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Underlining the dimensions of the issue, the All Japan Judo Federation canceled a prestigious nationwide match for youngsters as younger as 10, warning they had been being pushed too laborious.
A strain group devoted to these injured or killed whereas practising the martial artwork says that 121 judo-related deaths had been reported in Japanese faculties between 1983 and 2016.
Japan frequently dominates the Olympics judo medal desk however federation president Yasuhiro Yamashita informed AFP that the values of the game are being misplaced as mother and father and coaches chase short-term glory.
“Judo is a sport that emphasizes humanity,” mentioned Yamashita, who can be the president of the Japanese Olympic Committee and gained gold on the 1984 Los Angeles Video games.
“In case you see no value in something however successful, and the result’s all that issues, that will get distorted.”
The variety of individuals participating in judo in Japan has plummeted by nearly half since 2004 to about 120,000, in keeping with the federation’s figures.
Youngsters account for the steepest decline in numbers.
Experiences have emerged of major college youngsters being compelled to drop some pounds — typically as much as six kilograms (13 kilos) — to allow them to compete in a lighter division.
Younger youngsters are taught the identical harmful strikes as Olympic athletes and intense coaching regimes can go away them injured or burnt out.
Dad and mom and coaches have been identified to berate referees throughout matches and corporal punishment nonetheless exists, regardless of reforms in a sport that has been tormented by abuse and bullying scandals over time.
The All Japan Judo Federation determined to take motion in March by canceling a nationwide match for elite youngsters aged between 10 and 12, planning to exchange it with occasions akin to lectures and apply classes.
The backlash was fierce with offended mother and father and coaches accusing the federation of dashing youngsters’s desires and jeopardizing Japan’s standing because the bastion of judo.
Violence, not phrases
Junior highschool scholar Rion Fukuo, 13, a regional champion final 12 months, informed AFP at her judo membership within the central Shizuoka area that she “feels sorry” for this 12 months’s major college youngsters who haven’t any match to intention for.
Kosuke Moroi, whose 12-year-old daughter attends the identical membership, mentioned he was “disillusioned” when he first heard the information however concluded it was “a superb choice” after studying extra concerning the causes.
Yamashita mentioned scrapping the competitors had put a highlight on “an issue that includes Japanese society”.
“It has been two-and-a-half months since we determined to cancel the competitors and persons are nonetheless debating it on TV and in newspapers,” he mentioned, including that almost all opinions “have been in favor.”
Judo and different martial arts had been used for army coaching in Japan earlier than World Warfare II and servicemen would go to faculties to provide classes.
Martial arts had been banned in the course of the post-war US occupation however they later had been acknowledged as sports activities, with judo making its Olympic debut on the 1964 Tokyo Video games.
Noriko Mizoguchi, a Japanese judoka who gained silver on the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, mentioned a perception that corporal punishment makes youngsters stronger was nonetheless frequent in Japan.
“One factor that has caught to teaching in Japanese sports activities is that it would not use phrases, it makes use of violence,” she mentioned.
“There is a co-dependence, like with home violence, as if being hit is like being proven affection.”
Youngsters prepare at a judo session in Fukuroi, Shizuoka prefecture. Picture by AFP |
Downside mother and father
Coaches who use corporal punishment could be stripped of their licenses however mother and father are tougher to regulate.
Hisako Kurata, a consultant of the Japan Judo Accident Victims Affiliation, mentioned most mother and father “do not take into consideration the hazard and simply need their youngster to win”.
“Dad and mom suppose that if their youngster wins a title, they’re going to be completely satisfied, they suppose they’re doing it for his or her youngster,” mentioned Kurata, whose 15-year-old son died in 2011 because of a head damage sustained at his high-school judo membership.
“The mother and father find yourself having the identical win-at-all-costs mentality because the judo membership and so they contribute to it.”
Mizoguchi, who has coached in France, mentioned judo was “not enjoyable” for Japanese youngsters and that the “macho tradition” surrounding the game has had its day.
“It’s a must to deal with every child with care and have a long-term imaginative and prescient for the long run, in any other case Japanese judo has reached its restrict,” she mentioned.
“Outdated-school coaches are scared that if we get rid of the children’ competitions, Japanese judo will lose its energy.
“I believe it’ll truly grow to be stronger.”
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