Saturday Workshop With Provincial Coach

FTLComm - Tisdale - March 18, 2001

Tisdale's judo club is in its final two weeks of the season and this weekend had the privilege of being visited by the Provincial coach from Saskatoon. These pictures were taken during the Saturday afternoon work out as the coach gave the group some intensive and one on one experiences to further skills and improve their appreciation of this marvelous sport.

The coach emphasised the finer points as well as the importance of getting a grasp of the fundamentals as he pointed out the elements that are part of competitive judo and what judges are watching for. His intense focused direction was both inspirational but also assisted each individual to look into themselves for the self control that is the essence of this sport.

As an observer I was struck by the form this experience takes and how this will shape the understand both cognitively and instinctively as to how things work. Part of Judo is getting the idea through repeated practice that movement, weight and transference are all linked together. Everything interacts with everything else and in order to get something you have to give yourself to the experience to receive the learning. It seems that there is a deep and powerful secret to be learned by the members of this club as they explore the sharing of movement with each other and discover that they have each have the ability to influence the outcomes of what happens to them.

Much of what happens to an individual is a continued growing awareness of self and surroundings. In Judo the awareness comes from bodily experience, demanding that your movement be controlled not only to accomplish a move in your favour but also to prevent injury or harm to he or she who willingly assists you in the movement so that you can achieve control. Then in turn you offer yourself to assist them in that same exploration and learning process. Since these learning experiences are no-verbal they occur at a much different level than what most people experience through formal classroom instruction or what can be gained from reading and watching video.

The Tisdale Judo club is much larger than those shown here in these pictures as many were unable to attend this special Saturday workshop but those who were able to attend were enthusiastic and made excellent use of the superb instruction available. The club is putting together a year book this year of the activities and accomplishments. The group is one of those really important childhood experiences that will last an individual a lifetime.