A Sad, Old Memory
It happened 5 years ago, but I still remember how bad I felt watching it, and how I wished I could understand. It was my brother crying after he lost his last ever high school soccer game. All of this I relived this weekend, when I went to watch my first ever Judo tournament in Japan. I think by the tone I've set so far, it's obvious that Kangaku didn't win. In fact, they lost quite early. The second round out of 5 or 6 (I can't remember and don't care). It was a team tournament, which means you send one fighter from all 7 weight divisions, and it's best out of 7. This loss was a huge upset, and let me lay out how strong Kangaku really is and how uncharacteristic of a loss this was for them. And why a little bit of bad luck sealed it in the end for them. The first round was against a similarly skilled team as the second round match, and all the fights together lasted 15 minutes. A Judo match, if it goes the distance, ends after 5 minutes. Plus there is a lot of stoppage of play if, for example, the players step out of bounds, penalty, or the players are on the ground and no one player shows an advantage. One round in this tournament usually lasted 30 minutes. Kangaku only had to fight for half that time because they got 6 Ippons(one point, means you win the match). Only one fight went the full 5 minutes.
The second round went as follows; First match: Lost to an unfortunate choke, ok, props to the other guy for getting that off. Second: Lost to a yuko (second lowest point total out of the four types of points), though not a big deal, he was probably the worst out of the 7 we sent. Third: Apparently had a very impatient judge, our third fighter was one of our best, but also very short. The other guy, if he ever got into trouble, would use his height to push Komoda-San to the ground, which would be fine, but the ref would immediately call "Matte". Ended up losing to a Koka (lowest point total). Fourth: Won by Koka. Very intense and honorable fight. Fifth: Takeshi Fujita-San = automatic win, by Ippon of course. Sixth: Kawashima-San had this match in the bag, already had a Waza-Ari, and was obviously dominating, but out of nowhere, he slips, and the other guy throws him for Ippon. Seventh: Ended in a tie, but didn't matter.
After they exited the mats, we went to greet them in the hall, but when I got there, the seniors were already on their respective sections of wall and crying like I had seen 5 years earlier. I think it was the seniors last tournament and now they graduate the club. I didn't know how to console any of them, but I could understand how it felt for them to work that hard all your life and fall just one slip short of possibly winning the whole tournament. I felt especially bad for Ijima-Sempai, who fought the seventh fight. He gave pretty much his entire life to Judo and he fought that fight knowing no matter how well he does, no matter how much effort he gives, it won't do anything for Kangaku. Out of all the people on the team, I have developed the best relationship with him. 3 years ago, he was ranked in the top 8 of Japan, and still resolutely sits in the top 25 (of his weight class).
Afterwards, the coaches took us out to a nice restaurant where we ate and of course drank. Many of the coaches got drunk, and one turned almost violet in the face. Komoda-San got drunk and, for some reason, I don't know why, repeatedly hit one of our sponsors on the head with his slippers. It was all in good fun though, not like brutally or angrily. I must say, other than losing, it was a fun time, and Japanese people really know how to party.
I forgot to bring my camera on the first day, but got plenty of footage on the second day to make my 5th video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YF5o1f5fV2k
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