Yasu
My Life as a Judoka I have been practicing judo for about 5 years now from 2008. From Day 1, I went to practices three times every week, and saw myself improving every day. I started to take part in small, local tournaments when I was 9, and won many of them, building my confidence. Things went well went on for about 2 or 3 years, until the Junior National Tournament that was held in California in the summer of 2011. The crowd at the tournament was just crazy. There were teams from all over the globe, and many of their coaches I recognized as international competitors! With nearly 1000 people on the stands and only 3 matches going on at once, I was able to feel the hundreds of people watching me. Rowdy coaches and screaming spectators were few of the many things that made the pressure just immense. It was my first time competing in a big tournament, but I was also confident that I would do well. Sadly, I was very wrong. After defeating 2 easy opponents, I went on my 3rd round match, where I got completely humiliated. My opponent, a Hawaiian boy who had crossed the ocean just to compete in the tournament was smaller than me. Regardless, he threw me 4 times, awarding him the win. Embarrassed and humiliated, I convinced myself that I was just unlucky that one time. I was wrong once again. I fought my 4th opponent, only to get slaughtered in a similar manner. That match was when I was reminded of the story of the frog in the well. In this story, there was a frog that had thought of himself as the king of his tiny well in which he had lived in. But after he meets a turtle was told how there were larger, stronger creatures in the wide ocean, realizes of his insignificance. That tournament had told me how much of a frog in a well I had been the whole time. I was embarrassed not only because I had been defeated but because I felt like the ignorant frog who had no idea about his environment away from his tiny well. From that day on, I was determined to practice “inside the big ocean�. I stopped competing mainly in small local competitions and tried to take part in larger tournaments. At first, I got butchered almost every game, and I only won once in a blue moon. However, even though this new way of training was frustrating and difficult it has really paid off. Today, 2 years after the Nationals, I have improved enough to be able to place
Yasu
My Life as a Judoka not only in local tournaments but sometimes in large tournaments too. Nothing feels as good as winning a match against someone much better than you. Â