From: mallon@hsi.com (Dan Mallon-Kraft)
Subject: Re: Judo: the value of competition.
Organization: 3M Health Information Systems, Wallingford, CT
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 20:55:34 GMT

In article <1993Jan7.151313.18614@ms.uky.edu> satadd00@nx16.mik.uky.edu (scott andrew taddiken) writes:
>
>In no way do I mean this to be a refutation of what some have said about
>problems in modern competition, but I hope it is interesting.
>
>In _Judo_Kyohan_, penned by Kano in 1931, it reads:
>
>	Randori means "free practice".  Partners pair off and vie with
>	each other as they would in an actual match.
>	...
>	Both kata [set practice] and randori [free practice] are forms of
>	mental training, but of the two, randori is the more effective.
>	...
>	Practicing judo brings many pleasures: the pleasant feeling
>	exercise imparts to muscles and nerves, the satisfaction of
>	mastering movements, and the joy of winning in competition.

I believe these quotes also appear in 'Kodokan Judo.' 

>If you define judo as "that which was created by Jigoro Kano" as I do, then
>it seems that you are forced to the conclusion that shiai (contests) are an
>integral part of judo.  Certainly noone who does judo should neglect randori.

I think you may have posted this before I posted my previous article, but 
we seem to have touched upon many of the same ideas.  I said (in that 
article), that I didn't think shiai was one of the important parts of 
judo.  I guess I should restate that (but just a bit :-)  What is killing 
judo is not shiai in the dojo, but the way it is practiced.  People play 
hard and bent over.  Whenever I work out, I strive to be 'an empty 
jacket.'  I try to move effortlessly and not struggle, and then throw 
with power with whichever throw is appropriate for the situation.  This 
is the way I think randori and shiai should be practiced.

This type of randori is advocated by some of the higher ranking folks
that I know also.  Reactions to an attempted throw should be counter
and not strength.  Remember, when pushed, pull and when pulled, push?
I'm by no means good at this yet, but I strive to be.  The people I've 
seen who don't like to practice this way, don't like to be thrown.  They 
think that if they're not constantly pushing and straining, that they'll 
be thrown.

>I do not fall in with those who want to go back to the old way, but I do
>recognize that the new way can encourage conservative, inefficient judo.
>I don't think that there is any way that you could finagle the rules to promote
>better judo.  My two hopes for the future of contest judo are: 1) coaches will
>put their proteges through alternative forms of randori, which encourage
>straight-up, loose-hipped judo, and this style will become infectious.
>2) Skilled judoka will apply the principle of maximum efficiency to contest
>judo, deriving new solutions to new problems.  The second is already going on,
>as is evident from the judo of Adams, Ulch, Kashiwazake, and many others.

I certainly hope that judo moves in this direction.  Since I like grappling,
I wouldn't want to see the grappling side made more difficult and since
I think the grappling techniques teach more about self-awareness, I wouldn't
want to see any changes that would de-emphasize it.  However, I also don't
want to see it go the way of wrestling, but in a gi.

So, is anybody (besides Phil Porter :-) happy with the current state of
judo?  It's so hard to find a dojo around here that I have to wonder if
the overly-competitive side is driving people away.

Dan
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