Long long ago, in a distant land, okay I’m abroad right now in Hawaii, so my home is a distant land in San Diego. When I started training in Judo, my Sensei, nicknamed me Risu. That’s Japanese for squirrel. He did so because I always had so much energy, never stopped, and always wanted to keep going even at the end of class. Well, Thanks to my BFF and my family, that name caught on everywhere. Soon my friends, classmates, family, and even fricking teachers were calling me it. Where am I going with this? You’ll see.
Squirrel by Hirafuku Hyakusui late 19th century-early 20th century
When I was making arrangements to train while traveling, both my Sensei’s put me in touch with schools they were associated with. So I could receive my training, though mostly sparring, in Judo as well as my specialized training in Karate. Little did I know, my Sensei who nicknamed me would see fit to expose that name to the places he was sending me.
This brings us to the present. Today was a great day. The Judo Dojo is run by this guy a couple of years younger than me actually. He’s a great-nephew of my Sensei back home. He asked me this week if I would like to participate in the belt ceremony they were holding today. I of course agreed. This was also going to be their Halloween party, so the kids were encouraged to arrive in costume, change into Judogi there, and then change back after they were done.
Now, I actually have more teaching experience and a higher belt than he has. This has been fun for his students, who adore him, to tease him about.😂
I’ve made sure though, that they know it’s HIS school. I am just there to have fun. I even refused his offer to help teach. That’s not what I am there for. He introduced me when I arrived, by my real name but told them, before I could say anything that he was sure I wouldn’t mind if they called me by my Sensei’s nickname of Risu. He thought it was funny, and It actually was. We all had a laugh about it. But after sparring with him and his advanced students this last week, they have changed it to, Debirurisu, Devil Squirrel. Which is freaking hilarious.😂
So while I declined to teach, watching young warriors move up in rank, and the joy on their faces and family’s faces is one of the great pleasures in life. That is why I agreed to take part.
It really depends on the school. Some only require an exhibition of Katas and maybe reciting some of the teachings, others, especially with higher belts, require actual sparring. For instance, at my school, we require sparring of all belts and ages. What I liked about today was, that while he does require sparring for the higher belts, he has each student slo-mo spar at the lower belts. This means that he faces off with each student, and they go through the moves extremely slowly, so he can see and comment on their form and execution.
He had me face off against the 6 to 10-year-olds. Which is the main age group I teach. (Though I do up to any age, my largest group is that age group) I think he wanted me to do it because he is a LOT taller than me, almost a foot, well over six feet tall, and doing it he would have to kneel.
Before we started he introduced me as visiting from the mainland and that I would be taking part today. Of course, there was one parent who wanted to know what made me, the small girl, who looks younger than him, qualified. Until it was explained I taught as well as having a higher belt than him. There’s always one. That seemed to cool her jets though. Every sport has a soccer mom Karen.
So we started and I have to say, his young students were absolutely awesome. So serious, it reminded me of myself at their age. But so grateful and happy when encouraged, congratulated on a particularly hard move, or even when told they had indeed advanced. He had told me in advance that, unlike some schools, he did promote everyone at the lower levels and just gave them a bit more one-on-one later to make sure they were truly at their new belt. I actually had a hard time with that, as it’s not the way I was trained, and on more than one occasion coming up, I was denied promotion. But it is his school, so I went with it.
I had 9 little warriors to test. 5 girls and 4 boys. I always love seeing the girls outnumber the boys in these classes. But that’s just me wanting to give every woman a chance to fight back if they ever need it.
It also makes me a bit tougher on the girls. Many times we have to overcome size and strength differences. That in many if not most cases would put us at a disadvantage. This is not necessarily the case with Judo. Leverage is the key component and many times a smaller practitioner has the upper hand due to speed, lower center of gravity, etc., as long as they don’t remove you from the ground, you have a chance. But it’s a soft art, so while you CAN harm someone badly (I’ve been suspended from school twice and almost arrested once for doing just that), for women it’s more of a ‘get them down and get away’ form. Which is fine. Better to get away than go toe to toe and get hurt. (Though that is why I am studying Karate. It’s the hard sister art to Judo. Blending the two is extremely complimentary for both and sometimes, more and more it seems these days, you need to be able to deal a little pain.). For future reference, Jujutsu is another art that is excellent for women to learn. Keep that in mind if you have daughters.
Matsumoto Ai Using Judo to Drive Away Four Would-be Rapists by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1875-1913)
All 9 of the little warriors today were excellent. I had no problem promoting all of them. The boys were a bit sloppier, but that’s usually the case, where the girls could use a bit more strength. Again, usually the case. They are young though, so if they stick with it, I hope they all do, these are things they can easily overcome. Especially for the girls.
You do NOT have to be a huge bulk of muscle to be strong, especially in Judo. If you watch Judotv.com or follow the IJF, International Judo Federation, you’ll see some of the lightest weight classes are just as strong as the heavier ones. Tone can be better than bulk at times, especially when using an opponent’s size and weight against them.
In the end, I was very happy to tie their new belts around them, and yes, give them hugs. The younger students need that show of caring sometimes, not just being congratulated for their achievements.
However, I was a bit embarrassed, and there was quite a bit of laughter from the other students and Sensei when they each thanked Sensei Debirurisu. I know he put them up to it. I will get my revenge.😈 Especially when after, some of the parents came up to talk and get to know me, and called me Debirurisu thinking it was my name. Except for one family who were openly laughing, who I found out spoke Japanese later on. They got the whole explanation and thought it hilarious.
All of the families though were awesome afterward. There was another hour of them hanging around, talking to the Sensei and other students. Sensei Aoi, had ice cream for those who could eat it and I brought a bunch of different flavors of Jolly Llama vegan cones for those who couldn’t.
We also judged costumes by age group. Being the biased woman that I am, (though to be honest her costume was great), the girl in my group who came as the little mermaid won. One of the boys said it wasn’t fair “Because she’s a fish teacher”. I wish I taught fish! That would be awesome! (though I can tell you stories about some Orcas I know and yachts, but that’s for another day.) Of course, this confused the parents until we explained it to them.
All in all, once the day ended and we parted I had to tell Sensei Aoi, that I was very impressed with his school and students of all ages. He should be proud of it and I would be sure to tell his Great Uncle when I got home. Just a great day overall. Probably my best in Hawaii so far and I’ve only been here a week. I can’t wait to see what else this adventure has in store for me.
