I often hear judo coaches complain about the difficulty of retaining teenagers in the sport but I don't always see them making an effort to understand what might be of interest to that age group. Manny is someone they have seen on TV and he is a lot closer to their age than I am! He has shown how judo can apply outside of tournaments in his ten-year career in the UFC.
I then asked him to show a throw.
Then, he gave the students a pep talk about staying in judo and about becoming a more respectful person, giving examples from when he was young and not as respectful as he felt he should be, and learning to be more mature.
We are at a middle school and many students came over from the gym and sat watching for the whole hour and a half class, waiting patiently to get an autograph, a selfie or a picture for instagram. Manny stayed for an extra half-hour and talked to every single kid, signed every autograph.
I am old. I admit it because it's true. It's nice to have someone young come to practice, randori with the students and give fresh perspective.
It was GREAT.
I'm not sure how you contact Manny to get a clinic or private lessons if you don't have his number, but you can tweet to him @mannygamburyan on twitter. https://twitter.com/MannyGamburyan?lang=en
or you can call or text me and if I know you're not a weirdo I'll give you his contact information.
When I'm not teaching judo, I'm making games. Please check them out. You can learn math, social studies, build your vocabulary. Here are some free games and demos for you just because I am so nice. (Manny has been a good influence.)
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