Every now and then, a guy will stop by or join the gym. Somtimes they are wearing a white belt or sometimes they happen to come on a no gi day. I'm at the point now where I can pretty much gauge how much grappling experience someone has when I roll with them. Likewise, I know exactly what I'm in for as soon as someone grabs my gi (if I let them) or we lock up. These guys that come on occasions will have phenomenal base, cardio, and usually give me a hard time. Well duh, they're Judoka!
Specifically, I'm talking about guys that are ex-professionals and guys that have been on the Korean national Judo team. Koreans guys are pretty damn macho, but they are very modest at the same time. They will never tell you that they used to be a professional Judo player, had a place on the national team, or, in some cases, had a bunch of MMA fights. You always find out later when someone tells you in passing.
People in Korea take Judo very seriously. They don't joke around here. You can actually major in Judo in college and receive a bachelor's degree in Judo which usually fall under some sort of physical education program. Coming from the West, I found this to be very exotic. Korea v.s. Japan in Judo is very serious business, and it' really exciting to watch the two teams compete against each other. I love it.
My friend Tom recently got an invitation to train at Dong-eui University here in Busan with the school's Judo program. He put together an excellent video (the best he has done in my opinion) that I want to share with everyone. Enjoy.
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