On Sunday, University Judo members Ben Uy and Vitaly Aliluev competed in the December Kohaku Shiai at the Osaka Kodokan, fought under Kodokan Rules (3 minutes, leg grabs allowed and yuko). 5 wins would have taken us to 2nd Dan, 7 wins would have taken us to 3rd Dan.
First on the mats was me, who was matched up against another heavyweight. After a fairly even first 2 minutes, I was caught with a harai-goshi, eliminating me in my first fight. Soon after was the Russian Bear, Vitaly, who was matched up with someone significantly smaller than he was. However, as is the norm in Japanese judo, small = speedy, and this guy managed to catch Vitaly by surprise with an early drop seoi-nage for yuko. Having poked the bear, the Japanese guy realized that he probably wasn't going to be quite so lucky again and spent the rest of the fight trying to run out the clock rather than go for a clean throw, eventually winning.
So unfortunately, we were unable to get graded up. On the bright side, on the way out, Ookita Sensei of the Osaka Kodokan told us he thought we looked better than we felt. He pointed out that the December competition had a higher level than the usual kohaku-jiai (as seen by the fact that about 3 people got to sandan before either of us got on the tatami) and said we should try one of the other days.
Ben Uy
P.S. Pictured on the far left, Kazuma Handa from Daishin Judo Club Osaka, who will be joining University Judo in February while working for the Littlewood Empire.
Ben's fight
First on the mats was me, who was matched up against another heavyweight. After a fairly even first 2 minutes, I was caught with a harai-goshi, eliminating me in my first fight. Soon after was the Russian Bear, Vitaly, who was matched up with someone significantly smaller than he was. However, as is the norm in Japanese judo, small = speedy, and this guy managed to catch Vitaly by surprise with an early drop seoi-nage for yuko. Having poked the bear, the Japanese guy realized that he probably wasn't going to be quite so lucky again and spent the rest of the fight trying to run out the clock rather than go for a clean throw, eventually winning.
So unfortunately, we were unable to get graded up. On the bright side, on the way out, Ookita Sensei of the Osaka Kodokan told us he thought we looked better than we felt. He pointed out that the December competition had a higher level than the usual kohaku-jiai (as seen by the fact that about 3 people got to sandan before either of us got on the tatami) and said we should try one of the other days.
Ben Uy
P.S. Pictured on the far left, Kazuma Handa from Daishin Judo Club Osaka, who will be joining University Judo in February while working for the Littlewood Empire.
Ben's fight
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