly my name roughly Translates to Jo-Dan, meaning joke. The place here is great, its so huge...looking forward to more kiwi Judoka getting over here and filling this place up.

Training is going great, coming into the new weeks training feeling on top form. Some players here try to avoid me, not because I'm that good but just because I'm the Gaijon (Foreigner) at the club, it's a two sided coin in that regard because theres another whole batch of guys who want to fight you non stop just because of this - these guys are usually the ones you want to be fighting anyway.
The long randori's and the length of the training is still a physical challenge but I never fall behind and get back up everytime and keep going at it. I'm really enjoying the intensity of the training, the tough training in itself is motivation for me. Learnt some really interesting new sweeps for Newazza (Ground Fighting) that have been working well additional to the new ways of passing guard I have been experimenting with which are having mixed success depending on who I'm fighting so will need to review these.

No circle of death after training over here, everyones way to burnt out to bother with pushups, squats and situps but I make sure I uphold this ritual from Auckland Uni Club in the mornings. What I'm really looking forward to is my first Shiaii (Competition) over here - if I win my way to Shodan over here maybe I dont have to do a shout for the boys at the club back home? Don't think theres any getting out of that ancient tradition though.

Tim from Gisborne is arriving tomorow which will be good, looking forward to it. Once he's here were going to head over to Sayaka's (from Auckland Uni Judo Club) University and start training there 6 days a week. Looking forward to it as they are said to be tougher than the guys at Kyodai, should be alot I can learn from them.

Money is going well, apart from shelling out on the wimpy coffee (see prev post) a few days ago and buying a case of beer for Aoki & Nakakura I have been spending loose change buying discounted fish and Bento, also picked up some bread, speads and yoghurt to stock my new fridge so I have some variety in diet. Yoghurt is really amazing for energy levels - a few days ago I started having some before training and feel a real difference in my output levels. But food aside , I'm on target to get to the end of the month with more than half my initial funds which will then become my emergancy money since I'll then be receiving my first Scholarship payment of 2,000 - this roughly converts to 128,000 Yen. This is easily enough for a month and If I continue to be prudent about it I can put some aside to extend my stay by another couple of months.

My sources in NZ have informed me reliably that the National Judo Training Camp in NZ will be open this year as long as you meet a minimum grade requirement. I really urge everyone that can to head over to this and see that they can learn and get some decent mat time. Strategicly it's also probably a good place to scope out your competition and get a better idea of their strengths and weaknesses ( this is a two way street though).

For the rest of the week I plan to continue training hard (of course) work on the house to get it nice and homely which will be a mission in itself as it's so damn big and perhaps go sight seeing on my bike time permitting - Iv had a tip off that the kind, generous people of Kyoto wish to donate us a few more bikes and that they will be left unlocked and rusting slowely at various locations including Kyodai, Sanjo Dori and Nijo Train Station so I suspect we will also follow this up.

J

Mon Ki Mountain in colour.

2010-05-09T22:25:00.000-07:00

Back to School

2010-05-09T20:53:00.000-07:00

After 6 days in a row of Judo I was of the belief I had survived to finally enjoy my rest day - Sunday. Unfortunatley the universe had other plans in motion, after training on Saturday I rushed back to my place to prepare my lesson for Aoki San as I was due to teach him an hour long English class in an hour. I allowed myself 10 minutes to zone out on my bed before I dived into the English text books to plan out a lesson.

After 45 minutes of this I thought I had a pretty good idea of what I would ramble on about and had some activities planned to break up the monotomy of the lesson, the lesson went relatively well with a small hiccup when I was asked what sarcasm meant, it is really difficult to explain the whole concept of it to someone who has no comparable concept in their own language/culture.

After the lesson Aoki San took me to dinner around the corner, to a restaurant that unsurprisingly his firm owns...I'm seriously starting to wonder what they don't own, on the way to dinner he pointed out numerous buildings his company owns. The dinner was nice, the food was Onikawa style (A Nihon island where Karate comes from) they have lots of pigs on the island so lots of the food is tong (pork) but it was really good, Aoki also treated me to a couple of Onikawa native cocktails which were like tequila & lime in taste but are made up of something else mixed with Sake - of course.

Before I continue I'm going to rewind around 12 hours.

