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Japan to introduce martial arts as a compulsory school sport!.

  • 06-01-2011 2:31am
    #1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 24,878 ✭✭✭✭ Tinsley Whispering Gentry


    Japan will introduce martial arts as a compulsory school sport for girls and boy from 2012.

    But some parents are concerned following research showing that an average of four Japanese children die each year during judo lessons.

    The Japan Judo Accident Victims Association, set up by the parents of children killed in judo accidents is urging the government to set safety guidelines for judo at school.

    Four deaths per year, I realize Judo is a tough sport but DAMN!.


Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 661 ✭✭✭Charlie3dan


    Great news for Japan though. We should have something similar here. Rather than having "P.E." classes that consist of giving a group of lads a soccer ball and telling them to have a kick about.

    Is it Judo only that's going to be introduced or other japanese arts aswell?


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 15,685 Mod ✭✭✭✭smacl


    Four deaths per year, I realize Judo is a tough sport but DAMN!.

    Across a population of greater than 125 million, that would equate to one death every 7 years in a country such as ireland with a 4.5 million population. Its just a guess, but I suspect we get that and more in other youth contact sports such as GAA, rugby etc...

    I wonder how many premature deaths we see each year by obesity related illnesses stemming from not enough regular physical exercise?

    Only sayin...

    (Don't you just love random statistics?)


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,158 ✭✭✭Chris89


    Thats a proper country, good group of lads them japanese.

    What do we have in most schools here, some fat woman teaching us p.e and all the lazy lads just forget their gear if they dont want to play another game of mini world cup.

    I realise thats a generalisation but hey, its 2011.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,207 ✭✭✭bungaro79


    i know a couple of schools in my area have introduced boxing using outside coaches and supposed to have gone down great. cost is a huge issue and i know in our school we don't have enough mats to cover even 1/8 of the school hall. but of course the biggest drawback is helen lovejoy type parents who think their kids are learning to fight and will be locked up as a result!!


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,660 ✭✭✭SDTimeout


    My club have started teaching Thai in a few different schools now that i think of it. Clubs going to be opening during the day as well to allow schools to do PE there.

    I suppose when any club isn't attracting the people it should be you need to branch out to kids etc.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 498 ✭✭Damo W


    108 school judo class deaths but no charges, only silence
    Fatalities since '83 highest rate in any sport; brain injuries abound
    By MIKE BURKE
    Special to The Japan Times


    Yasuhiko Kobayashi's 15-year-old son had skipped judo practice.

    According to Kobayashi, the boy's teacher was furious and stood waiting for him at the gates of his junior high school in Yokohama. The teacher forced the boy into the gym and made him grapple one on one. The former All Japan judo champion choked the boy until he lost consciousness.

    When the boy came to, the teacher choked him again until he went limp, and threw him to the floor with such force that he suffered severe internal bleeding in his brain, an injury known as an acute subdural hematoma.
    The injury incurred on Dec. 24, 2004, left Kobayashi's son unable to remember anything for almost two years, while the teacher was later transferred to another junior high school in the city in accordance with standard job transfers among public school teachers.

    The incident alleged by Kobayashi's parents is one of a spate of similar deaths and injuries in school judo classes in recent years reminiscent of the beating death of young sumo wrestler Takashi Saito during a disciplinary "training" session in 2007.

    The parents of Koji Murakawa, a 12-year-old junior high school student in Shiga Prefecture, allege their son died from a similar injury in July 2009.
    Murakawa complained to his instructor he had asthma. He was told to wear an antidust mask and made to spar with the instructor. The teacher reportedly violently threw him to the ground, also leaving the boy with a subdural hematoma.

    Taken to a hospital, Murakawa was later pronounced brain dead. His body was covered with bruises, according to his parents.

    "Subdural hematomas occur when the connection between the brain and the skull loosens and stretches the bridging vein," explained Dr. Masato Noji of the neurosurgery department at Ashigarakami Prefectural Hospital in Kanagawa Prefecture.

    "The result is severe internal bleeding within the brain. Such injuries are extremely traumatic and usually fatal. As a ringside boxing doctor, I was extremely surprised to learn that these sorts of injuries come from judo practice in schools."

