The Doctor, The Author, The Judoka

In Italy, to do competitive sports, you have to get a medical certificate for "Agonistico".

I miss very little about England, but one thing that is a bonus is simply signing a form that effectively says "yes, I'd love to join your gym and if I break my spine doing martial arts or lifting weights while in it, then I accept it's 100% my fault".

The Judo club I've joined let me do 2 lessons without the form but made it clear that for regular attendance, I absolutely had to get one. They had pre-printed cards for a local doctor who offered the service so I made an appointment for the following Monday.

When I got there a friendly guy named Claudio introduced himself and there were a lot of Judo photos on his office wall.

"You did Judo?"

"Used to" he replied, while attaching sensors to my chest and back to monitor heart rate.

"My Dad used to teach Judo. He was a black belt. He taught the British champion Neil Adams when Neil was a little boy".

Claudio's eyes open wide and he says "I met Neil. When he fought Ezio Gamba in the Judo final of the 1980 Olympic Games, I was the Italian team's medic. Good fight. Ezio won and Neil got silver".

"Christ! Small world!"

After the test is over (me cycling on an exercise bike and getting my blood pressure taken) he signs me as fit for fighting and I notice the books on his desk...apparently written by him.

"You an author?"

"I try yes".

"Me too, I've self-published 19 books".

His eyes widen again and I show him my channel on Amazon on the phone.

He then says "Tell you what, bring in one of your books and I'll swap you for one of mine".

"I've written in different genres. Magical fantasy, memoirs, short stories. I used to be a police officer. You want that one?"

He nods. "Yes, sounds interesting".

A week later I returned and we signed our books and got his receptionist to take a photo.

Small world indeed.

36 Year Pause

In May of this year I took up Judo again.

I did it as a child, mainly because my father was a black belt and an instructor at the Ken Marriot Sports Centre in the town of Rugby, UK.

Dad was very good at Judo and taught the British Olympic silver medallist Neil Adams when Neil was a little boy. While I had fun doing it, I never took it seriously and never took a grading.

In 2010 I tried Krav Maga and while it was/ is fun I found that I'm not wired for aggressive combat the way I want to be. Judo is officially a sport and the emphasis is on agility and there is absolutely no striking**

I was teaching English earlier this year in Rome to a 13-year old girl who was always telling me how much fun she had at Judo, at a club down the road, and even had medals for competitions that she'd won. I took a "prova" lesson (free try out while wearing a T-shirt and jogging pants) and had fun so bit the bullet and cycled to Decathlon to buy a suit and a white belt.

I'm now a signed-up member of Judo Tuscolano, Rome.

I joined too late for the annual grading in June (the chief instructor simply said "no, you've not been here long enough and it's not fair on those who've been training since last September") but it was fun to watch the other guys grade, with ages ranging from 13 to my age.

The class is a lot of fun and the coaches are approachable and professional. The groups run 3 times a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday and last 75 minutes. I am usually knackered by the end of it and with the bastard heatwave Rome got hit by this year, I limped off the mats after the first few lessons with my judogi soaking wet.

We line up in order of seniority, facing the instructors and the only people on my left at the moment is anyone taking a "prova". I look forward to gaining yellow belt next year and moving up a few feet.

This blog was created for Krav Maga a long time ago but as I haven't touched the sport in about 4 years (and not intensively since I took but didn't pass GIC in Australia in 2017) I have now switched it to Judo.

Stay tuned for regular updates as I get my ass kicked by teenagers, 3 times a week.

** which is why it's still hilarious when Austin Powers shouts "JUDO CHOP!!!" as he hits people.