Last judo practice at Tokai

Yesterday was my last judo practice at Tokai. Today I had my graduation ceremony from the Bekka Japanese Language and tomorrow I'm leaving for Hokkaido so I decided to make the 19th my last practice before I go back to Canada.

At the beginning of practice, I was asked to stand in front of everyone as I received a judo gui, a towel from Tokai, a beautiful album (with messages written by all the girls in it) and a graduation teddy bear. I felt touched that they went to so much trouble to do all that for me. The girls all told me that they will never forget me. A lot of foreigners come to practice at Tokai but they'll usually stay for a few days, a week, or sometimes a month. But I practiced with them for a year. And I also learned Japanese so I was able to communicate with them more and more as the year advanced. Communication was probably the biggest factor in the equation. If you can't communicate, it's hard to get closer to someone. I also went to cheer on the girls at competitions and took part in training camps, which most of the foreigners don't do. So that set me apart as well.

I'm really glad I joined the judo club at Tokai. All the girls are great and have helped me a lot over the year, cheering me on and teaching me a few things here and there. But there were also difficults moments as well. When I first came, I didn't understand much and the girls didn't know me yet, so they didn't really talk to me. I got thrown a lot in the few weeks... and the teachers didn't seem to really pay attention to me or show the intention of teaching me anything. Even just differentiating one girl from another was difficult. But, as the months passed, slowly, the girls started to engage in conversations with me and the coaches started to teach me, correcting a few mistakes in my techniques. Looking back, I think the first few weeks were kind of like a test to see if I was tough enough, to see if I could handle it. I guess I passed the test ;)

A big turning point was when Shirase Sensei told me to sit along with the Tokai girls (when we bow at the beginning and end of practice), instead of where the foreigners and athletes from other universities sit when they come to practice. They recognized at that moment that I was different from other foreigners and my status went to being an "outsider" to an "insider".

Thanks to the judo club, I was able to have many experiences I normally wouldn't have had the chance to have. For example, many athletes from other countries came to train at Tokai. I got the chance to train not only with the girls from Tokai, but also athletes from all over the world, some of them who went on to compete at the Olympics in London. I got the chance to watch many judo competitions in Japan, including the Tokyo Grand Slam. I was also able to see a lot of Japan, including Tsumagoi (Gunma Prefecture), Miyazaki (on Kyushu Island), and Amagasaki (between Osaka and Kobe).

The gui I received has "Tokai" written in kanji next to the collar and my name "Sayuri" at the bottom. Normally, only people from Tokai get to wear a gui with the kanjis for "Tokai" on it so I'm honored to have received one. It's a bit big so I'll have to shrink it a bit in the dryer.

Then, after receiving the gui and all the presents, I also gave the judo club a little something I made.

 

It's an album I created, filled with pictures taken during my year in Japan. On the covers, I drew all the girls, teachers and trainers, chibi style. It was actually a lot of fun making it but it did take quite a long time to draw all 40 faces. After I'd finished it, I almost wanted to take it home with me because of all the time I spent on it. lol

I also took a lot of pictures that day so I'll post a few here. Enjoy!

Group photo with everyone!

From left: Mikiko, (me), Narumi

From left: Tomomi (Motoyoshi), (me), Tomomi (Ayabe), Miki, Miyu, Kimiko

Yutaka and me

With trainer Izumi

Too many people...

With Ami

With Kiyomi

Summer Training Camp in Tsumagoi

I'm back from Tsumagoi! It was a long week of hard practices and everyone was quite tired by the end but it was a good week.

From Hiratsuka (where I live), it took about 6 hours by bus to Tsumagoi, located in the Gunma Prefecture. They hold the camp every year during the summer because it's so much cooler up in the mountains which makes training much more tolerable than in Tokyo where the humidity is insane.

Some people had told me the air would be thinner but I didn't feel a difference really. Either my respiratory system is in good shape or there just wasn't much of a difference.

Arriving in Tsumagoi

For the first half of the week, it was just Tokai University. We ran and practiced some footsweeps. Then, during the second half, athletes from Asahi University, Ritsumeikan University and Biwako Seikei Sports University came to practice with us.

There were a lot more athletes than this but a lot of them
left for a competition only a few days after their arrival

This was our daily schedule: Wake up around 6:45, stretching exercises at 7:10, breakfast at 7:30, judo practice from 9:00-12:00, shower, lunch at 12:30, nap, second judo practice from 3:00-5:00, running from 5:15-5:45, second shower, supper at 6:30 and then to bed.

