2024 Judo Grand Slam Baku
Some thoughts about life and the last weekend's event.
A few weeks ago a friend sent me a message showing that he was playing a game called "The Legend of Zelda - Ocarina of Time." It is a true work of art. A contemplation on the act of growing, aging and dying. The main character has the opportunity to grow during the story and meets characters. Some just grew, some went bald, and some died. The idea of stopping my work to play a game like that initially bothered me with great repugnance. We live in a situation where we need to be working, studying or training to avoid feeling useless. Playing a game where the character is always running and fighting like Megaman X is acceptable. Play a game where you are invited to stop at the top of a mountain and conjecturing about the brevity of life gives you the impression that you are wasting time.
Japan is a curious place. Like every country in the world there are horrible people who are not even worth mentioning. But from there come true geniuses. Kurozawa, the greatest filmmaker of all time. Miyamoto, the greatest game designer of all time. And of course, Kano! The man who taught the world that martial arts can be used peacefully. A vision that is not his, but that he managed to disseminate like no other.
I dedicate myself to understanding aspects of that culture and I intend to set aside some weekends to play what is considered the best video game of all time, Zelda Ocarina of Time. The great masterpiece by Japanese Miyamoto. One day I even want to play in Japanese. One day. But not this past weekend. Because in the last days I dedicated myself to contemplating the work of another Japanese person. Jigoro Kano. When watching the Baku Judo Grand Slam in Azerbaijan.
The first thing that draws attention is that the Azerbaijani public is much less effusive than the Portuguese and French who highlighted past events, and about whom I also wrote a few lines.
Then it draws attention to the fact that even though it was a Grand Slam, the Japanese fighters didn't come. They are always the big villains of the events they participate in. But everything is fine. Judo and its competition, shiai, is about your performance and not about the opponent.
The Azeris achieved two gold medals, the local fans celebrated of course, but in a very restrained way.
Brazilians fought but failed to win medals.
The athlete that caught my attention the most was a Cuban. Silva Morales. He didn't get a medal. But the positive judo he demonstrated was so exciting. Even the opponent got excited. The greeting after the fight showed that he was really impressed. Most of the fights I watch, when it's over I just speed up to the next one. There are few times that I stop to watch the celebration, and even fewer that I pause the video and go look for information about a fighter.
Silva Morales was a fighter who made me pause the video. Social networks in Cuba are little used. People have to go to the squares and they still have to pay. That's why I didn't have much hope that Yudansha Morales would see my greeting and congratulations on a good fight. But to my surprise he saw it and responded. I was very happy with that. I hope one day I can meet him in person.
There was another moment when I felt like pausing the video to look up an athlete. I didn't pause because I was watching live, but it was during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, which took place in 2021 because of the pandemic. After watching a bronze match in which a fighter named Daria Bilodid fought and won.
Before winning this bronze medal she had lost the semi-final. In the Olympic Games, the semifinals are played a few minutes before the fights for bronze and gold medals, it is not like the world circuit where the semifinals are played several hours before. I watched all the judo semi-finals and medal matches that day. I rarely watch live sport but I managed to watch the day of the -48 category, my favorite weight category.
Bilodid in the -48 category was huge, much bigger than her opponents, even so size doesn't always work and she lost the semi-final. What caught my attention was the fact that she didn't show a single emotion during this defeat. She was completely expressionless. Minutes later she returned to the fighting area to compete for bronze and won. As soon as the results came out she started crying a lot. Sobbing. It was sadness. She was letting out her frustration at having lost the semi-final and it wasn't yet the bronze celebration. Which only came hours later.
When she celebrated her bronze I was already following her on Instagram and saw it, but at the podium ceremony she was still quite sad.
I tried to find out Bilodid's story. At 16 years old, she was a very tall girl for her weight but with very thin torsos and limbs. Her bones were thin, so she could maintain considerable muscle mass but still remain thin, still weigh less than 48 kilos. With this genetic advantage, she was the youngest judo world champion in history and the following year, two-time champion. Then the same thing happened to her that happened to the video game character in the game I mentioned at the beginning of the text. She grew up. If the Olympic Games had taken place in 2020, it still wouldn't have grown so much. But it was in 2021. She had grown even more. It was very difficult to make weight. Unlike when she was 16, she couldn't maintain much muscle mass, her bones were normal size for an adult. This hurt her, the bronze medal was already an excellent achievement, but she knows she could have achieved much more a year earlier.
That's why we must remember and understand the creator of judo when he said that the only true victory is against one's own ignorance. Winning in any sport almost always comes with consequences. Most people don't even have the resources to play sports. The opponent often had to go through much greater difficulties than us. So it's not worth bragging about. One day you're the little girl with thin arms who wins without difficulty, the next day you can't even won the balance.
In the Ocarina of Time game, the character manages to return to being a child by sticking his sword into a stone. But in real life there are no magic swords. Bilodid has finished growing and there is no sword that can change that. She can no longer fight at -48. She is having to make do at -57, two categories above. The two-time world champion, who refused to celebrate her Olympic bronze, now needs to celebrate her bronze in a stage of the world circuit where the Japanese did not come to fight. And perhaps this bronze is more significant in her journey than her previous medals. She is no longer a giant much bigger than her opponents, she needs to fight against women of similar size. Ukrainians like her have valued every medal and every podium, because showing their flag is a way to draw attention to what is happening in their country.
I've already said what I had to say about this weekend's competition. In two weeks there will be the first stage of the Ceara championship, I'm not going to fight yet, but I intend to watch it very carefully, and write about it.
Until later. Good work, studies and training. But also, good moments of leisure and contemplation, we all need that.
Paypal and e-mail: diegosergioadv@gmail.com
Some people mentioned in the text:
My friend Professor Jayme Xavier
I take Judo classes at Ikigai Dojô in Crato, Ceará and I am currently 4rd kyu (orange belt).
My plan is to teach about sport and war through chess and judo.
Any help is welcome, reading me is a big help. To Share is very good. Cash help too.
Paypal and e-mail: diegosergioadv@gmail.com
Cost estimates to fight in Cearense 2nd stage:
White Kimono installments to be paid 3x US$ 9,38
Blue Kimono US$ 77,00
Enrollment US$ 24,28
Bus ticket US$ 41,60
Overnight in guesthouse US$ 30,35
Food US$ 25,00
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