Aoki had spoken to me in the morning of this day to tell me that he may have a place for the other Judo guys from Kiwi land to stay when they arrived in the next week and that I should get Rick Sensei to contact him soon about this. I passed on the message and went to Judo, which was really the hardest training yet as all my accumulated pains from the week were now in full force and I was really mentally at the end of the bridge, but the thought of chilling out tomorow (Sunday) reading my book and generally recovering gave me the strength to persevere and go 110%, Saturday is also tougher because a few alumni of Kyoto University come to train as its their day off, they are generally in their late 20's/early 30's and have a whole week of work ready to vent out on you. One of them came and asked me for a fight during Randori time, I was interested to see what he had. I found out somewhere between 10-20 seconds later when I was suddenly staring at the roof as he threw me with Seoi-Nage (A shoulder throw, where you literally throw someone over your shoulder) Heres a link to a video of a Seo-Nage - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcZENFhcNtQ

I risked a hasty glance at the clock and saw that I have another 8 minutes with this guy so I decided to try and catch him off guard with something unconventional, so when we engaged next I kept my distance until he came after me, when he did I caught his arm and went for a rolling armbar, it didnt quite work out because I lost his arm as I rolled but He was now on his back so I pinned him untill he eventually gave up and tapped out. The next 6 minutes were mostly his but I was happy that I had caught him once and started to figure out his a game by the end of the round.

Ok, only another 9 to go...
9 Randoris(fullcontact sparring) later and I'm barely standing but now theres only 30 minutes of various drills left and I can jump on my flash silver bike and wizz home. The drills mostly concentrated on being on the offensive when someone has turtled up on the ground or has pulled guard on the ground while you are still standing. Learnt some interesting new things here that I'm looking forward to trying to apply. Maybe on my arch-nemisis Wailou, maybe.

Anyway after training I got a call from Rick Sensei who had some news regarding his chat with Aoki, it was big news. The place that they have offered us to stay in is actually a School, or was a School to be more correct, Japan has an aging population so quite a few schools are closing down as theres just no kids around to fill the classrooms. Taking advantage of this, the Company decided to purchase one in Town when it closed down recently. It's a 3 story building with about 4 classrooms on the bottom floor, a large kitchen, huge chill out living room furnished with couches & computer, a big formal dinning room and a Piano. On the second floor theres a big rec room which will be used for storage, a enormous room floored with tatami mats so we will use this for sleeping, another kitchen and a bathroom. The top floor was the school hall.

So to come back forward to after dinner, As we were walking away from the restaurant Aoki San advised me one of the houses in the locale they had recently purchased was to be demolished in a couple of days and that tomorow we are wellcome to take any furnishings from the place for our new pad at the school. I went to bed early and the next day (his day off) he helped Rick and I move chests of drawers, a fridge, microwave, hutch dressers, futon beds etc with a company truck to the school to furnish the place.

Some pictures and a article corresponding to this can soon be found on www.Judokong.com - also if your into Judo or grappling in general this is a good site to follow, courtesy of the Auckland University Judo Club.

Theres an idea floating around that we can use this place as a base for Kiwi Judoka in Japan, its a great place to base out of right in the centre of around 4 tough Judo universities, plus the Police Judo Club. As things can change in the blink of an eye I feel this will be on a play by ear approach so watch this space anyway.

After providing us this this place, furtiture and company truck it was only polite that the President of the company Nakakura treat US to an extensive lunch, this was contrary to Rick & I's plan to take Them out to lunch. But when the boss has made his mind up you do what he says. The food was great and he ordered me around 5 dishes while everyone else had 1 or 2, it was like a challenge to see just how much a young westerner can eat. I ate everything in front of me, so he decided to order me some more...Which I eventually managed to get through, so he ordered me some desert, which I managed to get through (with some timely help from Sensei Rick) Fortunatley everyone had other plans for the day so it was time to move out, with my stomach straining not to explode I slowely shambled along back home. As we walked back we passed a place called MOOSE BURGER which is like Japanese Burger Fuel, Shatcho Nakakura (Shatcho means the big boss) then queried if I could handle some of this. I finally gave in and conceded a defeat, I actually was having some pains in my stomach and trouble walking at this point. Japan 1, NZ 0.

Today I went to Starbucks, a sin in itself. Once there I purchased a 500 Yen Venti sized Coffee smothered in cream and caramel and everything else they could chuck in it to make the most wimpy, unmanly coffee imaginable. Whatever, I dont care I really needed that even though I'm skipping lunch to cover the cost of it. Totally worth it.
I'm not sure if I have mentioned this before or not, but Nihon-Jin (Japanese People) make TERRIBLE coffee, but they LOVE coffee, they charge you an arm and a leg for a cuppa because its that popular, yet they still make these bubbly, frothy, weak excuses for coffee. If I was a smart man & a rich man I would be in here with a couple of skilled Kiwi Barristers opening a good Cafe turning out the real deal, you would really make a huge killing and probably grab the whole market share for Kyoto within a week. Now for a reminder that this blog and all ideas expressed within it are the intellectual property of Jordan Reynolds and any use of such are criminal.

