A runner holding an Olympic torch practices lighting a cauldron during a Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games torch relay rehearsal in Tokyo on Feb.15, 2020. (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP)
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97-year-old Ichiro Abe, proudly wearing the red belt that marks him as one of the 15 highest-ranking Japanese judo champions in history, hopes the return of the sport at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will be more than a pursuit Gold.
Just three years before his 100th birthday and while the clock is ticking off the Games, Abe is training with a younger student during the famous winter training session at Tokyo Kodokan, where the sport began nearly 140 years ago.
Although Japanese fans and media put their hopes in a rich selection of judo medals, Abe said the Olympics were a chance to show the world the true meaning of domestic sport, which puts discipline above competition.
All in all, we shouldn’t forget the original spirit of judo, Abe told AFP as he loosens up in the dojo on the seventh floor of the Kodokan for the session, which starts punctually at 5:30 a.m. and attracts pilgrims from all over the world . Djokovic triumphs in Wimbledon and secures the record-breaking 20th major Nigeria amazes Team USA in the Olympic exhibition Antetokoumpo, Bucks shorten the lead of Suns in the NBA final
Abe points to the teachings of Judo founder Jigoro Kano, who looks benevolently down from a black and white portrait on the front of the dojo.
Now the main priority is winning a medal. I hope this gets a little bit of review, said Abe, who describes Kano as a god.
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Judo is probably one of the hottest tickets in Tokyo as it returns to the country where Kano founded it in 1882, combining various forms of jujitsu with his own ideas, including spiritual discipline.
Kano believed that the ultimate goal of judo was to seek personal perfection through discipline and training in order to make a contribution to society.
The founder of the sport is inextricably linked with the Olympic Games. He was the first Asian member of the International Olympic Committee in 1909 and traveled abroad to demonstrate judo, helping him when Tokyo last hosted the Games in 1964.
He is a legend in Japan who promoted the sport well beyond judo. He established the country’s first physical education class at a university in Tokyo and founded the forerunner of the Japan Sports Association.
– “Best and strongest” –
AFP was given infrequent access to the sacred Kodokan Dojo for winter training, which was attended by judoka aged Abe to preschoolers.
All sit barefoot and bow to Kano’s portrait before undergoing a rigorous warm-up routine traditionally led by one of the youngest participants – in this case a boy around the age of 12.
It is an emotional experience for many foreigners who have been abroad for the first time and have covered long distances, sometimes with great effort, in order to fulfill their dream of winter training in the Kodokan.
Training manager Motonari Sameshima also emphasized the spirit of sport over the competitive aspect when instructing the participants on the traditional appeal.
Whether you win or lose, it’s just a different form of training, Sameshima said.
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The participants took the message to heart. Fabiana Morita, a 23-year-old Japanese-Brazilian woman, said she couldn’t imagine her life without judo.
Without judo, I wouldn’t know what to do in Japan, she said, adding that the discipline of the sport has helped her grow personally.
But despite the emphasis on the judo spirit, there are high hopes that Japanese judoka will make a sizeable contribution to the home of 30 gold medals goal set by judo great and IOC member Yasuhiro Yamashita.
With home advantage, that can be achieved for sure, Yamashita said, citing Japan’s best rugby world championship performance last year when the country hosted the event.
Yamashita, who won gold at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, is the second judoka after Kano to become an IOC member.
At the last Olympic Games in Rio, the Japanese judoka won a record of 12 medals in all classes, including three gold medals.
Men’s coach Kosei Inoue, who won gold himself in Sydney, said: It’s the year when a big flower blooms. We have to try to be the best and the strongest.
Wataru Naito, a 20-year-old university student attending winter training, said he wanted his compatriots to show their talents on the biggest stage.
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I want you to show what Japanese judo is.
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