    Dr. Ryo Uchida of Aichi University of Education is concerned about the frequency of deaths in school judo classes.

    "Over the 27-year period between 1983 and 2009, 108 students aged 12 to 17 died as a result of judo accidents in Japanese schools, an average of four a year," Uchida said. "This is more than five times higher than in any other sport. About 65 percent of these fatalities came from brain injuries. This is clear evidence of a dangerous trend in Japanese schools."
    The statistics are doubly alarming because they have no parallel in other developed nations.

    A representative from the British Judo Association said, "to our knowledge, there have been no deaths or serious brain injuries in judo in the BJA."
    Dr. Robert Nishime, chairman of USA Judo's Sports Medicine Committee, points to a dearth of safety procedures for judo classes at Japanese schools.

    "There have been no known traumatic brain injury deaths attributed to judo for all participants under the age of 18," Nishime said. "So there appears to be a significant difference in serious brain injury rates in the youth between the U.S. and Japan."

    Kobayashi, the father of the 15-year-old Yokohama boy, complained that the parents of children killed or severely injured in judo practice have been met by a wall of silence when pressing for convictions of the alleged perpetrators.

    The police sought charges against his son's teacher, but prosecutors dismissed the case. A judicial inquest panel concluded the dismissal was unreasonable, but prosecutors threw the case out for a second time.
    "Not a single incident has resulted in criminal prosecution," Kobayashi said.
    In another incident, the parents of Ryo Tozawa, a first-year student at a high school in Akita Prefecture, allege his judo coach asphyxiated him in 2003 despite the boy's pleas to stop. Prosecutors twice declined to follow up on the boy's death after police pressed for charges.

    Kobayashi and Murakami's families founded the Japan Judo Accident Victims Association on March 27 to support victims and their families, and to lobby for improved training safety. They will hold a symposium in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, on Sept. 12 to tie in with the World Judo Championships being held in Tokyo from Sept. 9 to 13.

    One concern of the association is that new national curriculum reforms, known as Ikiru Chikara (The Zest for Living), will require all junior high school students to practice sumo, judo or kendo starting with the 2012 school year.

    A 2009 All Japan Judo Federation study found that about 70 percent of junior high schools in Tokyo and Ibaraki Prefecture plan to make judo compulsory in 2012.

    This concerns Uchida, who said he is unaware of any recent safety improvements and believes instructors have little regard for safety.
    "As of 2012, it's difficult to anticipate to what extent mortality levels will rise," Uchida said.

    However, because girls will also take part, the number of students participating in judo classes will roughly double.

    "Consequently, without safety improvements, we can expect the mortality and serious injury rate to double accordingly," he said.

    While the All Japan Judo Federation remains silent on the issue, the head of the instruction department at judo's spiritual home, the Kodakan Judo Institute in Tokyo, has been unable to hide his concerns.

    Writing in the August issue of Budo magazine, Mikihiro Mukai argues: "Until now, the judo world has tried to hide things they perceive will be disadvantageous to them. But this trend will worsen the situation, even if we have many discussions about instruction methods, if there is even a single case of death or severe injury, that method is inadequate.
    "There may well be some unfortunate accidents, but we as judo instructors must work to eradicate such problems," he wrote.

    The Japan Judo Accident Victims Association has launched a Web site at judojiko.net/eng/


  • Registered Users Posts: 498 ✭✭Damo W


    Is it Judo only that's going to be introduced or other japanese arts aswell?

    New national curriculum reforms, known as Ikiru Chikara (The Zest for Living), will require all junior high school students to practice sumo, judo or kendo starting with the 2012 school year.


  • Registered Users Posts: 673 ✭✭✭pearsquasher


    A good few years ago I had a Japanese woman in my Bujinkan class who was utterly perplexed at what we did. She couldn’t believe that there was a Japanese style dojo almost literally behind her house and she REALY couldn’t believe there was no bullying or being made to run around in circles while being assaulted by the teacher, as in her Japanese high-school judo classes. It seems that her PE classes were the same as ours were (in the 80’s anyway!).


