6/2–3: For Junior and High School Boys at Hwa Chong Institution
The Judo camp was finally about to start. I was able to get enough rest after arriving in Singapore. In the morning, I woke up at 7:00 AM and made sure to pick up the packed breakfast from a function room right next to the cafeteria. There was a guy sitting on a chair by a table that had a bunch of packed breakfasts and drinks on it. I signed my name on a sheet of paper, picked up a packed meal and a bottle of green tea, and went back to my room to eat.
The packed breakfast was pretty disappointing. There were three sections in the plastic container: 50% spaghetti, 25% chicken wings, and 25% something else that I do not remember. Also, the green tea was somewhat sweet, which was very different from how I expected it to taste. But, to be honest, I did not care. I had not expected it to be great. I finished the meal but could not finish the tea.
Since Sensei (the head coach) was going to pick me up at 8:45 AM at the front gate, I made sure to be there about 10 minutes early. He arrived with Jing Fang sitting in the front seat, so I sat in the back. At that point, I was both nervous and excited since it was the first day of the camp. Up until then, I had not really heard much about the camp other than the general training plans.
The training camp took place at Hwa Chong Institution for junior high and high school students. The dojo was near the boarding school where I was staying. There were many other sports facilities on campus, and the dojo was located next to other martial arts dojos.
As soon as I entered the dojo with Sensei, all the students greeted us together at the captain’s command. Right off the bat, I could see and feel the 師弟関係 (mentor-disciple relationship). The dojo was quite large, but there was no air conditioning, only a few fans, which I had expected. Since I had previously trained in dojos with only fans in even warmer temperatures, I did not feel too hot.
The training began with a warm-up led by the captain, Tiger, who is a blue belt. I could see that the level was not as high as that of students of the same age in Japan, but there were more than 50 students. After the warm-up and basic drills such as uchikomi and throwing practice, Sensei asked me to teach some techniques.
Since there were beginners among the students, I decided to teach Ashibarai, a relatively simple technique, in an easy-to-understand way. That was something I had learned from my teaching experience in the United States. I need to adjust my teaching style depending on the students. Sensei gave me one hour to teach, so I was able to use the time freely.
After that, randori (sparring) began. Since not all the students could spar at the same time, the randori session lasted about an hour. The morning practice ended, and the afternoon session was scheduled to begin at 2:00 PM. Sensei took Kyohei, Jing Fang, and me out for lunch.
After lunch, the afternoon training session focused mainly on newaza (groundwork). Once again, there was a one-hour block for me to teach techniques. Personally, I am not as skilled at newaza as I am at tachiwaza (standing techniques), but I can still explain and demonstrate some basic techniques as well as a few of my favorites. Generally speaking, I am more excited to teach tachiwaza.
The afternoon training included newaza sparring and physical conditioning at the end. By then, the students looked exhausted. In the evening, I felt tired as the nervousness from the first day had finally worn off, so I went back to the boarding school, ordered dinner, and went to bed early.
On the second day, the schedule was mostly the same, except for the morning and evening activities. In the morning, Sensei took me out for breakfast after I had mentioned that the packed breakfast was not very good. I had not expected anything to come from that comment, but I really appreciated his kindness.
That was why he picked me up at 7:45 AM along with Jing Fang. We went to a random hawker center for breakfast. I was surprised that people did not really eat rice in the morning but instead preferred noodles or bread. As a Japanese person, however, I chose a rice dish.
Jing Fang was also very kind and offered to buy me a drink. I ordered an iced black coffee, which eventually became my morning routine during the camp. At one point, she taught me how to order it in her native language, although unfortunately I do not remember it anymore.
After the two training sessions, Sensei took me to train with the national team in the evening. I joined as a practitioner, and it turned out to be a lot of fun. Although I was worried about whether my body would hold up, I was able to switch into “judoka mode,” which gave me enough energy to complete most of the sparring rounds (10 rounds of 4 minutes each).
It is always fun to spar with other passionate judokas. However, training without air conditioning and with only fans made me sweat a lot. After practice, we went to dinner with some of the students, and I returned to the hotel at around 10:30 PM.
Unfortunately, I could not wash my judo uniform because the laundry room was closed after 10:00 PM. Since Jing Fang and I are about the same height, I asked if I could borrow one of her uniforms for the next day.
