Shintaro Higashi

I went to Martin’s to train today. We had a ridiculous workout. Throughout the circuit, my heart was banging like a heavyset metronome on it’s highest setting, my head was spinning and every muscle on me ached. Usually I would quit way before that at my mental break threshold, however Martin pushed and encouraged me to keep on going. Truly a great trainer.

We did…

Warm up, light sprints, rope circuit, then…

 {sprint 35 seconds, upright rows, over head press} 3 sets

{sprint 35 seconds, hammers 25reps} 3 sets

{sprint 35 seeconds, jack knives, trunk twists}3 sets

Afterwards, I had a small window of time not accounted for in my day’s schedule. I was in manhattan by 11 and I didn’t have to be at Brooklyn college until 2. I decided to go for a drive. I cruised down the bqe and into Brooklyn. I stopped by prospect park for the first time. I’ve always wanted to check it out ever since my NYC comfort zone expanded into this borough in 2008. I sat by prospect lake and hung out with the ducks while the big lake layout in front of me brightly rippling with the breeze and sunshine. I can’t wait until practice tonight. I’m improving, and there is nothing else that feels better than that.
Brooklyn college 2-3, judo my dojo 5-630. Judo Nyac 730-9. Not too shabby. Time for my meal. I’m going to throw down this chicken wrap.

I just wanted to share today with you a clip of my favorite Judoka.  Toshihiko Koga.

I absolutely love competition  Whether I am involved in the meat of it, a spectator on the sidelines or in front of a television, I absolutely love it.  I am not competitive about everything though.  I can accept defeat on certain things and take the back seat when I am supposed to.  But when it comes to sports I can not!  I don’t follow professional sports like I used to, but on occasion I do like to watch the best work their magic in their respective crafts.  Anything world related in the realm of competitive sports interests me greatly.  The Olympics is a great example.  To me the Olympics are sacred. Every throw, every match, every race and every moment gives me profound poignancy.  Determination, perseverance, heart, courage, all the best qualities a human can possibly possess is tested maximally to determine the best of the best through this World involved competition.

Anyways, the world baseball classic is in session.  Korea defeated Venezuela last night to advance to the finals against the Japanese who just beat the Americans tonight.  I was very impressed with the Asian teams.  Not to generalize, but in my opinion, the non-asian Major Leaguers preponderate the asian baseballers.  Yes I said it.  The average American professional athlete seem to be bigger and stronger.  My observation doesn’t just end there however.  The awestruck moments I experienced in front of my tv with my family were the moments the smaller, physically inferior athletes took it to the big guns with precisely, the Judo philosophy.   I was so amazed with their skill, strategy and perfection of field manueverance, I couldn’t help but be astonished.  Tomorrow evening.  Japan vs Korea.  Check out it if you can, I would love to hear your thoughts about this great rivalry!

Some of the common words to describe the word ‘mantra’ are transcendence, chant, Veda, sacred, meditation, prayer and Hinduism. Although it has a very distinct and rich background,  it is such a flexible word.  To me, mantra is a catch phrase you focus on to be most efficient at the task at hand. I guess this whole deal sounds weird if you have no preconceptions concerning the amazing power of Self-talk. Here is how my mantra helped me. I noticed one day that my Judo was very choppy. I’d rely heavily on my blessed fast twitch 2A muscle fibers and explode into a single move with out set up or finesse. I would explode, hang out, explode, hang on, explode, hang around, and if I was fighting a fish, BOOM! Ippon. My 1-dimensional Judo became very predictable leaving me succeptible to counters and pick ups.  So my mantra became flow.  

Flow Flow, Flow Flow, Flow… I would tell myself while I fought.  Eventually, my self-talk coaching methods pulled through and my Judo since has become more fluid.  Grip, create motion, attack the legs, Hi, low, motion motion, KILL!  Since then, my mantra has evolved to Commit.  Commit commit commit…  

Sorry for the super Judo-esoteric post.  All you non-Judo people reading this probably have no clue what I am talking about.  So here is a simple example.   Some youths on the 6 train bump into you and make a fuss.  Your temporary mantra is “relax.”  relax relax relax, wow I dealt with that situation really well.  I walked away and I didn’t punch anyone.  There you go.

As the light splintered into my room from between the horizontals of my blinds, my alarm clock signaled the beginning of another hard week. My day began with a nice morning lift. My limbs pumped iron for a good 45 minutes like the pistons of a diesel fueled engine. I left the gym feeling great. It was 830am on Monday morning. Morning sunshine warmed my face as the cool spring breeze chilled my back. I drank my protein shake and I was ready to conquer this week for the best.

I ate perfect today. rice and egg whites, protein shake, zone bar and nuts, low fat tuna sandwich, zone bar and asai drink, lemon chicken sandwich, and maybe some grilled chicken in an hour.

