Judo in Africa

She loves to compete/fight.  Good actions/reactions.  Experienced for sure. ALways a "game" opponent.  The top seeds have to be cautious fighting her.  They know she will attack and plan a counter. She is dangerous though.  THe better players have to be cautious of her somewhat. 

judoblackbelt -

She loves to compete/fight.  Good actions/reactions.  Experienced for sure. ALways a "game" opponent.  The top seeds have to be cautious fighting her.  They know she will attack and plan a counter. She is dangerous though.  THe better players have to be cautious of her somewhat. 

This is Soumiya's first match at the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam this weekend against Odette Giuffrida. Odette is an Olympic silver medalist and she has been on a tear lately gearing up for the 2020 Olympics. Odette wins at the very end of regulation but Soumiya puts up a great fight.   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=28&v=y1_i0IIp7l4

 

 

She is a handfull at the beginning of the match.  The top players are cautous of her waiting for the match to go on and wear her down a little.  She needs more throws to score on besides seionage.  That was an excellent reverse seionage by the opponent.  That throw is very common with the Japanese fighters.  Haven't been able to watch many matches lately, too busy.  And it is after the world championships so I took a break. 

That's wild.  I like the drop Morote in the other video.

https://youtu.be/aAL7B0Vdn4A

https://youtu.be/uQht84diz_E 

Can we find judokas in the US with this committment? They are all in and sacrifice is everthing.

judoblackbelt -

Can we find judokas in the US with this committment? They are all in and sacrifice is everthing.

Of course. However, the chances are much smaller. Unlike some countries, judo is not popular enough in the United States, and the rewards that one can generate in the U.S. from becoming an elite judoka, even an Olympic medalist, probably pale in comparison to the sacrifices that must be made along the way (i.e., short and long-term). Kayla Harrison, for example, is arguably one of the best female judokas of the past 20 years, and 99.99% of the U.S. population probably has no idea who she is. Compare that to countries like Ukraine where their judo world champion Daria Bilodid has celebrity status, or Mongolia where their world and olympic medalists are revered and given monetary compensation for the rest of their lives, or countries like Israel and France where judo is one of the most popular sports and introduced to children at a young age. Without a doubt, the U.S. has the numbers (size wise) and it has the athletes. But are those athletes willing to take the risk? It's a gamble for sure.            

I think it is all the internaitonal travel required outside of the US.  There is a lot of competition within Asia, Europe, Russia area, Brazil area for example.  No one is traveling to North Ameica to better their judo. 

No reason for wrestlers to change sports to judo.  College scholarships and then Worlds in Free or Greco Roman.

I just think the general attitude is very apathetic towards Judo. You see it in even in Martial Arts communities.  I came up doing TKD since summer 1979, and you never heard of grappling arts till the 1990's.  I think it was because here in NYS all the sport karate type schools florished and point fighting. It's a completely different world. It was a different circle... Judo is a tighter community and it's wierd everywhere I train someone knows someone.  The guys at DC Judo know guys in Buffalo. The Buffalo NY family knows people in New England.  I think that's a good thing but the bad thing about it is that a lot of people are in the same boat and can't market Judo well. It works against itself and I believe it's because of the waring orginizations.

Speaking of Kayla Harrison she told people at seminar a few years ago that a lot of schools are in church basements or don't even have a sign advertising on the building.  This was at Kintora Judo in Buffalo, NY.  She really liked the facility but said most clubs aren't that lucky.  Other Judo clubs piggy back on rec centers or other Martial Arts schools.  The MMA school I go to has clowns that won't come to our Judo takes too long to learn.  I know this thread could go in another direction but our country is infatuated with MMA. Social media doesn't help...... I don't see it ending soon.

Outkaster -

I just think the general attitude is very apathetic towards Judo. You see it in even in Martial Arts communities.  I came up doing TKD since summer 1979, and you never heard of grappling arts till the 1990's.  I think it was because here in NYS all the sport karate type schools florished and point fighting. It's a completely different world. It was a different circle... Judo is a tighter community and it's wierd everywhere I train someone knows someone.  The guys at DC Judo know guys in Buffalo. The Buffalo NY family knows people in New England.  I think that's a good thing but the bad thing about it is that a lot of people are in the same boat and can't market Judo well. It works against itself and I believe it's because of the waring orginizations.

Speaking of Kayla Harrison she told people at seminar a few years ago that a lot of schools are in church basements or don't even have a sign advertising on the building.  This was at Kintora Judo in Buffalo, NY.  She really liked the facility but said most clubs aren't that lucky.  Other Judo clubs piggy back on rec centers or other Martial Arts schools.  The MMA school I go to has clowns that won't come to our Judo takes too long to learn.  I know this thread could go in another direction but our country is infatuated with MMA. Social media doesn't help...... I don't see it ending soon.

USA Judo, USAJ, USJF etc. have failed to get market and get judo enough attention in America. The sport had lower body attacks taken away which isn't going to entice MMA, wrestling or jiu jitsu guys to take it serious enough to dedicate time to learn.