Judo = My Life

My last post relayed the story of how I, so green, so tender, and so naive, entered the world of judo. Now, as a three-week-and-some-change veteran of the Uenogaoka High School Judo Team, I have, more or less, turned pro.

You see、if you compare the number of hours each week I spend doing judo, talking about judo, and hanging out with the judo coach, you will find that more than half of my time spent at work is filled with judo related activities rather than the English related activities that I am ostensibly paid to perform. Thus, it would seem that I am actually being paid to train to be judo star. I am, in short, a professional athlete. This fact has surprisingly little to do with me shirking my job responsibilities and everything to do with 1 - 2.5 hours of practice every day after school, 2 - 3.5 hour practices on the weekend, and an additional training session every Thursday night from 8 till 10 pm.

Needless to say, I am not only getting in good shape, but am also getting my ass handed to me on tatami-mat-shaped platter on a daily basis by various segments of Japanese society, including but not limited to:

h - Old men
h - Middle-aged men
h - High school boys
h - Middle school boys
h - Elementary school boys

and, starting next week...

h - High school girls

Regardless of my current, shall we say, lack of judo perfection, I am indeed slowly improving. To finish on a positive note, I would like to end this blog with an inspirational judo quote and two illustrations (real fancy, moving ones!) of the two techniques to which I am now aspiring to be on the giving end of:

"A contestant shall be deemed to have been defeated
when from any cause or causes he may become unconscious."
Judo Contest Rules

Seionage

Osotogari