Some advise for anyone planning on coming over here: Do your shopping at the Supermarket after 1930, reason: All perishable foods are 50% cheaper. You can grab a 500 Yen Bento box of food for 250 or even less, fish for 50 yen etc. The only risk you run is rocking up all exited about the feast you can now have with your loose change and theres nothing left. This happened to me the other day after I finished training around 9. I wearily rode my bike round to the Supermarket, really looking forward to a decent, nourishing meal and what do I find? Nothing. The damn Japs had eaten everything. I had to settle on the only remaining item which consisted of raw squid flesh and a few tentacles. Didnt even fill me up either.

I have training in a couple of hours so I had best take a power nap to mildy compensate for not doing lunch today.

J

Mon Ki Mountain

2010-05-06T19:12:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I traveled to Monkey Mountain which is in the South Of Kyoto, Monkey Mountain is basicly a researve for the Japanese Snow Monkey - on a mountain. After paying 500 Yen to enter I, along with Isao( Isao used to work for Rick at the martial art shop in NZ for a few years) & his wife headed up the hill. The researve is an open zoo, so you have to be carefull not to stare at the monkeys for they go bannanas and will try to destroy you, this is difficult as they look funny and its really hard not to stare at them...

When we reached the top of the mountain there was an incredible view back over Kyoto city, and a small shop were one can purchase monkey food to feed them with. I could not pass up such an opportunity, so I purchased a bag of Bannanas for 100 Yen (like 2 dollars) so began to hand feed my favourite monkeys. You can you feed them like you feed a horse with an open hand, otherwise they might pull your fingers off. It was kinda cute as they put their little monkey hand out and take the bannana and run away a few feet to peel it and munch it down as if theyv stolen it from you.

There was one big boss monkey that had a huge pile of dozen of bannana skins next to him who obviously was running they show, so to be polite and pay my respects I fed him a few bannanas. I got a few pictures of the Monkeys doing Monkey buisiness but I'm not sure how to post them on this site yet so check my facebook or ask for an email of them, they are seriously awesome monkeys.

After we had seen enough of the monkeys we walked back down the hill to the road where we had parked our bikes, at the same time as we reached the bottom I heard this big thundering roar, which by the second was getting louder. Out of nowhere a big Japanese motorbike gang came hooning around the corner over the bridge on these big Harley Davidsons, it was kinda comical as they looked exactly like a Western Biker Gang with their patches and leather vests etc so I had to laugh (behind my hand)

Yestday ( the day after the monkey experience) I headed over to the International Centre planning to do not much just chill out and email some people, but discovered upon my arrival that it was closed for the day for some strange reason. I was most disapointed by this turn in events, another guy was trying to get in aswell so we decided to go tramping in some nearby mountains instead, he's been here for about 6 Months on a working holiday visa from Greece so he sorta knew were to go which was cool. The mountains & forest were really tranquil and peacefull with lots of random shrines to various gods spread among the forest. I have to say the one let down was lots of litter around the place, I know its close to the city but still, it was a bit gross seeing it desecrating was would otherwise be a really nice nature trek. when we were about 20 minutes in we heard this russling and WAM out of nowhere there is this huge Snake! I was really suprised and confused - Japan has snakes?!?!? It was really large and within 2 meters of us so I was a little nervous as Iricles explained there are poisonous and non poisonous snakes in Japan and we were unsure which category this on fell into. After a few minutes of standing off with the serpant it got bored and hooned off at top speed into a creek and sorta surfed away.

Iricles told me that a few months ago he had been tramping nearby and wandered into a clearing that had a horde of Wild Japanese pigs with tusks and all snortling about and that he had to make a run for it. It seems every animal in Japan is really aggressive, especially if you stare at it. Maybe I shouldnt wish this upon myself, but I actually really do hope I see a wild Bear next time I head out, it would be pretty cool. I suppose I would have to be quite stealthy and sorta sneak up close to get a picture.

Apart from seeing various native animals I have been doing Judo at Kyodai (Kyoto Uni) everyday. The training here tough, going for 3 hours 6 times a week, my stamina and strength is getting better each day so perhaps in a few weeks I can start doing two of these a day. They all seem to have pretty bad cauliflower ear which im trying to avoid getting while I'm here, but when I try to defend a strangle/choke when doing randori (full contact sparring) they allways ram their hands and knuckles past my ears until I move my hand up to cover them. Then my neck is exposed and its lights out.

