My latest stress buster
Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Judo (柔道) is a martial art, sport, and philosophy originated in Japan. Judo was developed from "Jujutsu" - a more brutal form of japanese martial, and was founded by Dr. Jigoro Kano (嘉納治五郎) in 1882. The sport became the model of the modern Japanese martial arts, and detached themselves from the old school that often included cruel and vulgar moves.

Judo literally means "the gentle way", or "the method of giving way", and may also be defined as "the way of suppleness", "the way of flexibility, or "the way of adaptability". To English speakers, Judo and Jujutsu would mean "the easy way", as in the easiest way to accomplish something, or in martial arts' term, an easy way of denfending yourself. Similar to taichi (if you were to use it for self-defense),
Judo follows the principle of using one's opponent's strength against him/herself and adapting well to changing circumstances.For example, if the attacker was to push against his opponent he would find his opponent stepping to the side and allowing (usually with the aid of a foot to trip him up) his momentum to throw him forwards (the inverse being true for pulling). as it would be my major weapon in the future.)

Ever since i was young, possibly due to the influence of a japanese manga that plotted mainly on Judo and the life of a judoka, i've always wanted to pick it up. Unfortunately, i couldnt get the opportunity to pursue it while i was still in Malaysia, nonetheless.. at i least i finally started now.

I've started judo since.. mid february.. been going for classes once a week, 2 hrs every session. And I am happy that other than myself.. there are also many ppl that share the same interest as me.. including Adrian, my mate from HELP as well, and many others that i've just starting to make friends with. It's fun that, when you have a master that keep shuffling you around and provides you the most interactive and practical experience during the session instead of just pushing you to work on your basic or physical exercises for too long (tho those things are also important..)

So far, i've learnt quite abit both of the fielding techniques which mainly consists of throwing, sweeping, tripping, and combination of all the above and grounding techniques like different ways of pinning, scaffholding, strangling, and bodyweight shifting. It has been great since i had the chance to randori (friendly sparring) with ppl from different weight class, ranging from 11-12 yrs old small boy n small girl (one of my masters' daughter and son, well it looks really wrong when i was practicing my grounding works on the small girl... no matter what i was trying to pull out on.. :P), to girls from bout 45kg-over 100kg (that was a killer one.. she really shifted all her weight onto me, and i thought we were just practicing.. i m glad that i m still alive to type this after that technique she laid on me), to guys around my weight class, to guys 25% more heavier than me, and to guys double my weight class (... i prefer to keep my experience with them to myself).

Additionally, we werent restricted to just students from our belt-range (as Judo follows the grading system similar to Karate or Taekwondo)but everyone else.. including our master, and some other really experienced judoka (most of them are black belts..) There was this fairly built and fit Japanese guy, who always like to bully me if he had the chance by applying techniques and skills that i've never seen before. Surplus to that, there's this girl (only 17 i think), she's a killer on the judo mat, as she has won the Nationwide amateur junior championship last year, and she's really swift despite her slightly buff's build.

Personally, i think that judo is really a good way of releasing stress n of coz a fun way of exercise and at the same time acquiring skills n techniques to defend yourself when neccesary. Also, it's not too violent and vulgar, tho some of the moves can be fatal if you landed it incorrectly or forcefully.. but we are taught to be "gentle" as the meaning of judo emphasizes.. :P

Anyway, this friday will be the day for my grading.. to upgrade myself to the second level of judo.. the yellow belt.. wish me luck, and if i have the chance i shall fulfill my one personal vendetta against one of the students in the class.. *ngek ngek ngek..

leaving skool f-r3d at 8:47 PM 2 pokies

{WTFPWNKTHXBYE}