Travel Diaries From Club Members
Diaries From Japan
From Mike Kannianen
July 9, 2010
Hey all,
Good news! Just got out of practice, well actually tonight was the inter-Teikyo weighted shiai, and I fought in the heavyweight division. I won the division on a tie breaker because we all beat eachother, but I was the only person to actually score points off of throws. Sadly though, this feels somewhat tainted because both the biggest (Ochi Masaaki-160kg) and most talented (Dai-chan the captain) players did not fight. My first match was against Shinoushi (I think that's how to spell it) who is about my weight, maybe a little lighter at the moment. I was agressive and out-lasted him the full 5 minutes, surprisingly. I threw him once with a harai-makikomi for a yuko, and countered two of his throws for yuko scores as well. Also, I forced him into two shido penalties as well by being agressive. So, I won that match. Next was Iwata (Tiger Mask) who is much taller than I am and weighs about 143kg. I could not really get anything going on him because of his strength. I did not grip him as effectively as I normally do in practice, fatigue may have been a factor. I received two penalties, one for non-combativity and later one for defensive posture (I lost the grip fight and he bent me over and stood on me basically, I could not get out). I lost that match because of the penalties, but did not get thrown. The last match was between the other two, and it went scoreless until the last ten seconds when Iwata was given a penalty for ducking his head under. That gave Shinoushi the win by penalty, and me the overall win because of the tie-breaker.
Even cooler to me was that Maruyama Sensei is now having a Teikyo belt made for me and shipping it to me in the states! Definitely in my top couple accomplishments for my Judo career is that prize (close to getting 2nd at Jr. Pan Ams). At the end of practice when we were lined up they had the winners stand up in front of the group. Today there were only three divisions contested so that was pretty neat.
Well, we are now officially down to our last week in Japan. It's been a great time and hopefully the fun continues for the next few days. Hope all is well back home, can't wait to see everyone and share some of these experiences.
-Mike
From Kenny Hashimoto
July 8, 2010
hi all,
Well, this week things have gone back to being normal for the team.. well mostly. Monday was a normal practice and got more and more people are working out with Seiji and myself. Tuesday was somewhat different. Seiji and I got to practice and then we were stretching only to have a 4 year player tell us that 73 and under were running. Seiji and I hurried to get changed so that we could go on the run with them. We ran around the town for about 40/45 minutes then took a break while everybody finished the run. After that we did sprints up and around this hill. That was our afternoon practice... it was super hot and humid that day so I was a little dehydrated after that run... all of our clothes were wet and to make matters even worse I didn't bring an extra pair of shorts so I had to wear my sweaty ones for a while ( they were soaking wet ) YUCKY.... this whole week we have had morning lifting which is a little weird since usually we also have running during the morning... Thursday. Today was different for us. Today we went and worked out at Teikyo with Justen and Mikey. It was fun, today they had an easy practice because the have an inters quad tourney Friday. I did not get a round off of the ten rounds we did... I guess I have gotten used to going four rounds and a break for like 3 sets... however, no break for me today. Needless to say I was dying haha. I mean I was in shape and could move with them and not get thrown but I couldn't keep my grips going and when I would attack it wouldn't be an attack that I was proud of. Following practice we went to dinner with the Teikyo coach. This was an interesting dinner as we had just met him but I am friends with both of his assistant coaches who also came to dinner. We went to Korean BBQ and the head coach made all four of us eat quite a bit of food. They kept telling us to eat eat... I am full to the brim and will have fun when I get back. Maybe I'll start my diet a little bit early. Haha yeah right, a diet in japan. I find that very unlikely. Today was a long day of trains and judo and eating haha. Anyways, I hope all is good back in the CO
Kenny h
From Mike Kannianen
July 7, 2010
Hey everyone!
Hope everything is going well back home. Japan is still going ok. I can't lie, I'm ready for some Colorado sunshine. It has been raining and hot (weird combination) for the last couple of weeks. Today actually is beautiful outside, blue sky nearly everywhere for the first time in what feels like a month. The problem is when it is like this it's the hottest, so I don't even want to go out and enjoy it! Judo has been good the last few days, preparing for the Teikyo inter-squad tournament. I am fighting in the heavyweights because I could not get within 3kg of 100kg, but that's fine because I have been fighting heavyweights at least 2 out of every 3 matches for over a month now. Yesterday at practice I thought Justen was crazy because he had to go with Iwata (tiger mask, 140kg) the second, third, and fourth matches in a row.... but then I went with him for 5,6, 7, 10, 11 and 14. Small practice so we kept finding eachother and Miyahara made us go the last round because the partner I had was who he wanted. No real injuries to report, thank god, just the usual bumps, bruises, and soreness. I am excited to fight in the shiai tomorrow, not even nervous for it actually. I guess that is probably because it has been a long time again since I competed. I miss the feeling, that rush you get. This weekend is going to busy with everyone wanting to go out one last time while we are here so we are going to get to hang out with the Teikyo judo boys outside of the dorm.
I noticed yesterday that my ashi-waza that I worked so hard on the months before I came here is still working. I thought I was just losing it, but the guys must have just figured out my style because I still caught a few guys with nice footsweeps. I also have developed a decent 'switch' off of a hip throw fake because they get so defensive. Maruyama sensei showed me an o-uchi variation that I want to show some of the lighter weights and Ian because the grip was just slightly different.
Not sure how many more journals I'll send before I get back, but this has definitely been the trip of a lifetime.
Thank You!
From Kenny Hashimoto
July 4, 2010
Hi, hope all is well.
Happy Fourth of July. Judo at the end of last week was the normal for them haha but always fun for me. I got in 11 of the 14 rounds and my body could feel weeks worth of practice. Although one of my rounds was with a Jr. from Switzerland. A Jr. team came in from Switzerland last week and most of them are around 20 years of age. It is good to have a different type of judo style to workout with but one thing that I don't like is sometimes they take my partners. The people who I go after... oh well though I know I will get enough rounds in throughout the day. This past weekend was the All-Tokyo Jr judo tournament... a qualifier for the All-Japan. Tokai did ok but I think that a few key people had bad days and lost early so they will not qualify. This week should be fun as practice should be almost back to normal with all of the players attending practice. These next few weeks I think that they have a inner University tournament with the members of Tokai.... a ranking tournament within itself... it should be very interesting. After the tournament Seiji and I also joined the Kurokawas for dinner and it was delicious. Thank you very much for the weekend trip to your house! Anyways, good luck to the Jr.s who are competing these next few weeks. Happy Fourth of July and I hope everything is going well.
kenny h
From Justen Otaka
July 4, 2010
Hey everybody,
We are down to our last 2 weeks here and I am starting to get sad that we have to leave. Practice has not been that crazy lately since there were back to back weekend tournaments, the All Japan Collegiates followed by the All Tokyo Juniors. Teikyo actually had TWO guys make it to the best 4 in the All-Tokyo shiai, one at 55kg and another at 73!! This freshman class is pretty impressive!! This week we get back to normal practices, which means a LOT of tachiwaza for Mikey and I!! I like it also because the coach encourages transitioning into ne-waza, something I have been working on out at San Jose State.
We went and spent the weekend with my cousin Miki and her kids. Watched their Kendo promotional tournament, then hung around at her house till it was time to go watch 4th of July fireworks with Casey. We went to the roof of a shopping mall and watched the show from there. After that we had to run since we had a long set of train rides ahead of us to get home. Yokosuka to the Teikyo dorms takes about 2 hours.
Sensei Maruyama is letting Mikey and I compete in the iner-Teikyo shiai!! I will be fighting 4 or 5 guys at 90 kilos and mikey has 3 guys in the open weight category... should be fun, we will try to get pics and/or video for that!
Take care,
Justen Otaka
From Mike Kannianen
June 30, 2010
Hey everyone!
Sorry it has been so long since my last update, things got crazy and the internet is expensive, but we found a new way that works for a few minutes. Anyways, the last couple weeks have been intensely packed. If you have been keeping up with Kenny you know all the craziness that we have gotten to do, LIKE BOXING EACH OTHER IN THE ALL JAPAN BOXING RING AT THE PRIVATE OLYMPIC TRAINING CENTER. Fun memories. Many more I can share with pictures when I get back. I decided to be with pictures when I get back. I decided to be the annoying tourist that takes like a million pictures, so I will have plenty to share! Training is going well｡ Last weekend Teikyo had one of its best ever finishes in The All Japan Collegiates finishing in the top 16. This week the Junior shiai is happening and they have a the Junior shiai is happening and they have a couple kids that should do really well. Uta Haraikawa is an 18 year old stud. Already a starter on the team, and now can show his stuff against guys his size and age｡Hopefully it goes well. The weather here is getting annoying though, it is either Really hot and muggy, or hot and rainy. I still don't understand how it can be rainy, Windy, and hot all at the same time. Well, practice today should be kind of boring, because we are mainly Just letting the junior starters do what they want and fight who they want... I honestly will get 2-4 matches in today, which kind of sucks. Training other than that is going really well｡I am down like 9 kilos, and hope to get about 6 more while I am here. It's annoying how slowly I am losing weight, but I don't think that the rice is helping that much haha. Hope everything back home is good.
Mike
From Seiji Hashimoto
June 28, 2010
This weekend was the All-Japan college championships and it was incredible. Saturday the women competed and the first round of the men's competition began. The women's competition was fun because Tokai's women's team had some exciting matches and an extremely dissapointing match. For the women's competition there are five competitors. Two 57 kilos two 70 kilos and an open weight competitor. The Tokai women's team is strong as they got second place at the Tokyo city championships only losing to Teikyo University. This weekend however, Teikyo got upset and did not make it to the finals. Tokai was in the finals and were tied before the final match and in the final seconds of the last match the Tokai girl was winning the match but she got a shido in the last handful of seconds and ended up losing the match thereby losing the tournament. That penalty hurt. The men's team had a first round bye and did not have to compete at all that day because they were the returning champions. Sunday was an early day like Saturday because we had another long train ride to the Nippon Budokan but we were excited to watch the tournament. The men looked ready to go and they were. They made their way into the finals with only a few scares. Kokushikan had a tougher road to the finals but made it there as well and ended up avenging themselves from last year by beating Tenri in the semifinals. So the finals began with a huge rivalry. Everyone was screaming it was hard not to get caught up in it. First match Kokushikan won by a yuko in a match that started off the dramatic finals. This entire tournament I had seen only 1 referee conference but in the last twenty seconds of this match there were two conferences and Tokai ended up losing the match. The next match the captain who is 81 kilos fought a +100 guy from Kokushikan who I heard was their strongest player and fought him to a draw. The third match was a freshman named Haga. He won the All-Japan high school championships the year before. He ended up throwing the guy with a beautiful uchimata for Ippon. The fourth match Tokai came in for an o-ouchi and got countered for Ippon and lost. So Tokai had one Ippon and Kokushikan had an Ippon and a Yuko victory. Yoshida fought the next match and fought to a draw. The next match Tokai won by a Yuko so the team score was all tied up with one match to go. Luckily Tokai still had one of their strongest players in Takagi to fight in the last match. Takagi will be competing in the world championships as well at 100kg. Takagi ended up pinning the guy and the Tokai team erupted into applause. Tokai had won its third consecutive championship and its sixteenth total. The celebration afterwards was pretty cool the entire team ended up going down on the floor and everyone picked up the coaches and the captain and threw them in the air and caught them three times. Takagi and Haga also got named to the all star team. It was a great day. Tokai continued its legacy by coming within less than five seconds of winning both the men's and women's titles.
seiji
From Kenny Hashimoto
June 28, 2010
Hi all...