There is one Judoka (Judo Player) that trains here that I have started to call Warlou, as for some reason whenever he does anything he shouts WARLOUU!!! in a really deep voice. I have no idea what it means, or why he does it, but without fail whenever we do anything - pushups, Randori (sparring), warm ups I hear this booming WARLOUU intermittently every 20 or so seconds. Seriously, he was a bit late the other day and while I was training I heard this muffled WARRLOUU!! coming from the changing room, and sure enough he emerged in his Judo Gi (Judo Uniform) a few minutes later. I would find this funny and maybe imitate him if he wasnt one of the toughest players there, hes only 5'10 ish tall but hes about as wide as he is tall and built like a brick shithouse. I actually thought I had his neck for a strangle from behind with his face pushed into the tatami (mat) but then I heard this muffled WARLOU!!! from under me, a few seconds later he kinda exploded, flipped me around and got me in an Armbar.

While the training is really hard and exhausting I'm enjoying it heaps and know I made the right decision in coming over here. In a couple of days Lee & Tim will be arriving from NZ and then we will be heading over to Ritsumeikan University to train regularily which is tougher than Kyodai, it will be interesting to see how that goes..

J

Asian drivers are the best.

2010-05-02T18:52:00.000-07:00

Coming from New Zealand, I have been exposed and accimilated to the stereotype that Asians make very poor drivers. Nothing could be further from the truth! During my first couple of days here in Kyoto I saw dozens of ALLMOST crashes, situations that in NZ would have definatly lead to a crash. At first I thought this was indeed proof that they are geneticaly disposed to be terrible drivers until I did the math; while I have seen many near misses, I have yet to see ONE accident - taking into consideration that these near accidents required some nerves of steel and skill to avoid it suddenly all made sense.

The Japanese are fantastic drivers, infact theyr actually too good, they drive in such an extreme way that we can't keep up with them in NZ thus resulting in an accident. Seriously, look at the world rally drivers ranking - the Japs are consistantly among the top group.

The place I have been staying is very nice, the family have been really helpfull in helping me settle in and get to know the area. It was a little uneasy at first as I dont speak Nihongo and they dont speak English, but with the help of a translating son in law who came over to help & one of those talking/translating Japanese calculators everything is going well now. In fact this morning I recieved a Japanese lesson from the younger daughter ( I can't remember her name, I think remembering all the names is the hardest thing) the lesson was pretty basic and just covered different greetings for different locations but it was still really helpfull.

The Shatcho (boss)/ head of family Nakakura has left with Aoki to Korea for around a week pretty much trusting me with the house, he advised me through his son in law that I may eat anything from the fridge etc but I have been buying Bento (pre packaged meals) from the supermarket as I feel they are allready doing enough for me. Bento is really cheap anyway, usually around 300-400 Yen for a good meal sized box with my daily budget sitting around 1500 yen, Iv managed to find enough cheap ways to eat that my daily expenditure is more like 900-1000 Yen now which I'm smug about.

I decided this morning to indulge myself to a bit of Kiwi nostelgia(spelling??) after talking to my Mum & Brother back home on Skype. I really miss good coffee, sure they drink coffee over here but its nothing like a decent flat white in Auckland. I managed to find a Starbucks, which while not the best place for it is the best I can find and ordered myself a Venti (humgunuss) sized Cappacino, I brough my laptop along so that I could sorta surf the web/do emails while I drank it but they didnt have Wifi (which is really rare over here ) so I just chatted to a couple of British girls who joined me. They were heading over to the Imperial gardens and wondered if I was keen to come along, I respectfully declined as neither of them were goodlooking & I have to visit the International Centre to check for cheapbikes etc on the noticeboard.

Which is where I am right now. Its basically a place for Gaijin to come, use free internet on their laptops, drink coffee from a cafe and look for jobs/bikes/apartments or just general advise from the staff and notice board.
I saw a few cheap apartments which I took details down for to pass to Rick, as the other guys coming over may need somewhere like that to stay when they arrive.

On the weekend I visited the Kyodai Judo Club(Kyoto University) but the times have changed from those advertised and I caught the end of the training session. I had a chat with the team captain, who said I can start training with them from the 4th at 0900(Tomorow) as until then they are taking a small holiday for golden week. they also were preparing for a competition they have annualy against Sangyo Uni which the captain believed they would lose as Sangyo is one of the toughest Uni's out.

