This post is a response to comment that Buttermilk Sky made on a recent post: You must be happy that Vlad is no longer honorary president of the Worldwide Judo Federation. The IJF's statement is terse, but firm:
In light of the ongoing war conflict in Ukraine, the International Judo Federation announces the suspension of Mr. Vladimir Putin’s status as Honorary President and Ambassador of the International Judo Federation.
As a judoka, I would say that one good rule to live by is, simply put: "Do not bring shame upon your dojo." When Jigoro Kano formulated judo in the late 19th Century (founding the Kodokan in 1882), he envisioned judo as having moral, physical, and spiritual and components. It is significant that, when Sensei Kano adapted techniques from jujutsu (gentle, in the sense of supple or yielding, art), adapting the combat art into a sport and educational activity, he renamed it to mean gentle way- the 'do' suffix indicating that there are moral and philosophical underpinnings to the activity. The moral code is pretty succinct, but covers a lot of bases. It's a necessary thing to have in a sport in which we engage in potentially dangerous activities with friends.
Vladimir Putin has broken this moral code in an unforgivable fashion with his invasion of Ukraine. Read the list enumerated in my link above, and you can tick off the precepts that he has violated. Basically, Putin has brought shame upon the dojo by bringing shame upon himself.
When Putin first became president of Russia, there was a buzz in the judo community because he was a highly ranked judoka. We had a copy of an article about Putin's iconic face-off with 10 year-old Natsumi Gomi posted on the bulletin board in our dojo. That was a humane moment, in which an adult player faced a young opponent in a spirit of fair play and pedagogy. While I have no illusions that Putin was any great shakes back then, he wasn't quite the monster he is now. It is a relief that the organization which represents us as a community has repudiated him.
I just want to note that we are not the only people serious about this 'do' concept- World Taekwondo has stripped him of an honorary black belt.
3 comments:
I've been thumbing through my collection of translations and commentaries looking for that one, simplest ... quip that could describe what in the western religions would be called a Fall from Grace. It is sad that the language we have is so inadequate.
The only thing I can come up with is he does not know himself, and it is now doubtful he ever did.
Who decided to call him President of the World Wide Judo Federation? What is that entity? Who even cares?
When i was a kid, mom took me and my 2 brothers to the local dojo. We were nerdy weird kids and we didn't have a dad. She wanted us to be able to defend ourselves. Her friend, Mrs Wong, was in a similar situation. So all six of us boys usually ended sparring with each other.
We had a pretty good Sensei. Hopefully we learned a few basics. Mom and Mrs. Wong would sit on the side and trade recipes. I don't know, i was a kid.
This Putzn is not the president of the worldwide judo association. His grand champion blackbelt is a fiction.
Cover your ears.
He says everytime he jacksoff, a Siberian Tiger is born.
He brings shame to the dojo.
I must comment. You all thought he was a serious judoka?
Because i don't understand the concept.
I am not going to understand that. I like belts, but i am not worthy of ranking them. I think it is stupid. Who the fuck cares? It is like a bad 1970s rerun.
Come to think of it, that is what Vlad is like.
We won't mention his other activities. We have problems.
It is not the time to let a 13 year old boy run the world.
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