This whole week was amazing... We had an interview with Yasuhiro Yamashita and this weekend we were able to watch the Tokai mens team win its 16th Univ championship. The Tokai women's team got second losing on a penalty that happened in the last few seconds. All day we were able to watch and cheer on the Tokai men's team. They are all very happy after they won the championships. In the finals they beat Kokushikan, their rivals. It was a very, very exciting team match. The first match was crazy with scores going for each player. The second match was a tie and then the third match a Tokai freshman won putting the score at 1 win 1 loss and 1 tie. The fourth match was a tie and then the 5th match was a win for Kokushikan. That meant that Tokai had to win the last two matches and that they did. It started with a senior pulling off a yuko win an exciting match that could have gone either way. The anchor for the team a sophomore and member of the 2010 world team, Takagi pulled of a win by pinning his opponent for the win. The final score was 3 wins, 2 losses, giving Tokai a third championship in a row and the 16th overall. After the tournament we heard everybody talk and we we ere allowed to be in on the floor with everyone as they celebrated their victory. It was quite an experience being with all of them. Following that we were shown to a room where they had another meeting this time with board members and other people about the championships win. Sato sensei, Nakanishi sensei, and Agemizu sensei all spoke about the big win. It was quite an experience being with all of them and seeing how happy everyone was about the victory. This weekend was very enjoyable as the students were all pumped about the win and even before that pumped about all he matches that were coming up. I am looking forward to the upcoming workouts as I believe I will get more matches hopefully I can even get thrown around by some of the team members... Haha I just found a new goal for myself...get a throw in on a few starting members.... I hope all is well back home and hope that everything is going well.... Best of luck to all of the juniors who are fighting.
Kenny h
From Kenny Hashimoto
June 24, 2010
Hi all,
I am sorry it has been a while since my last journal post. We had a busy few last days. Last weekend we went on a train ride and ended up at a BBQ two hours later and had a nice relaxing Sunday. We meet up with Shinya and meet some of her friends. It was nice to sit and talk and eat with some non-judo people really. Monday it was back to judo. Judo this week has been good and bad. I have gotten in my rounds but a few tournaments are coming up so it makes it a bit harder for us non-university students to get rounds. This weekend is the All Japan Univ. Championships, the big one and then on the following weekend they have a large tournament for people under 20. This weekend is a big weekend for the team. This is the big tournament that they won last year. Round 1 for the men and the whole women's tournament will take place on Saturday. The Tokai men's team will not fight on Saturday because they are the returning champions they picked up a first round bye. Sunday the will compete and we will be cheering them on and watching some awesome judo both days. This week we had a very very lucky tour and meet and greet thanks to the Kurokawas. This Wednesday the Colorado boys and Jeff went to the National training center in Japan and we were able to get a tour with the vice-president of the facility. It was amazing we were able to watch a live wrestling practice, play on some of the equipment, take a quick peek at some of the high tech equipment that they are using. We ate lunch at the facility and met several Olympic medalists who work at the facility. Also, Noriko Narazaki used to work at this place before taking another job elsewhere for those of you who remember her while she was staying in Boulder. This was followed by lunch at the training center, and then we headed to our next destination. We were part of an interview with Yasuhiro Yamashita. Mr. Kurokawa interviewed Yamashita Sensei along with a friend and we were able to be part of it and listen. It was for a journal here in japan about coaching I believe. In the interview Yamashita talked about how he wants judo to grow but he wants to make sure it grows in the right way. He wants you to show respect to your opponent and show respect to everyone. This experience was one that will stay with me for a long, long time as I'm not sure if many Americans have this kind of opportunity. At the end of this we were able to take pictures with Yamashita sensei. We ended the day with dinner with the Kurokawas after the busy, busy day. It was a day that we all enjoyed greatly and once again I would like to say thank you to the Kurokawas for the fantastic and one of a kind experience.
Kenny h
From Seiji Hashimoto
June 24, 2010
Wednesday we all met up with the Kurokawa's and they took us on this amazing tour of the Japanese Olympic training center and it was quite amazing. That day was a lot of fun. We also found out that I can jump higher then anyone else. After the tour we went to an interview with Yamashita sensei and I learned that he has a much more global view about judo. We were very lucky to have been considered to participate in the interview and the question we selected to ask Yamashita sensei came from Justen. After the interview, we went to a very good Tonkatsu restaurant which was delicious. However, the next day we were back to practice again. Although we had no morning practice because the college championships are this weekend so we just have judo practice at night. During these practices usually the starting team does their workout then the rest of the team does randori while the starters do uchikomi. We still need to do randori because the under 20 team has the Tokyo junior championships next weekend. I have been fighting as many lefties as I can and I have been doing better against them. Righties I have been doing well against but I would still like to be more offensive. I feel as though I am hesitating too much so I am trying to force myself to take the shot and as many times as I can. Looking forward to the tournament this weekend. Go Tokai!
seiji
From Kenny Hashimoto
June 15, 2010
Hi all,
Seiji and I have moved into the Judo dorms. I think last night after practice when I was washing judo gis and passing other people in the halls they were surprised to see that we had moved in with them. Hopefully this will allow us to get to know them better. The team tournament is next weekend so this week and next week are preparation time. when I do get my rounds in, things have been going good for me. I am moving better every day and my body is getting somewhat used to the punishment that it has been taking. Well at least I hope my body is handling the treatment it has been receiving. I hope all is well back home.
Kenny h
From Seiji Hashimoto
June 15, 2010
Sorry it has taken so long to write we have been quite busy. Judo practice was going really strong for a while because the college championships are not this coming weekend but the next one and the Tokyo junior championships are the following weekend I believe. The Tokyo junior championships are for under 20 so its mostly freshman and a few sopohmores. The team has been having some good, intense practices. We moved into the judo dormitory as well and we don't have internet access anymore so that will make it a little harder. As for the judo I have been getting things to work a lot better by setting throws up by pumping but I am still not doing well with lefties so I am going everyday with as many as I can which to be honest is not as much fun as you would think. There are a lot of lefties out here unlike in the states. I am trying lots of new things to help me in gripping against them but it is only successful for one or two gripping exchanges and I have yet to find something that will stick. The team is looking good going in to the tournament and I believe that they will repeat.
Seiji
From Mike Kannianen
June 14, 2010
Hey all,
So this weekend and week have been great so far. Saturday we met up with some friends and Jeff and Seiji and enjoyed a night out. Sunday we went and saw an AWESOME Taiko drumming show with Miki (Seiji, Kenny, Jeff, Justen, Myself) and even better it was only like 3 stops away on the train so it wasn't even a bunch of traveling. It's no fun for those guys though because they are even further in the boonies than we are. Due to some unforeseen circumstances with Friday and Saturday's Teikyo practice not happening (coach went recruiting at the high school tournament) so my ankles got some much needed rest since last Thursday. Because of this, Monday morning I was back at nearly 100%! Rain in the morning pushed running to the indoor track.... Only in Japan will they build an indoor track with a hill, kind of ridiculous. But Justen and I were like that last ones to stop running, which I think made the coach happy. Not only that, but we both busted our butts. When the coach told me to stop I did one more lap with sprints with Justen, simply because it was nice to do something and not have my ankle hurt. It was really wearing on me mentally, but now it's better and I am all smiles. Practice Monday night was different because the Teikyo starters practiced with Chuo's starters (Justen and I did this last week, so we were told to stay at Teikyo for the night). Because it was mainly lightweights, freshman, and sophomores we did Motodachi, and I got the sash for the first 8 matches. That was the most I have enjoyed doing Judo in a long time. Again, it didn't hurt to do anything so I was able to have fun with the guys when we were fighting. And there was only one other heavyweight there, so I wasn't trying to muscle anyone like crazy either, but instead just move and be loose. Once my 8 matches were done, and everyone switched sashes, Justen went in the next group. I was only able to go about 3 or 4 of the last 6 matches, but that was because people were tired and just didn't want to fight. Today's morning practice was the street course to the bridge and back, again, I won the race of the guys about 95kg and up (we run different distance than the lightweights). I caught the guy in front of me on the last stretch up this stupid hill. The next guys were like 10 minutes behind me :) Justen is surprisingly fast...almost makes me mad.
On the walk to running this morning, when we were walking up the hill to the dojo I looked over and saw Mt. Fuji clear as day. Absolutely beautiful. I may be used to mountains, but that was one of those things you look at and kind of step back to appreciate it and understand the magnitude of what you're doing. I am 21 years old, and I am training in Japan for 2 months of my life. I spoke virtually no Japanese when I got here. Life is crazy. That was the first time we could see it since we have been here because it is always so hazy. Hopefully I can see it again when I have my camera with me, because I want a picture!
Hope all is well, and that your eyes aren't tired from reading another one of my novels!
Miss everyone,
Mike
From Kenny Hashimoto
June 14, 2010
Hi,
This weekend was busy as Friday was a good practice and i saw my friend from Teikyo, Hitoishi. It has been a while since I have seen him. Saturday was another hard practice of 12 rounds. My body was definitely feeling it after the week. I got in over 10+ rounds every single night with 3 days of getting the sash for motodachi. Saturday was nice because we were ale to go to dinner with the Kurokawas. Seiji and I had not seen them in a few weeks so that was nice. Sunday we also went out to lunch with Carlos Mendez a judo player whom I used to love to watch when I was younger. It was nice to see him and talk to him. Following lunch with him on Sunday we went to a Taiko concert with Miki, Yuki, Justen, Jeff, and Mikey. It was an awesome performance although we were a little late due to not knowing which train to take. After that we went to dinner with Justen and Mikey. Yesterday's practice Monday night was not that hard because Kanagawa prefecture police team came and we did not get in that many rounds as the mats were very crowded. Hopefully more rounds tonight. Also today Seiji and I will be moving out of the international dorm and into the judo dorm for the remainder of our stay. This will be good as we will be able to bond more with the players from the team. Hope all is well looking forward to the rest of the week of judo!!! Hope all is well.