Aoki also seemed to agree when I discussed this with him, his theory is that as Kyoto Uni is the 2nd best in Japan (out of literally 1000's of Uni's) it is predominantly made up of very very smart people and as a rule of thumb very smart people ( with exeptions of course) are not the biggest & tougest of characters. Wheras Sangyo Uni is a Industrual Uni (kinda like a Tech for Trades) and has alot of big Judo thugs training there.

The players at Kyoto Uni all seemed very tough & most were around my size/slightly bigger so I'm not too sure what to expect from Sangyo. I'm really looking forward to getting into the 6 day a week training schedule from tomorow. Tonight after helping Sensei Rick move into his new house I think we are going to a Dojo at Doisha which I trained at last time I was in Japan. Its a tough Judo dojo which is around 2 meters wide and 20 long (sort of bus shaped) and has imprints in the wall in the shape of human bodies from being being thrown into the walls. This is actually true, infact when I post my first bunch of pics tomorow I will include some of this dojo to prove it.

Yesterday I went for a big run around my region of Kyoto (Sanjo-dori/Horikawa Dori sort of area) which was tough because its so hott & humid, everyday its getting a bit hotter as summer is fast approaching.

J

Home

2010-04-30T17:56:00.000-07:00

After being here for 2 days now I'm starting to get the run of things, I managed to meet up with Rick after getting lost for a while downtown but my superior instinctual sense of direction got me there eventually.

I have rented a bike now which makes this place a whole new world to me, I can get accross the whole city in around 20 minutes easily, riding a bike around here is pretty fun you you just hoon along at top speed ringing your bell at everyone who gets in the way - unfortunatly my bell dosnt work so I go for a more vocal approach.

Iv had some great luck accomodation-wise; Yesterday I went with Rick & Yumiko(his wife) to visit the builders of his new house for some reason or another and they invited us up for a cup of tea & a chat, while they all exchanged conversation in rapid fire Japanese I sat there smiling being patient, being as observant as possible. Due to my diligent observations I noticed that they were all regularily pointing at me as they chatted and I began to worry what I had done wrong, have I offended them?

Quite the contrary, the President of the Company - Master Nakamura invited me to see the upstairs of his house. I accepted this proposal thinking he had something cool to show me like a samurai sword. I was most suprised when he showed my to a large, master bedroom and started showing me around the features ( bath room ensuite, toilet ensuite, Sauna ensuite!!) and I agreed that this was a very nice room. In fact it's not just nice its palacial.

When I renturned to downstairs to the table he conversed with Rick for a moment, who also appeared suprised and quickly translated that I have been invited my Mr Nakamura to stay in the spare room he had shown me, that is if I found it ok.
I of course, accepted and conveyed my appreciation.

This suprising turn of events makes everything 100x easier as i dont have to keep shelling out to pay for backpackers etc.
While writing this I just received a call from Aoki, the vice president of the company who said they would like me to arrive at 11am to move in, it is 1014 now so i had better get going now infact.

I have a cellphone now, for only 10,000 Y and it also has a flash TV built into it & a high quality camera so hopefully I will get some great shots of the place when i get there.

J

Here

2010-04-29T06:55:00.000-07:00

Finally here.

Not a big fan of flying fullstop but flying Jetstar really takes any pleasure that I may have gleamed from flying at all, no food unless you pay for it - yeah I get it theyr a budget carrier but even if you buy food it sucks and the way they write about it in the inflight magazine you would be lead to believe its some culinary master piece, bollloocks.

Apart from the and entertainment package sucking, the flight was Ok exept the plane broke down during the aussie stop over so we had to wait 2 hours while they did quick fix. Not comfortable with that...

I Started thinking about what if the plane crashed what would I do etc so while pondering this I just casually turn around to see if the person sitting behind me is a hott chick. Wrong. Its John Locke from Lost, seriously this guy looked exactly the same (bald & white wearing khakis) and had a crutch for a broken leg. prood enough for me.

Arriving at Kansai Int airport is pretty cool actually, its the worlds biggest man made island and the airport is so awesomely large that it even has its own train system going between departures and customs etc. So cool. 10/10
I was wearing a Judo shirt and the guy at customs thought it was really cool and made some sorta Judo grip fighting motions with his hands, I did it back but then he just ignored me. Caught the bus from Osaka to Kyoto then got a taxi to my Backpackers, the taxi ride was surprisingly difficult as the taxi drive couldnt read a map and had to ask the police for help :S

The place im staying at has free internet which is cool, I'm happy I brought my laptop along with me now but its running low on juice and my adapters arent correct so will need to sort that out tomorow when I see Rick, will also hopefully train at Kyoto Uni Judo club.

