Tokyo Grand Slam 2015 - Event coverage from a Kiwi living in Japan.

IJF Tokyo Grand Slam - 2015

This year I was fortunate enough to be in Japan when the IJF circuit came to town. I live in Kyoto but was more than happy to make the trip up to Tokyo to see first hand the best in the world and how they compete. It was my first time to experience watching Judo at this level and for any players who haven’t been involved or seen an IJF event; the experience itself is very impressive not to mention motivating. I came away pumped having seen the judoka I had idolised and watched a thousand times on ippon.tv. These people are real people just like my teammates and me. They worked hard and trained hard and now they compete on this incredible stage against like-minded players. What an incredible feeling it must be for them to walk out onto the tatami I kept thinking to myself. I think its more real for me now having seen them in the flesh and realizing that they also started out the same as anyone else did. They don’t just appear on our TV screens or our Facebook feeds with beautiful ippons. No they are actually real players with real hearts and real goals. A few judoka were kind enough to share their thoughts on this with me and the players themselves all speak the same judo language I realized, even if they didn’t speak the same language or were from the same country. 

My trip consisted of only the weekend days of the event (I couldn’t skip normal judo training on Friday could I?) so I missed out on the Men’s 60kg, 66kg and Women 48kg, 52kg and 57kg competitions. But I managed to see the comp the night before I came to Tokyo. The Japanese had taken Gold at every category and I immediately thought of our own All Blacks at Eden Park, wondering if the Japanese had the same sense of overwhelming pride like our boys in black do on their home turf. They had obviously done well to medal across the board, even more so in the -66kg division where they scored 1st, 2nd and 3rd, ahead of world number 1 from Ukraine, Zantaraia who was knocked out by a yuko and wazari in the third round by Oleinic from Portugal. Oleinic would later face the winner Takajo from Japan in the semis. Some incredible ippons from the Japanese including Shishime's huge uchimata over Brazilian Felipe Kitadai in the bronze medal match, making it look effortless as he walked backward, faking an extra step more and basically allowing his opponent to step onto his hip where he proceeded to lift him up and onto his back for ippon. In the women’s -57kg division, Tsukasa Yoshida also demonstrated a devastating and flawless uchimata over French judoka Helene Receveaux in the final, taking another gold for Japan. I felt anxious to get to Tokyo. It was shaping up to be an incredible tournament. 

Day 2 and after a restless night of excitement and a late night reviewing coverage from the previous day, I woke up early to catch the Shinkansen from Kyoto Station. Arriving in Tokyo around 8:30am I quickly navigated the maze that is Tokyo’s subway system and found my way to the Metropolitan Gymnasium so I could check in and register for my press pass. Already there were a lot of people there gathered to watch and compete. I noticed the company judo supporters in the stands all wearing the same uniforms, there to cheer on their sponsored players with rehearsed chants and routines. I was given my IJF bib, and pass and made my way to the pressroom. I spoke to another member in the room regarding the day before and he said it had been an incredible day for Japan and that today should be even more exciting. Feeling excited I wandered around the gymnasium to check out who was here and if I might catch a quick shot of some top rankers before the prelims. Immediately as I turned the corner into the walkway behind the player prep area I nearly bumped into Olympic Gold Medalist Lasha SHAVDATUASHVILI as he prepared for the upcoming draw. I thought wow; I am really here literally rubbing shoulders with champions and continued to explore the event. 

Of course after the excitement settled and I had my fair share of being star struck for a brief moment or two, I made my way to the photographers area and took my place among the others. The day was long as I sat there watching each of the judoka battle it out. I couldn’t help but wonder how nerve racking it must be for everyone waiting so long and then competing with so many cameras in their face. It proved that the focus these athletes have at this level must be so acute to maintain what they need to visualise and concentrate on to win. I mean I was literally touching the tatami and inches away at times as they barreled past me when being pushed out of bounds yet, each time a player would execute some waza that looked threatening to the opponent, the crowd would erupt! But actually the cheers were almost drowned out at ground level by the many photographers and the furious camera shutters opening and closing at light speed, trying to capture "the shot” for the next days paper. I later discovered that a lot of the photographers were reporters for local papers or news, but only because they would congregate together more when a Japanese player was on the mat, and also by the volume of noise from the cameras snapping more frequently at each step the player took when that player wore the rising sun on the chest of their gi. 