Kenny h
From Mike Kannianen
June 11, 2010
Hi
So we visited Tokai Wednesday and practiced with Kenny, Seiji, and Jeff there. Those guys at Tokai are pretty impressive, I can't lie. Definitely a step up. Highlight of my trip happened in my second match there: THE Yamashita watched my match with a starting member at Tokai and I almost threw the guys with an ouchigari. I knocked him down, but no score. For those who may not know him he is basically the most accomplished, best Judo player in history. THE Yamashita got up and walked over and gave me about a 45 second lesson on Ouchigari kuzushi (off balancing). I had no idea what to do, because he was talking to me, and only me. It was NUTS! Anyways, away from the selfish stuff :) Kenny, Seiji, Jeff, and Justen were all chosen to have the Motodachi (have the sash and stay out all 12 rounds straight). I was not chosen for that. Instead they sent me to the far side of the mat with the starting members and the Chinese World Team member at 100+kg. That was fun, let me tell ya. I got pretty much mauled the whole time, and LOVED it. Only had 1 match out of the first 3, then I had a boxing match essentially with a guy who Justen said was his hero beforehand, and after that they all were willing to fight me. I ended up going 8 of the 12 matches, missing one for the restroom and 3 for not being able to get a partner. It's a big dojo at Tokai, three full tatami areas, as opposed to where we practiced last night, which had about one full tatami. We went to Chuo (previously mentioned) with Hitoshi from Teikyo, and luckily for us, the Chuo freshman and sophomores had the night off. It was just the starting members. 16 matches, with breaks after each set of 8. I chose to not tape my ankle, fearing it would provide them a target, and luckily for me, it was the right choice. Not lucky for me was that a guy got frustrated with me and step on my OTHER foot and kicked it with his other leg at the same time, hurting that ankle. It seems to be doing slightly better today, but right now walking sucks with essentially two flat tires for ankles. I was told to sit and ice for about 5 matches, then it was back to work. I ended up getting like 9 matches, and only got in 3 throws. 1 ippon with a switch, 1 yuko with ouchigari, 1 yuko with kouchigari. Clearly I am still relying heavily on my ashiwaza, especially since I can't explode off of either plant foot right now.
On a lighter note, I was icing my ankles earlier today (Friday) and was told that practiced had been canceled at Teikyo tonight due to many injuries and sick people. This is the first time I have been excited to take a day off since we got here. I am using it to rest and ice, because we have judo tomorrow morning, but then Saturday night and all of Sunday off. Much needed rest. I hope to be back to full speed Monday. We had the opportunity to go to Tokai again tonight, but I honestly figured rest would be smarter in the long run.
Almost at the half-way mark! I have learned so much, thank you again for this opportunity! I am truly appreciative and taking advantage of everything that comes my way. I have worked pretty hard on my Japanese and can start to carry on basic conversations and feel confident speaking with anyone. By no means even as good as Kenny, but much better than when I got here! Hope everything is going well back home. I attached a couple pictures of Tokai's dojo and us there.
Mike
Tokai University Dojo
Justen, Kenny, Jeff Fujimoto, Seiji, and Mike
From Seiji Hashimoto
June 09, 2010
Well here are finally some pictures sorry that they took so long I am not very computer savvy and it takes me a little bit longer than it takes normal people. these past practices have been pretty hard but good I am still getting absolutely destroyed lefty on lefty and I have tried several things but so far none have been successful for more then a few exchanges. Lately I have been throwing more and more people in front of the coaches and the players do not like that but it is fun because they then become a lot more aggressive. I am doing extremely well against rightys though and have been catching a lot by mixing it up. I haven't shot to many uchimatas but I have been setting a lot of throws up with combinations working off backwards and forwards. The running and weight practices are starting to become routine. The other night after practice we went out to dinner with the current international relations lady for Tokai university. It was a delicious dinner and we went out to dinner with Justen and Mikey after they came to practice.
seiji
View of Tokai University Dojo
Another View of Tokai University Dojo
Well....that gi didn't last too long!
Haha, mineeee mart get it? haha
A rice vending machine haha, awesome
Mikey, Seiji, and Jeff Fujimoto relaxing at dinner with Kenny and Justen
From Kenny Hashimoto
June 09, 2010
Hi all,
Judo yesterday and today was good. I got in a lot of rounds and last night went out to dinner with Keiko Mitsumoto which was very nice. She is currently the travel and international realtions person for the University I think. She has been very nice to us. Today we had a few guests. Justen and Mikey joined us at practice which was good. It looked like Mikey had a good practice because he was able to work out with lots of the bigger boys. Today was fun I went 12 rounds and having been getting my throws in while at the same time being thrown quite a bit. Also once again sensei Yasuhiro Yamashita once again came to practice and let's just say Mikey was a lucky boy. I will let him tell the story. Also, I believe Seiji and or Mikey will send some pictures. We have tomorrow morning practice off which will be a nice little break. Hope all is well in the CO. Hope you're practicing hard Ian!
From Mike Kannianen
June 08, 2010
Hey guys,
So this week started off kind of poorly, hoping it will get better. My ankle is really limiting me. Yesterday at practice I entered deep on an uchimata against the 140kg freshman and he kicked out my plant foot (the bad ankle of course). It was probably one of three right sided attacks I did in five matches and it got me hurt haha. Oh well, Maruyama Sensei just told me to take it easy, I iced it for the next 40 minutes or so then did moving uchikomi with the team after randori was over. They did probably 14 rounds of 7 minutes each. I was able to go 5 of the first 7 matches before being told to ice. Monday I was even able to get some good throws in. A standing tai-o, sumi gaeshi, standing seio (on a big guy), and the one that top them all, I threw the captain with a tomoe-nage. It was nuts. I have never kiai'd so loud in my life! I do LOVE fighting all the big guys out here. I have about 7 regular partners that are about 95kg and up. Most of them are starting members too, which is good and bad, because the younger guys don't like fighting me since I am able to hang with and throw the starting members. Things are going well, I am still working on resting the ankle. Have been taking it easy running, 'running' with the heavyweights.... that's just frustrating, it's realistically a slow power walk. I have been taking it easier so far this week because I knew today we would be going to Tokai to train with Kenny, Seiji, and Jeff, which is like a totally different league than where we are. Teikyo is good, but Tokai is world class, so we'll see how Justen and I do tonight! On our way there now. Hope to write again before the end of the week, but the internet is actually pretty far away from our dorm. Hope everyone is doing well.
Mike
From Kenny Hashimoto
June 07, 2010
Hi all,
Judo was judo this week with a few guests today we were able to watch sensei Yasuhiro Yamashita teach. Those are some pretty good guests coming to practice. This week was fun. Not only did I get in a lot of rounds but I was able to fight and get my throws in. Today for morning practice we had a technical session for an hour followed by 12 rounds of judo. It has been a while since I have felt this way my body is beat up but it is a good beat up. If that makes any sense. So, Jeff Fujimoto from California is now here and also working out at Tokai with us. I also think that next Wednesday Justen and Mikey will join us for practice at Tokai. I spent my Sunday doing absolutely nothing. I took a walk with Jeff so that we could check the practice time of Monday and also to get lunch. Monday morning running was not so easy... Haha buddy carries, fire mans, etc. up a large hill. I guess it wasn't that bad but I could tell how much I slowed down every time when I reached the top of the hill. After that practice we sat around and talked with some of the upperclassman. They like to go fishing, I want to go!!! Judo today was super fun. More like brawling. When I throw someone they don't like it, so after they get up they fight harder which sometimes includes some dirty fighting. I love that because I can fight dirty also. When this happens I make it my goal not to give them an inch or back down and most importantly throw them again!!! I think I went 11 or 12 rounds today but with 5 people. This means that after 1 round they wanted more haha, a second and third and fourth round in a row with that person is when things get physical and they really don't like me or sometimes I don't like them... Last week and a few rounds today I got destroyed. Last Thursday and Friday I was lucky enough to go around 10 rounds with some people a little bit heavier than me. Most of those guys were a 100 kg-ish and let's just say I got thrown quite a bit by those guys. And don't tell anybody but a few of them are still in high school. Started another week and ready for morning lifting. Hope all is well back home.
Kenny h
From Mike Kannianen
June 05, 2010
Hi,
Sorry about my last journal not coming through. Apparently the pictures I tried to send with it are preventing it from going through so I sent just the text. Work on the picture thing later....Well the end of our first full week of practice is done, THANKFULLY! I am beat down, beat up, sore, tired....haha... Really though, aside from my ankle hampering my effectiveness it was a great week. The last few days were good especially. Starting to get my body used to this much judo... Its been a looong time since I put a gi on everyday, and never going to the same dojo for it all. Running has been difficult due to my ankle, but the coach was impressed with me the two days of sprints. I was pitted up against the captain, Dai-chan, in track sprints and dominated it even with a hurt ankle. Running the track, sprinting 5 laps (half a lap at a time), and then 9 hill sprints...... all before 8am. Yesterday we did the distance run again, like on Monday, but Maruyama Sensei told me I could run with the heavyweights due to my ankle (about half the distance and half the pace) I still came in second, by about 20m, in the whole thing for guys 100kg and over, about 7 or 8 of us who were running that day. My throws are starting to come as well, but I got kicked in the ankle by someone, and I'm sure it wasn't on purpose ;) ...... But because of that my explosiveness is completely gone, so I started fighting lefty. People get mad when they know you are not a lefty but can still catch them with haraigoshi.... The coach gave me the day off after he saw that I started practice Saturday morning by going the first three rounds in a row (7 minutes each) and two were against starting members. He told me that I had a good week, and to go ice and rest for next week. I was upset at first, but grateful in the end. About a day and a half off, going to visit some of Justen's friends this afternoon, and Casey again for dinner. REST REST REST. It starts again on Monday! Hope everything in Colorado is still good.
Mike
P.S. I have only had them tear one pair of pants (day one at Teikyo) and they are trying to tear a gi top.... grips are ridiculous out here!
