JudoNotes

Thursday night I stopped by the dojo because Sensei Williams was teaching his last class there before we move to Greenwich St., and I wanted to get a photo.

I'll get to that photo in a moment, but first, here is a photo of me. This was taken at a dojo tournament in the late 70's, probably 1979, back when Oishi Judo was at 415 West Broadway. I'm the skinny kid on the right:

(click to see at full size)

See that other skinny kid, the one on the left? His name is Chris, and he has a younger brother Marc. Chris and Marc's parents are Dave and Anne Williams.

Soon after that photo was taken, Dave and Anne took up judo themselves. Dave in particular applied himself with great enthusiasm. I remember his ability to squat deep and come in low for morote-seoi-nage. I remember his quest for flexibility, and his excitement over a gadget he'd found that stretched his legs farther and farther apart with the turn of a crank.

Fast-forward twenty-seven years, and Dave Williams is now Sensei Williams. He is a nidan (second degree black belt) and has been teaching Tuesday and Thursday nights as long as anyone can remember. He is an intense motivator and always gives every student a grueling workout. He is known for his clear explanations of judo principles and techniques — you marvel not only at how clear things are in his own mind, but how transparent he makes them for you.

Sensei Williams also referees quite frequently. You can see him in many of my YouTube videos.

The Dave Williams of 2007 — the sensei, the referee, and not only the father of that skinny kid but now a grandfather — that Dave Williams is the gentleman in this photo, front row center:

(click to see at full size)

That's Anne in the second row, second from the right.

I mention all this because the dojo move has made me nostalgic, and because some of you who don't take his class may not know Sensei Williams. He sometimes drops by on nights he doesn't teach. If you see him in class, say hi to him, and definitely play him if you possibly can.

Jeff tells me Sensei is planning the move for Memorial Day. That's Monday, May 28, 2007. Work will continue on the two days after that. Helping hands would be appreciated.

I'll post an update when I find out more, or of course you can call the dojo.

Update:

It's for real, folks. Saturday will be our last class at 79 Leonard St. Those of us helping Monday will show up at 10:00. Work will continue for the next few days, so if you can volunteer let Sensei or Barbara know.

There will be a cocktail party on June 6 at 7:00 at the new location, 547 Greenwich St. (Here's a map.) Our first class there will be Monday, June 11. Unfortunately I'll have to miss class that week, because I'll be out of town.

Oishi Judo had a good turnout for the Hudson Promotionals yesterday. Congratulations on quite a few strong performances.

I've posted YouTube videos of all the Oishi matches I was able to get, along with the ever-popular highlights reel. I have questions about two of the matches — see my notes next to the links below. If you have an opinion or a clarification, I'd appreciate a note in the blog comments below, or in an email.

The highlights reel has become something of a tradition. It started when I put together three ippons by Milton from the promotionals last October. Then in February Sensei suggested I put together highlights from the dojo tournament we had. Folks responded positively to that video, especially folks who couldn't be there for the tournament, and it's been a tradition ever since. In fact, for the Liberty Bell I posted only highlights.

Okay, here are yesterday's matches:

• Paul [What do you folks think about the call?]
• Jean-Ezra 1 — Jean-Ezra 2 — Jean-Ezra 3
• Nina 1 — Nina 2 — Nina 3 — Nina 4 — Nina 5
• Austin
• Ron
• Bob 1 — Bob 2 — Bob 3 — Bob 4 — Bob 5
• Will 1 [What do you think the judges were conferring about? Who was that first ippon awarded to, and why was it waved off?] — Will 2 — Will 3
• Ian 1 — Ian 2
• Matt

And here's the highlights reel:

Thanks to Sandro for the ride to North Bergen, and thanks to Dan for the ride back.

Tournament season is upon us:

• A bunch of Oishi players competed in the Liberty Bell tournament on April 1. Ian Schuler took silver in his Masters division. I put a 20-second highlights video on YouTube:
  
  
  
  
• Jeff Summa took third in his Masters division at the Nationals in Miami, during the weekend of the 22nd.
• On April 29, Jean-Ezra Yeung took first at the Cranford Invitational with a "left-gripped right-handed ippon seoi-nage."

Congratulations to all!