The Business End of the Stick

Nerves. Nerves. Nerves. The night before. An uneasy sleep for Kong (at least) and this was not simply due to recalling the freakish and random displays by street performers in the Akita station complex.

Leaving the Toyoko Inn for the Akita Budokan, Kong had the pleasure of sharing a brief elevator ride with Graeme Fare. Graeme, as everyone knows, is a hard-fighting, accomplished competitor and instructor. Frequently a man of few words, he had some good advice this day about dealing with pre-contest nerves. It was not the only good advice shared this day. Bob too provided the good word at the right time. And it is, perhaps, here that we find an answer to nz basho's question/lament. The answer is both yes and no. It seems that the waza of the past is not passed on simply for its own sake. Old Masters delicately hand over that which is living and vital in the tradition, and do so in a way that is fitting and relevant to the present. In this way, Judo – which itself is a constant dialogue between the old and new, tradition and the individual talent – is taken up and carried on by a new generation. What is taken up is never purely the old waza, but the old waza seems to remain embedded in that which is carried over. The "only" trouble is that the new generation doesn't mess up enough to ask and/or be receptive to learning the old waza [Or so is one gorilla's opinion].

As to the fighting, where do you start? The first fight of the day was Pat (oldest first). Pat had to face off against his old nemesis of several years. There were two in the age-weight category, which is not bad considering that Pat is 78. The bout was decided by coin toss. There appears to be some tacit agreement they will duke it out with more vigour next year. It proved to be a good thing as Pat was called on to put in a big effort for the teams fight the next day.



Snoopy, arguably, fought the hardest series of fights. Sensei Rick started strong only to have a leg injury in the second round. It would be easy to go on. I will, instead, try and share the videos of everyone’s fights. The critical information is: (a) everyone fought beyond themselves and (b) everyone under 50 from New Zealand got smashed. What Japanese was going to be the one to lose to a Gaijin? Under these conditions it was the old masters that shone.

[Graeme]


[Snoopy]


[Sensei Rick]


While the fighting was hard, perhaps the event that summed up the spirit of the contest was best seen in the friendship Dennis struck up with her “fan” (the daughter of the women she fought in her demonstration match).


Next: Day V. Age division open + teams fight.