What’s up

Went to judo on Wednesday. Fervently avoided anyone who looked big, strong, and had anything other than a brightly coloured belt. Look, I was exhausted, and judo is dangerous shit. It’s like jiu jitsu only it happens five feet in the air. If I make a mistake, I go crashing to the floor. And I suck at judo, so I make lots of mistakes. I’m taking it really slow in judo, which is fine by me. I want to pick up some basics first, and once I know I’m not going to break my neck by landing incorrectly then I’ll be regularly sparring with the strong black belts. Just not yet. Please.

This weekend is going to be wicked. I’m going to buy some nice cold beer (there are billions of different beers to choose from in Japan, and loads of them are seriously tasty), and I’m going to go to my inlaws house and watch DREAM 1 on a huge flatscreen TV.

DREAM is going to be sweet. It’s basically Pride, back from the dead and on primetime TV as if nothing had happened.

The main event is JZ Calvan against Aoki, which I am super pumped for. JZ Calvan is the all-round monster that dominated the last two Heroes tournaments, if I remember correctly. Shinya Aoki is the Paraestra-affiliated super-duper-ultra-grappling-whizz, who can simultaneously armbar your teeth off and heelhook your shins out. How they perform against each other will make for a truly fascinating match.

aoki.jpg
Shinya Aoki – Artist’s Rendering

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JZ Calvan – Artist’s Rendering

 

There will also be Cro Cop against Random Japanese Tomato Can Junior. I hope that Cro Cop can get back to doing what he does best… kicking the wigs off random Japanese cans (or just people in general), spraying the audience (and your face) with buckets of blood.

5 Responses

  1. […] is like… This post on Japanese life contains the best quote in the history of the univers: “Judo is dangerous shit. It’s like […]

  2. The DREAM lightweight tournament looks to be the shit. Enjoy the show.

    You’ve got a great blog here. Keep it up.

  3. Thanks Frankie. It was a great show!

  4. I guess it can vary from gym to gym, but generally, it’s safer to spar with the black belts than it is with the orange or green belts. The black belts have a lot more control and aren’t looking to prove anything. Some of them will even give you tips and let you work on specific techniques during randori.

  5. Very true, Jim, very true. But the lower belts in my club are mostly kids, so I’m able to relax and just work on technique with no strength.

    The higher belts always turns into a bit of a battle, although no one is out to hurt you.

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