• In the 1960’s, Slovak judo clubs were not good enough to advance to the Czechoslovakian league. The Czech’s already had a standardized belt promotion (white, yellow, orange, green, blue, brown and black belts) and a relegation system. For this reason Slovakia began to set up a separate league in 1967, in order to improve the quality of their teams. Fighters advanced their skills faster when they fought someone at their own level (or slightly higher), rather than an opponent that who would completely dominate them on the mat. Eight Košice clubs organized their own league: Lokomotiva Košice, Slavia Košice, Slávia Prešov, Lokomotiva Zvolen, Slavia Žilina, Vinohrady Bratislava, Pozemné Stavby Bratislava and Martin. At a regional level, Košice dominated men’s judo in Slovakia, and had one of the best women’s team in Czechoslovakia for several years. In forming their own league, Košice gained a lot of experience, since each team fought an opposing team at least three times. Their plan to narrow the gap between Czech and Slovak judo was gradually accomplished throughout the 1960’s and early 70’s.
• During his military service in Opava, Czech Republic, from 1961-63, my uncle had an opportunity to fight for the Slezan Opava team in the Czechoslovakian Team Championship (Slezan Opava were part of the official Judo League of Czechoslovakia). He received special permission from the army to train with a civilian club because the military owned sport clubs in virtually every sport. He returned as the first black belt in Košice judo with a wealth of experience. Csaba Kende, my father and his younger brother were awarded their black belts (Shodan) shortly afterwards. In 1968, my father was one of the first to get his 2nd degree black belt (Nidan).
• Then came the Warsaw Pact invasion, where approximately 500,000 Russian troops invaded Czechoslovakia, on the night of 20–21 August 1968, and within one year nearly half the men’s team from Lokomotiva Košice emigrated. Those who stayed had to re-build the Lokomotiva Košice judo club.
• Košice Judo
• If you missed the previous post on Košice Judo, you will find it here:
• Digital Photo Restoration
• 4 minutes 18 seconds
• This is my dad and his brother in their back yard, in Košice. The house is still standing, on Moyzesova in Košice, just across from the city’s main police station. It currently houses university facilities. The Dusil’s lived behind the ornamental fence to the right of my dad. Behind them (in the dark “tunnel”, in the photo) was the main entrance to the house. Around ten families lived there.
• 6 minutes 27 seconds
• Top row – x, Dusan Halasz, x, Jozef Grusecky, Joe Nalevanko, Csaba Kende • Next row – Nyaryas, Ivan Spisak, Juraj Mazanek, Vlado Babilonsky, Pavel Petrivalsky, x • Kneeling – x, Urban, Vojtech Agyagos, Hluchan, x • Laying: Vaclav Dusil and Robert Dusil with the emblem of the Lokomotiva Košice Judo Club.
• Ivan Spisak was the junior judo champion with my uncle, in 1961. Hluchan wanted to lead the club in the early 1960’s, during a crisis in leadership. But he did not succeed against the three Dusil brothers.
• 4 minutes 12 seconds
• This parade was for the International Workers’ Day. The photo was taken on the main street of Košice. The communist regime “encouraged” citizens to participate. In other words, they were required to participate in the parade. The judo team did not attend with fellow students or co-workers, but rather as sportsmen, as it was far more fun. My dad is holding the Czechoslovakian flag. Second from the right in Judo sweats and dark glasses is Joseph Nalevanko. Ivan Spisak is scratching his nose, and to the left of him is Dusan Halasz.
• Publications & Documents
• Tags
Adolf Kostrian, Andrej Collak, Anna Collakova, Berco Allman, Csaba Kende, Czechoslovakia, Darina Poprenakova, Digital Restoration, Dusan Halasz, dusil.com, Edo Novak, Gabriel Dusil, Hluchan, Igor Fridrich, Ivan Spisak, Janosik Bastam, Joe Nalevanko, Jozef Arvay, Jozef Grusecky, Jozko Lemak, Julia Tothova, Juraj Bialko, Juraj Mazanek, Karol Dusil, Košice, Ladislav Kende, Lokomotiva Košice, Maria Collakova-Korytkova, Michal Korytko, Miro Brozek, Nyarjas, Orendas, Pavel Petrivalsky, Pepo Vesecky, Pepo Vosecky, Pista Oravec, Pozemné Stavby, Robert Binder, Robert Dusil, Sano Drabcak, Slavia Košice, Slavia Žilina, Slavo Sykorsky, Slezan Opava, Slovak Judo, Stefan Bartus, Ura Nage, Vaclav Dusil, Vašek Dusil, Vinohrady Bratislava, Vlado Babilonsky, Vojtech Agyagos
Bio
• CEO • Strategist • Entrepreneur • Speaker
• Photographer • Designer • Creativist • Writer • Blogger
• Teacher • Trainer • Geek • INTJ • Father
Gabriel is a seasoned sales and marketing expert with over 25 years in senior positions at Motorola, VeriSign (acquired by Symantec in 2010 for 1.25 billion US$), SecureWorks (acquired by Dell in 2011 for 612 million US$), and Cognitive Security (acquired by Cisco in 2013 for 25 million US$). He is a blockchain entrepreneur, with strengths in international business strategy.
Gabriel has a bachelor’s degree in Engineering Physics from McMaster University in Canada and expert knowledge in crypto incubation, cloud computing, IT security, and digital video technology. Gabriel also runs his own company, Euro Tech Startups s.r.o.
Hobbies include photography, video production, motion graphics, digital graphics, photo restoration, carpentry, martial arts, traveling, blogging, and trying to be better than yesterday.
