July 6: Day 1
I woke up to my alarm at 6:45 AM. Breakfast was at 7 AM, so I brushed my teeth and headed to the cafeteria. The temperature was quite low, and the air was so clear. The cafeteria is located on the second floor of a building just a couple of minutes away on foot. Within the camp, there are separate dormitories for male and female judokas, as well as rooms where the coaches stay.
The cafeteria is quite large. The male and female competitors and the coaches all sit at separate tables. Since it was my first time meeting everyone, Kosuke introduced me to all of the coaches. I greeted each of them as I was introduced. The competitors had a buffet-style meal, while the coaches were served three or four different main dishes on plates at the table. Before and after each meal, one of the competitors said a prayer, and everyone prayed together.
All of the meals were Indonesian dishes, and they were amazingly delicious. After we finished eating, Kosuke and I went back to the room to relax a bit until judo practice, which started at 9 AM.
There were only about 15 national team members because only one athlete in each weight category is selected by the national coaches. They are the top judo competitors in Indonesia. The training lasted about 90 to 120 minutes. I enjoyed practicing with them and was impressed by how strong they were. After training, I enjoyed watching the younger competitors continue practicing with the coaches. I wish I had had the same mentality when I was a teenager.
I took a shower in Kosuke’s room and went to the cafeteria for lunch at 12 PM. During this meal, I started eating with my bare hands. I already knew how to do it because I had watched local people eat very skillfully with their hands. While I was eating that way, the other coaches were impressed by how naturally I used my hands.
Since we had plenty of time until the strength training started at 4 PM, Kosuke and I went to a hotel on the same site to grab a cup of coffee. I tried to update my blog, but I could not really focus because of the afternoon slump. We stayed there for about an hour before going back to the room to take a nap.
At 4 PM, strength training began. It was not conducted in the typical way where everyone simply lifts heavy weights. Instead, the session focused more on mobility and functional movement. One of the competitors in my weight category asked me to train with him. He is 20 years old and very strong. We trained together for the entire session. I liked the fact that he pushed me throughout the workout.
After more than an hour of training, Kosuke took me to the cafeteria kitchen to make a protein shake. Since arriving at the national judo camp, I had been impressed by how well the environment supports the athletes. Whether it is true or not, I heard that the camp was built so the athletes could focus entirely on judo instead of being distracted by everything a big city has to offer.
I realized that there is a huge disparity in training environments. Indonesia is a country where the government supports its judo athletes. In contrast, in Singapore, many judokas have to work full-time while also training hard.
I took another shower and had dinner in the cafeteria. After dinner, the coaches announced that some of the athletes would be replaced by different competitors. The atmosphere became quite tense. I’m sure they have to keep working hard if they want to continue training in the best environment in the country.
After dinner, I was exhausted, so I just relaxed before going to bed at around 10 PM after fighting off a massive mosquito that kept bothering me.
July 7: Day 2
After waking up at 6:45 AM, I could already feel the soreness from the previous day’s training, especially in my traps. I went to the cafeteria for breakfast before joining judo practice at 9 AM. The fatigue slowed me down, and I couldn’t move as well as I had during the previous day’s training. Fortunately, the practice was a bit shorter, which was a relief.
During lunch afterward, Kosuke and I told the head coach that I would be leaving the next morning. She responded by saying, “Why don’t you guys go explore the city a bit?” So we decided not to join the afternoon running session that the athletes were scheduled to do.
Like the day before, I felt sleepy and tired, which kept me from focusing on updating my blog. Instead, I took a nap before going to a coffee shop near the camp and then another one about 30 minutes away by car with Kosuke.
Although he is younger than I am, I felt like we were the same age, which I really liked. After spending a long time talking over coffee, we returned to the camp just before dinner.
I tried to eat as much as I could because I knew I would not be able to have breakfast the next morning. The bus Kosuke had booked for me was scheduled to leave at 7:30 AM, so I would have to leave before breakfast was served.
Since it was the last time I would see all of the coaches, I thanked them. One of the younger coaches told me that he would take me to the bus stop the next morning. I thanked him again and went back to the room. I was so grateful to all the national Judo members for allowing me to join.
For the rest of the evening, I relaxed in the room while thinking about what I was going to do in Yogyakarta, a major city and the cultural capital of Java, where I planned to go after returning to Jakarta. I wish I could have gone there directly from the camp, but unfortunately, there was no direct route.
Although I tried to go to bed early, I didn’t end up falling asleep until around 11 PM.
