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Voice of the Fox
The Newsletter of the Martial Arts Training Service

Judo Tournament Survival Guide
by Debbey Myers
Summer 1998

Preparing for a judo tournament depends on why you are going. Spectators and score-table staff will have different needs than parents whose children are competing.

Pack what you need

What to bring to the tournament is always an important consideration. Everybody has their own creature comforts and rituals.

At our house, our tournament bag includes an extra gi for each child, video camera, water bottles, nail clippers, red licorice and plenty of batteries for the Gameboys.

Since my two boys are both in the heavyweight division for their ages, they always eat a full breakfast in the morning. They're not even close to making weight for a lighter division so we usually hit a McDonald's drive-thru on the way to weigh in at the tournament. I don't let them eat lunch during the day until after their matches. I've found that a hot dog and candy bar from the concession stand go a long way in healing the wounds of a lost match.

Videotapes are learning tools

We enjoy videotaping the boys' matches because reviewing the tapes can be a learning tool, and it's also fun to watch them developing. Having a permanent record of their wins and losses will be interesting to look back on. I finally learned not to coach the kids while I'm taping, because it's much too embarassing to hear myself later.

Then there's my personal supply of Tums. I still feel physically ill every time Paul or Scott goes on the mat to fight. At least I haven't transferred my feelings to them. They both seem very relaxed, so I pretend that I am too.

The most important thing is to be supportive of your child, win or lose. Be encouraging and positive, and let them know you love them no matter what. We are fortunate at our dojo that our senseis feel the same way and encourage and nurture our children.

When you’ve come to watch or help

Being a regular spectator is a little different. I certainly don't have the feeling of nausea when it's not my children competing, but I still get carried away with half-baked coaching and commiserating over the bad calls the refs have made. As spectators, we are often sure that an ippon call should have been a waza ari or vice versa, depending on who you're rooting for.

Working at the scoring table can be very rewarding, but stressful at times. For someone such as myself who can't keep quiet, it's difficult to concentrate on just the score without commenting. It can also get tricky when both contestants look alike, are the same rank, and you can't tell if it was red or white who got the yuko. I think I'm getting the hang of scoring and hope to do it again soon.

No matter why you're at a judo tournament, there's one thing for sure. You're going to have to wait! Judo time is different from the rest of the world, and time stands still when you're hanging around a tournament. Even knowing the wait factor, tournaments can be a very good experience and everybody involved in judo should compete or watch one to check it out for themselves.

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