Judo’s throwback

The surprising wipeout of Filipino judokas in the Asian Games is jarring to most average sports spectators, particularly since we don’t often see judo competitions. But officials of the Philippine Amateur Judo Association simply shrug their shoulders at the occurrence, saying it is the luck of the draw.

"That’s really the way it is sometimes," says Dr. John Teope, executive vice-president of PAJA. "The way we were seeded, the draw wasn’t supposed to be like that. Some were seeded at the bottom, some were seeded at the middle, some at the top. But you have to take that."

"In terms of training, we have everything," says Melvin Malikad, national training director for PAJA. "All the training they have, all the techniques, we have it, too. But the difference is that, when we send an athlete, he’s also the team doctor, coach for himself, trainer. By the time he gets to the competition, he’s already mentally drained. Other countries have four coaches, doctors, etc. That is their advantage."

Consider the case of John Baylon, acknowledged the best Filipino judoka to date. Baylon spent roughly 12 years training in Japan. But the effects of his training were diluted because he also had to find work to sustain himself. In effect, he was torn between pursuing his dream, and keeping body and spirit together.

Another event that cost the Philippines gold medals in the current Asian Games in Busan was the decision to eliminate the lower weight categories from the competition. Teope says there were many Filipinos who could have medalled were it not for this.

"But internationally, those weight classes will be restored for next year’s Southeast Asian Games, and the next Asian Games."

"Another problem we have is where to train," Melvin adds. "Unlike in basketball, you can go to any gym and find someone to train with or play against, in judo, that’s not the case. In fact, once they know you’re a blackbelt, nobody will compete with you. If we could get more people to realize the value of judo, and how the Philippines could become internationally famous for it, then more people would play this sport."

"Aside from that, the challenge is also educational," admitted Teope, a Ph.D. "We need the government to emphasize to people the value of sports like judo on one hand. On the other hand, the people in the provinces sometimes have trouble grasping the concepts, which are somewhat advanced, and translated from the Japanese."

PAJA has had to find ways to cut down on the cost of the most basic equipment in the sport, the tatami mat. Imported and costing about P5,000 each, these staples of the sport have been replaced by the indigenous, similar-sounding "dayami" mats.

Because of its wide reach, judo has certainly caught up with the times. In the matches you will witness in Busan, competitors now sport colored hair, and are louder than they used to be. That’s all part of intimidation. There are also plans for competitors to start wearing uniforms in the colors of the countries they represent, to try and update the ceremonial ghi that has been worn since the sport’s inception.

Despite all the challenges, judo is growing at a rapid rate. PAJA’s youth movement is catching on, and they are hosting a Pacific tournament involving 30 countries in August of next year. Despite the difficulty of finding funding for a relatively unknown sport, the association has managed to send its national team to foreign competitions. But techniques change rapidly, and European-style judo is not the same as Asian judo.

There seems so much to learn, and so little resources to keep abreast.

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