I have seen 1 other white person here since leaving the airport, it was this brunette girl riding a bike by the uni, it was so unexpected! I thought she was a Japanese untill she stopped and stared at me aswell at point blank range. It's funny because I allways think I see a European from the back (Orange, blonde, brown hair) then theyr turn around and its a Japanese guy or girl with died hair.

The cool thing here is that theres a 7/11 literally for every street, its like a dairy X2. They have some really interesting products like a fish gingerbread man with a real fish head for the head and eyeball buttons for an example. that was weird even by Japanese standards though.

Really tired after about 34 hours with no sleep so will catch some Z's now and hopefully have more weird things to write about tomorow.

Last Day

2010-04-27T19:27:00.001-07:00

Today's my last day home in NZ, getting pretty exited about heading off tomorow at 0600, not so enthused about the time of departure though.

Was really hoping to ahve a relaxing day today, but when you dont pack earlier this dosn't eventuate it would seem, so I have spent the morning doing ironing and packing then embarked on a 4 hour quest to find a suitable power adapter for Japan - which is nigh impossible if you use 3 pronged ( earthed ) appliances which 99% of kiwis do? The makers of the power adapters are of the belief that we all use only 2 pronged plugs which caused me a bit of grief. I eventually found one hidden in the back corner of a dirty hovel of a shop next to Mt Eden Prison.

Had a go at telling my dogs that I'm off for a long time and to be good etc, I don't know if they exactly understood me but Molly kinda yawned and wagged her tail so maybe??

I was also asked to provide a Photo of myself for a part-time teaching job I applied for in Kyoto, so I suited up and took an ace picture with my webcam, I was initially of the opinion I looked quite dashing but they havn't replied yet so perhaps I looked like a dick..

I told my mates I was off tomorow of this they were aparantly unaware, I neglected to tell them my departure date due to all thats going on. Hopefully will see a couple of them before I go.

Being the enterprising man I am, I have aquired some Kiwi token's along the lines of Lapel Pins, Little furry Kiwi's playing rugby, Little NZ flags, plastic greenstone etc. I rekon I will be able to sell them for between 1000-5000 Y apiece depending on the item. I will of course gift a few of them to people that help and train with me for the purpose of increasing demand.

Better ring Jetstar and confirm the flight as it never hurts to check, I suppose the next time I will update this is when I'm in JPN or perhaps at Queensland Int just to kill sometime, who knows.

Till then.

J

Prep Prep Prep

2010-04-23T20:37:00.000-07:00

I'm still at home, here in New Zealand. It's a bit of a strange feeling knowing that in 5 days I'm out of here.

I'm going to be heading over on Thursday, the first of 3 kiwis all heading over to get beaten up as much as possible and hopefully get a bit better at Judo as it happens. I arrive 13 days before the other guys so I'm in the fortunate position of testing the water so to speak. I get to make all the mistakes, commit all the main cultural crimes imaginable and then graciously educate them as to these points so they don't make them.
Hah, yeah right.

We are all pretty lucky in that we have received sponsorship from the Auckland University Judo Club, Fosters and Asahi Beer, getting a monthly cash injection is what is going to make this possible. So I'll take this opp to say thankyou to everyone who has helped - Rick, Rob, David, Mum & Chris, Trish, Nana & Grandad, Dad + the Beer companies. I know that was a bit of a list but it had to be done.

While we are over here on Working Holiday Visa's finding a job to support our lavish lifestyles of Judo, a bowl of rice a day and a monthly beer is not a sure thing, let alone finding a partime one that allows you enough flexibility to spend half your day being physically educated by modern day Samurai.

Will be meeting with Rick my sensei in Kyoto around the 3rd of May(he is the organiser & manager of this scholarship) so after backpacking a for a week or so will shift into something more long term & cheap.

My mates are going to be crying everyday without me as I'm probably the best wingman in Auckland, if not the North Island. Seriously. Perhaps I will include a "how to" segment in this blog updated for the benifit of the male species. One does what one can. Section 1 will be "Jumping the grenade" I will break down in detail as to when it is and isn't acceptable to request this act from a mate.

Will have some more interesting bits and pieces to write about come Thursday when I arrive and inevitably break every taboo on my way to the backpackers, will chill until then. :)

J