Judo Tournament

[matt.m]

Today a few of my students and I went to a Judo tournament. My 2 kyu belts won their belt division. Both had about 18 competitors. They had to fight 3 times. My yellow belt got 2nd and my green belt got 1st.

I decided to compete. 28 person division, 4 matches, 1 black belt open division champion.

 

[teekin]

Well done Matt, I'm sure your students did you proud, now, how did you do?
lori

 

[matt.m]

Thank you Lori,

I won 1st place in the black belt open division. 28 competitors in my brackett. I had 4 fights. I only competed because of my students. I only used the techniques that I drill for them in class during my matches. I was crazy happy for them. The greatest thing for me is to see through their hard work and efforts that they at least pay a little attention to me.

 

[jarrod]

nice job!

jf

 

[jks9199]

Thank you Lori,

I won 1st place in the black belt open division. 28 competitors in my brackett. I had 4 fights. I only competed because of my students. I only used the techniques that I drill for them in class during my matches. I was crazy happy for them. The greatest thing for me is to see through their hard work and efforts that they at least pay a little attention to me.

Great job! Especially because you turned it into a "teaching moment" by focusing on what your students knew... Did they pick up on it?

 

[matt.m]

That was the first thing they said after my 1st match. That was the whole reason I competed. I wanted them to see that using the combinations I taught them would be useful.

It is funny, I don't even teach tournament judo at all. So a week ago that was the theme in class. I am so proud of their efforts, they worked hard and it showed.

 

[howard]

Matt, congratulations.

It's always gratifying to see students progress. Best of luck to you and your students in your training and competition.

 

[teekin]

Matt, I always enjoy watching my teachers compete. It's fun to watch them put into practice what they are teaching you! It's even better to watch the tapes and have them talk about what went right and went wrong. It adds a "humanness" to the equation that can sometimes go missing.
lori