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,803 ✭✭✭dunkamania


    A good few years ago I had a Japanese woman in my Bujinkan class who was utterly perplexed at what we did. She couldn’t believe that there was a Japanese style dojo almost literally behind her house and she REALY couldn’t believe there was no bullying or being made to run around in circles while being assaulted by the teacher, as in her Japanese high-school judo classes. It seems that her PE classes were the same as ours were (in the 80’s anyway!).

    If that was her experience in Japan, why would she go to another Bujinkan class anywhere?


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 2,917 ✭✭✭Barry.Oglesby


    Sounds to me from the article like the problem isn't judo, it's bad teaching practices and idiotic teachers.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 673 ✭✭✭pearsquasher


    If that was her experience in Japan, why would she go to another Bujinkan class anywhere?

    dunkamania.. you misread what I said. Her (highschool)Judo experience was negative. Her Bujinkan experience was positive.


  • Registered Users Posts: 10,549 ✭✭✭✭cowzerp


    Her Bujinkan experience was positive.

    So why was she shocked?
    that makes no sense.

    Rush Boxing club and Rush Martial Arts head coach.



  • Closed Accounts Posts: 24,878 ✭✭✭✭ Tinsley Whispering Gentry


    Sounds to me from the article like the problem isn't judo, it's bad teaching practices and idiotic teachers.

    And their culture.

    From reading various books, and most esp. Angry White Pyjamas it seem's inflicting pain & humiliation as a form of punishment for the slightest misdemeanor in the dojo is the norm, and they see us in the west as being soft.

    I can't find any extracts from the book online, but some passages made for hard reading.


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 2,917 ✭✭✭Barry.Oglesby


    And their culture.

    From reading various books, and most esp. Angry White Pyjamas it seem's inflicting pain & humiliation as a form of punishment for the slightest misdemeanor in the dojo is the norm, and they see us in the west as being soft.

    I can't find any extracts from the book online, but some passages made for hard reading.
    I read that alright, just plain nasty in most cases. Some of the Westerners certainly took to it like a duck to water in that book though, and were keen to travel home to do likewise to their students. You can see where a lot of the jackass instructing over here came from.


  • Registered Users Posts: 673 ✭✭✭pearsquasher


    So why was she shocked?
    that makes no sense.

    Maybe I wasn't clear - This womans bad Judo experience made her very suprised at the really good Bujinkan experience she found in Irleand. She was shocked at the non "milatiristic" - for lack of a better word - methodolgy of Bujinkan classes. She was curious at there being a "dojo" near her house, came and looked, and was suprised at how "nice" it was... so she trained for a few months before returning home..... amazed that martial arts could be "fun" and "interesting"... not brutal and regimented as was her previous experience at highschool. I'm sure her bad case was the exception.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,188 ✭✭✭Doug Cartel


    And their culture.

    From reading various books, and most esp. Angry White Pyjamas it seem's inflicting pain & humiliation as a form of punishment for the slightest misdemeanor in the dojo is the norm, and they see us in the west as being soft.

    I can't find any extracts from the book online, but some passages made for hard reading.
    I started reading this recently, it's pretty weird. The guy is on some kind of course where everyone is there to prove their "spirit" (or whatever) by paying a large amount of money to have someone shout at them all day and demean them at every opportunity.

    Any way, back on topic. I'm all for kids having as much choice in their PE subjects, and having access to good coaches that can help them make a go of it. I don't think that any one sport should be made mandatory though.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 12,456 ✭✭✭✭Mr Benevolent


    What would our national martial art be? Throwing potatoes at each other? Smashing pint glasses in each others face? Firing pies at Cowen & Harney?


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,188 ✭✭✭Doug Cartel


    Confab wrote: »
    What would our national martial art be?
    I thought it was GAA?


  • Registered Users Posts: 580 ✭✭✭shampon


    I firmly believe that learning any martial art should well be a positive experience. Japan has a foreign culture to most of us in the west, but that would be shying away from the actual issues that face Japanese society as a whole, the type of teaching, the exam system all are deeply unfair and have to contribute to the high suicide rate within that country, basically I believe that the disciplinarian nature of Japans teaching and learning ways are flawed and are an issue for the whole society to tackle.

