JUDO FIGHTING IN SRI LANKA – Part 56

CONFESSIONS OF A GLOBAL GYPSY

By Dr. Chandana (Chandi) Jayawardena DPhil

President – Chandi J. Associates Inc. Consulting, Canada

Founder & Administrator – Global Hospitality Forum

chandij@sympatico.ca

Discovering Judo in 1969

Just before I sat for the General Certificate of Education – Ordinary Level (grade 10) examinations in Ceylon in late 1969, I discovered Judo. Growing up in the Bambalapiitya Flats in Colombo, I noticed that the eldest son of the family in our next door flat, Raju Arulanandam. occasionally wore an unusual uniform with a brown linen belt while doing some fitness exercises. I had just turned 16 and Raju was about 10 years older than me. Due to his friendly personality and various athletic talents, Raju was our neighbourhood hero, who was very popular. Raju’s younger brother Roshan was around my age and a close friend of mine.

One day I saw Raju and Roshan (in similar uniforms) going to the beach behind our flat. When I followed them, I was baffled to see Raju throwing poor Roshan around on the beach. “What are you doing, Raju?”, I inquired. “Chandana, I am practicing Judo with Roshan as my sparring partner. I have a couple of fights in an important Judo tournament this weekend”, Raju’s response sparked an interest in me. I was very impressed when Raju did some rolling break falls when he was tackled at a neighbourhood rugby football game that evening. “Raju, I would love to learn Judo. Please introduce me to your Judo club” I requested.

Around that period, my father was in Japan on a scholarship, undergoing some training in publishing books. When he heard of my new interest, he sent me a postcard from Osaka confirming that he would bring me a special present from Japan. It was a ‘Judogi’ or the traditional uniform used for Judo practice and competition. A Judogi comprises of three parts that are usually cut from different fabrics: a very heavy jacket, lighter canvas pants and a cotton belt. My parents included a condition before they let me follow Raju’s footsteps into Judo fighting. I had to complete the grade 10 examinations and pass with at least four credits, which I did. I commenced Judo at the Central YMCA in Colombo on January 2, 1970.

The Origin and the Ranks of Judo

Judo is a martial art that was born in Japan in 1882. It is known around the world as an Olympic sport, since the 1964 Tokyo Olympiad. Judo was created by Jigoro Kano combining jujutsu, a form of close combat with the elements of mental discipline. Judo (

柔道) means “gentle way” in Japanese. Jigoro Kano commenced Judo classes in a Buddhist temple in Tokyo.

Judo practitioners are called a ‘judokas, who are ranked according to their skill and knowledge. Their ranks are indicated by the colours of belts that they wear. There are two broad categories of ranks: those who have attained a level of competency at which they are considered worthy of a black belt or ‘Dan’ degree grades and those who have yet to attain that level, therefore hold ‘Kyu’ grades.

In the current system as used in Japan, there are six student grades ranked in descending numerical order. Beginners are given the rank of sixth kyu white belt, and once they get promoted to the third kyu, they are awarded brown belts. The first kyu is the last kyu rank before promotion to the first-degree black belt (Shodan). There are 10 dan ranks, which are in ascending numerical order (one to ten). Only 15 individuals have been promoted to the rank of 10th dan. The highest-ranking Judoka practicing in Sri Lanka today is a former Judo colleague of mine, A. H. Jinadasa (Jinna), who has the rank of 5th dan.

The objective of competitive judo is to throw an opponent, immobilize them with a pin, or force an opponent to submit with a joint lock or a choke hold. Judo’s international governing body is the International Judo Federation. The Kodokan Judo Institute in Japan is the headquarters of the worldwide Judo community.

Judo in Sri Lanka in the early 1970s

Soon after I started practising Judo in 1970, I had some quick successes. In my third month in Judo, I competed in the national sports festival of Ceylon, and was the runner up of the fifth and sixth kyu heavy wight event. The Japanese ambassador gave away Judo awards at that festival. He also arranged to send a few Judo instructors (sensei) from Japan to teach Judo in Ceylon.

At the Central YMCA in Colombo in 1970, I was inspired by a 20-year-old Judoka – Asoka Jayawardana. Having commenced Judo when he was 14, Asoka had become the youngest national Judo champion in 1969, at the age of 19. Asoka also had a cameo role in the most popular Sinhala movie of 1971, ‘Hathara Denama Sooyayo’ as a Judo fighter at Colombo YMCA, training one of the four heroes of the movie. That movie which ran for over 100 days island-wide during the first release, helped Judo to become more popular in Ceylon.

Asoka was also the Judo team leader of the Colombo YMCA. In 1972, he was awarded a two-year YMCA scholarship to study in Japan. Asoka studied at the Kodokan Judo Institute. Having done a six-month course at the Ceylon Hotel School, he had some interest in a career in the hotel industry. Therefore, during his two-years in Japan, Asoka concurrently studied hotel management. When he returned to Sri Lanka, while continuing Judo, he joined the hotel industry as a manager. In later years, a few more Sri Lankans went to Japan on Kodokan Judo scholarships.

I continued Judo for five years until the end of 1974. I also did wrestling and Karate for short periods. As Judo has a component of ground fighting on the mat, knowledge of wrestling is useful. Some clubs such as Colombo YMBA occasionally recruited top wrestlers of the country to Judo teams, and provided them with basic Judo training prior to major Judo tournaments. That strategy worked well at times.

