Inflection Points In American Judo By Hayward Nishioka

Transcription

1 Inflection Points In American Judo By Hayward Nishioka An inflection point is an event that changes the direction and complexity of a thought of, or in our case, an organization. Here are a few dates that should call up some memories for those who have been in judo for a long time and for those who haven t it will give you a better understanding how and why judo in America is the way it is: 1952, 1969, 1980, Be aware that these are the observations of only one judoka who has lived pretty much through these judo years and may be tainted with unwarranted biases. To those who may feel wrongly offended by any of my statements, feel free to correct me by your answers to this article Imperceptibly during the 1950 s judo seemed to shift from the inner qualities of creating a person of character and culture through the correct practice of judo to having the character development portion a by product of the practice of judo. In 1961 the world of judo no longer belong solely to Japan as Anton Geesink won the Worlds Championship and judo became a world athletic event marked the date of the first U. S. National Championships. It was called The National A.A.U. Judo Championships. Unlike the prizes donated by the Japanese Community of sacks of rice, Soy Sauce, Sake, to the winners, trophies and Official AAU Medals with inscriptions commemorating the date and event were awarded. Bronze, Silver and Gold for the winner. Only four sets were given out then. There were no women, no children, just adult men separated into what was for that time novel, weight divisions. Four of them: 130, 150, 180, and anyone over 180 pounds was a heavyweight. Additionally to appease the idea that a good little man can win over a big man the Grand Championship was added were the winners of the two lighter weights would match up with the winner of the two heavier weights. Hatai, Nakashima, Kikuchi, and Hunt were the first year s winners, with Hunt from San Jose University the overall winner. Increasingly non- Japanese judoka participation was on the rise as colleges, universities, and especially the military played an increasing role in developing American Judo. The Navy, Marine Corp. and Air Force not only had trained judoka

2 returning from duty in Japan, they also sent teams to Japan for training. Intra and Inter-service championships were fierce in the 1960 s with the Strategic Air Command Team in the lead, Lead by George Harris, Lynwood Williams, Roby Reid, Jerry Reid, Phil Porter, and Tosh Seino. Outside of the U.S.J.F. The Armed Forces Judo Association, AFJA was the next largest group of judo participants in the United States comprising at the time around 1/3 of the membership of the USJF. The composition of the AFJA were younger, non-japanese, well educated, upwardly mobile, competitively minded individuals who wanted to get things done, and done now, and if it wasn t done now, why not? As it were the USJF of 1965 was then predominately Japanese and conservative in their approach to controlling the direction of judo. These were men who were brought up on a diet of pre-war judo ethics. The highest ranks were 5 th and very few 6 th degrees. Ranks were given out usually slower but had much more meaning. Just because one was strong, or a winner, or knowledgeable about the sport, still didn t seem to matter. For the USJF leadership of 1965 it was more about inner understanding. It didn t much matter that a person was thrown to his back. The question was, was it done skillfully or with strength? Was there proper kuzushi or was he yanked over? Were the knees bent correctly and the hip in place? Was the win accomplished with effortlessness and grace, or like the Bull in a China shop? Oh yes, and character, did the recipient have the correct character? Although 20 years had passed since the end of war II, old time Japanese instructors felt judo was a Japanese custom, something that other races at the time had difficulty doing correctly. To many increasing Western minds judo was a sport and an inroad to understanding Japanese culture and the way of the samurai, but yet getting a USJF judo rank in 1965 was confusing. In American sports, you win, you are the champion. You do this, you get that. It was simple. Not so with judo which was much like the practice of zen; one had to do it because one did, and not for any external manifestation of status. To the Japanese of those early years rank was given to the student when the master thought he was ready. It was bad etiquette of a student to demand rank simply because of a few wins. This was really like an ill-timed clash of ideologies without having an interpreter. Rank plus other issues of representation on the board, equitable financial support, leadership participation and organizational policies began

