The Tomoe Nage Kid....
As kids living at the home of the original Buffalo Soldiers of the U.S. Cavalry, Ft Huachuca, AZ, Stodgy and I were introduced to Judo. This was a surreal experience. Stodgy and I were runts. Quite possibly the youngest and smallest students in the dojo. As the dojo was so small, seeing as how it was the only one in south eastern Arizona, the students ranged from us lil' guys all the way up to the grown ups, all in the same class, and yes, we all were lumped together for matches, commonsense withstanding. I remember a guy that must've been in his thirties(to a pre-teen kid. that means he must have been 19.), and really, really tall being tossed so hard that during the downward arc of his fall, he punched through a window with his foot. Class Dismissed.
There are a few vivid memories of those classes and that whole experience in general. A tournament in Tucson where I came in third and Stodgy came in second, but we never met in combat for a competition match. What was up with that? A guest, some sensei from the Big City, teaching us how to fight on the ground and on our backs(I've seen Hoyce Grayce demolish a guy on his back with an opponent on top of him grappling, so maybe I should have paid more attention, in retrospect.), and a match where I tossed somebody all around the mat.
This one is vivid, although I couldn't place the opponent in a line-up to this day. He was bigger, and came on trying to put me on my back and finish it. He kept on coming on and I kept putting him over me and whirling around for the pin and match. After I finally did it, the older kids, women and men started spouting off "Hey, that's the Tomoe Nage Kid.."
That's much better a nickname than "Slosh", "Scho", or "Jackass", I think.
Later on, Stodgy and I, as we grew into our early adulthood, became excellent boxers, with weekly bouts between ourselves that were mandated rather than scheduled, and dissipated any sibling animosity that accrued between us. Because of this, then and now we remain the closest of friends.
Tomoe Nage
There are a few vivid memories of those classes and that whole experience in general. A tournament in Tucson where I came in third and Stodgy came in second, but we never met in combat for a competition match. What was up with that? A guest, some sensei from the Big City, teaching us how to fight on the ground and on our backs(I've seen Hoyce Grayce demolish a guy on his back with an opponent on top of him grappling, so maybe I should have paid more attention, in retrospect.), and a match where I tossed somebody all around the mat.
This one is vivid, although I couldn't place the opponent in a line-up to this day. He was bigger, and came on trying to put me on my back and finish it. He kept on coming on and I kept putting him over me and whirling around for the pin and match. After I finally did it, the older kids, women and men started spouting off "Hey, that's the Tomoe Nage Kid.."
That's much better a nickname than "Slosh", "Scho", or "Jackass", I think.
Later on, Stodgy and I, as we grew into our early adulthood, became excellent boxers, with weekly bouts between ourselves that were mandated rather than scheduled, and dissipated any sibling animosity that accrued between us. Because of this, then and now we remain the closest of friends.
Tomoe Nage
2 Comments:
Keep crying about it and I'll post the entire course of events, the baiting, the goading, the trash talk, the head slip to the right into a straight left...wait, that's too much... hehehehehe I love you, Man!
he may keep that event quiet, but should i mention you punching out the 12 year old kid when you were 22?
yeah, he deserved it... :)
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