A lot of people ask me on a weekly basis why I chose to stay with Judo instead of doing both Aikido and Judo?  There were a lot of reasons that went into my decision to do this, none of which had anything to do with the level and quality of instruction received.  Allen sensei will always be one of the Three teachers of the martial way that I will hold in the highest regards.  He along with DeVore Sensei, and Mossor Sensei, continue to impact my life in so many ways that I would never be able to thank enough.

So Why did I decide to just focus on Judo?  I could say injuries, it did seem of late in Aikido I was walking away with more and more minor injuries that would later come back to haunt me in Judo.  However, anyone who knows me, knows that sprained back and sprained knee incidents but yet I still am in Judo,  So it wasn’t really the injuries to a major degree.  I could honestly say Time, but that is just simple bullshit.  I do work full time and teach Judo 3 times a week, the last time I had a honest day off (no Work, no Judo) was October 2008. If you want to do something then you will find the time to do it.  I work 40 hours a week teach 3 times a week and yet I find time to workout, hit the firing range and such, so like I said before, simple bullshit.

So why then?  Aikido is represented in WV as is Karate, Tae-Kwon-do, Boxing, wrestling, Hell MMA is better represented in WV than Judo,  Outside of My School and one in St. Alban’s I honestly don’t know of to many Judo schools in the Mountain state, and this saddens me.  I decided to focus on Judo and hopefully get it to the level that it is well represented in the Mountain state along with the other martial arts. So far, way behind schedule, I have two registered high ranking belts Richard is a shodan with the usji and a great person, busy like me.lol  and D. Howe an ikkyuu who should be a dan but he will when he is ready.  So time will tell if I am to realize my goal or not.

To me Judo has a lot to offer people, kids, adults, competitors,and non competitors alike.  Judo Has principles, I know what you are going to respond with, “Don’t all Martial Arts have Principles”  Easy answer to me is , No they have fundamentals not principles.  I came upon this one time looking upon the honor wall at Aikido and seeing a quote from Karl Geis (Alan Sensei, Sensei) it read, Maximum efficiency.  I thought to myself, but that is the principle of Judo along with mutual benefit and welfare.  I asked around and asked various Aikidoka what the principles of Aikido were and they told me things like  standing up straight, slight bend in the knees, move from the hip etc. all correct to what they were taught but therein lies the problem those are fundamentals to the art of Aikido not their principles. those fundamentals are required to function within the art of Aikido  Judo also has some of the various fundamentals as Aikido, like standing up straight and moving from the hips. however we call them fundamentals, not principles.  The principles of Judo are Max. Efficiency and mutual welfare follow us not only in practice to become better Judoka they also follow us in Life to be better people, this is what Kano Shihan wanted in Judo, through practicing Judo and adhering to Judo Principle you not only would become a better fighter but more importantly a better person in society.

Aikido does have principles don’t get me wrong, there is redirection of an opponents energy and non aggression, these are good principles  but I find them very limited compared to the scope of Judo principle.  Take for instance the redirection of opponent energy, Judo does this as well SOME of the time we however will use other various principles to achieve supremacy on and off the mat  that is why we have Maximum Efficiency it combines all the principles in to one that states; use what is the most efficient for the situation. Aikido’s other principle is non aggression, most of you who know me know that I am not an aggressive person but I will fight when I have to defend what I hold dear.  Well I find that principle more in Mutual Benefit and welfare than I do in being non aggressive.  Mutual benefit follows more of the Golden Rule of Do unto others, while to me being non aggressive is more akin to being a pacifist, of which I am not. Just Because I won’t start a fight doesn’t mean I won’t finish one!

Also Judo has Randori true good spirited sweat your ass off randori, God loves it when we work hard.  A dry judogi at the end of class is sacrilege. D. Howe teaches us that.lol

So there you have it why I focused entirely on Judo, my dream, Judo’s Principles, and RANDORI!

Disclaimer:
If this offends you then Sorr…. Crap on that if it offended you then that is your problem not mine!