3 to lead many to polarize. While the official split did not occur until 1969 the seeds of discontent were planted early on and broke ground in The main architect for the split was Air Force Major Philip Porter, then a Yodan in judo, but more impressively a West Point Graduate who became the AAU Chairmen for judo. He was familiar with the political ins and outs of judo and seemed to intuitively know what was missing for more than a third the membership of USJF; An Occidental style of organization based on measurable criteria s rather than the subjective judgment calls made by the inherited few. Phil Porter is undoubtedly one of the most mercurial figures to arise out of judo. Along with a 1960 s Bobby Vee song. Those who knew Phil Porter always wondered weather he was a Devil or Angel for judo? On one hand he was highly organized and intelligent. He wrote volumes of reports, articles and books persuading many to join him in his quest to raise the level of judo through the USJA. Unlike the other JA founders and leaders he was retired and had time. Time to travel throughout the United States which he did in his van. Along the way praising the gospel of American judo through the USJA. Some likened him to a cross between a frontier carnival man selling snake oil and the Man of La Mancha attacking windmills as dragons. On the other side of him he wrote the manual on the various steps to promotion starting from a white belt to the high-ranking black belt. The system was one of the finest to that point as to what steps had to be taken in order to get to the next higher rank. There was less subjectivity and more objectivity than the USJF system of the time. Yet horror stories abound as to how he issued ranks for favors in some cases, and in others outright sold high ranks to individuals skipping many of the steps necessary to maintain a quality of excellence. It was one thing to have a system in place and quite another to properly maintain it. Checks and balances were to come later as the JA evolved. For Phil Porter while he issued a lot of inflated ranks he did increase the membership and participation in remote areas where the USJF didn t seem to have anyone doing anything for the development of judo. Montana, Iowa, Arkansas, Mississippi, Kentucky, Nebraska, Louisiana, Ohio, Indiana, Kansas, and many other out of the way places were introduced to judo because of Uncle Phil s traveling show. Basically they

4 swore by him because they were made, (black belt), by him. They became his voting base, and they kept voting him in. This is not to say that all of the JA went along with Uncle Phil. There were many earnest judoka who followed the sound methodology of promotion first written down and used by Major Porter. Many areas flourished under the system. It was actually fair and promoted sound judo when administered correctly. What works at the bottom end of the scale however doesn t work at the top end. Phil had given out rank to people who were short on time in grade, short on experience, short on actual ability. There were 4 th and 5 th degree black belts who didn t know the Nage no kata or sometimes couldn t execute or know what a hanegoshi looked like, but they did contribute to Phil s traveling show and other projects. The contributor s kept the show moving, and Phil paid them in bogus currency, rank. When bonefide 4 th and 5 th complained, the easy fix was to upgrade the complainers to 6 th or a 7 th. Ergo, rank inflation. For Phil as with most persons serving on promotion boards it is easy to figure out rank for a person who is a competitor and wins the requisite number to be elevated to the next rank. With those who accumulate the necessary points, they merely need to be counted up to go up in rank. It s a snap. How much time in grade? How much service has the individual provided? Is he active? Does he have recommendations from the right people? Is he helping out at the dojo, local, regional, national, or international level? How effective is he? Has his service been constant? If you have been in judo long enough you seem to see the same old faces, and here the same old stories and get a feel for who should go up in rank, but there is really very little to go by other than gut feelings and what others might say about you on a given day. Ah yes, Mr. Yamashita, he s been around a long time. Served on several National and local committees. Wasn t he the one who reportedly used fund inappropriately? It could be, I m not sure, but in his youth he was a great competitor. O.K. lets pass him to 6 th. After all he is 82 now and he has time in grade. Yeah but he hasn t been very active recently. With nothing concrete most promotion boards will sound something like this in making their decision. Knowing this is what happens at the upper end of the ranking system it may have been that Phil justified his promotions because no one really

5 had a defined method of promoting high dan grades. Also he may have been taking a queue from the Kodokan which has traditionally used rank as a method of increasing income. Actually there are a number of Japanese who could go up in rank in Japan but cannot see the paying of several thousands of dollars to do so. Better to feed the family than the Kodokan for some. All in all 1969 was eventful in that there was now an alternative judo organization to look to for leadership and development. They still competed together in National Championships which were sanctioned by the Amateur Athletic Union. The AAU as best they could moderate differences between the USJF and the USJA. Whatever could not be resolved through the AAU usually found it s way into a court of law. One such issue was that of rank. The USJF claimed that they were the only official organization allowed to give out judo rank and as such all other ranks were null and void, and for a couple of National Championships JA members had to wear white belts. Among them although black belts, wearing white belts were Dave Pegankoff, Rene Zeelinberg, Dean Towers, and many others still able to place in the AAU Senior Nationals. In the early 1970 s the rank issue was resolved by a superior court judge in favor of the USJA allowing them to issue their own ranks. It seems that American corporations should be allowed to issue their own ranks independent of foreign Nations restrictions to the contrary.