The Laughing Wolf

Food For Thought, Olympic Style

I’m watching, finally, one of those “blood” sports that doesn’t rate serious coverage. In this case, it is some of the judo competition. Now, judo was the first martial art I formally studied though I had received some other training before that which was not part of a formal martial art. I remember well my first true judo match because I still have permanent reminders of it. My very first opponent was a very good brown belt, whom I managed to take down and pin very quickly. The problem was, my surprise at doing such was so great I froze and let him go. Bad mistake. Never embarrass a brown or black belt in front of a crowd, they get cranky. So much so that they clocked me at about 60 when I hit the mat because he was not messing around. I was so surprised and never saw it coming, so much so I did not do everything proper and have a chipped tooth to this day to remind me of it. Lesson of the day: don’t be surprised at how well you do, just keep on and don’t ever let go or give up. Surprise and pleasure can wait until the job is done.

LW