From Mike Kannianen
June 03, 2010
Hey everyone,
First thing, I have uploaded a TON of pictures onto my Facebook account (Mike Kannianen) so add me as a friend to see all of those. I will attach a few new judo related pictures in this email as well. FINALLY my cough is slowly going away, and my ankle is back to about 80% as of today. I did not have to quit running once today, in fact I pushed it quite a bit. I have been very sore, not just my ankle, but all over. That's what happens when you work out twice a day, nothing abnormal... My body is actually adapting quite nicely. I am able to hang with the students in most running drills. Today we ran the track for about 10 or 15 minutes, at a painfully slow pace might I add (literally it was killing my ankle), then did 5 laps of sprinting half a lap, rest, sprint, rest, etc. Then we did 9 hill sprints ( that hill is like the one at Westminster but its concrete) and then one partner carry up the hill to end. The last couple practices (judo) have been crazy! Going about 15 or 16 rounds a at 7 minutes each. I have only been going about 9 matches each day, and doing uchikomi most of the time, just to rest my ankle (Maruyama Sensei recommended). I will say, though, I caught some people in the last couple days with clean, beautiful throws. Man does that feel good. It's like the first time you throw someone ever or something, completely satisfying. Then you go 25 minutes without even coming close haha. I have been fighting a freshman kid that weighs about 140kg about 4 times each practice. His grip is ridiculous, in fact, he almost rip my lapel when he had a double lapel grip. It is tearing down the middle of my neck. But I am actually able to break his grip and out grip him, but throwing him is a challenge. In four matches each day I probably throw him once or twice, and he will get me 2 or 3 times. I am starting to get some of the players respect, but there are still some who won't go with me...not sure why. I am fighting clean and having fun. The stand up style out here is crazy, and is completely changing my judo, although I can throw virtually anyone with a sumi-gaeshi becuase they don't know what to do bent over. Last night 4 of the Teikyo Women's Team members practiced with us. They were very good. I have never fought girls of their size who were that technically sound and smooth. They were strong when they had to be, but really, loose and flowing judo. It's nice to see really. Justen and I both went with them. Mine was to get a rest round because my ankle was sore, but if I stopped fighting completely it would lock up.
Everyone is being nice to us for the most part, and starting to accept us (me mostly, because many of them already know and love justen). I am also learning a lot of Japanese, and trying to learn to read a little bit in my spare time. Cant believe they know three written versions of the same language, I feel so lazy just knowing English!
Well, now that you have a novel to read, I think I will leave it at that and say good day to you! Hope all is well, miss everyone.
Mike
PS the guy with the Tiger Wrestling Mask on is my giant partner, and he's not even the big guy on the team. Ochi (160kg 18year old) will be practicing again next week he said. YES!
Justen and the Girls of Teikyo
Justen and Mikey with some of the Teikyo Women's Judo Team
Pre-Fight Hype!!! Mike and Ochi
The Fight is ON! Justen and Ochi
From Justen Otaka
June 03, 2010
Body hurts, mostly the legs especially since we've been doing running practices. Mikey does like 11-13 rounds an I get in like 13-15 of the 18 we do every night. Last night I took it a little easy because I was sore as hell, ONLY did like 12. 7 min rounds though. All tachi-waza since it is tournament season. Crazy guys. I think the coach is trying to kill us! The teikyo girls heavyweights came to practice yesterday, i fought three of them. I tried giving one of them the business but I couldn't throw her... even with my bear-attack! Its as if she just floated out of my attacks like a leaf in the wind! Even though we don't do ne-waza, we can do transitional judo, so lets say an attack gets only a yuko or you just knock the guy down you can try a choke, pin, or armbar. But if nothing comes of it in 5 seconds we usually stand back up. Good preparation for tournament fighting. The only throw that has been working is my bear-attack kouchi/ouchi-gari combo. These guys are so much better at grip fighting that its hard to get the grip I want. And if I do, the guys are so quick to drop their weight when I come in its like trying to throw a boulder. The food here is amazing, as usual! for 450Yen I can buy 10 pieces of sushi!! And it is good quality sushi too!! Katsudon, katsu-curry, bento boxes are a daily friend of mine come lunchtime. Mikey and I got invited to go practice at Tokai, so maybe this Friday (Tomorrow) We will go practice there.
Keepin it Real Out Here in Japan Land,
Justen Otaka
Mikey in "Keepin it Real" in the park
Mikey and Justen after practice at Teikyo
PS I need some NGJC stickers or patches or something because the guys keep asking us questions about our dojo. Especially since Mikey is now the 5th guy from Northglenn to train here. If that can happen that would be awesome!
From Kenny Hashimoto
June 01, 2010
Hi all,
Judo these last few days have been good. Today was a good day for me as I got in lots of rounds and felt great. I am moving better and throwing and attacking more often. Still I think, trying to get into the swing of things. Running and lifting have been good. I would like to also say thank you to Miki, Baba, and Yuki sensei for this past weekend in Yokosuka. I had so much fun with all the boys. It was also great to see Yume, Genki, and Yuki and enjoy dinner with them. I ate so much with them over the weekend and I think that the weekend helped me reset and get ready for the next few weeks. It was a very good weekend. Today in practice I also think I got in my first rough match where I could fight back because I was able to throw them and then they became more physical pushing me against the wall and throwing a few punches while griping. All that did was get me ready. I loved it because I fought back, didn't give him any ground and now I am looking forward to judo tomorrow. Hope all is well back home.
Kenny h
From Mike Kannianen
May 31, 2010
Oh yeah,
I keep forgetting to mention this....Special thank you to Mrs. Hitomi Kurakawa for reading my journals and coming all the way to the Kodokan last Friday night. She brought us gifts (towels, umbrellas) and also gave me an ice bag, a hot/cold pack, and cough medicine!!! What a great surprise as we were leaving practice!! So thank you soo much, all of these gifts are being used and appreciated!
Mike
From Mike Kannianen
May 31, 2010
Hello all,
So much has gone on since my last journal. I am still a little sick, but it seems to be getting better, except when I lay down I still cough like a mad man (which means very little sleep for myself and anyone around me). Sunday we went to a small team tournament in Yokosuka with Kenny, Seiji, and Miki after a night of hanging out. The rest of Sunday was trains and walking to get home to Teikyo, but it's not nearly as bad as traveling to Tokai (suckers).
Monday started our first week of two a days with the team, and Monday's morning run was a little gift that said "Hello Mikey, since you hate running, why don't we start with like 8 or 10km at 7am, how does that feel on your ankle?" I pushed through it hard and was keeping up with the 73 and 81kg guys though the halfway point but rolled my ankle running down the walkway of a bridge and it tightened up fast. Had to run about 2 or 3 km like that, much of it uphill. Then practice that night was intense as well because we had visitors. I am still not entirely sure who they were, but the Teikyo guys fought hard, and got heavily criticized anytime they would get thrown by me, so I had some brawls on Monday night. We went 14 rounds and I did about 10 of them. The only rounds I took off were to cough or because there were only little guys to fight. After icing my ankle for what felt like all night, with little results, we woke up today for running practice as well. SPRINTS! Actually it wasn't that bad, we just ran back and forth on a soccer field, kind of reminded me of wrestling conditioning. It only lasted about 45 or 50 minutes and my ankle didnt really give out until about the last exercise, but the Sensei noticed me laboring and told me to stop when I tried to keep going. I apologized and he said its okay, that I was working very hard. That made me feel slightly better. I was one of two guys over 100kg doing sprints with the team(Dai-chan the captain was the other), the rest just jogged around in circles on the field. There were some good exercises that Ian is going to have to learn when we get back :) Tonight's practice looks to be fun. I plan on icing both ankles and resting/sleeping until practice. No Wednesday morning practice!!! Yes! Rest for the ankle. Judo for the rest of the week should be fun. I am still learning a lot and perfecting techniques during uchikomi. My grips are getting better, and I am even throwing people with nice techniques now like kouchigari to seionage. As always, ashiwaza works beautifully here. Probably 70% of my scoring throws come from ashiwaza.
Off to rest! Take care.
Mike
From Mike Kannianen
May 31, 2010
Hey everyone,
So we got all moved in to Teikyo and have started practicing there full time as of Saturday. The last week was a bit hectic with travel and everything, but I am sure it will all be worth it. We are staying in the Judo Dorm in a room with a few other guys, but not the freshman room, which is STUFFED with like 20 something guys and all their belongings. Last week kind of stunk for me because my ankle gave out, got the same foot smashed somehow at a practice, and I got a beautiful cough that has kept myself and all of those around me from sleeping for the past four nights. All in all, I've been worse, so it's not all bad. Went to Yokosuka Saturday night with Kenny and Seiji, met with Miki and her family, and also Justen's cousin Yoshi, and Casey DeMarrias again. That was a fun night. Went to a nomihodai place for like 90 minutes, and it was ON! We ate soooo much meat and veggies it could have fed a small army, then met with Casey and hung out at Miki's until all hours of the morning. Went to another all you can eat place today with Miki and the kids, and Yuki Sensei (Kendo instructor). Needless to say, the training starts tomorrow and after all the hospitality the last few days, we are going to need it! Tough week starts tomorrow, going home to get some rest. Hope all is well.
Mike
ps Not sure how often we will have internet but will check in as often as possible.
From Seiji Hashimoto
May 30, 2010
Hey,
So we got back from the weekend with Mikey Justen and Casey at Miki's house and it was a lot of fun and a lot of eating. We went and watched Nakanishi sensei's son compete in a team tournament as well and he was the only one on his team to win in the finals. Miki's kids are hilarious by the way. So today we had morning practice off because there was a tournament Sunday for first second and third year students. But once again, it was motodachi night for Tokai University. I got in as many rounds as I could but there weren't that many tonight I don't know why but practice ended earlier than usual. We have running tomorrow morning which I am looking forward to working off all that food I had this past weekend.
seiji
From Kenny Hashimoto
May 28, 2010
Hi all...
Sorry have I not written anything recently. Net at our dorms have been shaky these past few days. Past few days have been a miss. A company team came in which is a good but now everyone is going after them. Matches were hard to come by as I was turned down several times when I asked someone, but you win some and lose some. Anyways they have been here all week. So This past week I have had my clocked cleaned/thrown like I haven't been thrown in years... The first came on a kouchi-gari against the 73 kg player from the company team. Super clean super high and landed right on my upper back/head. A little dizzy after that one but felt sort of good to get slammed like that. The second time was tonight, I was fighting the # 2 guy in japan( who is from Tokai) and he caught me with a right uchimata that was spectacular. I was thrown so high that I was able to over rotate and land on my stomach. The throw was amazing though, so quick and clean... Honestly I wish I had video. Since being here I have been thrown TONS of time but not until these last few days have I been fighting back and getting more and more of my throws in. Tonight also they had an under 20 tourney for the students within Tokai. It was fun and entertaining to watch this. Also I believe that another tournament is Sunday but I'm not sure who, what, or where it is. Off to see Miki this weekend also.
