First training.

I couldn't sleep last night. I was too nervous. I had a interview to do with my teachers in the morning, and my first training in the afternoon. I kept getting up to get water, afraid that i would be dehydrated the next day. I might have slept maybe an hour or so. I got breakfast at a ramen place i hadn't been into before. I walked in and said...

"Good night!"

(shopkeeper).....

"Excuse me, wrong word. Good morning"

The food was quite good. I got some gyoza too. I remember thinking that i had better start judo soon because i would get hideously fat if i didn't. I paid and walked out. On the way from the store to my uni, i found a pachinko ball in the gutter. I took it as a good omen.  My favorite martial arts book (Angry White Pyjamas) starts with the author finding pachinko balls in the street. I found only one, he found several. Maybe thats significant....? anyway.

So i went to the meeting spot, and had to wait around for maybe a hour or so before i got called in for my interview. Think of the panel of judges in Flashdance. They asked me questions, i answered what i could, and said "sorry, once more please" a lot. They asked me why i wanted to learn Japanese;

"In my situation, major is law. However, marks are evil. If i learn foreign language, easy to look for job"

It was beyond my vocabulary to explain that i didn't expect job handouts to fall at my feet if i could order my own lunch at a restaurant. They got me to read aloud from a textbook, and decided it was the right fit for me. The classes are split into 10, 1 being the highest. I got allocated the 6th class.

After all this i was feeling pretty wiped out, so i went to bed. I wanted to rest up for training. I woke up, got ready, and got out of the dormitory. I left maybe an hour early, even though my dorm is probably 150 metres away from the judo training hall. I was freaking out about being late, or not performing some sort of courtesy gesture like sweeping the tatami mats. I had seen students sweeping the mats for maybe 30 mins before and after the trainings i had watched. I paced around uni, listened to music, felt stressed, and wondered why i had chosen to do this. And my training song came on over my ipod.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z4cLmbw6q0

I really like the patient optimism in this song. It feels like working towards something you want; knowing that the end result is worth it. It helped me focus on the goal over the immediate challenge. It got me calm enough to walk into the dojo. I asked someone if it was ok if i trained (or at least i tried to ask and they figured out what i meant.) One guy seemed to get me and said it should be ok, but when the teacher arrived i would need to ask him. Sweet! I went and got changed and went on.

Their warm up is maybe 30 mins long. It looks pretty standard; rolling ukemi, uchikomi, ect. There were a few extra things that they did as well though. Everyone started walking on their hands in a handstand across the mat. I couldn't do it, as much as i tried. Then they got thin ropes out, and divided the room into two, splitting the training into higher and lower weight divisions.

Then they started randoori (kinda like sparring.). 2 hours of it. It was very hard for me, but not as hard as i thought it would be. For most of the time, i was standing off to the side looking like the new kid on his first day at school. I didn't have all that many rounds. Each one was for 5 minutes, then they would whack this big drum, and you would change to another person. There wasn't enough room on the tatami for everyone to train, so it was quite easy to take a break if you wanted or needed it. I looked around a lot, and definetly appeared confused. One of the students i had asked questions before, he came and grabbed me; apparently the head teacher had arrived. I went up to him, drenched in sweat, and sheepishly asked if it would be alright if i trained. I didn't really get what he said, but it was probably something along the lines of "Yeah? Your asking me now? You sure well thought it was ok when you came on an hour ago." We spoke for a bit, he asked me how long i had been doing judo for. I answered "6 year". He said it was alright.

My first round was with this guy called Oono; Big Field. Massive field. He would have had to have weighed over 120 kg. He had the opportunity to smash me in harae goshi and didn't; he gently dropped me in it. I was very grateful, i had heard all these horror stories of having to survive the first few weeks to prove that you were serious, &ct. No one wanted to belt me.

My lungs have gotten soggy. There was a point, probably a few years ago, when i went mad and started training 6 days a week. My judo turned to rubbish because i got so strong, i didn't need technique anymore. By my own fitness as a reference, i was very fit then. By comparison, tonight my lungs started to shut down after maybe the 4th or 5th 5 minute round. I think the training is intended to destroy your strength so you have only technique to rely on to throw other players. It sucks if you never had any technique to begin with though. I got maybe two or three dirty sumi gaeshis on, but for the most part got thrown every 20 seconds or so. The mats here are amazing; you don't feel it at all.

Then i got asked to tie on a coloured belt. This was to mark you as having to stay on after each randoori finished. You had to stay on and go for another round against someone else, while your old partner got to rest if they wanted . I got thrown really well by some lighter players in tanae otoshi. I kept trying my smearing sumi gaeshi but it didn't really amount to much. I ducked out for a bit because my finger started bleeding; Ive noticed here that they really freak out if they see blood. The second someone sees a slightly bleeding finger they run off to tape it up. I think it probably has to do with keeping the suits clean. Also tonight another insect flew into the mat, and people looked considerably nervous. Is there something i am missing here? Is it venomous? No idea. But my first impression is; Awesome judo, aversion to blood and moths.

After we finished, we had to bow off. They lined us all up. I had to line up at the side as a guest. We knelt and did the whole "mokuso" thing. Its a thing in Japanese martial arts where someone bellows at you to calmly consider what you have learnt that day.

I got asked to come to a newaza session by some other students at 7 am the next day (well, i didnt really get asked, told is probably more accurate). I've always fancied my groundwork, i defer to it whenever i can. Tonight, i tried my usual game and got quickly beaten by everyone. I might take them up on that offer/command.

Dinner was a raw egg cracked over some sort of beef concoction, rice, and beer. I really needed to pee, so i went into the pachinko parlour to use the bathroom. In the urinal, they have this game, where it measures how much you urinate, and shows it to you on a screen in front of your face, represented by a cupid statue urinating into some kinda brand of canned coffee. Pretty weird. It got me thinking though; i could get all Ewan Macregor in "The Island" on this. I will never freak out about hydration again if i know how much i have drank and how much i have peed. Everyone at this university is so ripped, it really motivates you to have a go and working towards their example.

And now i gotta go to bed because i have to get strangled next morning! I am living the life i chose.