Let Me Throw in Some Excitement....

An absurdly late post for April 29, 2008

Hey Sports fans,
Huzzah Dan's triumphant return to blogging! By triumphant I mean dull. Its been so long since many of my adventures that I have almost flat out forgotten when they occurred. Oh well, gambarimasu ne? So a few of the Japanese guys invited me to go to the All Japan Judo Tournament. Not only would I get to spend a Saturday with some really cool guys, but I would get to see a huge sporting event, and to top it off the guys comped my ticket. The event was held at the Tokyo Budokan. I'm pretty sure the term Budokan means "hall of the warrior way" or something close to it. But inside you wouldn't thing it was a place where martial arts events take place. Imagine UConn's Gampel Pavillion and then add an extra floor or two and you'll pretty much have the Tokyo Budokan. I thought the event itself was going to take at most 3 hours, but it was more like 7 hours. I had forgotten that they would do preliminary rounds, this was a tactical error on my part. You see folks, the chairs at the Budokan are less than comfortable, and offer almost zero back support. So for seven hours we sat in a very uncomfortable position watching grown men throw each other around. However, it was cool to see the best of the best Judoka in Japan throwing down. Some matches came to decision because the two opponents couldn't find an opening, but a few Judoka took as little as 14 seconds to seize victory. When the final rounds came about, the stadium became amazingly energized. People cheering, clapping and just having fun (of course in the organized Japanese way). Add to that an appearance by Asashoryu, one of Japan's Yokozuna (Sumo big wig for the laymen) and it was a great time. I will say that I felt like the audience was on the verge of errupting in jeers when Asashoryu quietly entered and watched the matches. You see, of the two Yokozuna, Hakuho and Asashoryu, Asashoryu is the villain. Could it be because he has an attitude? Maybe. Could it be that he lies to get out of public appearances? Possibly. But my bet is that its the wife beating...but as always I digress. The tournament ended with an emotional Ishii taking the title. Now when I say emotional, I mean sobbing and crying. I was EXTREMELY taken aback by this. There's no problem with crying mind you, but I never imagined a hardened Judoka who has thrown and probably been thrown countless amounts of times crying. But it was a very special moment for me since I was able to see such an important event. Many of these men will probably go on to represent Japan in this year's Olympic games so it was quite an honor. Also, quick fact, apparently stadium food is expensive in every country! See, cultural borders are always easily broken when there's money involved.

Gambatte,
-DPN

Today's word is: Nageru. The word means "to throw" and is the informal/plain form of the verb. Usage: Watashi wa Asashoryu ni isu (chair) o nagemasu. or I threw a chair at Asashoryu(I didn't actually because Asashoryu would probably eat me alive...