The sounds of silence: the Colombians who took the crown from Japan

When Miguel Ángel Bermúdez and Glatenfert Escobar landed in Krakow (Poland) they did not think that they would return to Colombia with the gold medal of the World Judo Championship around their necks. At least they didn’t say it out loud. “Beating Japan? Impossible”. However, when they exchanged glances, the silence was broken by their eyes, which spoke to each other with words that never needed to be said. Last year in Portugal they had won silver, so why not? “And if maybe…”

Judo, the first Japanese martial art to be accepted by the Olympic Committee, was invented in the late 19th century by Jigoro Kano. And since it is part of the Games, in 1964, the inventors of this discipline have won 48 gold medals. France, the second on the list, has barely achieved 16. “Japan doesn’t take one medal, it takes them all”, explains Glatenfert Escobar. And although silver in 2021 was no accident, dreaming of the podium again seemed very daring.

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The Colombian couple explains that it is normal for the judokas of the world to assume the supremacy of the Japanese in this sport. Recollecting the steps of his memory, Miguel Ángel Bermúdez understands that since he began, Asians have always been the referents. “Watch out, those Japanese are scary!” He was nine years old, he had done swimming, volleyball and skating, and nothing had made him fall in love like the afternoon a friend asked him to accompany him to train judo. He started without knowing what he was, he won medals, he climbed dizzyingly and, without realizing it, he had already given his life to martial arts.

Glatenfert Escobar started even younger, at seven. And the crush came from a painting he saw at school, a throw from a judoka printed on an image. He ran out that afternoon to his house to tell his parents that he wanted to do that. And they let go of the reins. The boy had discovered the passion to which he also gave his life.

Despite all the years he has been in judo, since he saw that image, after the National, Pan American and Central American Championships, Glatenfert Escobar did not believe that his best moment would come in the last stages of his career, winning them a world championship to the Japanese.

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And that there was nothing different that afternoon. The atmosphere was the same as always, the public went to see the Japanese. It’s like in basketball when the United States comes out, like in speed when Jamaicans run or like in soccer when the anthem of Brazil or Argentina is heard. “Colombia? We up, they down.

Miguel Ángel recalls that in the training sessions before the competition, the organizers of the event, when Japan arrived at the venue, ran out those who were training on the tatamis (the mats on which judo is practiced). “But if we are in the schedule that they had designated us”, alleged those of the other delegations. “You have two options: train elsewhere or go to the stands,” the managers replied. There wasn’t much to discuss. “It’s always like this -Miguel Ángel highlights-, in all competitions the Japanese have preferences”.

However, that day of the final, despite the favoritism of the usual, the feeling was different. Only Korea, since 2008 when this contest began, had managed to snatch the world title from Japan, but Escobar and Bermúdez felt they could make history. “We have to go out as if this is the last kata of our lives”, they told themselves, that was the promise.

What is the nage-no-kata?

Competitive judo has two variants: combat and kata. The sport, in these two components, consists of performing throwing and throwing techniques that lead the opponent to fall on his back on the mat. However, in the kata, specifically the specialty of Escobar and Bermúdez which is the nage-no-kata, these fundamentals are performed standing up.

“There are five types of kata. In ours we work five muscle groups: arm, hip, sweeps, sacrifices backwards and sacrifices to the side”, explains Miguel Ángel Bermúdez.

And he complements: “In katas there are two roles: One is that of the tori, who is the one who executes the technique, and the other, which is mine, is the uke, who is the one who is thrown”.

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Glatenfert interrupts him. “Look, it’s that simple: the tori is the boss. Easy, don’t get tangled up.” Silence, they look at each other for a moment and burst out laughing. They know each other inside out, because the key to the kata they practice is to recognize each gesture. They listen to each other in silence, they see each other with the back of their heads, they intuit themselves in the movement of the other. They don’t speak, they look at each other; They don’t say, they gesture. They feel when the other moves his foot, a hand and even his nose when he breathes. They are connected.

And that level of rapport is only given by experience. They met in 2017. The two had been left without a partner. Michelangelo had the ambition to build his path, while he was studying his architecture career. Glatenfert faced what he believed would be the final years of his career. They joined paths and exploded. The results arrived and with them the question: “how far could they go?”.

Make history

In Krakow a cry was heard, it was Miguel Ángel Bermúdez, the new world judo champion. “When the result came out on the screen I felt a lot of emotion and I lost control. I cried and started screaming like crazy. I could not believe it”.

They did not have it in the accounts, they are sincere. “It’s like beating dad. They are our heroes. I never imagined it and today I have a gold medal”, says Glatenfert Escobar. When asked about what is coming, he says, and laughs, that they won’t let him leave. Body and spirit begin to take their toll. “High-performance sport is not health. One pays a price and sacrifices because it is what he loves, but there comes a point where the body can no longer. It’s natural.”

There is still a way to go, however. And although they are at their best, Risaraldenses do not plan long term. They want to keep climbing. His ambition is in the next National Games in 2023, which will be on his land, another opportunity to make history. That’s where they aim: to be dominant here, to dream of even bigger goals. They don’t say them, they don’t pronounce them, but when their eyes meet, you can see the spark and the illusion that feed their goals. Silent. This is how they were world champions and this is how they yearn to go further.

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