- Photography • https://Dusil.org
- Facebook • Facebook.com/dusilg
- LinkedIn • Linkedin.com/in/GabrielDusil
- Twitter • Twitter.com/dusilg
- Instagram • Instagram.com/gdusil
- Professional Blog • Dusil.com
- Personal Blog • GabrielDusil.com
- Consulting • EuroStartups.tech
- Behance • Behance.net/Dusil
- YouTube • youtube.com/user/gdusil
- SlideShare • Slideshare.net/gdusil
Gabriel Dusil • Time Is Relentless 
REVISED
Professor Jigoro Kano
1) JUDO & EDUCATION
by
Brian N. Watson
Over a century ago, Japanese jujutsu men from various ryu or schools, often competed against one another and sometimes fought boxers and wrestlers in thuggish prize fights, similar to today’s MMA. Participants suffered injuries in these barbaric bouts and occasionally, according to early Kodokan instructor *Sakujiro Yokoyama, even death. Jigoro Kano, after becoming an expert in jujutsu himself, soon lost interest in furthering such brutality and seemed to believe that if a student gained expertise solely in martial arts, it was neither sufficient nor conducive to the development of appropriate character. He therefore wrote extensively and made great efforts to CIVILIZE martial arts by creating non-violent forms that if taught as he envisaged, could have positive influences, by having a balanced effect on one’s character. He achieved his objectives to some extent, and as a result jujutsu, with its unsavory reputation, largely lost its former appeal. In Japan’s schools, police dojos, and naval dojos, Kodokan judo, a safer martial art, along with kendo came to be widely accepted by the authorities from the early 1900s as a suitable means of physical training for both adults and especially schoolchildren.
Mainly through Professor Kano’s persistence, Japan’s varied martial techniques, chiefly those of jujutsu and kenjutsu, were transformed into non-violent activities and as a consequence, the name endings were changed from jutsu ‘technique’, or perhaps ‘violent technique’ to dō ‘way’. Kano, ever the academic, regularly lectured in the Kodokan and encouraged his senior students to lecture in his absence on the ‘way or path’ he believed students should follow in life. His altruistic aim seems to have been to persuade judo students to concentrate not only on the cultivation of a healthy physique but also on the attainment of a virtuous mindset, or in other words, focus themselves on becoming JUDOKA-SCHOLARS.
Although judo has in modern times become a regular Olympic sport, judging from the letter that Kano wrote to Gunji Koizumi in 1936, Kano had an ambivalent attitude with regard to this outcome. Moreover, he discouraged judo training merely for sporting prowess, medals and fame. He was much more obsessed on seeing his students pursue judo training as a means of personal cultural attainment, which he hoped would help further the expansion of a responsible citizenry.
In keeping with Kano’s emphasis on such objectives, over the past decades many Japanese judomen have had distinguished careers both in business and in academia. As an example, two Kodokan black belt holders in particular who undoubtedly exemplified Kano’s teachings in full measure became Nobel laureates. Ryoji Noyori, a 1st dan, past president (2003-2015) of RIKEN Physical and Chemical Research Institute, achieved the 2001 Chemistry Nobel Prize, and Shinya Yamanaka, of 2nd dan grade, gained the 2012 Nobel Prize in Medicine. This specific honor was in recognition for his discovery of how to transform ordinary adult skin cells into stem cells that, like embryonic stem cells, are capable of developing into any cell in the human body. Yamanaka’s achievement therefore has fundamentally altered the fields of developmental biology and stem cell research.
Another judo black belt holder worthy of note is famed French astronaut Thomas Pesquet who on February 11, 2017 broadcast from the International Space Station the following message that has been translated from French as follows: ‘If you are a judoka or simply passionate about judo, you know how much practicing of our sport, and our discipline is based on essential values through judo. These values have made me the man I am today, and I do my best to apply these values in my daily life and to transmit them to the youngest generation. Here, for example, in the International Space Station to work in extreme conditions is sometimes dangerous. It is good to know what courage and self-control are, and as we work as a team, respect and friendship are essential values to the crew in space as on the tatami. Judo is more than a sport; it is a school of life. I wish you a great tournament (Judo Paris Grand Slam, February 11th & 12th 2017) in Paris.’
In closing, a quote from Kano made in *The Ideal Judo Instructor, reads as follows: ‘They (judo instructors) should have detailed knowledge of physical education, teaching methods and have a thorough grasp of the significance of moral education. Finally, they must understand how the principles of judo can be, by extension, utilized to help one in daily life and how they themselves can be of benefit to society at large.’
Brian N. Watson
Tokyo, Japan
July 19, 2017
References:
The Father of Judo, B.N. Watson, Kodansha International, 2000, 2012
IL Padre Del Judo, (Italian) B.N. Watson, Edizioni Mediterranee, 2005
Judo Memoirs of Jigoro Kano, B.N. Watson, Trafford Publishing, 2008, 2014
* (Judo Memoirs of Jigoro Kano Page 69, The Ideal Judo Instructor)
Memorias de Jigoro Kano, (Portuguese) B.N. Watson, Editora Cultrix, 2011
Kodokan Dictionary of Judo, Foundation of Kodokan Judo Institute, 2000
The Fighting Spirit of Japan, E.J. Harrison, The Overlook Press, 2000
* (Chapter V1, page 65)
(This report may be sent to others. My only request is that no alteration be made to the text. B.N. Watson)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Beautiful commentary and insights to the history of Judo. Thanks Brian 🙂
LikeLike
I am glad you found it of some interest, Gabriel. Jigoro Kano was a man who wished to promote both judo and education.
LikeLike