Hope all is well
Kenny h
From Justen Otaka
May 28, 2010
Hey everybody,
This week has been full of awesome practices for Mikey and I. It started off kinda slow on Monday at the Kodokan as there were only a few black belts our size to work out with. Mikey beat up a Canadian brown belt pretty bad, which was fun to watch! Go USA! Tuesday is when the craziness started. We took the train out to Teikyo for their practice which is about an hour and 15 min if u catch the express. We were supposed to do ONLY 12 rounds at 6 minutes a piece, but the Fuchu prison team showed up so practice got extended to 18 rounds. These guys are trying to kill us because even when we try to take a round to rest, someone comes up and grabs us! I would say that I did at least 13 or 14 rounds because I was only able to rest one out of every 5 or so! I've had to adjust to the "floating" style very quickly because if i clamp down and use my muscle to grip or whatever, i get tired too fast and get killed. This is good though because my movement has already improved. I have been trying to keep in mind the kuzushi techniques that i was taught out at San Jose by Mike Swain and our new coach, Sensei Nakano, which has helped my gripping quite a bit. I still get absolutely dominated on grips by almost everybody out here though. Wednesday was University night at the Kodokan, and it was a great practice to even be on the sidelines because there were about 150 black belts running around trying to kill each other! It was great. Some of the teams that were there were Kokoshikan, Nichi-Dai, Chuo, and Tokyo U., just to name a few. I specifically wore my Teikyo Gi so I would get more rounds in, and i think it helped. Out of 25 rounds i was able to fight in about 8 or 9 of them. I think Mikey got in 6. I remember my first time out here 4 years ago with kenny when I was at a college night and i was lucky to get 3 rounds!
Thursday was another practice at Teikyo where we did 15 rounds at 6min each. Then when the killing was over, we did speed Uchikomis. 30 second shots as fast as you can, 5 times each partner. This is what i came to Japan for! Tonight we have practice at the Kodokan, and back out to Teikyo tomorrow morning. We move into the Teikyo dorms Sat so next week we will finally be able to get into a normal routine. I still haven't thrown anyone with Uchi-mata yet. Kinda sad since it is supposed to be my best throw! I have been able to do some ouchi-gari and kosoto-gakes, though. OH and i also threw a guy with a Sode!! It was not pretty but it was at least a waza-ari!
Mikey and I are meeting up with those Hashimoto kids to go visit my cousin Miki in Yokosuka. Hopefully we will see Casey down there too.
Having fun and being safe,
Justen Otaka
From Seiji Hashimoto
May 28, 2010
Alright,
So these past couple of days have been an easy period because they have a tournament tonight and Sunday I believe I don't know for sure. So we had Thursday morning off of running and these past motodachi nights have not been too hard. I have even been doing more newaza as of late as well. I have been doing better and better at newaza too and I even have some people who like to go two or three rounds straight with me so that is fun. This weekend we have been cleared to go to Yokosuka so hopefully we will see Casey there along with Mikey and Justen. We have sort of gotten into a rhythm of things already so that is good too.
seiji
From Justen Otaka
May 27, 2010
Warren,
Ok no problem. Please tell Doc thank you so much! We promise to eat some good sushi or sashimi for him!! We greatly appreciate it.
Training has been great so far, tho kodokan has been hit or miss a few nights, but the teikyo practices have been killer, as expected! So far so good as far as health goes, mikey twisted his ankle a bit but nothing a little tape cant solve! The prison guard team from Fuchu showed up yesterday at Teikyo, about 10 guys. The lightest was around 92 kilos (202 Lbs.), so PLENTY of bodies!! Thank you again for this opportunity!
Justen
From Mike Kannianen
May 26, 2010
Hi,
Today was long and short at the same time. Because of practice and dinner with Mr. Saito on Monday night, plus talking to the other international guys at the Kodokan, it was a late night. We both pretty much tried to rest up for the day and practice, sleeping in for the first time since we have been here. More trains, getting to Teikyo is time consuming and expensive. I'll be glad when we move there this weekend. Practice tonight was really good. The usual uchikomi before and after, but 18 rounds in the middle of straight tachiwaza randori. I only got in about 12 because I hurt my ankle in like the third match fighting Owen Miura.... jerk. Needless to say I would have been sore and beat up anyway, but partway through practice a prison guard team showed up. They were huge and worked me over pretty good. In my last 7 or so matches I probably only threw people a total of two times, but man does it feel good when you catch someone after a drought like that! The training is getting more serious, as are we. We are both loving the good workouts. Staying at the Kodokan for practice Wednesday, because it's University night. Just another chance to get completely demolished. I decided that if you came to Japan with an ego, you would be in trouble, because I can see how it would be easy for people's confidence to get shattered here. Luckily for me, I don't underestimate myself, but I don't expect to kill everyone either.As always, having a good time, getting tired. My hands and ankle hurt like crazy, from gripping and moving of course. Don't see them feeling better for at least a week, but nothing too serious. Ice, ice, rest, elevation, ice, JUDO! Best rehab! Talk to you soon, hope everything back home is well.
Mike
From Kenny Hashimoto
May 25, 2010 :
Hi all,
Start of a new week. Today was a good day, went running and had a good workout. Then after running practice we came back and hung around the dorm for a bit. Then it was time for judo practice. Judo was long and hard today although the people who fought in the tourney didn't practice. We went I think like 15+ rounds, I myself getting in about 12. Following that we did newaza for the longest time since we have been out here 20 minutes haha. I felt a lot better today moving around although it is still hard for me to attack. I was not only able to attack a little bit today but I was also able to defend better. Following practice we ate dinner and then made our way to the dorm. Also, a young lady from Switzerland is here for 5 months going to school and doing judo with the women. I have talked to her several times and she is really nice. Today the women had practice for like 3 and half hours compared to our 3. I thought we had a long practice... Hope all is well.
Kenny h
From Mike Kannianen
May 24, 2010 :
Hey guys,
Good news early this morning, Teikyo is letting us move in to the Judo dorm for the remainder of the trip starting this Saturday. So that is awesome. Great training, nice guys, and also morning running and lifting with the team which is what I need to keep my motivation for that stuff. Tonight's practice at the Kodokan was not a lot of quantity but the one match I got was of ridiculously good quality. The heavier Japanese sensei I worked with last week was teaching a class of kids tonight at the open practice. He stopped what he was doing to warm up and fight me and only me for the night. I asked him his name after the match and he said it was Makeshi. Multiple people have told us that he was the All-Japan Open Weight Championship Runner Up earlier this decade. He is 36 y.o. now. To even have someone like that say yes to fight me the first time last week was awesome, but then for him to go out of his way to train with me, I am honestly humbled. His grips were amazing, but we fought for nearly 20 straight minutes and I slowly began to figure them out. I threw him twice; once with ko-uchi-gari for probably a yuko or no score, and once I caught him with a clean standing taio-toshi for maybe waza-ari from what Justen said. After that he got a little more serious and threw me probably 10 times for clean ippons. They were so technically perfect that it didn't even feel like I hit the mat.
The other highlight of the last couple Kodokan practices have been the older senseis randomly grabbing me for uchikomi, and asking me to demonstrate specific throws on them. Every single one of them said I knew all of my throws, and somehow said I was not only powerful but had good technique....maybe they were just being nice! Either way, I'll take it.
Tomorrow is busy as always... finishing with practice at Teikyo again at 5pm. I hope to only take off 3 matches, we'll see if it happens now that the number one guys are training again! Lots of train riding ahead of us, better get some rest. Hope all is well back home.
Mike
p.s. Justen and I are working on perfecting a new counter to harai-goshi I found in a book at the Kodokan library. It's not exactly special, but I am starting to get decent at it! Hopefully I can learn a few other new techniques this trip.
From Seiji Hashimoto
May 23, 2010 :
Hey,
Sorry it has been a while but I have been a little busy out here. So at judo practice I have been doing fairly well. I have been getting absolutely dominated at grips lefty on lefty. The first practice I did horrible lefty on lefty grips. They couldn't throw me really but i wasn't able to throw them either because I couldn't get a grip but the next day I did somewhat better. They were still dominating me at grips but couldn't throw me but I would win one or two of every five exchanges and would usually throw them when I won an exchange. I am doing extremely well against the right side players and the switch has been working quite well for me I think because they are so used to blocking big throws by using their hips that a lot of the time. If I sell it well, they bite too much and leave an opening for it. A big difference I am noticing is how they just keep going with an attack. I have to defend for ten seconds after we hit the ground. They are pretty good on the ground and their transitions are quick and clean. This weekend has been filled with trains. Kenny and I rode the trains to visit Mikey and Justen by ourselves and rode back. We have been lucky so far and have not messed up once. The tournament was pretty cool and the intensity of the rivalries is something I admire. Team tournaments are just the best. We have today off because Tokai did well yesterday even though they lost in the finals. Oh man was it exciting right before the last match Tokai was down by one yuko win match so all Tokai had to do was win the match by wazari or better to win it all but kokushikan would not be denied. Oh and last night, the yaku nikyu was sooo good.
Seiji
From Kenny Hashimoto
May 23, 2010 :
Well Mikey beat me AGAIN. Saturday we had judo practice which was a normal 15+rounds which is fine. I missed maybe two rounds during which I was figuring out where Seiji and I should be Sunday morning for the tournament. We found out that we will have to meet one of the students at the train station(The nearest station is a 35min walk). After judo practice we headed out to meet up with Mikey and Justen at a park celebrating Andy's birthday with his wife Wakako (Justen's cousin). It was good to see the other boys as we will also see them tomorrow at the Tokyo city Univ. Championships. My body is holding up from all the judo. Definitely something that I am not used to yet. Moving around is getting better but I'm still not able to attack or move the way that I would like.
Sunday we watched the Tokyo city Univ championships all day. It was cool to see some friends as Mikey said. But Seiji and I also saw Asanuma Sensei who lived in the Bay Area and practiced judo at East Bay Judo under Matsumoto Sensei. It was good to see him as it has been a while. Also, it was nice when some judoka who had graduated remembered me when I stayed and worked out at the other universities. Dinner was great with those boys after a long day at the tourney. Seiji and I need a little practice on our Tokai judo team chants but for now I do not think that we did that bad.
Hope all is well in the CO. Go Rockies!
Kenny H
From Mike Kannianen
May 23, 2010 :
Hey everyone,
This weekend was insanely busy. Got some rest too though. We met Justen's friend Ry and he showed us around Shibuya and some of the popular places in Roppongi, but nothing too crazy. Then we met with Wakako and her husband Andy, and like 5 million of their closest friends for a little while at Hibiya park for Oktoberfest and Andy's birthday party. The four of us spoke Spanish with a Japanese girl named Ayumi and a German Oktoberfest.... crazy... my head was spinning when I thought about it. That night ended early knowing that we had to get up today to go to the tournament. The tournament itself was awesome. I loved it. Just the sense of team pride that comes from the rivalries and all of the historical meaning is incredible. I wish the U.S. Nationals would have a team tournament. Thinking about it, Northglenn would have a strong team so we should push for that!
