Yin and Yang Part 1 - Tango and Judo

Tango

So I've never thought in abelian years that I'd take a Tango class. And yet, I did. It was described to me as "walking" and I thought to myself, I'm pro at walking! I've been walking all my life. You may consider me a walking prodigy since I started walking well before the age of five. But yeah, I have like no rhythm, so I've always balked at the idea of taking any type of dance class.

The class was interesting I'd say. Apparently I jumped in a few classes late so it was a little intense for a noob like me. Intense for walking that is. Although the steps are fairly simple, there are a lot of nuances and subtleties to Tango that must be mastered for one to become a Tango machine. The guy is supposed to all the leading, but he always has to suggest it. Too much force and he'll knock the girl off axis, but too little force and the girl won't know where to go. On the flip side, the girl must be able to read the guy and respond properly to the guy's movements. The guy must invite the girl to step to the right or to rotate left for example. A small movement of the torso should be enough for the girl to know that the guy is inviting her to take a step to the right, as if he's asking her to "please step this way." It doesn't take a lot of room to Tango either. It requires just a small circle such that a guy can orbit around the girl's axis when he spins her. There are actually only a few steps to learn in Tango. Most of the difficulty is knowing how much to move and the little flourishes you can add to show off your pro status. Understanding the music and learning how to move with it is also difficult.

Since this was the first class I took, I bet all the ladies I danced with were like, WTH who is this noob with two left feet. Of course, then they find out that it was my first class and then were like, "Oh you're doing great!" Sure. But because both genders have completely different steps to learn and the class was for beginners, we weren't really able to help each other out, since we had no idea what the other person was supposed to do exactly.

So after two hours of this I was kind of tired of all this subtlety and having to patiently wait for my partner to except my invitation of smooth dancing. I was ready to pummel people onto the cold uninviting mats of my Judo dojo. So finally after two years, I suited up once again in my Judogi.

Judo

Every winter break there is a Judo camp at my local dojo where I've practiced at since I was ten. It's four straight days of practice from 8am to 4pm. It is incredibly exhausting. By the end your neck is crying from gi burns and you don't even care that Santa didn't get you the jet pack you've always wanted 'cause you're just too exhausted. This year I only showed up on the last day of camp. At lunch. Hehe. Okay fine, so I didn't really work out, but I did get a few throws in and took a few falls so that was nice. In the back of my mind I was actually wondering if I still remembered how to tie my belt. I can't get demoted for forgetting can I? A black belt who can't tie his own belt? Anyway it all came back to me. Muscle memory is pretty strong when you've done the same thing for like 10 years. My belt has my Chinese name sewn in gold on one end and my dojo's name sewn on the other end. It's pretty sweet.

It was nice being able to catch up with the people at Judo. It's always a shock to me at how much the kids have grown. Seeing kids that were in elementary school when I was there during high school and now seeing them in high school and going to college makes me realize how old I've gotten. And because I only visit the dojo every once in a while, I only recognized a handful of kids at the team tournament this year. At the end of every winter camp we hold a team tournament. The tournament consists of four teams of ten or so people, depending on how many kids show up for camp. The members on a team are ordered by strength and the corresponding members of each team face off one match at a time. Wouldn't it be ridiculous if everyone could run out and fight at the same time like in a brawl? Anyway, whichever team has the most wins win. The two winning teams fight each other and the two losing teams fight each other and the unbeaten team is declared the winner.

I've given all this info, but most of you probably don't even know what Judo is - or only have a basic understanding of it. I won't get into too much detail but I'll try to provide some help. Judo, translated from Japanese, means "gentle way." Let me tell you, it's not that gentle - it's not fun being thrown. It's gentle in the sense that there are no strikes in the form of punches or kicks - Judo primarily consists of throws. The "Judo chop" does not exist, which is what makes the idea of it funny. Judokas, people who practice judo, wear heavy gis and most of the techniques makes use of grips at the collar and the sleeves to push and pull their opponent. Taekwondo on the other hand has much lighter uniforms. Other than Taekwondo, Judo is the only martial art that is also an Olympic sport.

In competition, fighting begins in the standing position but can lead to groundwork on the mat. The standard way to win is to throw your opponent from a standing position. A throw usually consists of fighting for your grip, off balancing your opponent, and leveraging them over a hip, a leg, or a foot to get them to fall onto his back. Alternatively you can pin the opponent. Unlike wrestling, where you need to get both your opponent's shoulders down for it to count as a pin, in Judo you only need to get one shoulder down, but you must hold it for 25 seconds for it to be a full point and count as a win. Other groundwork techniques are submission techniques - chokes and armbars. For chokes you usually apply pressure on the artery on the neck and the opponent can give up by tapping out or, pass out. For armbars you apply pressure on his joints. You must be 13 to perform chokes and 17 to perform armbars in competition.

So with that, I will leave you with a video: