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The author complete with Roman Sandal tan evidence of Hawkes' Bay sunshine
16 August 2016
One of the best things my father did for my sister and I when we were children was to sign us up with the local Judo club.
Given that I was of a slight build (in those days) and neither my sister nor I projected super confidence or aggression, Dad’s philosophy was that judo would help give us the self- defence skills to protect us from play-ground bullying.
Judo lived up to his expectations but it came with the added advantage of instilling values of courtesy and respect. Each fight would start and finish with a bow to the opponent and sometimes hand-shakes as well. If a person felt the need to submit and admit defeat before sustaining pain or injury then all they had to do was tap the mat.
Of all the martial arts, judo is gentle as It is regarded more as a sport of balance, technique and fitness than brutal strength.
I was reminded of all this when news came through of the competition between Israeli and Egyptian judoka at the Rio Games. As expected the Israeli, El Shehaby, beat the Egyptian, Ori Sasson. The beaten Egyptian could not bear to shake the hands of the victor and it was only after considerable persuasion from the referee that he gave the briefest of nods in lieu of the usual bow from the waist.
Despite the media trying to beat this up as a sensation, the fact was that at the end of the day the rules and the values of Judo and the Olympics triumphed, even if very tentatively, over the prejudices and tensions borne of nationalistic history and rivalry.
Sometimes progress is made in tiny steps rather than gigantic leaps. While we’ve become conditioned to react to the bold and dramatic stories that are primped and packaged to get click throughs on our mobile devices, stories which stem from more fundamental issues sometimes need us to stop, think and reflect.
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