Kenny, Seiji, Justen, and I all sat and talked with the Kurokawa's during the finals. It was nice to see familiar faces, especially ones that are friendly to us all! To inform you on results: the finals were Kokushikan vs. Tokai for the second straight year, with Kokushikan winning the tournament. Last year was the same result, but Tokai won the All-Japan tournament.... repeat? We will see. Teikyo actually fought very well as well with a first round sweep, with all seven wins coming by Ippon! The second round (round of 16) Teikyo lost to Toyo with a match record of 2-2-3 but Toyo won one of the matches by Waza-ari and both of Teikyo's matches were won by Yuko. The last match ended in controversy when the Teikyo 160kg FRESHMAN was penalized with 5 seconds on the clock to give both the individual match and the team match to Toyo.
The Teikyo boys are awesome, and very accepting. Looking forward to training with them more and getting to know them. Just a good bunch of guys. Also, there, I can get a match with most anyone now because I think I proved myself, and Justen is friends with many of the older students.I am becoming friends with many of them too. Alejandro and Lucas, they all say hello, especially Muira Owen and Miahara.
Tomorrow is the start of a new week of training and adventure. Who knows what this week may bring. Hopefully even more good than the first week. We may see Casey again next weekend when we visit Miki's. Possibly with Kenny and Seiji if they can get away for a night.
Hope all is well in Colorado,
Mike
From Mike Kannianen
May 20, 2010 :
Hey everybody!,
As I'm sure you are tired of hearing by now, Japan is still awesome and I am having a great time. Yesterday we practiced at Teikyo University. Luckily for me the top players were not fighting due to the tournament this weekend in Tokyo. I still got a very intense workout. Sensei Maruyama tested me right off the bat and gave me two of the Sophomore 90kg and 100kg players in the second and third rounds. He was watching my every move and I would like to think I impressed him because he even started coaching against me part of the time. I went four matches in a row at one point, which I was even surprised by. I went a total of 9 of the 12 rounds possible, which were each 6 minutes long. As Kenny says, it's important to know how to float through a practice, so you don't die halfway through. Maruyama even gave me a few pointers to defend Seionage... I fought very loose and moved a lot, which seems to work out here. Again, thank you Jean-Luc for some of my new gripping patterns, they work very well here. In fact, all of the kumikata we do at practice is proving very useful out here. I am trying to figure out how to fight their lapel hands though, because they place it in the middle of the chest instead of the shoulder so it blocks you out perfectly... that is a work in progress.... All of the ashiwaza work that I put in is paying off big time because I catch them with foot sweeps a lot. I even threw someone with a perfectly clean, textbook ko-uchi gari, when the sensei was watching. He got very excited to see that I wasn't just all muscle and said so...though I did have to rely on my strength in a few matches so I would not got murdered. The throw ratio was pretty good... almost 1:1, but I still am taking falls, getting throws in, and trying to not make people look bad at the same time. After practice we met and ate with Sensei Miahara, whom many of you know. He is the new coach at Teikyo.... supposedly he was 90kg recently but he pulled a Mikey and is HUGE. Probably 105-110kg if I had to guess. Ridiculously strong though. We then visited some people at the dorms (Owen Miura) and eventually headed back to the Kodokan before the last train departed.
Today I spent most of the morning in the Kodokan library and museum, studying the history and anatomy of judo. They have an awesome selection of books to study that are even in English. I am also spending time learning a select few Kanji, specifically those useful for traveling by train should I need to travel alone at some point. As usual, the food here is delicious, and I look forward to eating more with the Teikyo boys, seeing as how we earned ourselves an open invitation to train there after our practice last night.
Hope that this finds all of you in good health. I feel a cold coming on, coughed quite a bit last night. We continue to be safe and are having almost too much fun with all of the Judo practice.
About one week down, 7 or 8 to go!
Mike
From Seiji Hashimoto
May 20, 2010 :
Hey,
So I arrived in Japan and the flight wasn't too bad. There were a couple of crying babies on the flight but it was not too bad over all. I arrived at Tokai University late for practice so I was told just to watch the practice. I made my very hesitant introduction to the team because I kind of froze when in front of all of those people. Yes, it was quite embarrassing. We met Sato sensei and Nakanishi sensei. Both the Kurokawas came to pick me up from the airport. After the practice the Kurokawas, Kenny and I went and had dinner in the dining hall. Kenny and I had curry and chicken and then took the long walk back to the international dorms. The international dorms are nice with bunk beds and a private bathroom. I went to bed early around 9 because I did not sleep on either of the flights and was really quite tired. This morning I woke up and went to do weights. Thank your for this opportunity.
Seiji
From Kenny Hashimoto
May 19, 2010 :
Hi all.
Well, Tuesday was the same. I got thrown around pretty bad but in a few matches held my own. Right now I am just taking a lot of falls because when fighting right handed people in most of the positions it hurts my right hamstring to defend. Today at judo however was a different story. I didn't do much at all and felt it was one of the those days where nobody wanted to work with me. Good and bad. Rest for me but I didn't get to do any rounds. I also meet a the sensei of Segami High School( I forgot his name, will ask Hitomi). Nakanishi sensei told me that he was a classmate of Ichi. He asked me if Ichi wore glasses and I said yes. It was funny to see him put his fingers to his eyes to make the glasses. I was asked if I knew a Tokai graduate in the U.S. who is currently in Idaho. I believe that he is the guy who Ichi introduced Seiji and me to during the Northglenn tournament. I think that if I were healthy, I could move with them better and hold my own a little. I get a little overpowered by some of the 73kg guys I work out with but otherwise I feel fine. I have not been able to really attack and am trying to defend as well as I can but it is difficult. I hope all is well and my best wishes to those out in CO.
Kenny H
From Justen Otaka
May 19, 2010 :
Hola Warren,
1st) Mikey and I are officially taken care of for one month at the Kodokan dorms.
2nd) I have set up my cell phone- here is my number 09093804987 give it to whomever wants it.
3rd) Is "whomever" still proper English?
4th) I got in touch with my Teikyo buddies, I told them to ask the sensei (aka current coach Maruyama) if we can practice there 2-3 days a week since some nights here at the Kodokan are somewhat empty. I know that this relationship is crucial for the future of our kids at N`Glenn as well as my own, so I am taking all steps to go about this the right way.
5th) I saw some of my Nichidai buddies and they invited us to go practice, but i need to contact the sensei first... I will work on this. Also I have some people at Chuo and at the police judo teams, I will continue to find Mikey and I as tough of practices as he/we can handle.
I just talked to my dad on the phone and we are working out the money thing. We have enough to last us for a week or so, so everything is working out it looks like. Might be a lot of train riding in our future!! Please ensure that everything is all good, to use the parlance of our times. I especially do not want to worry Pam and Jim!!
All righty then,
J-10 大高
From Mike Kannianen
May 19, 2010 :
Hello all!
Let me start by saying that things are finally slowing down a little bit, thankfully. We went to Shinjuku this morning to get my money from the bank....with complications of course... but one phone card and a couple of brief conversations with Mastercard (and Jessi :) which was awesome) I figured out an easy way to access money from this stupid travel card...From now on only cash when I travel, risky or not. From there we met up with Justen's friend Nama from Teikyo and got Justen's phone turned on, yada yada yada.... Side note, Japanese McDonald's have a great snack for 100 yen called Shaka Shaka Chicken.... Chicken breast that is in a bag that you put flavor salt on and shake. GENIUS. I tried it while waiting for his friend to meet us at another train station on his scooter. So, once that was taken care of we returned to the Kodokan to pay for the dorms and rest for practice. It was University night.
Since the University players are all preparing for the Tokyo Collegiate tournament this Sunday, which we will be attending to watch with Kenny and Seiji, there were no teams there tonight. Instead, there were 2 or 3 professional teams.... ouch. It started slow for me, tough to get a match, but once I showed that I was there to fight hard I got more matches. Probably about 6 or 7 matches total, I only got in 3 successful throws in that time. I fought a Nichidai alum of about 2 years ago... He was ridiculously good. He trains with Muneta when he goes to the Kodokan and Nichidai. He could have murdered me, but was nice. I never threw him, but I did surprise him with my kumikata and speed. I almost threw him with a ko-uchi gari and he then started to go a little more serious. (P.S. Nomura
There was also a guy from Czech tonight that we both fought with the last name HECL I believe. He was super tall and a pretty strong player. I threw him once and I think Justen did too. Probably the prettiest taio toshi and set up I have seen from a heavier weight, very smooth.
Though I spent a lot of time watching, I am already learning a lot. The gripping is good, but I have been complimented on my gripping many times so far. Thanks Jean-Luc! Also, the extra work that I put in with ashi-waza in the last few months is really paying off. It may be saving my life, because it keeps them off balance enough that they are not just mauling me, and I have had several ippon-type throws with it. Overall, everything is going well. We are going to run and do a short morning workout tomorrow then go shopping for essentials. From there we hope to come back here from Teikyo and have yet another extraordinary practice.
Two things before I forget: Thank you so much for this great opportunity. I have already learned so much and am enjoying myself to no end. Second, to all those who may read this from Northglenn Judo and surrounding dojos, be appreciative of who you know and those around you. Not very many people can get you into the Kodokan with less than a day's notice and have you completely taken care of from 6,000 miles away. Not only that, but I can just mention Otaka Sensei and that I am his student and get into nearly anything judo related. I feel blessed, really.
Going to attempt to upload photos to the internet to make sure that I don't lose them! Maybe I can send some or a link to them soon.
Hope all is well back home.
Mike
From Justen Otaka
May 18, 2010 :
Hello all,
Mikey and I had our first practice today at the Kodokan and it went well. We spent most the beginning just trying to do what the others around us were doing! It was a free practice which means that you can pretty much do whatever you want, tachiwaza, ne-waza, kata, stretch, whatever. Mikey and I only did Tachiwaza. I got in about 7 rounds, threw a few people and got thrown plenty as well. Mikey got in a bunch of rounds as well and threw some good guys with clean throws. He said he feels good so I was very happy. Tomorrow (Wed) is college night so it should be crazy! I can't wait. Things are starting to settle down, I am looking forward to getting into the groove of training. We will try to spend half the week training at Teikyo and the other days at the Kodokan. Will let Y`all know how things go soon!
Justen Otaka
From Mike Kannianen
May 17, 2010 :
Hi,
We are doing well so far. Things started off a little shaky but we seem to be finding out where to stay and many opportunities to train/me get my butt kicked. We went out with Casey on Sunday in Yokosuka and Yokohama. Rode some rides and wandered around shopping malls. It was fun, loooong night. Today we went to Tokyo to meet with Sensei Saito at the Kodokan about staying and training there. Walked around Tokyo Dome City for a bit and took some pictures. We are both anxious to start training, wherever it may be. The food is all I remember and more. And being able to have beer with it brings out a whole new flavor... Odd new food of the day was Bamboo with Saito Sensei near the Kodokan. Surprisingly good.