    Having read many books on working and training in Japan,I believe that there is a culture of strict moral and spiritual indoctrination that goes on, especially in Dojos, workplaces and schools. Respect for elders is a huge thing and having first hand experience of what the Japanese think of 'Gajin' it would make me think twice of even doing any martial art at all.

    I had enough of tough guy instructors to last a life-time. Screaming and demeaning you every chance they get, made me quit kickboxing for along time. Now it could be argued that I didn't have the balls to stick it out etc, but when your 8 years old being told to quit and that your a useless ****, it kind of makes you think that maybe you are useless and stuff.

    Tough guys will be tough guys to kids, but I guarantee if I went back to a class today, he wouldn't be so tough as I'm not 8 years old anymore. But I returned to training to prove that I'm not useless, maybe he did me a favor, who knows...it's apples and oranges as to whether a gentle touch or a tough hand works in shaping a persons martial spirit!!

    *It reads like a three year old wrote it, I hope people understand where I'm coming from


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,207 ✭✭✭bungaro79


    we're supposed to teach p.e. using these 6 categories (strands): games, athletics, dance, gymnastics, outdoor activities & aquatics. suppose it would come under the gymnastic strand.
    like someone mentioned previously its one subject where alot of lazy teaching goes on and its just a game of soccer every week. have been trying to get some local clubs in for a display to try and get new members as i've found in my own class that the majority of the lads play gaa, soccer or rugby but the next most popular sport is tae kwon do which is great! have actually seen a difference in the confidence of some of them since they've started.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 679 ✭✭✭just-joe


    I feel as if I should comment on this matter as I am a judoka and also living in Niigata, Japan at the moment. But I can't tell you about any hard-ass Japanese instructors beating kids though as I haven't seen any.. I have practiced judo both in my city's budokan and watched judo in my school; and the senseis are strict but relaxed and helpful (and great judoka). In school the sensei didn't do randori with any of the kids, they practice a ton of break-falls, and also the kids practied throwing with same sex partners. So both places were great environments to learn judo.

    So I think most of the time Japanese martial arts classes are great, but in some places it may go overboard. Obviously though, these crazy Japanese instructors are out there as these really sad deaths have been happening. So as someone else has said, its not judo but some of the negative aspects of Japanese culture, and bad coaching attitudes, going OTT.

    I think this is when the strictness/military-rule type attitude goes over the top and out of control. As Japanese people have a rule-following and group mindset, I don't think its likely that if a kid was having a hard time in judo class, that they would complain; whereas maybe in Ireland the kid would do the right thing, tell the instrutor to f off and then peg it. Judo is a great sport and martial art, and while it is tough it should never be to the extent of the pain mentioned.


    However I do think that something can be learned from the strict rule, obedient attitude and group mindset that Japanese people display. This goes for all sports, not just judo. Every day in school, the kids finish up and go straight to their clubs. They warm up together, practice together, and really enjoy it. Even if the coach isn't there, they go on their own and practice judo/soccer/basketball etc for two hours or more. Every day. And one of the best things is, none of the kids bully each other. EVen when theyre not under supervision. None of the kids call each other names. If theres some 1st year kid who isn't a natural football player and can't really kick a ball, he still gets included in the group the same as anyone else. I can't imagine this happening in Irish schools. They train so hard, and are really dedicated to their sports. Thats why the Japanese win half the gold medals in judo at the olympics and world champs, and why they're improving so much in newer sports (to them) such as football.

    Its mandatory for the kids to have an extra-curricular activity in most schools, so even if theyre not doing sport they are involved with music or calligraphy or something.

    If Irish schools could adopt something like this then it would make for improvement in all areas of school sport, not just martial arts. Because as someone also said already, there shouldnt be one mandatory sport for PE, but an education in all types of sport. And definitely not "here's a ball, have a kick around..".


    So I think it is good that judo is becoming mandatory in Japanese schools, as long as it is taught properly. Also, the people responsible for these "accidents" should be made accountable.

    Was about to turn into an essay but there goes the rice cooker. Hope it all makes sense!


  • Registered Users Posts: 673 ✭✭✭pearsquasher


    Excellent post Just-joe.. nice to hear from somebody at the source, so to speak.


