MMA Champ Ronda Rousey donates UFC title belt to Brazilian children’s judo school

“She said that the Brazilian people deserve to have the belt left here. So I’ve decided that after I win it, I’m going to make sure that when I have the belt, I don’t take it home with me. I’m going to give it and make sure that it stays someplace in Brazil as my gift.”

That place is the judo school, owned by Olympic judo bronze medalist Flavio Canto. Rouse is a two-time judo Olympian and a bronze medalist in 2008.

The idealistic view of Judo, started by early Western advertisement, is that in Judo physical skills aren’t important. This view is caved pretty deep in non-martial-art public mindset and setting Judo apart from any other martial art and combat sport (even it is just stand-alone style of Judo like SAMBO or Brazilian jiu-jitsu). Anyone, who ever put his foot on tatami, would tell you that this view is seriously misguided at best.

Judo is very a technically diverse martial art and this diversity allows to accommodate physical weaknesses and to leverage strengths in very wide spectrum.

Many very prominent Judo masters are known for their comparative physical weakness compensated by unparallel technical skills. History of SAMBO knows one-armed silver winner of Ukraine championship – Master of Sport of the USSR Dmitri Dashko lost his right arm in childhood accident long before starting his training. Judo is successfully taught to blind students. All this are just extreme cases.

On the other side is Dr. Kano’s original desire to see Judo as universal teaching tool for both, physical and emotional, skills development. Positive aspects of Judo training for well round-up physical development specifically pointed out in “Judo Kyohan” by Sakujiro Yokoyama and Eisuke Oshima, first published in 1915.

A simple sequential approach to teaching the judo skills should include a discussion of the skill, a demonstration of the skill, a practice of the skill and a performance evaluation of the skill.

DISCUSSION OF THE SKILL

Discussion of the skill should as brief as possible. The language should be simple and consistent. The coach must be certain that the students are clear on both the english and japanese terminology. The coach should not always assume that the students understand the verbal instruction simply because no questions were asked. During the discussion the coach should occasionally ask if there are any questions. It is a known fact that many individuals are embarrassed to asked questions.

In discussing the skill, the coach should display self confidence and enthusiasm. The discussion should consider the overall age level of student group so that even the youngest members have no difficulty comprehending.

The discussion of the skill should only present a broad overlay of the skill. The specifics of the skill should be covered during the demonstration portion of the skill.

DEMONSTRATION OF THE SKILL

Of the four elements comprising the teaching of the total skill, the demonstration is extremely critical in terms of its accuracy of presentation. The demonstration must be as near to perfection as possible. The students are going to be expected to imitate what they visually perceive. A poorly executed technique by the coach must be repeated until it is correct.

How does this grab you?   MMA Submission of the Day: “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey Showcases Jiu-Jitsu Skills. If you watch the video, Ronda does in the ring what she has always done on the Judo mat: nice throws and great armbars.

So, why does the author, who states that Ronda has a Judo background, call Ronda’s Judo skills jiujitsu skills?  Is he unaware of what Judo is, or has all ne waza merely taken on the brand name of jiujitsu no matter where the ground grappling skills come from?  I’d hate to think that we’ve simply become in the eyes of the general public the stand up martial art with throws.   Sure, it’s better than being known as the art that teaches you how to fall, but that’s little consolation.  For heaven’s sake, we are the art that gave birth to Brazilian jiujitsu and Sambo.  How in the world did we get to this point?  Why did we allow ourselves to be backed into this label?  Regardless of why or how, we must all stand up for Judo and say, “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore.”   I encourage you to send your comments to “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey Showcases Jiu-Jitsu Skills.  I’ve already sent mine.

Not all is lost, however, if we do things right.  A few weeks ago, I started teaching no-gi Judo to amateur MMA fighters at a new club in El Cajon, California.  After the first lesson, fighters admitted that they had gained a new respect for Judo.  Why?  Well, for one thing they weren’t introduced to mat bashing (ukemi), impractical go kyo no waza techniques or demonstration Judo, non-essential Japanese terms, static uchi komi, or etiquette.  And I sure as heck didn’t talk about what’s legal or illegal in Judo.