6/4–5: For Junior and High School Girls at Nanyang Girls’ School
On Days 4 and 5, I had breakfast with Sensei and Jing Fang before joining a training camp for girls. The students were around the same age as the boys I had taught on Days 1 and 2. Most of them appeared to be junior high school students, which turned out to be correct. There were fewer high school students because many of them had exams.
There seemed to be more beginners than there were among the boys at Hwa Chong Institution. Since the school is one of the top-ranked schools in Singapore, the students are very busy with their studies. I heard that the academic environment in Singapore is so competitive and demanding that many students do not have much time or passion for sports in general. This seemed to bother Sensei a little because he wants them to become strong judokas.
I am not sure whether it is a good thing for students to focus only on studying and not on sports. It might be mentally unhealthy if they spend all their time studying in a highly competitive environment where exam scores are the main measure of success. In my opinion, everyone has different strengths and weaknesses. I think it is somewhat unfair for students who are not naturally good at studying or taking exams.
Anyway, back to judo.
The training schedule was similar to that of the boys. There was also a girls’ captain leading the warm-up. I taught some tachiwaza (standing techniques) and newaza (groundwork) in both the morning and afternoon sessions.
I could clearly see some differences between the girls and the boys. The boys seemed more passionate about judo and fighting, while the girls showed better attention, discipline, and team spirit. I noticed that the senior students took good care of the juniors. It was impressive to see how the higher belts helped the white belts.
Teaching basic techniques is also a learning experience for me. Being able to demonstrate a technique and being able to teach it are two very different skills, especially when teaching beginners. I think being able to explain basic techniques clearly to beginners is actually a high-level skill.
For those two days, I truly enjoyed teaching and watching their training.
6/6: For the Singapore National Team
In the morning, as usual, Sensei picked me up at 7:45 AM. Jing Fang was sleeping in the front seat. She looked exhausted at breakfast. Sensei, Jing Fang, and Kyohei had classes to teach after the camp, so I am sure they were very tired. I heard that they had gone to bed after midnight.
Regardless of their schedule, I was impressed by how attentively they helped the students during training. I think they love judo even more than I do.
After breakfast, we headed to a national team training session, where I taught one of my favorite techniques and sparred again for 10 rounds of 4 minutes each. I sweated a lot once again.
Since Sensei had a class to teach at a different location, he left the dojo early. Jing Fang, another young female student, and I headed to the main dojo, where they were going to teach classes for children and adults. After I arrived, I hung my judo uniform outside because I do not like putting a soaking wet uniform into my bag.
Kyohei was there to teach as well. While they were teaching, I was basically free, so I spent my time walking around the area and watching the classes. The last class ended at 5:45 PM.
As planned, I went to dinner with Jing Fang and Kyohei. Sensei joined us afterward because he had been teaching kata to students who were preparing to earn their shodan (first-degree black belt) after the final class.
We took a taxi to Holland Village, a popular area for shopping and dining. I did not know that taxis were relatively affordable in Singapore. Compared to Singapore, I think taxis are too expensive in Japan.
The area was packed with people. We settled into a food court and started drinking beer. Each of us ordered some food as well. I got a hamburger with fries. Since I had already eaten a lot of Singaporean food, such as chicken rice and other Chinese-influenced dishes, I wanted something different.
The funny thing was that Kyohei and Jing Fang ordered food from the same stall. I guess they were also tired of eating Singaporean food.
Sensei joined us and ordered a seafood soup. We ended up staying there until 12:30 AM, talking about random topics as well as judo-related ones.
Although it was a wonderful time, I became very sleepy at some point, so I think both Sensei and I wanted to go home earlier. Jing Fang and Kyohei, however, looked invincible.
Since I was not going to see Jing Fang and Kyohei again, we took a picture in front of the boarding school and said goodbye. As soon as I entered my room, I took a shower and went to sleep.
That was what the five-day judo camp was like.
I taught many techniques, and every time I teach something, I learn something new myself. Although it was tiring to teach and practice judo for five consecutive days, I had a great time with students of different ages, genders, and skill levels.
At first, I was nervous about teaching in a different environment with different people. However, by the last day, I had become comfortable with the atmosphere, and I felt that Jing Fang, Kyohei, and I had become good friends as fellow instructors.
I am very glad that I decided to join the camp. I am truly grateful for the opportunity.
At the same time, I was ready to take a short break from judo and become a normal backpacker again, since I had been wearing a judo uniform for so long.
Thank you, Sensei, Jing Fang, Kyohei, the school staff, and all the students!
Day 1-2
Day 3-4
Day 5