I won the open category of the Intermediate Judo Championship of Sri Lanka in 1973. Among ten different categories of bouts based on grades and weights of the fighters, the open event was the prime event of any Judo tournament, at that time. My opponent in the open final was stronger, heavier and more experienced in fighting than I. He, S. I. Ratnayake was a tough Inspector of Police. I was still in my late teens and he was ten years older. My opponent was expected to win the final bout of the tournament easily.

However, I had lot of support around the fighting arena from my neighbourhood buddies and Ceylon Hotel School batchmates. My aim was not to disappoint my fans by losing quickly. I held my opponent at bay for the whole duration. Twice, extra fighting time was allocated by the referee. In between, during a short break from fighting, I was kneeling down and adjusting my belt at a corner of the fighting mat. While catching my breath, I told Roshan Arulanandan cheering me by the ringside that my opponent was strong like a big tree. He told me, “Strong trees can also fall down with the right pressure.” To me that summed up a key concept of the art of Judo fighting. Upsetting the balance of the opponent was a good tactic.

During the final three minutes of extra time, my strategy was to be very aggressive. I kept on pushing my opponent while holding his judogi as tightly as possible and pulling his neck down. That angered the police officer and he aggressively pushed me back. At that moment, I used his own strength and weight while pulling him towards me and falling backwards with my right foot pushing his stomach up. This sacrifice throw called ‘Tomoe Nage’ is one of the traditional forty throws of Judo developed by Jigoro Kano. It was not a popular throw, as often it backfired when tried against more senior and heavier opponents. That day it was my last resort. It worked for me like a charm and my opponent went flying over me and fell flat on his back. I won the fight and became a Judo champion.

The next year, I was chosen to be on the five-member team of the Colombo YMCA Judo club. After a hectic, five-bout team event, we won the 1974 national Judo Championship in Sri Lanka. After that, I stopped Judo for six years to focus on building a strong foundation for my career as a resort hotelier on the south coast of Sri Lanka.

Returning to Judo in the early 1980s

Six years later, on re-locating in Colombo in 1981, I re-started Judo at my club, the Central YMCA. I was happy to get an opportunity to practice Judo and hoped to study for Judo grade promotion tests, once again. Unfortunately, my busy work schedule did not allow me to do so. I was still a fourth Kyu level Judoka as I had faced only a couple of grading tests in the early 1970s. However, by 1982, I had improved my fighting and recorded some successes at the tournaments.

One full point in judo is termed in Japanese as ‘Ippon’. The competitor who gets awarded with an Ippon is declared the winner of the match, commonly by throwing the opponent to his back with force, speed and control. This would be considered a ‘perfect throw’ in judo. To the contrary, a half point is termed as ‘Waza-ari’. When two Waza-aris are awarded in a match, then it is equivalent to an Ippon and the match comes to an end.

JUDO There are three other ways to score an Ippon win, which are:

Immobilizing the opponent with a hold-down (grappling) technique for 20 seconds.

Choking the opponent until he ‘taps’ (gives up) or ‘naps’ (passes out). Pressure is applied to the sides of the neck, windpipe or larynx. A properly applied choking technique can cause the opponent to pass out.

Applying an armlock to an opponent’s elbow joint until he gives up or the arm becomes dislocated.

In 1982, I had a scary experience on the Judo mat. At a national tournament, I was fighting an opponent from the Colombo YMBA. This Judoka, Jayantha Seram, was a better and more experienced fighter compared to me. He threw me, but could not win a full point (Ippon) to beat me outright, as I fell sideways on one shoulder. Seram was awarded a Waza-ari. Without wasting anytime, he continued to fight aggressively by trying to hold-me down for 20 seconds, with an aim to score an Ippon win.

Seram was on top of me, but I was able to get a good grip on his Judogi to choke him. I applied pressure to the sides of his neck, as well as windpipe. I felt that it was working as his grip on me was gradually loosening. I took the opportunity to get off the mat and turn Seram down on the mat, while making the choke harder. As he did not tap me to indicate that he is giving up, I continued to choke him, aggressively.

The referee eventually stopped the fight to award me the win by Ippon, as froth came out of Seram’s mouth and he passed out. When I had turned him to the mat Seram had fallen with his hands behind his body, and neither of his hands were therefore free to tap. As the ambulance was taking a long time to arrive, I rushed Seram to the emergency room in my car to save his life. That day, I nearly gave up Judo.

The First Overseas Trip of the National Judo Team

I was surprised when one of the highest-ranking Judokas in Sri Lanka, Kithsiri De Soyza, made an offer to me in 1982. “For the first time in the history of Judo in Sri Lanka, a national team of ten Judokas has been invited to compete in an international Judo tournament. It will be held in Ghaziabad, near New Delhi, next month, with teams from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Japan. I will be the captain of the national team and SP Upali Sahabandu will be the national team manager. We may also take part in smaller tournaments in two other Indian cities.” Kithsiri told me.

He then added, “Chandana, the Sri Lanka Judo Association has decided to include you as a member of the national team to participate in India.” Rank-wise, I was the most junior Judoka who was chosen to represent Sri Lanka, for the first international Judo tournament, Sri Lanka was invited to take part. I was simply fortunate to become a member of the Sri Lanka national Judo team, within a year of returning to the sport.

Ten members of the national team were selected from four Judo clubs – Four from the Colombo YMCA, four from the Colombo YMBA, one from the Ceylon Police Force and one from the Gampola Judo Club. In the middle of the hot summer of 1982, our team took off to five cities in India for two weeks, with hope, anxiety and ambition. To be continued next Sunday…