Читать книгу Martial Arts Training in Japan. A Guide for Westerners онлайн

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The largely middle-aged jodoka (practitioners of the way of the short staff) while practicing their stately war dance with sword and staff on another part of the Budokan practice floor, would furrow their brows and smile with a look on their face that said, “Those boys must be crazy,” every time the floor trembled from the force of a two-hundred-pound judoka being driven to the mat by his sparring partner.

As the Olympic frenzy died down, however, the Fukuoka Budokan judo club subtly changed back to its normal tempo. One typical evening after my jodo class, I watched the judo players work out. A father sat on the sidelines coaching his daughter as hard as he could (with his facial expressions) while eight feet away his ten-year-old darling was being introduced to a hip throw, an often frightening prospect for beginners. The judo sensei, on one knee with his hand lightly touching the little girl’s elbow, urging her to gambatte! (try hard; put up a good fight) was teaching the little girl to overcome her fear. She, though knowing her father was nearby, never took her eyes off the sensei. The senior student who was selected to throw the little girl knew his part and was obviously pleased that his sensei had trusted him enough to select him for this subtle and crucial moment. There was a palpable sense of kinship among the four. It was as if the sensei, the father, the daughter, and the senior student were all related.