Being in Korea has rejuvenated my interest and involvement in the sport of judo. Judo is a big sport and martial art here in Korea. Anytime a country has a university dedicated to the development of a sport, where one can receive a college degree in THAT sport...you know they're serious. That's Korea.
Wang Ki Chun & Kim Jae Bum
Yong-in judo mascot
Korea has never stopped producing top athletes in the game, and always bring home gold medals at all levels each year. Korea's national judo and martial arts university, Yong-in, is also the training ground for the national team which includes Wang Ki Chun, Kim Jae Bum, and Song Dae Nam. The facility looks unbelievable and there are no corners cut in the preparation for the World and Olympic stage. I plan on visiting Seoul this winter break and my hope is to have a workout at Yong-in and to see their facilities. I am almost as excited about the notion as I was when visiting the Kodokan Judo Institute.
Song Dae Nam, 2012 Gold
I came across this great Adidas commercial (below) for the Korean National Judo Team in training. Unfortunately, I can't understand what they are saying (I'm a bad Korean!) but the feature is really awesome nonetheless.
These are the top athletes in the game globally. Wang Ki Chun and Kim Jae Bum are arguably among the best players in history and this video gives a brief glimpse into why. True professionals.
I recently went on vacation to Tokyo, Japan. While visiting, I stayed at the Kodokan Judo Institute. The Kodokan is the founding school and international headquarters for the sport of judo today. The Kodokan was established in 1882 by jigoro Kano, the founder of judo, and is now an eight-story building in Tokyo. It has over 1,300 mats across six dojos—a Main dojo for training and large competitions, and dojos for beginners, International players and events, women, and Boys' prep - plus a special dojo for retired judoka and special techniques training. There are also separate facilities for athlete housing, supplemental training, research – and even a memorial museum tracing the lineage of judo. No cameras though. Must be some top secret stuff in there! All international promotions, clinics and Olympic games administration are also handled at the Kodokan.
Unbeknownst to me, during my stay the top university-level, corporate sponsored players from around Tokyo had come for an open practice. Even I couldn’t resist an opportunity to train with the best players of tomorrow. My stay at the Kodokan is one memory I won’t soon forget.
Ever since I arrived here in Korea, I've been trying to find a local BJJ (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) gym. Amazingly, there is only one pure BJJ gym in this, the second largest city in Korea with 3.6 million people. That gym, Tozi BJJ, is located way uptown from where I live and there was just no way that I'd be able to make it up there 2 to 3 times per week. I tried Korea job forums, Korea BJJ Facebook groups, basically any way of getting a lead for a BJJ club or gym near me. It was to no avail though. I even contacted American Top Team to see if they would be interested in sending someone here to open a gym. It's such a wide open market.
I still kept active in judo and though they rarely practice newaza, I would still look for opportunities to roll when given the chance just to stay tuned up.
Fast forward UFC 148 where Anderson Silva fought Chael Sonnen for a much anticipated rematch. Included on the card was a fighter from South Korea named Dong-Hyun Kim. Well, during my perusing of Wikipedia I realized he fights out of Busan! I perused more and found that his gym is called Team M.A.D. and it is just 3 subway stops from me. They teach "MMA" as they say, which is essentially no gi BJJ and Muy Thai. I thought I should have a look. So I did.
Kim Dong-Hyun
Though it is one of the most successful MMA teams in Korea, Team M.A.D. is not like what we may be accustomed to back home. Actually, most martial arts schools are not like back home. They are not tailored for asthetic appeal in most cases. There are no contracts. No auto payment, none of that. You show up, give the owner cash each month and work out. Don't want to train one month, don't show up! I digress.
Team M.A.D. is beyond "no frills". It is one room, maybe 700-800 square feet covered completely by padding. There are 3 or 4 muy thai bags hanging as well. No other fixins. No real dressing room. More like a dressing closet. It's July now and the rainy season. That means it is humid! They have a fan and dehumidifier. The dehumidifier clearly has no effect on the training area. The area is in a basement of a building and there are no windows. Just the door leading to the stairs.
This is a real dungeon for training.
I went to visit on a Tuesday, and on Wednesday I joined. The first class was warm ups which are very similar to judo warm ups. Basically line drills of tumbling, shrimping, basic hip movements, etc. Endurance drills centered around double leg pickups (morote gari), leap frogs, arm bar (juji gatame) and triangle choke (sankaku jime) movements. The main instructor is a young guy with bad cauliflower ears as should be expected! He went through a couple techniques and then we were free to roll if desired. I was a little surprised that you actually had the choice to roll or not. Back home in South Florida where BJJ is king, Brazilians require you to roll for 3 consecutive rounds like it or not. Nonetheless, I got in a couple rounds and had a great workout.
No gi Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
This gym is in the heart of Busan. Busan is 100% "Korean". Not like Seoul where there are some pockets of international flare. Well, in this gym is another EPIK English teacher - a young girl from the states with long blonde hair. She is a former high school national wrestling champion. She really sticks out. Very funny. She's the real deal though and a real trooper. The next Rhonda Rousey? You never know.
I'm glad to be doing more no gi BJJ as my experience with it is very limited. I'm a jacket wrestler!
I am happy to have found this gym. I don't know when the professionals train, but I hope to have the chance to work out with them at some point.
Osu!
Being involved in the sport of judo takes a lot of guts. To obtain technical proficiency, physical strength and stamina, as well as intelligent strategy requires a long term, sustained effort. It is a sport that requires sacrifice, focus, and just plain guts. To remain in "judo shape" over long periods of time is a truly difficult and challenging thing. The master instructor of the judo school at which I practice in Busan, South Korea is a real-life example of this sacrifice and dedication.
One day I had brought my camera to class and before anyone showed up (other than the head instructor seen in parts of the video below) I asked if he would demonstrate some of the strength building exercises for judo. He obliged. He walked onto the mat cold and did some things I simply can't imagine being able to do. In addition to this, he is 64 years old!! Unbelievable.
This time of year brings in many students at my judo school. Recently, we've seen more middle school and high school kids joining. There's even two elementary school little guys. One of the adults happened to have his iPad with him and filmed a class unbeknownst to me. After class he was watching it and I thought it would be great to make a short video out of it to show what a class looks like.
Every class has essentially the same routine. That's the key to judo - repetition. If there's one thing Koreans are good at, it's establishing a routine and sticking to it with no exceptions. This is part of their cultural work ethic and it's why they are one of the most successful countries in Olympic judo.
I could be working with a future Olympian
With the kids class you'll see that it's light and fun. I wish the master instructor was teaching this day (he normally teaches every day) because he is great at mock-beating the kids when they step out of line. He has a bamboo sword (shinai) that he hits them with. Sounds gruesome doesn't it?! But judo uniforms are very thick and you can't actually feel the impact all that much, but it makes a massive rattle. It startles them back into attention. It's great. He beats everybody for that matter - including me! Sometimes when we're warming up, he'll walk behind you and kick you right between the shoulder blades if you're doing something he doesn't like. It literally shocks your brain. But the funny thing is, it actually feels really good. Like a massage or something. He's a sports massage therapist as well, so that would make sense.
Back to the topic. Judo class with the kids is really a fun time. Seeing these future black belts just getting started is a real kicker...or body slammer. Enjoy the video.
