Far in the back of IM West lies Room 150 or to those who train there know it as, the mat room. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday night, from 7 p.m. -9 p.m. ,The MSU Club Judo holds practices.
The MSU Judo Club is available to any Michigan State student. Students can take the course for free by enrolling in Kin102A or pay the single semester fees which cost $50 or $80 for a full calendar year.
For those who practice every session begins the same: Put on the Gi, step into the training room, take off socks and shoes, bow, and only then step onto the mats and begin practice.
“Judo is very much about this mutual respect, there’s a lot of etiquette that’s a part of the sport. You bow in when you step on the mat, you bow when you leave, you bow when you start sparring, you have to show a lot of respect and you help each other grow,” said Jun Kitagawa, who is the club’s assistant instructor and a MSU Math professor.
Kitagawa picked up Judo 18 years ago, as an undergrad student, thanks to a friend in college and has continued to practice since.
“Judo it’s throwing, and groundwork so you can do this as long as you’re safe about breaking falls and being reasonable in practice. It's something I feel like I can continue for a long time and that’s another reason why I got interested in it and why I’ve stuck with it,” said Kitagawa.
The history of Judo is intricate and long. In the 1800s, Kano Jigoro took elements of jujutsu, a martial art used primarily by Samurai in Japan at the time, and turned it into the Judo practiced today which is considered much more of a sport, than a way of killing.
Judo as a practice focuses more on groundwork, and things such as pins, chokes, or armbars. Instead of kicks, punches, and joint manipulation like in disciplines such as taekwondo, boxing, or Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
The club is led by Tom Sheehan, who has been the head instructor of the club since 1999.
Kitagawa first leads students through simple stretching before they practice the most important part of Judo, breaking falls. In Japan, the technique for this is called Ukemi, or “receiving body” in English. Breaking falls consist of four different types, falling to the side, back, front, and a front roll. But what remains consistent in all four is the loud smack one makes at the end with their forearms.
“The very first thing we teach everybody is the break fall,” said Kitagawa. “You need to learn how to break fall safely so you can continue to do Judo for a long time… it’s designed to protect the players”
But after learning the basics of breaking your fall, getting to the “fun stuff” of Judo actually isn’t as far away as it would be in a striking sport like kickboxing according to Kitagawa.
“There’s a very low hurdle to getting into stuff like sparring, a lot of other martial arts because they strike, it's very difficult to do sparring unless you’re quite advanced,” said Kitagawa. “But in Judo once you learn how to do break falls safely you can really get into the sparring and the kind of exciting stuff relatively early”.
Nicole Burcon, is a senior studying mechanical engineering, and has practiced Judo for just over a year.
“I think it's more fun to get thrown, you're in the air you're weightless for a second, and hit the mat,” said Burcon.
Burconstarted judo in search of a Kinesiology course to take, but continued for several reasons including the workout, her major, and “taking up space”.
“As a woman, I think it really celebrates taking up space, so that’s an aspect I like,” said Burcon. “It teaches you to use your body to its advantage… I think just going into how you think you perceive yourself as a woman you want to perceive yourself as small all the time so it’s cool to be in a sport that celebrates bigness.”
Club President Begawan Samad, on the other hand, found MSU Club Judo in search of further improving his craft. Samad has practiced Judo for around seven years, four of those coming before he enrolled at MSU.
Samad explained the benefits one can get from using their body practically in a sport like Judo compared to lifting weights which is less fluid in terms of body movements.
“You’re going to get a full body workout, three minutes in Judo feels like you’re exercising for an hour essentially,” said Samad. “You get a bunch of rotational strength, the difference between this and weightlifting for example, is the strength you develop in Judo is going to be very usable in real life when you’re lifting or moving stuff because that’s all you do in judo is lift and move people.”
Samad explained the potential fears newcomers might face when presented with the idea of being flung through the air.
“It’s OK to be afraid of it, because it is scary you’re going to fall a lot, you’re getting thrown a meter above the ground and you’re going to fall that hard, ultimately though it is fun. I feel like what people don’t see from martial arts is, it’s fun to do martial arts, it’s a way to get your frustration out in a safe manner of course, I would say to them just try it once and see how you like it, there’s a bunch of different martial arts. Just see if there’s one you like,” said Samad.
The MSU Judo Club is also recognized by the governing body of Judo in the United States the United States Judo Federation which allows members to participate in USJF sanctioned events such as the North Coast Championships which two members took part in last March.