  • Registered Users Posts: 261 ✭✭black dragon


    I've been teaching in schools for over 20 years having started in the secondary schools in Kilkenny when I was the main Kickboxing coach there (when they were all Black Dragon until I moved on) and now in Galway, parts of Mayo and soon parts of Clare.
    The class's are a big hit with most of the students and teachers and each student is certified at the end of each course and the feedback is excellent.
    Its part of my job and I have to say I love it.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,191 ✭✭✭Unpossible


    shampon wrote: »
    but when your 8 years old being told to quit and that your a useless ****, it kind of makes you think that maybe you are useless and stuff.
    :eek: thats a terrible thing to say to anyone taking part in a sport/hobby, even worse when its said to a child.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 24,878 ✭✭✭✭ Tinsley Whispering Gentry


    (More on this one)..
    The government's bid to make the martial art compulsory in schools has alarmed parents.

    RESEARCH showing that an average of four children die each year during judo lessons in Japan has alarmed some parents as the country prepares to introduce martial arts as a compulsory school sport.

    Yoshihiro Murakawa, one of those concerned about the government's plan, is convinced his 12-year-old nephew died in a reckless judo practice.

    Advertisement: Story continues below
    The Japan Judo Accident Victims Association, which Mr Murakawa created with other families last March, has urged the government to set safety guidelines for judo at school.

    ''Many factors are involved here,'' Mr Murakawa said of his nephew Koji's death during judo club training. ''First of all, many judo instructors at Japanese schools are too ignorant about what to do when a serious incident occurs,'' he said.

    Koji's mother had asked for special attention to be paid to him when he joined the judo club at a middle school in central Shiga prefecture, because he had an asthma problem.

    But one day in July 2009, Koji was still tackling older students and the instructor in the freestyle ''randori'' training despite being exhausted, Mr Murakawa quoted students as saying.

    After a final throw, Koji lost consciousness and fell into a coma before dying a month later, Mr Murakawa said.

    At least 110 children were killed in school judo practice over 27 years from 1983, according to research by Ryo Uchida of Aichi University of Education.

    ''In judo, the number of cases in which trainees die due to techniques unique to the sport, such as throwing, is significantly high,'' said Professor Uchida.

    In 2009 and 2010, 13 children died; the latest case, involving a six-year-old boy, was in November, a newspaper reported.

    Parents are alarmed by the statistics because Japan plans to introduce traditional martial arts, including judo, as a required subject for boys and girls, aged 12 to 15, at middle schools from 2012.

    Yasuhiko and Keiko Kobayashi, whose son suffered a brain injury when he was 15, questioned whether the government was fully prepared, saying there hadn't been a thorough investigation into the causes of serious judo incidents. ''With so many children dying, there was no single case taken to a court for a criminal charge,'' the father said.

    Professor Uchida said judo instructors had failed to take safety measures and assumed ''occasional injuries or deaths are unfortunate but cannot be fully prevented''.

    Judo, which became an Olympic sport at the 1964 Tokyo Games, has long been seen as a tool for training young Japanese minds and bodies.

    Mr Murakawa said: ''Children, afraid of getting beaten up, must obey the coach and cannot ask for a rest for no matter what.''

    Source.


  • Registered Users Posts: 7,809 ✭✭✭cletus


    Wow, lots of hate for PE teachers :D. Some of us actually teach PE, and I also run an after-school bjj club in the school I teach in.


  • Registered Users Posts: 679 ✭✭✭just-joe


    I've just got back to school today. I will try to ask some of the English speaking teachers if they are aware of this, and their opinions on it (it was on the front page of the Japan Times the other day so hopefully they do), and if I hear anything interesting I will let you know.


  • Registered Users Posts: 35 Finian123


    as a student in school i would love to c judo used in p.e. all we do in p.e. in boring stuff that we get no use out off
    not just judo either
    bjj
    japenese jiu-jistiu
    boxing
    kickboxing
    muay tai
    uderstandable with the way the country is atm that were not having it but it still would be nice !


  • Registered Users Posts: 899 ✭✭✭David Jones


    All PE is boring and of no use. Martial Arts rule. :rolleyes:


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  • Registered Users Posts: 35 Finian123


    All PE is boring and of no use. Martial Arts rule. :rolleyes:
    T-r-u-e


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