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| Standard Division Roster: Male, -66 kg |
In spite of having missed a bunch of practices due to school
work I felt really prepared for this tournament, as in, the only thing that
would stop me from winning is if my opponent was better than me. In what seems
like a pattern, this was not the case! This is no discredit to my opponents
(who have now become my Facebook friends), but my two losses did not have to do
with technique. Here’s what happened at my first match…
First Match (Ghuloum, Michigan State): I get ready to bow
and the referee comes over to me and says, verbatim, “If you step onto my mat
with that, you will be disqualified.” My heart sunk. The less melodramatic
referee comes over and says “Your gi is too small, you have 30 seconds to find
a new one.” My proper gi size is a 2.5-3 and the smallest guy I could find with
a blue gi had sleeves that went past my closed fists. I hoped my opponent would mess up
a drop seionage so I could use sode-guruma jime, but he got control over my
sleeves which trapped my hands inside. He took the victory
by an uchi mata counter to a kuzushi-less kosoto gari. It was a
beautiful technique and will probably end up on this years highlights, so my goal of ending up on the highlight reel might still come true! I was
mad- I had gotten that gi on ebay for cheap and it said it was a 2.5. Instead,
he sent me a size 2 top and a size 3 pants and I figured it was fine. Dead
wrong.
In another showing of goodness in people, 4 properly-sized people came over and offered me their blue gi. This was nice,
but because I was the first person to lose I would be wearing a white gi for
all of my repechage matches. Speaking of which, my first opponent went on to
lose his next match so we had to fight again!
Second Match (Ghuloum, Michigan State): This match went the
full 5 minutes and was basically me trying to return the favor of the ippon
from the first match. In a very inappropriate move for a national competition
(or any competition, for that matter), I refused to go into newaza even when he
hit his head on the tatami and was literally lying flat on his back for 5 seconds. I won by
waza-ari from kosoto gari and two shidos. The way I fought was brutish and, in my opinion, very ugly to watch. I hope my future matches are cleaner than that. Mohammad is actually very skilled, he just fought an extra match so I think I out-gassed him.
Third Match (Kumaki, University of Washington): I had talked
to this gentleman before and I was actually excited to face him! He was fast-
much faster than me. If you can imagine it, he attempted a seio nage. I stepped
over to the right, but lost my balance and fell to my knees slightly in front
of him. While he did drop to his knees, he got back up (making is nage, not an
otoshi) and continued to drive into my shoulder even though I was turtled. This
popped something in my shoulder and I grunted because of the shock, but the pain
went away really quickly (I think it unpopped right afterwards). The referee
instructed me not to move and the medics ran over to examine me. While they
determined that my shoulder was fine, because they came over I had forfeited
the match. Admittedly it does feel funny now, but I don't think it's serious... regardless, another disappointing end to a match.
The tournament ended with the awards ceremony, with all of
the competitors sitting on the mat together. This was cool because we were all
the same age and the tournament directors actually demanded that we mingle
while they organized things on their end. Striking up conversation with some of
the OTC ladies made me wonder what it would be like to date someone who also
does judo. What would we talk about when doing judo is the only interesting
thing about me? That’s a different universe that I don’t live in right now.
Anyway, I’d like to thank all of the people that have helped
my judo over the years and also apologize for not bringing home a medal after
all the time/hard work that’s been invested in me! Next time for sure.
Special thanks goes out:
- My parents for supporting me in everything I do, even if they will always think judo is a dangerous sport.
- My girlfriend for taking care of my injuries/setting alarms so I don’t miss flights (usually).
- Sensei Nick Roseto and Sensei Hiroyuki Yamashita for raising me on proper judo fundamentals (and for passing on their taiotoshi). Waseda Judo Club, Inc. (Lynbrook, NY)
- Sensei Shintaro Higashi and the guys at Kokushi Budo for pushing my competitive judo to the next level. Kokushi Budo Institute
- Sensei Hans Dudeck for drilling my terrible ashi waza. Biwako Judo Club
- The Tau Sigma chapter of Beta Theta Pi for hosting me at their house, which was conveniently 2 minutes away from the tournament site, and for chauffeuring me to the airport. Ean is the #1 pledge.
- The Friedlander family for their generous monetary support of my judo- I look forward to training with Isa in the fall!
- Brian Jines and Columbia University Club Sports for making this trip possible.
Next up is blue gi shopping, then the Liberty Bell Classic
(April 6-7). A video of my 2nd match will go up in a couple of days, so check this blog periodically. In the meantime, here's a video of the winning Kata demonstration from earlier in the day. I didn't bring my tripod because I was competing, so excuse the shakiness.
Thanks for stopping by- you’re alright!
-Ben
Congrats on your 1 win Ben,Very proud of you.Have a safe trip home. Luv u. Mom & Dad
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