The -81kg division on day 2 was of particular interest to me. I myself compete in this division and often find myself sizing up the players online, checking their technique and wondering if what they do would work for me, being of similar size and build. Needless to say that today was a great opportunity to see them perform on the grand slam stage and get an insight on what their technique looked like in person. Impressive to say the least. My focus was on world champion, Takanori Nagase as his style was often talked about and revered among my fellow judoka at the Kyoto riot police. He is known for being a very intelligent player and he showed some great technique during the tournament. His first victory came after the 1st minute in the second round where he slammed opponent ZHAKYPOV, Dauletkhan into the tatami for ippon. 

The third round against Chinas Hemubatu Eri, was where Nagase would demonstrate his newaza skills pinning Eri in sankaku jime after Eri had made what seemed like a terrible decision to move to his back in defense. This ippon had come after Nagase had already thrown Eri with osotogari, which had been previously overturned from ippon to wazari, so I couldn’t help but feel that he had earned his win with a great variation of technique. In the forth round I witnessed an impressive display of kumikata, as Nagase spent nearly no energy while easily batting off gripping attempts from American Travis Stevens. It was like Stevens had his hands coated in butter before he came out and Nagase time and time again broke grips and put Stevens in dangerous positions, causing him to scramble quickly to recover. Stevens looked exhausted early and started making errors earning him 4 penalties and finally giving the win to Nagase. The Japanese player had moved up without breaking a sweat. I was looking forward to the next match against Seungsu Lee. I had no idea that controversy was on the horizon. 

The semi-final kicked off and both players looked very relaxed as they battled for grips. The match was intense as each judoka popped the grip of each other, moving and competing for position with very little attacks coming from either. Finally the first shido was awarded to the Korean. Nagase attempted what I thought was a brilliant ouchigari yet the referee seemed to disagree as no score was given even though Lee had obviously been thrown. It was then I really noticed Negase’s habit of one particular waza where he will often throw a technique with one hand low after breaking his own grip, and then quickly regrip in a more dominant position when he is actually executing his waza. In this case it was the hand going from the sleeve to over the shoulder in order to pull Lee down on the leg he was being attacked by in the ouchi. It was a minute later when he used this same gripping technique to raise Lee with an uchimata attempt that forced the Korean player to wheelbarrow around the tatami on his hands before being power driven back down onto his back. The noise from the cameras and crowd was immense but perhaps not as loud as the calls from the Korean coach screaming Hansoku make. Nagase motioned to the referees on the TV panel that he had gripped his lower part of the gi and not grabbed the leg at all. The referee called Hansoku make to Lee and a shocked Nagase looked at his coach for confirmation that this was actually happening. He looked gutted and after bowing, walked off the mat with his head low and hands on his hips.

 

I immediately looked to the judge’s table behind me to see what the replay had shown to be the reason for the disqualification. It was then I noticed I was the only person taking photos of the judges gathered around the TV monitor. A Japanese photographer asked me what was going on and I quickly gave him an lesson on hansoku make and why the ref had ruled the decision in the best Japanese I could come up with. When I explained that I didn’t think the call was correct it became apparent that Kosei Inoue also agreed with me as he approached the officials and proceeded to point to the TV monitor and question how this call could’ve been made. He almost looked dismissive as he laughed at the decision. I remember thinking that the photographers there obviously didn’t follow or understand judo at all when I realized that after the fellow I spoke to had explained it to the others, then they all started snapping at the officials desk and started asking me more questions.

Sadly the decision seemed final and Nagase was out.

