The Wake

After an hour of judo practice, the mat room in the St. Paul rec center smells strongly of sweat. It’s no wonder. The U’s judo club has been hard at work practicing the Japanese sport. Eric Shellum, sensei and club coach, demonstrates a “seoinage,” a shoulder throw, in which Shellum flips his partner across his shoulder with a surprising amount of skill and ease.

In attendance are nine club members, whose belts signify skill level ranging from beginner (white) to advanced (black), each member watches carefully. After several demonstrations, the club breaks into couples and practices the move they’ve just watched. This practice continues until the sensei gathers the group together again to attempt some new moves, which could be a kick, a throw or a move where you sweep your opponent’s feet out from under them.

Some of the students have much more difficulty practicing the moves than others because judo is a sport that’s all about control as Shellum explains. The location of your hand or foot, to the inch, can be pivotal. Balance and strength are derived from the placement of a limb so it can be impossible to complete a certain move if you are incorrectly positioned.

Usually in judo, you begin by gripping the underarm sleeve and the collar of the gi, the Japanese name for the robes worn in martial arts, just above the heart of your opponent and tug. Your opponent will be tugging back, and the couple winds up dancing for a brief moment before the attack.

Shellum says that judo descends from jujitsu, a similar Japanese martial art that is more violent than judo. He says that some of the strikes and locking techniques of jujitsu can be dangerous so they were removed. Only joint locks on the elbow and a choke hold are acceptable submission techniques in judo. “The point was to take out all the hurtful things from jujitsu,” Shellum explains. “We’re not here to hurt anybody. Jujitsi is for hurting. Judo is for playing.” Even so, there are still 67 recognized throws used in the practice of judo.

Generally, judo is a competitive sport, but it can be played for other purposes as well. “It’s good physical conditioning,” Shellum says. “You have to use your whole body so it builds core strength,” he explains. “You learn to fall, which is something people don’t learn to do, so when you do fall, you won’t get hurt.”

Megan Segriff, who joined the club about a year ago, plays judo for another reason. “It’s a really fun self-defense sport,” she says. “I love it.”

Shellum says, however, “it can be used as self-defense, but you have to be pretty proficient at it to make it work.” He thinks judo is better played in competition.

”In Minnesota, there’s probably a tournament every couple months,” he says. In fact, there’s one at St. Matthew’s School in St. Paul on Nov. 18.

Shellum says that newcomers to judo “can compete relatively soon, but it depends on the [student].” To really learn the skill, you have to practice at least twice a week if not more. To compete, play judo for four months, and Shellum says that he thinks you could enter a novice level tournament. He said he thinks that people would enjoy it if they were more familiar with it. He said that he volunteers his time to teach judo to get more people to play.

Shellum also included a boost in self-confidence in the list of benefits of playing judo. “When I put this gi on … I know who I am. There’s no question in my mind who I am or what I’m about,” he says.

He couldn’t think of any drawbacks to the sport. Serious harm isn’t a common part of playing judo. “Injuries are, as in anything, accidents,” he says, “but we try to keep it under control.”

There’s one other thing judo fosters, though the sensei didn’t mention it. There’s a noticeably caring spirit in the mat room. New students are welcomed immediately and students often check with their partners after a rough move to make sure that no one is hurt. At one point, club member Mike Tikh walked off the mat. The concern in the sensei’s voice was evident when he called after Tikh to ask “where are you going?” Tikh responded that he was just getting a drink of water. Relief appeared on Shellum’s face. He likes his students to let him know if they’re leaving the mat, he says, because he wants to know that you don’t “have a concussion or an eyeball in your hand that you’re going to take care of.”