Tired and we have an early morning of trying to figure everything out and get back to Tokyo. Hope to update again soon, but if not just know that things are somewhat complicated at the moment.
Hope everyone is well.
Mike
From Kenny Hashimoto
May 17, 2010 :
First day was not as bad as I thought it would be. Well, at least the running was not as bad. We ran for about 30 minutes then continued to do some sprints for about 20 minutes and that was it. Judo practice was a different story. Out of the 9 or 10 rounds that I went I might have thrown 3 or 4 guys but I think that I was thrown probably a total of 30-40 times. I lost count after the first match. I would say on the mat for the practice there are over 60+ people not including club teams/coaches who join the practice. I would say that from today at least they had a lot more light weights(81kg and under) than I expected. Day 1 done many more to go.
From Mike Kannianen
May 16, 2010 :
Warren,
So far things are good. We met up with Casey in Yokosuka and ended up in Yokohama. Hope to start training tomorrow at a middle school with the coaches and running on our own in Yokosuka. Hope things turn around, but if not, we are capable of rolling with the punches :)
Mikey
From Justen Otaka
May 16, 2010 :
Hey yo!!
Mikey an I are running around Yokohama with Casey... yea.. thats right!!! Casey!!!
We are having fun but if we don't have a real dojo in a week or so i might make Mikey go home with me... I don't want to but really, what are we supposed to do? I haven't made my calls yet so there is plenty of hope!!! Plus i am talking with my people... maybe miracles will happen... we`ll see...
If nothing else we will just backpack through Asia/Europe all the way home.
Kidding!!!
I'm so sorry that my contacts have failed.... I have done something that makes me feel like like I messed up...
I can't tell you how much I am sorry for all this. It's all my fault, good thing is that Mikey is open minded
From Alejandro Masias
June 5, 2008 :
Hello Coach,
Well we have arrived safely and things have been going great. We had our first practice on Wednesday. Holly cow, I should be a yellow belt again. I have thrown a few people, they have thrown me plenty of times. I have also been learning to improve my ouchi gari. We have done some sight seeing, mainly in downtown Tokyo. Justen is doing great job of translating and speaking the language. He really knows his way around the this place. The food is great and the people are very friendly and nice. These seem to be a great bunch of judoka. When they throw you it is so clean and smooth. You almost like it. Anyways, things are going well. I am very tired, but I can feel my body starting to get use to it. Take care and I will keep you posted. Thanks again for this wonderful opportunity.
Sincerely,
Alejandro
From Lucas Mignogna
June 8, 2008:
Hi all,
So we arrived Tuesday afternoon, met up with Yuki who is one of Justen's friends and also a teammember here at Teikyo. Fetched our bags and headed off for the train. Once we got to Shinjuku we ate some ramen which were pretty tasty, then were off on our way to campus. Once we got there we hiked over to the dorm to find out we were staying in the freshmen community dorm room. Which is kinda packed with judo gis hanging everywhere and bunk beds.
Wednesday, we got up and went to introduce ourselves to the head sensei and the assistant coach. That night we went to our first practice which was 15 rounds of tachiwaza. I could only go every other one. The caliber of the judoka here is incredible. Far more than I had anticipated. I literally didn't win a single match. After practice it was straight to the pool some cool relaxation.
Thursday, we got up at 6:30 am and went to morning practice which was weight lifting day. So we did bench press, military press, squats, and curls. Then we went around town just to tour and shop. Evening practice was (and always is) randori and it was not so tiring as the first night because the jet lag had worn off. But I still got my butt kicked by even the littlest of judoka. After wards I showered straight away and turned on the cold water because my hands and feet were burning from mat burns and gi burns.
Friday started out great, we went to running practice in the morning and played soccer and got embarrassed by the lacrosse girls because I said good morning to them when I thought they were talking to me but they actually were talking to the girls behind me. So Owen (a team member) said later that day that the lacrosse girls say "hi." Anyways, we then went to evening practice and this was my day to get even with some guys. Three rounds into practice and I was doing so well with getting revenge on this one guy until I dislocated my knee for the third time now. Luckily it went back into place on it's own. So we went to see the team doctor who is an ex judo team member, and said what I already knew. So, this trip has kinda become bust for now, especially since I'm only here three more weeks. But I'm already walking around nornally without crutches and starting to exercise it, so I might be able to practice lightly the last week I'm here. We'll see!
So tomorrow I'll started weight training continuously throughout the week and we'll see how things go. I gotta tell you how frustrating it is to come half way around the world for a single purpose and then in the beginning of that purpose have it crushed, which is why I said before that I have kind of been feeling like this trip is a bust. But not entriely, now that I'm back on my feet I just have to do what I need to do and make the best of the rest of my stay here. And for all of you beginners out there reading this, I can't stress enough how important it is to learn your techniques well and continue to practice them correctly or else you could end up hurting yourself or others like me.
On a different note, I have to give a lot of credit to Justen for being a terrific guide for Alex and I. He has come a long way by being out here by himself for so long. I don't know how he did it.
Japan is a wonderful place, I couldn't imagine any other culture that is full of respect for others and it's surroundings. People here are very polite no matter who encounters who, except for Yakuza, and there are no guns, not as much stealing as one would think and just overall generosity. Oh yeah and the factor that people are not prude here at all. For instance the judo guys are always naked. It kinda makes me feel ashamed how we are so closed minded of the human body in America. But that's why Japan is such an awesome place, because it is like nothing you would ever see or experience anywhere else. I love it.
Well that's all I have for now, I'll write again when we come back to the internet cafe. Take care! Jo ne!
Sincerely,
Lucas
From Alejandro Masias
June 13, 2008:
Hey coach hey everybody,
Well we have made it through the second week and holy cow my body feels like its been in a war. We do judo six days a week running in the morning and practice at night for 2 hours. It is basically show up, stretch, walk up and down the mat a couple times and then randori for about an hour and a half straight. Today I did 7 matches in a row. Now I know that does not sound like much, but when you are fighting guys who have down this their whole life six days a week, 7 rounds takes a pretty good toll on your body. It would be nice if we could have a Wednesday off or something, but this is Japan my friends, that is why they are the best at this sport. I am starting to get use to the gripping which has really helped me keep up with some of these guys. Today the captain of the team gave me some great advice on how to free you sleeve when they have a good grip on it. I would love to show you when I return
Our comrad and friend Lucas has suffered a knee injury and he is out for now. He can walk on it but it will be a little while before he can do any judo. Please prey for him and keep him in your thoughts as it is frustrating for him not being able to fight. He does stay active by lifting weights and getting stronger.
We also had a chance to walk around Tokyo today in the down town area. It was really something to see. Justen, our very own Justen is doing a great job of getting us around. He is like a personal guide. He has not gotten us lost once the entire trip. He is doing great with judo. He really gets some good throws in there. WE are watching out for each other and we are keeping each other healthy and focused. Well tune in next weekend for the chronicles of Tiekyo Judo. See ya.
Your friend and comrade
Alejandro Masias
STAY STRONG and STAND PROUD
P.S. Warren the spanish sounds great keep up the good work. Tell everybody hello.
From Justen Otaka
June 15, 2008:
Mt. Fuji
The Spartan's dorm room
Alejandro at a station platform contemplating life's vicissitudes.
Justen in the dorm contemplating.....
Pain mitigation
Teikyo University Campus
Training buddies
Training buddies
Training buddies
Shopping for supplies
Neighborhood shrubbery
Neighborhood shrine
Neighborhood temple
Spartans on campus
Spartans on campus
From Lucas Mignogna
June 20, 2008:
Hi all,
Sorry it has been so long since my last update. There has been so much going on and not enough time to write about it all, so I'll do my best right now.
As far as training goes, my knee is getting back to full strength day by day. I started running on it last week and have been doing sprints and such this week. I started doing uchikomi two days ago as well. It felt alright but still a bit unstable. Meanwhile I have been watching Alex and Justen battle it out with the other judoka here from Teikyo. It makes me jealous because I want to be on the mat so badly. Hopefully I will be able to do some actual randori the last week that I am here.
On the note of fun stuff, last weekend we went to Fujikyu Highland which is an amusement park about an hour away. It has one of the world's fastest roller coasters, the world's record holding highest roller coaster which is also super long, time wise. The three roller coasters that we went on make Elitch's seem like such average coasters. It's crazy. We went to Shibuya the night before and partied and came back in the morning because the trains stop running after midnight. We were dragging when everyone else was running to work and going somewhere to start their day. Shibuya was crazy because there were so many people packed into one major intersection, never ever have I seen so many people in one place at a single time.
The food here is off and on. Some of it...well most of it is really good, but then there are some dishes that are not so great. I'm definitely not starving I'm trying to keep from going over 81kg. I'm about 80 in the morning and after workouts in the evening I'm about 78.
We skipped practice tonight because we were doing a hell of a lot of sight seeing. The part of town where we are is completely different from the places downtown that we have been visiting. We went to Asakusa to see the Temple, Ginza which is one of the world's most famous shopping districts, Harajuku, as well as a few other places. Yesterday morning before all of that though, I ran with one of the teammembers here who placed third in the All-Japan Championships last year. His name is Miahara. Only a year older than me but looks like he's in his mid 20's the way he's built. Anyways so when I said I was going running after lifting he wanted to go with me and so I showed him what we were running and he gave a sigh because we were doing sprints on a part of the course that we were running. He's not a very good runner because he's so stalky but I can only imagine how he is to fight. He doesn't work out here at Teikyo because the team here doesn't have as much "spirit" as he likes to be around. So he trains at Chuo and the Kodokan.
We have been getting lost on the subways and monorails so many times it's awesome. Jumping over the gates and running back and forth through the stations has fun as hell even though we have no idea where we are going half the time. Don't worry we've only hopped the gate like once because we were going to miss our train and we paid afterwards anyways.
That's the gist of what has happened so far. Got tons of pictures but can't spoil them till I get home, so if you want to see them you'll have to ask me in person. Ok I might put up a few in a few days when I write next. Again, sorry this is only my second update out of the whole time that I have been here. I'll try to get on it. Bye for now.
~Lucas
From Justen Otaka
June 22, 2008:
Hi every body!
Well first off, good news about Lucas: He's been running without pain or swelling and doing uchikomi at practice with the same results. So looks good, but still not sure if he will /should fight the last week he's here. Alex and I stopped nagging him about taking it slow since he knows his body better than we do, and since he's been working out pretty hard without visible swelling.
Alex is really catching on to the grip fighting, he really has caught on quickly. Much more quickly than it took me!