**You can see the sequence of the throw in the gallery below**

I ran after Nagase to try to catch a quick pic of him before he disappeared to the back rooms. I caught him in the passageway and told him I didn’t think the call was correct. He said thank you and carried on. It was 24 hours later that the IJF overturned the penalty decision and issued an official apology. Nagase later said that he was lucky it was not the Olympics but I still felt there was a huge hole in the penalty system for this kind of thing, especially considering that the decision was incorrect yet nothing was done about it even after it was overturned. That could’ve been a gold medal match I thought, and he would’ve lost his chance unfairly. I wondered why it had taken so long to review the footage and what the process was around the disqualification being nullified. Surely there was a better way? The next day I coincidentally bumped into him again, and he agreed to a photo with me I think having remembered that we had briefly spoken the day before about the bad call. 

Lee would go on to fight now world number 1, Avtandili Tchrikishvili in a gripping 5-minute war. The Georgian looked in control as he defended a number of Lee’s seoi nage attacks. Finally at the gong and two shidos against Seungsu, Georgia would add gold to the tally with Tchrikishlivi walking off the tatami waving at his countrymen and high-fiving his coach. It was a great match; even though I knew in my head the real battle should’ve been with Nagase. Now THAT would’ve been a great fight. 

Other highlights on day 2 were a number of great ippons, and a monumental battle for the women’s -70kg gold between Japans Chizuru Arai and Yoko Ono. The company cheerleaders were in full force and as the gong sounded for time and both players were drawn at three shido’s each. The two players continued to battle for a further 3 and a half minutes, often being asked to stand up during matte by the referee in order to continue. They look exhausted and as if they had been training together a long time, knowing each other’s usual attacks. Finally the ref called matte and awarded Arai the win on a shido over Ono. It was certainly the most impressive match of the day and a real highlight seeing such determination from both judoka. I left the gymnasium after shooting the award ceremony and was pretty excited about the incredible level of judo I had seen that day. I was more excited for the heavies on the Sunday. 

Day 3 and the gymnasium was full of huge men and women walking around in full length puffer jackets, keeping warm before the prelims. I caught Olympic Gold medalist and current world number 1, Kayla Harrison in a walkway and wished her luck. She had an entourage of American coaches around her but smiled and said thank you as I took her picture. She went on to win gold in the under -78kg division over Netherlands player Guusje Steenhuis who had done extremely well leading up to the final. The American fought incredibly aggressively, dominating a top grip and trying many attempts at makikomi attacks before finally scoring a yuko weirdly in the last 15 seconds. A win by yuko was still a win I thought as she collected her third gold medal. 

By this point I had figured out a better way to watch the prelims having discovered that my press pass also gained me access to certain seating in the arena right beside the players and VIP seating. I couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed as I looked around and saw some pretty legendary faces sitting next to me. The penny really dropped on how lucky I was when suddenly a lot of people started standing up and bowing at a huge man approaching the seating area. Yamashita himself smiled around the seating area and took his seat, but not before I could quickly snap a cool shot of his unmistakable profile. I had to pinch myself for a moment and quickly reflect on the incredible journey Judo can give people and the unique opportunity I had to be there at this time among the greatest of all time and the best in the world today. 

The under -90kg division was another one I closely watched. With so many great players and athletes, I knew there would be some superb judo on offer in the final day. All eyes were on the Japanese players Baker, Nishiyama and Yoshida as they were set to take on world champions and gold medalists the likes of Gwak, Van T End, Gonzalez and Iliadis. The prelims were underway and I bumped into Brent Cooper Sensei unexpectedly in my newly discovered seating area. It was great to see a familiar face and we had a quick chat before I ran down to catch Greece’s Ilias Iliadis in his first match against Alexsandr Markeljuk. The world number 9 looked seasoned and ready, casually walking onto the tatami and proceeding with his routine of wearing his opponent down with impressive grip fighting technique. His wide stance and heavy weight on Marmeljuks sleeve pulling him down was textbook Iliadis I thought and knew that he wanted to exhaust him before taking something like a back grip and getting on with the eri seoi nage or o goshi he was planning. Instead it lead him into a failed seoi toshi where Marmeljuk ended up landing on Iliadis’ elbow in what looked to be a very painful way for the Greek. He got up very slowly, after resting until the ref asked him to stand and took his time to tie his belt again in what was obviously an effort to recover. The IJF photographer said to another cameraman that Iliadis’s injuries were catching up with him. It didn’t appear to be the case though as he immediately regripped and threw an uchimata resulting in a yuko and a victory after osaekomi in the last seconds. It did however prove to be the case as he pulled out from his next round. 

