Visit from Robert Siegel
Saturday, November 27th, 2010
Some of you know Robert Siegel from back in the day. Robert started judo as a kid and had already amassed a collection of trophies and medals when I met him in the late 70's, when we were both teens.
Robert and his family were in town for Thanksgiving. I had lunch with him on Wednesday and it occurred to me we could take a walk to the dojo and surprise Sensei and Barbara, whom he hadn't seen in almost 30 years. It was a great reunion, and wouldn't you know, Sensei surprised us. He rummaged in a closet for a minute and produced Robert's nidan certificate from the Kodokan, dated Jan. 13, 1992 and in perfect condition.
Robert's wife and kids came by and Sensei made everybody take an ukemi lesson. Robert practiced some throws on me, to the delight of his kids. After all these years he still had the muscle memory. It was like old times, getting smashed by that tai-otoshi.
I hope we'll have more of these visits in the years to come.
(If the above video doesn't work for you, try this direct link to the page on Vimeo.)