It was a hard week. But going through it together (with the Tokai girls), and encouraging each other during the practices : Faito! Faito! (which means "Fight! Keep going!") was also a great experience. Like my dad says, it's also a unique experience for a foreigner in Japan to have. Normally, foreigners don't attend these training camps because foreigners are usually only in Japan for a short time. But I've been here for almost a year now and they've come to see me as part of the team so there was no hesitation when they invited me to participate in the training camp.

We stayed at the Tokai University Tsumagoi Kogen Training Center

Written in Japanese : Tokai University Tsumagoi Kogen Kenkyu Center

Eating supper

Tsumagoi is reknown for its cabbage: there were fields of cabbage everywhere!

A little friend I found by the side of the road

Celebrating the end of the camp: Picture taken right after the last running practice

Summer training camp

After a nice long break from judo, practice restarted on Thursday. And I'm already exhausted! In the mornings we practiced for 3 hours! And then another hour in the afternoon. My body is aching everywhere: my neck, my back, my thighs, my legs, ...you get the picture. You can see me dragging myself up the stairs after practice. When I come back to the residence to eat lunch after practice, the others are just waking up. lol.

And it's not over! Tomorrow, I'm going to Tsumagoi (in the Gunma prefecture, located directly west of the Tochigi prefecture) along with the Tokai judo girls for a week-long training camp. We'll be running and practicing judo everyday. One good thing is that since it's a mountainous area, it'll be a lot cooler than here. It's unbelievably hot when we practice at the dojo in Tokai during the summer.

However, because it's a mountainous area, the air will also be less dense, making it harder to breathe. But since I'll be climbing Mt. Fuji in about two weeks, it'll be good practice : )

I won't have access to a computer during the whole week so I'll update as soon as I get back.

London Olympics 2012: a disappointing result

This past week, I watched more tv than I do in a whole year. From 5 o'clock to about 10 o'clock I was pretty much glued to the tv, following the live broadcast of the judo competition. I was very hopeful for the Japanese team. I was especially excited to watch Haruka Tachimoto (4th year at Tokai) and Riki Nakaya (a graduate from Tokai) compete in their first Olympics.

Note: Picture taken from Google images. I do not own this picture.

Unfortunately, the team did not do as well as expected. They only won 7 medals. Out of those 7 medals, only one gold (Matsumoto -57kg), 3 silver (Nakaya -73kg, Sugimoto +78kg, Hiraoka -66kg) and 3 bronze (Ebinuma -66kg, Nishiyama -90kg, Ueno -63kg). And many of the athletes lost in the second round, a big upset.

If it were Canada, 7 medals would be amazing. Just winning one medal is an amazing feat. But for Japan, it's not good enough. For Japan, as repeated many times by the Japanese judo athletes in interviews, there is only gold. Nothing else counts.

I'm not sure exactly what was missing or what went wrong. Is it simply that the other athletes were better? I don't think so. Was it the mental preparation? It's more likely a number of factors and they will surely be examined intensively by the Japanese judo coaches and managers in the months to come.

All Japan team competition

The Tokai team participated in the All Japan Team Competition today. For the past weeks, the selected athletes have been practicing hard and preparing for this big day. A few years ago, Tokai won first place at this same tournament. But since then, the team hasn't been as strong and they haven't managed to regain that title. This time as well, unfortunately, they didn't manage to win either. They made it to the semi-finals, losing to the same team they lost to last year. So it was a bit disappointing for everyone I think.

The fighters lined up for the first match

For the tournament, the girls had these cool t-shirts made. In the front, the "kai" part of Tokai

And in the back, the remaining "To" part as well as the slogan: Champions again

One one sleeve, there are four kanjis written. These four kanjis are very hard to read, even my dad had some difficulty. Kanimaiou (かんいまいおう), which apparently means (according to the Internet): advancing in defiance
of difficulty towards an aim.

On the other sleeve: this stands for Tokai Joshi (girls) Judo, the 35 stands for the 35 girls in the club

Tokai going to the Olympics

It's now official. Japan's Olympic judo team has now been selected. And Tokai is proud to have 2 of its members on the team:

Riki Nakaya (-73kg) : He's actually graduated from Tokai and has been recruited by the company ALSOK but Tokai will be cheering him on like crazy. He's currently ranked 2nd on the Internal Judo Federation (IJF) Ranking List.