Baker and Gonzales was another epic final match. The Japanese judoka was feeling the pressure in his home country and wanted the win over the Cuban who was also fighting for pride as his coach had just received a prestigious award of service to Judo from the IJF upon announcing his retirement. You could tell Gonzalez wanted gold badly and was very aggressive working hard against Baker who looked challenged against a European style judo. A number of drop seoi nages from the Cuban and some greatly timed attempts from Baker made sure the crowd were on their feet. No points scored in the end with the win going to Baker only by shido and another gold for Japan. Also in the -100kg and 100+ kg finals, no scores were collected making it tense to watch but a little less entertaining. Obviously all judoka were very aware of each other and their techniques doing an incredible job of defending and grip fighting. I still wonder though if the rules of judo today have changed the tactics employed by the players so much that its taken away some of the great battles we might have seen in the days of yesteryear. I know its to try and make judo more appealing to watch when the big ippon comes, but its a real shame to see such accomplished athletes who train so hard, win by just a penalty. 

I wrapped up my day by running around the interview area trying to snap as many pics as possible of the winners. I managed to catch Shichinohe and Harasawa right after their match, among the crowds of reporters lined up for interviews. I had previously seen the two compete at the all japan championship at the Nippon Budokan earlier in the year, and I had hoped for a rematch of epic proportions to settle the score for Shichinohe. Both athletes looked less than impressed with their performances in the players area during interviews, but I felt for Shichinohe who reminded me that having a rival is an incredible motivation to improve and continue to develop your techniques.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my experience of the Tokyo Grand Slam, and managed to take away some incredible insight on what it is to be a professional judoka. The players and the coaches and all those involved, are travelling all the time and put themselves through hell to make sure they can rank and win, and it shows the minute they step onto the mat that they love it and all deserve to be there. At 31 I’m sure I’m at the near end of the competitive career but I came away feeling very inspired and very motivated to push harder and work harder at my judo. You can’t imagine a more incredible feeling than to represent your country at Judo on the world’s biggest stage. I feel that others who want to pursue their judo seriously should do their absolute best to go to an IJF event and watch first hand, the level of impressive Judo required in order to win. When you can see it with your own eyes and can experience the reality of witnessing judo among literally hundreds of judoka who are all at their peak, it humbles you and makes you think how far you have to go, or what you must do to get there too. It reminded me also of the community revolving around Judo and how support from others can help you get to where you want, no matter what your goals with judo are. I remembered a Japanese proverb at this moment of contemplation (and I'm sure Rick Sensei will be very proud of me remembering local idioms), "Monzen no kozō narawanu kyō wo yomu” which actually means, "a young Buddhist priest will read scriptures at the gate" when translated literally. But the real intent of this proverb is to explain that the environment is what makes the priest a better priest. He’s at the gate of the temple, not at the foot of the hill leading up to the temple, so therefore by being at the heart of the temple itself, and others like him, he is then closer to the heart of Buddhism. Being in this environment will no doubt increase his likeliness to learn a lot more because of the environment itself. In other words, immerse yourself in the best environment with others who are likeminded and we can learn things that cannot otherwise be taught. I can vouch for this first hand. 

Check out some of the pics I snapped and feel free to hit me up next time you see me on the mat about my experience here at the Grand Slam. It was incredible and I have to say a big thank you to Graeme Downing and Brent Cooper for the support, helping me get up close and on the tatami beside the worlds best. Ill be back for sure, fingers crossed with a NZL back patch one day!

Photo Gallery (Click on the image to see full gallery)