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Saiin
Shizuko 5-dan in France
フランスに斎院志津子五段
Brest
Le Télégrame
Translated with Commentary by Roberto Pedreira
But
judo is not the only thing she does. She is also works as a teacher of
book-binding. On each stay in Brest she practices the art of book-binding in Moulin
de Kéréon in Saint-Sauveur, with Dominique Doyard. Saiin 5-dan
gave various lectures about the art of book-binding in Japan. The
judokas of Glasgow Street will once again have the benefit of her experience and
a chance to get together with friends. Before
returning to Japan, Saiin 5-dan will go to Switzerland, a country that
she knows, and will stay for one week there. * Comment:
Saiin 5-dan
also stays busy operating a small printing company and teaching judo in
Chigasaki, the surf capital of Shonan, where it was rumored that Rickson Gracie
once thought about maybe surfing (he decided not to). Saiin 5-dan's
husband is also a judoka 5-dan (see here for more
about him). In a recent interview, Roberto asked the Saiins (both husband and
wife) if they had any opinion about disgraced former 2-time Olympic judo
champion Uchishiba Masato, who after getting out of prison, entered a BJJ
tournament as a blue belt (full story here).
They didn't have an opinion, apparently, but Mrs. Saiin's facial
expression seemed to suggest bafflement, as in "how can men be so
dumb?", although maybe Roberto was projecting (despite knowing very well
how men can sometimes be so dumb). On the other hand, it's a
valid thing to wonder. Mr. Saiin had nothing to say. They, and Roberto, seemed
to agree that Uchishiba might have thought that, as a 2-time Olympic champion
and national hero, he was free to do whatever he wanted (despite being married
with two children, or rather, formerly married with two children). But
Japan is not America. In America, you really can get away with anything if you
are big enough, famous enough, rich enough, have a good rap. Well, almost anything, a lot of the
time. Anyway, it sometimes seems that way. But not in Japan. In Japan anyone who
steps out of line gets chopped down fast. Life in Japan is a team sport. The
idea is like, if you want to go your own way and do your own thing, do it
somewhere else (and some people do that. They are so few and so unusual that
there are weekly TV shows especially about them). There has never been a myth of
rugged individualism in Japan and unlike America, no one believes there's always
a second chance. It's hard enough to get a first chance let alone two chances. Then again, maybe Uchishiba believed it and that's why he put
on a blue belt. Time will tell if he's the rare exception. If so, thank BJJ for
it. Saiin
5-dan mentioned that in Brest, the kid's judo classes consist almost
entirely of ne-waza [寝技,
ground technique], completely the opposite of Japan, she commented. Judo in
France is very different from Japanese judo, she felt. She didn't want to
over-generalize, but at least in Brest, the emphasis struck her as being more
"spiritual" than in Japan, with posters of Japanese kanji here and
there, possibly to suggest that the "Japanese way" of doing some
things is a good one to emulate. A little less ego-centric, win-at-all costs,
competitive mentality is not a bad thing, some people think, especially for the
little ones. (c)
2018, Roberto Pedreira. All rights reserved. |
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