(I do not own this photo)

Haruka Tachimoto (-70kg): Currently a 4th-year student at Tokai. She's not often present at our practices because she's off to the national training center or other clubs to practice. She was nominated captain of Tokai's women's judo team and is currently ranked 3rd in the world.

(I do not own this photo)

Good luck to both of them!

Jieitai experience

The training camp was a good experience. I was a bit worried that they might single me out right away and question where I was from, possibly even forbid me from entering the grounds, but everything was fine. Of course, I did get quite a lot of stares from the other athletes, looking quizzically at me, wondering if I was Japanese, or another nationality.

The entrance (picture actually taken when we left because on our arrival, it was too dark)

From what I understood, the Ground Self-Defense Force is a place where strong athletes can go to pursue their sport as they work to serve their country. Kind of like companies in Japan. In Japan, after you graduate from university, if you're good enough, companies like Komatsu or Alsok will recruit you. You work for the company and they provide you with a training place, coaches, etc. So the jietai is kind of similar, supplying a dojo, a fitness gym, a running track, etc, for athletes in exchange for work.

Because it's a self-defense base, we had a short lesson on how to stand at attention, at rest, how to salute and march. It was actually fun. They made us march in lines of 3 or 4 to go the cafeteria. Ichi ni, ichi ni. (One two, one two).

Many other universities came (Yamanashi, Sendai, Teikyo) as well as a number of athletes who are fighting to go to the Olympics (Fukumi, Asami, Kunihara, Matsumoto, Hirai, Sugimoto, etc). So it was great to have so many bodies to practice with.

In the morning, we were woken up by a trumpet at 6:00, 6:15 and 6:30. Then after eating breakfast, it was straight to practice which lasted about 2 hours. Then, rush to take a shower, eat lunch, rest for about an hour, then practice #2. Then again, shower, supper, and then sleep.

The room where we slept: 6 girls per room

During the camp, we also had some renshuujiai, some practice matches. For the first time, I participated as part of the Tokai team. I lost all my matches which was discouraging. This is my first time taking part in these practice matches and my first time fighting against Japanese (other than in practice). But it was good experience because the coaches gave me good feedback and indicated things I need to work on like having a stronger grip to prevent my opponent from entering so easily.

It rained every day we were there. On the last day only, the sun decided to finally come out.

Picture taken from our room on the 7th floor

Bringing our luggage to practice on the last day

In all, it was a good experience, and something that not many foreigners get the chance to do. I took part in my first practice matches against other Japanese. I had the opportunity to fight with up-and-coming athletes. And I learned how to salute, march, and stand at attention. : )

Golden week: No rest for the wicked

It's currently "Golden Week" in Japan right now. Golden Week is a series of consecutive holidays, including Children's Day, Greenery Day, Constitutional Memorial Day, and a couple others. So this week, we only have school twice, on Tuesday and Wednesday. Monday, I went to Machida with Anzu. I was looking forward to being able to maybe relax a bit, catch up on some sleep and get around to tidying up my room on Thursday to Sunday. But instead, along with the women's judo club, I'm going to a training camp at the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Forces Camp Asaka in Tokyo. We'll only be there from the 2nd (Wed) till the 5th (Sat), but we'll be training 3 times a day and the caliber of athletes will be pretty high, including athletes who will be fighting at the Olympics in a few months.

Normally, because it's part of Japan's military forces, foreigners are strictly prohibited. But, because I have a Japanese surname (Shiokawa), I've been given the permission to come as well. But I'm scared that if I open my mouth, they might realize right away that I'm not Japanese... so I'm planning not to speak at all during the next few days. lol. Just kidding, we'll see how it goes.

I probably won't be allowed to take any pictures but I'll stil be able to write about my experiences there. It's exciting because I'm entering unknown terrain where no other foreigners have gone before.

