Random thoughts, judo and otherwise

I have been really busy the past two weeks teaching statistics classes, grading exams, attending a software conference and the usual cleaning the house, paying bills, going to work, etc. etc.

Yesterday I called Jim Pedro to rub in that a Democrat had won the election. I had meant to get him a Republicans for Voldemort bumper sticker but never got around to it. I told him I was feeling that judo sucked up so much of my life. I'd like more time to go to the museum, hiking in the mountains, lay around and read books. I said,

"It's not that I don't like judo. Every time I ever went to practice, whether as a competitor or a teacher, I enjoyed being there. It's just that I think of all of the other things I am missing out on doing. I could be going to plays, art museums, libraries, the Farmers Market. Don't you ever feel like you missed out?"

He said, positively,

"Nope. And you didn't either. You wouldn't enjoy those things as much as you do judo. Besides, too much of anything is, well, too much. You should take a week off, go to the mountains. I guarantee you,though, that if you went up to the mountains with your family every weekend you would get sick of it after a while. "

I asked Ronda the same question, whether she ever felt like she missed out and she said,

"No, because for all of the things I didn't get to do, there were other things I did get to do because of judo and I think that more than made up for it, like going to Spain, or Beijing or Brazil. "

Everyone takes off tomorrow. A bunch of people leave for Seattle on one flight and a bunch more leave for Michigan on another. More of our guys are going to San Diego or Las Vegas for a tournament. GOOD LUCK, EVERYBODY ! Gary is going to Seattle to coach. Ronda is going to Michigan to coach and compete.

I am going to Las Vegas to learn about data mining and predictive analytics.

Oh, we are back at the West Coast Judo Training Center NEXT Saturday. 123 South 1st St., La Puente, CA

Were you not paying attention to all the tournaments this weekend? No, there is no practice this weekend. You should be at a tournament.

There is no practice next SUNDAY. We were going to have practice until we realized the Mojica tournament was that Sunday.

---------- Brain-dead obvious judo tip -----------------

Be in shape! Cross train every day. By that I mean run OR lift weights every day. You'd think it would be obvious but the number of judo players I see who claim to want to succeed in international competition and do not have the cardiovascular ability to go a five minute match - and forget about overtime - makes it clear to me that this obvious point has been overlooked.

Skateboarding, surfing, aerobics - none of those count as cross-training, although they may be fun for some people and useful for cutting weight. Cross-training for judo needs to be intense. Please don't EVEN try to tell me how intense your aerobics class is. Nothing you can do wearing sparkly spandex is cross-training.