He has been working on two "new" throws for his arsenal; ouchi-gari and haraigoshi. He's slammed a couple people when he uses them as a set up and/or combination. Plus I don't know how he does it, being his first real "hardcore" training, but the guy goes like 8-9 rounds in a row, EVERYDAY!! Gotta say, he's really fighting his butt off.
I took the guys to Asakusa last week and I'm pretty sure they loved it! The town has this wonderful temple with multiple shrines and other cool classic Japanese buildings as well as an extensive shopping area filled with knickknacks, clothing, souveniers, and food that is all screaming Japan! We also went to Ginza, which is to Tokyo what 5th Avenue is to New York City. Cool stuff. I tried on a $2000 Armani suit just for kicks.
But Anyways things are going well, this next will be really exciting because theres the All-Japan College tournament followed immediately by our trip to Hiroshima. Bullet train time! Can't wait.
Hope everyone is doing well back home!
Justen
The Panda
Asakusa-1
Asakusa-2
Asakusa-3
Asakusa-4
Picnic-1
Picnic-2
From Lucas Mignogna
June 28, 2008:
Hello all, this week was back to fighting. Monday through Wednesday I went three rounds each just to make sure I didn't over do it. Thursday it was on. I got back into my rhythm and tore it up. Only got thrown once Thursday because I made a dumb mistake going against Kobuto, who is a middleweight player, and he caught me with a foot sweep.
So after practice Wednesday I was feeling down about how horrible I had fought so I wasn't feeling very hungry. But as I was walking into the cafeteria heading towrds the drink station, Yuki holds out a giant mountain of rice. He knows me too well because I couldn't resist and ended up eating a whole lot of food. Hara-epai!
Thursday night after practice Kawashima sensei took Alex, Justen, and myself out to dinner. It was nice to actually hold a conversation with him because I have never really spoke to him before. Anyways, once we got back from dinner we were hanging out in our room at the judo house and Justen found a cockroach under my bed pad. I took off screaming upstairs looking for Miura because I was hoping he would protect me. If you haven't figured out by now, I HATE COCKROACHES! So he wasn't there so I brave it and come back downstairs looking for Alex and Justen. Alex finds me and restrains me while Justen has the half dead cockroach in a pair of hashi (chopsticks), and is coming right at me. So I break free and grab the umbrella that is near me and start flailing that thing everywhere to keep Justen away from me. Finally they showed some mercy and threw it away.
Friday, we slept in and I woke up and went for a long run. When I came back, me and Alex went to the dojo to do some exercises and get cleaned up. Then we went to yakuniku, which is an all you can eat and drink restaurant. Needless to say I was not coherent enough to even attempt singing at the karaoke bar that we went to last night. That's all I'm going to say about that. No elaboration.
So now we are off to watch the Teikyo team at their shiai today. Hopefully they do well! GO BEARS!
~Lucas
-
Alejandro Masias
June 30, 2008:
Hello coach, hello everybody,
This past weekend has had to be one of the most eventful and educational weekends of my entire life. I dont think I have ever packed so many activities into one weekend before. On Saturday we went to the All-Japan College Championships at eh Budokan center in Tokyo. This was very different from any tournament I ahve ever been to before. It was a team competition which ment that there were no weight classes. Each college had to choose there best seven guys to go up against seven guys from the other colleges. Teikyo won there first round and made it to the second round of the tournament. The second round they had to fight Kokushikan who happen to be the defending champions from last years tournament. Teikyo did well but was not able to pull off enough victories to advance to the next round. This tournament was very exciting to watch there was a lot of great judo action going on. I saw many ippons and many different styles. I even got to see some of Japans former olympic champions who are now coaching at various colleges in Japan. The audience was another site to see. The peopel watching were very enthusiastic. They had tons of energy. They were cheering and chanting all together for their college. Tons of clapping and cheering made the tournament even that much more exciting for me. The tournament lasted 2 days.
On Sunday after the tournament we hoped on the Shinkansen bullet train and headed for Hiroshima. My friends this trip ws one for the ages. The bullet train was like an airplane only on the ground. The inside and seats were just like flying a 7-47. It was such a great trip. I also had a chance to see a lot of Japans country side from the window of my seat. The trip took about five hours from Tokyo to Hiroshima. When we arrived we stayed one night in a hotel and got up Monday morning and headed to town for some site seeing.
We went to see the A bomb dome were the atomic bomb had been dropped. We also walked through a park were they had various shrines and memorials dedicated to the victims and peoeple who died fromthe bombing. The most touching part for me was the Peace Museum. I would love to show you the pictures when I get home because some of them are very intense. This was big eye opener for me. Walking through this museum gave me a whole new perspective on the war and the after affects of such a decision to drop a nuclear weapon on a country. To see the pictures and images they had in that museum made me want to cry. In fact when I saw the final portion of the museum and walked out I alomost broke down in tears. It really made me ask myself can there be peace without violence. Hiroshima really prides themselves on being a peacful city now. But it is really sad that it took such an event to trigger an act of peace. If you ever get a chance I highly recomend visiting hiroshima and the museums and memeorials it will change your perspective on war forever. Well my friends I hope you have enjoyed this last entry. I will write again next week. Take care and keep your heads up.
Your friend
Alejandro Masias
STAY STRONG and STAND PROUD
-
Lucas Mignogna
July 1, 2008:
Hello,
So a lot has happened in the few days since I last wrote. I left off when we were about to head to the shiai at the Nippon Budokan. It was the All-Japan Collegiate Team Tournament. Teikyo did alright, they won their first bout with one school. That night the Kurokawas took us to dinner at a very expensive tonkatsu restaurant. The food was so good I didn't want to eat it all because then it would be all gone and no more to eat. I guess this is where I finally realize to true meaning of savoring food. Geez mom! The next day they were up against Kokushikan which was the reigning champions last year. So Teikyo ended up losing by one match which we were proud of them for, because they fought their hearts out.
After the tournament, it was time to head off for the shinkansen (bullet train) to take us to Hiroshima. So we booked it to the Tokyo Station and then got on the train to find our seats. Once we got going, the ride was so smooth. The farm country was beautiful with the rolling hills and wide fields. The trip there was about a five hour train ride. It was awesome. Hopped in the cab and headed off to our hotel room which was very nice. The fare for this whole trip was $275. Expensive but well worth it. Anyways, we arrived at our room around 7. Got showered up then went to eat okanomiyaki, which is a type of noodle dish that Hiroshima is famous for.
The next day we went to our inclusive breakfast buffet, then went to out the door to head to the Hiroshima bomb memorial and museum. Once we got there we started snapping pictures right away. The cab driver who took us there was very nice and liked to speak English. He told us to be careful and warned about people who might try to hustle us. In the end we didn't need to head to his advice because the people here are so kind. Back to the story. We saw the ruins and such then the Remembrance hall which had a list of all the lives taken. After, we went through the museum which was gut wrenching and horrifying. We saw the graphic and gruesome pictures of how bad the destruction and chaos was immediately and long term after the bombing. It was so sad and depressing. You never truly know how much these people yearn for peace until you experience this imagery. Nuclear bombs are so horrible that they really should be abolished. To be in the place where the world's first atomic bomb was used in warfare is surreal. To walk around and imagine that right where we were standing people were going about their lives through the war and all of a sudden 350,000 people were immediately dead. The long term affects that the survivors dealt with after wards was also just as hard to swallow. The story of Sadako did it in for me. She was two years old when the bomb hit. Survived the initial stages after the fall out but when she turned 11, I believe, she developed cancer. Through her eight months of suffering she did the 1,000 origami cranes that are supposed to incur health. She actually made over 1,300 paper cranes. She wanted so desperately to live that she continued to make them up until hours before her death despite the pain she was suffering.
To know that there are people in the world who live to inflict pain and death upon others or who are so ignorant of others wills to live is so shameful there aren't any words to describe it all. Needless to say Justen, Alex, and I definitely learned a whole lot of lessons that day. It was a very sad and depressing day indeed. But then Misawa, the team member who arranged our trip for us called and asked us what part we were at. So we told him we still to get a cab to the fairy. "Let's go! Let's go! OK yeah!" And then he hangs up on us. Haha, his way of telling us we need to hurry along so we can make our train back to Tokyo.
So the whole day was not a depression episode. We took the fairy across to the island of Miyajima. It has a very popular shrine and temple there. The whole island was inhabited by these tiny deer that coexist with the people very well. They are so used to people that you can walk up and pet them. Cute, they are. So we walked around a bit, bought some souvenirs then back to the fairy.
We ended up making it to the Hiroshima station for our shinkansen with plenty of time. We caught dinner which was okanomiyaki again and it was delicious. The ride back was just as pleasant as the one coming in. I liked the city of Hiroshima a lot. Better than Tokyo, because it has a slower pace to it.
We ended up making the midnight monorail to our town of Otsuka on the last train. Tuesday we woke up, met up with Mr. Kawashima again so he could take us to his brother's restaurant inn Yokohama. On the way there we stopped by the Tokyo Tower, which is taller than the Eiffel Tower, cool. Along the way we took the very scenic route and walked around the town of Kamakura. It reminds me of a small beach town in southern California. We got to take some pictures with some girls who were dressed in tradition Japanese kimono-like attire at the shrine. While there we also ate sweet potato soft cream which is like ice cream. It was so good. I want more. After a lot of driving around and sight seeing we finally went to the restaurant and ate a private meal with just the four of us. The sashimi was excellent as well as most of the rest of the food.
Then we came back around 11:30 PM. Today I am going to meet up with Daisuke, my last host student, and his family in Nogata. His mom is so excited to see me that Daisuke made me send her a text message on his phone last time I saw him. But that's about all till tomorrow when we go to a castle near by. And then it's my last practice Thursday night before I come back so by for now. See you all soon.
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Justen Otaka
July 16, 2008:
Hi Warren!
Alex and I are doing well, practice has been pretty good for us both lately. Alex is really starting to get his combinations down. His gripfighting and footwork are coming along as well. i told the assistant coach that he likes ne-waza so he had Alex go against Teikyo's #2 guy 3 rounds in a row on the mat. Alex only lost once and almost pinned the other guy several times! Good stuff. Our last two weeks will not be so hard though, testing season is coming and we will only have Judo on Tuesday, thursday and saturdays (sound familiar?).
OK well we are both looking forward to coming home, and hope to see everybody soon.
I am also sending a bunch of pics, specifically from our Hiroshima trip.
BYE!
ジャステン 大高
Dinner with Kawashima Sensei.
Alejandro and Sensei Kawashima
We all scream for ice cream!
Oh, Deer!
Oh, Dear!
A classical Shinto shrine.
Hiroshima
The Castle
The Beast
The Battle
The Peacemaker
Justen hard at work.
A good practice moment.
Lucas hard at work.
Alejandro hard at work.
Alejandro the Tori.
Alejandro the Uke.
Teikyo University Men's Judo Team.
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