Do you remember
hula-hoops, the twist or duck tails? If you're too young you can research these
things in the ancient history section of the library. Better yet, go ask your
parents.
These were all fads
back in the 50's and 60's. A fad is a short lived mania, of no apparent
rationale that in retrospect looks pretty silly. Where do fads come from? Are
they the results of some primordial need to follow the herd? Is it a desire to
be like everybody else? More to the point, is there social value in following fads?Unfortunately, Judo also has its fads. The worst example that I can think of was the 'Drop Knee Seoinage'. Back in 1971 a young Japanese player won the -78 kilo World Judo Championship by using just one throw. The young man's name was Fujii Shozo and his throw was a very low, driving, seoinage. Fujii repeated his championship in 1973 and 1977 using the same throw.
The prevalent logic
seemed to be that if a low seoinage worked so well for Fujii then low seoinage
must be THE throw to use. Everybody and their kohei started dropping to their
knees, supplicating themselves to the mat gods, and praying for a throw. The
problem was that it didn't work! Everywhere you looked players were dropping to
their knees and pulling opponents down onto to their own backs or, worse yet,
slamming opponent's faces into the mat.
Fujii didn't just drop to his knees and pull!
Fujii executed his seoinage in a dynamic manner that utilized HIS unique skills
and abilities. The results were that an entire generation spent their Judo
careers chasing a fad for which they didn't
have the physical ability or the mechanical understanding to execute.
Fortunately the flop
and drop seoi days seem to be behind us. It's true, there are still a few
players that use a very low seoinage but they're using it because they have the
physical abilities to perform the skill. If you want to follow an example then follow the true example of great champions. Learn, practice and utilize the skills that work best for YOU. That's all that the champions are doing. They're only doing what works best for them. Now, that's a fad that you could live with!
By the way, Maruki Eiji
used the low driving seoinage to win the 1967 World Championship when Fujii was
a still teenager. Just goes to show you, if you follow the herd too closely you
don't even know who the leaders are.
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