Japan: The final frontier
These are the voyages of Sayuri France Blais-Shiokawa
Its 1 year mission
To explore strange new worlds
To seek out new life and new civilizations
To boldly go where no man has gone before

Judo in Japan: way ahead of the pack

Hey everyone, it's been a while since my last post. And I could be doing some homework right now but I wanted to post something to keep my readers hooked : P

Last Sunday, I went to the Nihon Budokan to watch a judo tournament. It was a special tournament because instead of the normal weight categories, there were none. It was kind of like an open category where anyone who wishes to participate (regardless of their weight) can fight. But for this tournament, you had to be selected, meaning you probably had to have a certain amount of points or produced certain results at other tournaments in order to take part in this one. Only men were allowed to participate (two weeks ago, the women had their own tournament) and most of them were over 100kg. So when one of them was thrown, it was quite spectacular.

The tournament site in itself is spectacular. Most places in Japan are pretty cramped but when it comes to judo tournaments, they have the infrastructure. Here's a panoramic picture taken with my camera:

In between the matches (there was only one fighting mat area), I either studied or braided the girls' hair. They seem to be quite amazed with my ability to french braid.

Changing the subject a bit, but still related to judo, the Olympics. With the Olympics approaching quickly, Japan is now deciding who they will be sending to represent their country. There are two girls from Tokai (two sisters, Haruka and Megumi Tachimoto) who have a good chance of going. There are also two or three boys from the men's team who have a good shot as well. It's interesting to compare Canada and Japan when it comes to judo. In Canada, we're lucky if someone even qualifies themselves to go to the Olympics. But in Japan, it's not the question of whether or not someone is qualified, but rather which one of their qualified athletes they decide to send. Because in each weight division, there are at least 2, 3 or more athletes that are qualified to go. In the next month, based on past and upcoming tournament results, the Olympic team will be decided. In addition, some Japanese athletes are better against other Japanese athletes, and some Japanese athletes fare better against foreigners. The latter tend to be preferred because the chosen athlete will be facing athletes from other countries.

I'm really looking forward to the Olympics this time, for a couple of reasons. 1) Judo is part of the summer Olympics 2) Compared to before, I know now many of the big names in judo, especially in my division, having either fought with them or watched them fight at tournaments 3) Athletes from Tokai will probably be fighting 4) I love watching sports, especially witnessing the winning athlete's or team's emotions as they have the best race of their life or accomplish their lifelong goal; it's just so inspiring.

There are now only 86 days left! Anybody else looking forward to the Olympics?

Family reunion in Japan!

I have difficulty believing it myself but I just spent the whole afternoon and evening with my dad and brother, who I haven't seen (in person at least) for more than 6 months. It feels like nothing has changed. And they just fit in so perfectly into my new life: my dad chatting with the trainers and athletes during the practice and my brother practicing hard with the Tokai girls and even throwing some of them. I almost can't believe that they're actually here.

They first arrived around 3 o'clock in the afternoon. I introduced them to the dorm dean and my roommate, gave them a little tour of where I live and then it was already time to go to practice.

My brother practiced with the girls today. Next week, he'll probably practice with the boys at least once, but today, as it's his first day, we deemed it best for him to practice with the girls to get used to the level of training here. So my brother was the only boy there. But he's kind of gotten used to that after years of being the only boy in the gymnastics club in Beausejour, Manitoba.

My brother getting taped up before practice

It was a hard practice. He was pretty tired by the end of it. I'm pretty sure that the girls' practices are not as tough as the guys's but the girls are all strong here and my brother had quite a workout tonight.

At the end of practice, we gave the girls some red licorice as a souvenir from Canada along with some mini Tide-to-go's, which have become one of my dad's indispensable items he likes to have handy, especially at a judo tournament. In judo, if there's blood on a gui during a match, the wearer has to change his gui. And blood is often pretty hard to rub off. But with a little bit of water and these little tide-to-go markers, the blood comes off easily.

Then we took a group picture:

Then some girls came to talk to my brother... as I thought they would. I mean, my brother is a pretty good-looking guy, kakkoii as they say here in Japan. So by the end of their conversation, I think he made two new girlfriends... lol

Girlfriend #1: Akane

Girlfriend #2: Naori

A possible girlfriend #3: Kumiko

Then we went back to my dorm where I cooked supper for them, beef curry udon. Didn't turn out like I had imagined it (when does it ever?) but it was still good and we enjoyed the meal together, which is the most important thing. I said earlier that I have trouble believing this all happened today. But I just have to check my refrigerator to confirm that it actually did: all my three containers of juice have disappeared. And there's only one person I know who can drink that much juice in one sitting... my brother!