So I am off to a great start this week. I will be a better man through my upcoming experiences this week. I am already one day better than yesterday. Speaking of self-improvement, some of you may know about my religious philosophies and suchsuch. I don’t want to touch upon anything controversial on my blog, but here goes. My god is my maximum potential. Many people have their belief system where they worship external beings of higher power. However, my pursuit of the unfathomable understanding of the Universe is internal. I am not saying I don’t believe in God. So easy fellow human beings! My point here is this… Morning sunshine and protein shakes. Full potential here I come! 2009 National Champion!

Hey guys, thanks for checking in.  My week has been great.  I have been productive all week long and kept my nutrition on track very tightly.  I have cruised through my post-loss blues and I must say, on this Friday night, there is not a hint of lingering heartache from my recent defeat.  

On Monday and tuesday for the NY Open training camp, I had the pleasure of being able to fight with many of the top teams from overseas.  Amongst them, the stand outs were the Japanese team, Mr.Konno (2x All-Japan Champ, Japanese team coach), the Olympic Gold Medalist Ole Bichoff and the NY Open Champion from my weight class, Bjork Bachman (Germany).  I must say I was very impressed with their skill.  I was humbled to the floor with their Judo knowledge and their Physical prowess.  The best way to explain how I felt Monday and Tuesday is through a quote I read recently on the Subway.

“I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.” ~ Sir Isaac Newton

I’ve learned so much Judo between my loss to Scott Edwards and the two days of training with these guys.  I need to sharpen my tools and get bigger, stronger and faster.  2009 National Champion!

So here is my match from the Ny open.  Tough loss, careless mistake, the reason why I have to work harder.

The 2009 Ny Open just happened yesterday and I can’t say I am not disappointed with the outcome.  I worked hard and smart, but I fell short once again.  I would like to thank everyone who came to watch my match.  I feel like I let you guys all down, but have faith.  I am dreaming about the upcoming US National Championships in April.  It is back to the drawing board for me on this post-defeat Monday.  I drew many lessons from my loss on Saturday against Scott Edwards (Canada) although the match was very short. 

4 things… Seoi nage-block the hip-shoulder roll.  Kata guruma, lapel elbow clinched tight to avoid being countered.  Confidence in attacking on the ground.  High C-knee blocks sprawl-to reverse lift.

Lying on the mat after the referee raised his hand to signal ippon for my opponent was a devastating blow to my Judo ego and self.  I will allow this match to fuel my quest to the top of the Nation.

I cancelled my Judo lesson with big strong Al to preserve my body for the tournament, now only a day away.  I woke up rather early anyway to adjust to daylight savings come tournament time.  I stepped on the scale, 212lbs.  I immediately rehydrated, inhaled my protein shake and brewed a nice hot cup of organic coffee.  I flipped open my laptop, popped up google chrome and BOOM!  I checked my email.  My inbox stated that my friend sent me an article from the NY times and I would like to share it with you.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/07/sports/basketball/07shooting.html?_r=1&ref=sports

Did you read it?  The article speaks truth about elite athletes and the role psychology plays in performance.  I’ve had similar experiences where I felt so rapt in the Judo game, that the surrounding universe seemed to be non-existent. It’s the ultimate euphoria, sort of similar to the runner’s high I guess.   Your interpersonal relationships, insecurities, financial problems, and all the life thrown lemons and such become obsolete.  The immediate task at hand becomes invigorating and you’re at the pinnacle of focus without thought.   These are the times when I have fought worthy of carreer highlightship.  The compilation between experience, practice and the so-called-runner’s high results in the unconscious mentioned in the article.  Vince Carter, shooting guard for the Nets said, “It’s all about memory through repetition and memory throughout the course of the game,” “Most players are at their best when they’re not thinking too much, they’re just playing and immersed in the game and letting the game dictate what they need to do.”  

My mental approach to challenging tournaments such as the NY open…  Confidence, relaxation and rest.  Come fight time, focusing on the task at hand, having fun and never giving up.  Unconsciousness, here I come.

I have tapered off from my lifting regimen.  I lifted light for repetition and did mostly calisthenics on thursday.  Push ups, dips, pull ups, chin ups, etc in a circuit training type fashion.  I must confess however, I couldn’t fight the urge to fit in a few sets of useless bicep curls for the spring time right around the corner.  My judo practices have been less brutal and I have been focussing more on technique and flow rather than banging heads all out.  I am very much recovered from many of my minor aches.  I am rested and nourished like a fresh baby that just woke up from a nap and drank their formula.  My weight is perfect, tipping the scales at 215 pounds.  The only thing left to do is believe.

I believe I will conquer my inner demons and perform, rest assured my friends.  I usually develop a psychosomatic cold a few days before tournament time, but I refused it.  Almost time, almost time.  I am about to stretch with my beloved flexibility trainer and friend Michael Simmon-Pappadakos.  So if I don’t hear from you in the meantime, see you all Sunday D-day.