The Judo Empire | Jewish General

“Hajime (Haschime),” Sammy Horn yells over and over during judo practice at a Bat Yam gym. As in all traditional martial arts of the Land of the Rising Sun, the Japanese word for “start” is a command that competition begins.

In the southern suburb of Tel Aviv, more than 20 seniors are practicing the philosophy of the “gentle way” in order to learn the principle of “winning by giving in”. The athletes use their techniques as effectively as possible so that they can achieve maximum results with little effort.

“Judo is a very versatile martial art with different exercises,” says Horn, a Shoah survivor and head of senior training, who lives in the same building and has been teaching the sport for years. “All of this means that you remain physically and mentally mobile.” The 87-year-old former border guard officer originally comes from Strasbourg and was the only one in his family to survive the Buchenwald concentration camp.

defensiveness When he reached the British Mandate of Palestine in the summer of 1945, he aimed to master various self-defense techniques so that he would never again be defenseless as a Jew. “I was taught judo by the famous scientist and martial artist Moshé Feldenkrais,” explains the ex-police officer and black belt holder. “In addition, I also received training as a grandmaster in Krav Maga from its founder Imi Lichtenfeld,” he adds.

But while Israeli martial arts are now conquering the world, judo has become the national sport of the Jewish state over the past 30 years. “What we have achieved in this area is amazing,” explains Horn. “Israel is now a judo empire.”

The 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona are considered the birth of Israeli judo.

In fact, the small country has become an internationally recognized nation in the more peaceful Japanese martial arts. It was the combination of the 1992 Olympic successes plus the immigration of scores of judo champions from the former Soviet Union that helped spark a national love affair with the sport.

“Judo wasn’t very important in Israel when I immigrated,” says Igor Romanitsky, who came from the Ukraine in 1991 and runs a martial arts school in Modiin, a town between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. »I had a medical degree and thought my career as a judoka was over.«

Instead of opening a doctor’s office, he saw the opportunity to continue his great passion for sport as a trainer. His story shows how crucial aliyah is to Israel’s judo success. While many of the pioneers—immigrants from Europe and Africa—contributed to judo’s popularity in the country, much talent has arrived with the influx of more than a million new immigrants from the former Soviet Union, where judo was a major sport.

medals The 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona are considered the birth of Israeli judo. At that time, Yael Arad won silver and Oren Smadja bronze. They were the first medals for the Jewish state. This led to a nationwide boom, and international success was not long in coming with the new training methods from the former Soviet Union.

“Together with Pavel Musin, who taught me the Russian martial art sambo when I was young, we trained Alice Schlesinger, who has won six gold medals at European championships since 2013,” says Romanitsky.

With Alex Ashkenazi, another great coach came into the country. Initially working as Israel’s team boss, he formed Arik Zeevi into four-time European champion from 2004 and brought him a silver medal at the World Championships and bronze at the Olympics.

Passion The passion Israel showed in winning medals at the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games fueled further enthusiasm in the country. “Football and basketball are still the most popular sports, but most children now want to learn judo,” explains the martial arts coach. “And while many of the talents are not affiliated with the official Israeli Judo Federation, there are ongoing competitions across the country.”

In 2018, for example, the European Judo Championships took place in Israel for the first time. The event in Tel Aviv was well attended with over 4000 spectators. “Even the motherland of this martial art hardly knows such numbers,” said the Japanese judo official Yashi Kobayashi at the same location during the Grand Slam tournament, which was held for the first time in the Jewish state in February. »In my homeland, Israel has always been known as a high-tech power. In the meantime, however, they have also made an international name for themselves in judo.«

»Judo has also enabled moments of geopolitical cooperation.«

Yashi Kobayashi

However, Israel’s sporting successes sometimes lead to awkward situations with some Arab and Muslim athletes, whose countries boycott the Jewish state on principle or are in political disputes with it. These athletes are often forced to fake an injury to avoid competing. Others refuse the obligatory handshake after a fight.

saeid mollaei The Iranian Saeid Mollaei did not want to bow to that. As one of the world’s best judokas, who always maintained good relations with his Israeli colleagues – especially with Sagi Muki, the first Israeli world champion – he had to flee his homeland. He received asylum in Germany and now represents Mongolia. Mollaei visited Israel in 2021 and thanked the audience with a »Toda« for their friendly support. He also dedicated his Tokyo Olympic silver medal to the Jewish state.

“Unfortunately, politics is often mixed up with sport,” Kobayashi explained during the competition in Tel Aviv. “But judo has also enabled some moments of geopolitical cooperation, like in 2018 at the Grand Slam tournament in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.”

In fact, it was the first major sporting event in an Arab country where Israeli athletes competed under their flag and the hatikva was played. “Judo is an ambassador of peace,” said the official.

self expression This is also Sammy Horn’s motto. For the retired police officer who teaches seniors at Bat Yam, the philosophy of the “gentle way” is not a power designed to limit one person or benefit another because of his size, but the most comfortable movement for the human body. “In general, martial arts is the highest level of human self-expression,” explains Horn. »All my life I have dedicated my energy to the passion for judo.«

With the support of coaches from the former Soviet Union, Horn managed to raise the sport to a higher level and successfully teach numerous students in the process. Just as self-defense is part of Israel’s reason of state, it is also essential for every citizen. “As a judo coach, it was always my goal to make the students better than their coaches are,” says Horn. As he says, when learning a martial art, he always quotes a phrase from the Torah: “Do more to impress yourself than talk to please others.”