Judo

Just got back from randori with the Budolin brothers, who are visiting from Estonia for a week. They’re a marvelous two man team. Alexsi is about my size – except in the “won a bronze medal in the Sydney Olympics,” sort of shape. He’s the…

I decided to visit Boston’s South End “First Friday,” art event. A bunch of galleries open their doors and put out chips, salsa, juice, and the occasional bottle of wine. People dress in their festive best – their casual whatever – or perhaps some art…

Becoming strong does not mean that things get any easier. It means that you can accomplish more – but you still have to work your ass off – go home sore – get up tomorrow wondering why you don’t just quit – and then do…

I’m riding a clear, smooth yoga high. Went to the heated vinyassa class at Thrive, where I’ve been dropping in on the occasional class for the last three years. A really good session will yield at least one good insight that I can ponder through…

I took second place in my division at the Pam Ams yesterday. I was in the M1 (30 to 35 year old) novice (non black belt) under 81 kilo (< 178 lbs) division. There were three of us. One Canadian (green belt) and one other…

Woke up crusty this morning. I’ve had what we used to describe as the “creeping crud” for about a week now. Started out as a runny nose, then moved to an itchy throat, and now it’s become a nice productive cough. All of these have…

No real theme here – just trying to not let the days trickle by un-sung. Played a Judo tournament this last weekend. Oddly, at 170 lbs I was the lightest person in the entire masters (over 30) category. They wound up combining the novice and…

I just registered to compete in my first international Judo tournament. The Pan Am Master’s. It’s worth noting that “masters” in judo means nothing more than “more than 30 years old.” We jokingly refer to it as either the executive or the geritol division. This…

Competed in the tournament yesterday, and it went really well. My division was three men, and they ran single elimination – so I got two matches. I’m actually prouder of the match that I lost. This was the first one, against a young brown belt…

I’m competing in a small, local judo tournament this morning. It’s a monthly “shiai,” which is traditionally an opportunity for students to get real competition experience in a friendly and supportive environment. While I’ve been working out vigorously and even doing “randori” (loosely translated as…