So many divides in area judo

Ever wonder why there’s so many judo associations in various parts of the world, rather than just one to a specific area? It can be summed up in one word – personalities. 

There’s a well-used saying in many types of spiritual and community programs which if practiced, can help a lot in solving many of the major issues. Principles before personalities. It essentially means that once any organization agrees on a group of polices and agreements, than whenever any conflict arises, and it always does, that the people involved take themselves, and their egos out of it, and only focus on the problem and what the solution is. 

Take Judo Ontario, which is a provincial (area of Canada) leg of Judo Canada. Each of the area spokes, if big enough have regional divisions (East, West, etc…) to them. 

Now typical disagreements usually are made up of very small and petty resentments, and only snowball from there. An example might be a student leaves one dojo to another. Or one dojo got something better than another. 

I’ve watched in awe, in this past year as how every dime collected has been directed at competitor only endeavors, without a single dime spent on the majority of members who are recreational.

As only one example, besides giving very expensive awards (valued at about $200 per) to the elite of who only a small committee group decide on who gets them, they stopped sending so much as a certificate to the lower level recreational members, even though they still pay a very high annual fee.

Due to past problems in the judo world for its specific area, Judo Ontario decided on creating a harassment and procedures document that on the surface appears to be official, yet if read deeply enough it has never been court challenged, since it would be easy to point out that the attached conflict of interest policy contradicts its own guidelines, by allowing the president, or his/her designate the final say. 

Getting to the main point; if a conflict arises between two members of the same association, one only has to use catch words, like “harassment” or “abusive”, now that can sometimes mean one person was told off about something at some judo event, and suddenly can be threatened with the self-serving policy manual. 

Sometimes the only option is to separate from some individuals, however, in order to do that, a new association has to be created with other like-minded individuals. Another saying in judo, if you get a resentment, all you need is some mats and a space to play in.

Judo highlighting MMA

 Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is basically  competitors combining the knowledge and    techniques of many different Martial Arts into  one fluid style that works for them. Judo is very  specific in its very nature.

  When MMA is thought of, or talked about, it’s  some of the other martial arts that are pointed    out such as, Muay Thai, Boxing, Wrestling, Jiu  Jitsu, Karate, Kickboxing, and many more.

 Judo seems to of been thrust into the spotlight  recently. A martial art that is vastly underrated  in MMA today

Knowing Judo gives you some excellent moves to use in the cage. Judoka do their best work while in the clinch. It can also be converted into excellent takedown defences.

Judo is no slouch on offense either. There are many explosive throws and tosses that can put your opponent on the mat with greater speed than any other martial art known,  that can stun your opponent while you move to the finish.

In a large majority of MMA wins, the “ground-and-pound” seems to take out more fighters than any other. There’s no better and direct method of getting them to the ground than with what judoka consider basic judo throws.

Keep watching... you’ll see more and more of it entering the cage area, as MMA fighters realize what needs adjusting. 

Just get on the mat!!!

In the last month, I’ve entertained countless phone calls, emails and messages about getting started in judo. Out of the last 20 requests, only two new members have shown up.

I’ve owned several businesses in my time, including non-profit judo clubs, and I don’t mind answering questions either via phone or email about the club and judo itself. They’re favorite subjects to talk about. However, when someone has made, one, two, three or more inquires and yet still doesn’t show up even to come check the classes out, then it becomes annoying.

I understand it can cause a bit of anxiety or fear, when it comes to starting something new, however, when do you stop making excuses of why not to start and just get on the mat?

For a non-profit club such as ours, even the cost is a major bonus for students, families with multiple children in sport, or with low incomes. So the cost really is hard to justify not coming out.

Another major excuse is too busy. Well assuming they’re not sitting around on their cushy chairs and couches channel surfacing, all of our practice sessions are in the early evening, so than it becomes a decision to be made.

Why do you want to do judo? Is it for self-defence? Is it for exercise or just plain fun? Is it for the kids?

Whatever the reason is, at some point you need to stop trying to figure it out, and just get on the mat!

Judo's failure

If you ever want to discourage a community, all you need is a few of the rules changed, and then allow resentment to play out, all of which goes directly against the philosophy of judo.  Without community dojos co-existing, where can “mutual benefit” be found?

In a relatively small region, such as the one I’ve practiced in over the last 30some years, I’ve seen it lead by very humble hard workers who’s only objective was to see judo flourish in the area.

We use to have 4-6 tournaments every year right in the regional area. Typically speaking, it was always the same very small crowd of volunteers doing the work, usually by the same dojos. Now, we’re lucky if we even get one tournament a year.

It started with a few rule changes, like mat sizes for safety, and then someone else leading the way getting injured, and before you know it, no one wants to jump in, or make some changes to line it all up again.

Over the last three years, I’ve had to personally drive 3-4 of my own students to tournaments 4-5 hours away every month because my own region has no motivation to do anything about it.

The last tournament we had locally was well attended, however, many people involved felt a need to give too much criticism about how it was run, rather than praise and gratitude, which only incited resentment and loss of any interest in repeating another local tournament.

So, how do we break the cycle and keep the competitions active? It starts with the co-operation of all the dojos, and the removal of egotism from it. How do we move forward if all that is talked about are the complaints of the past. We get over it, and simply move on.

Judo will never fail from those on the outside of it. Judo’s failure to the community will only come from within it. 

THIS IS JUDO III - OlympicJudo

Non-profit vs. For Profit judo clubs

Kano himself, believed within judo it would be serving others in good will and learning about each other, will bring mutual benefits and welfare.

He was also renown for the promotion of sport of many kinds, from neighborhood community programs to world and Olympic levels.

Contrary to his beliefs, as that time era passed, today - In  community centres and church halls, rental space is very high, and getting to tournaments cost a lot more money, add to all of that, the higher costs of governing body fees, and judo is no longer the inexpensive sport it once was.

How do we balance making sure judo is accessible to every child and adult who wishes to participate?

Profitable clubs tend to have high-level judokas who have, or are Olympic level competitors, which is a big draw for them. They also have the highest fees charged in their area.

Non-profit clubs typically have 1-3 black belts running the programs, who are community involved types, with various levels of judo experience.

Non-profit clubs are more involved directly with their students, especially with the younger ones 5-16 year old members. They most likely attend judo tournaments as a group, with coaches very close by. Christmas and other special event gatherings are also common among these type of clubs, in and outside the dojo.

Normally, no one regardless of financial means, or abilities are refused entry into a non-profit club.

Some judo clubs have a combination of the two ideas, thereby, they require a financial profit of some kind by allowing a new, or seasoned judoka in if they’re willing to pay the fees, however, they then include them as part of the structured program.

Profitable clubs tend to hold a fierce resentment when it comes to losing students to other dojos, whereas non-profit clubs will sometimes send their students to other clubs, if it’s in the best interest of the student.

*** In my next writing, I’ll talk about the community in which dojos co-exist. Governing bodies control over them. 

Judo clubs: Profit vs. non-profit

There's a big difference between non-profit, and profitable judo clubs. Not only is there a big difference, there's also pros and cons for each side.
Over the next couple of days, I'm going to write about and share some of my own experiences as both a judoka, and dojo-shu.