While the IJF 2013 World Senior Judo Championships were
thrilling the audience in Rio de Janeiro, the free world celebrated the 50th
Anniversary of the civil rights march to Washington DC, and the famous “I have
a dream” speech of the visionary Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.
Recently there was a discussion on social media about
coaching and the development of a judo system. One post referred to the speech
and said that his dream for judo is “'- that every town, borough or city will
have a permanent dojo with quality facilities.”
The comment got me thinking, about what my dream is for
judo.
I have a dream that those dojos in every town and city of
the world will be based in a place of learning. That every school, college and
university, will have a dojo, and that judo will be synonymous with education.
That the values of judo will be taught in the classroom, and the values of the
classroom will be taught in the dojo.
I have a dream that those dojos are led by great coaches.
That those dojos are led by educated coaches. Are led by coaches who have
devoted their own time to the study of how to make their dojo better, the
pupils better, their athletes better. Coaches who have studied diligently about
how to change lives through judo.
Without great coaches, dojos are empty, sometimes
intimidating, sometimes scary, and sometimes dangerous. Without great coaches
that embrace the values of judo, dojos can encourage arrogance, deceitfulness,
even bullying.
Great coaches, educated coaches, encourage the development
of the whole person. They encourage hard training, technical excellence,
respect for others, seiryoku-zenyo and jita kyoei.
At Judospace we are committed to helping coaches become
great. Recently we have teamed up with KokaKids to create more opportunities to link judo and education.
To find out more about our work visit www.judospace.com
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