In your life, did the question of having a profession, of exercising a trade, ever arise? No, not really. I did like everyone else, I tried to earn my living. I did a bit of anything, without ever saying to myself, “I am going to do this to make a living.” Yet you had…
I know from experience almost all the accidents that can happen on a tatami, in randori, in combat, or in training. I also know, but I do not want to know them, the accidents deliberately caused by dangerous techniques. Those are the most serious. People do not realise it, but several people have died…
When one begins to practise judo, one makes the choice of an attitude in behaviour, a way of being that moves towards what is better. The better of oneself, at the same time as the better of relationships, mutual help and mutual concessions as defined by Kano. That means that each day one wishes…
If one forces oneself to preserve all the principles, non-opposition, mobility, control, encompass, and decision, one will improve one’s attitude, and by the same token improve one’s effectiveness. Because one must not lose sight of the fact that all exercises, kata, randori, uchi-komi, competition, are done to improve the practice of judo. One of…
We work here in a very restricted space. All your dojos have in common that they have been small. What interest is there in having so little space? One is obliged to be constantly vigilant, if only to avoid injuring others, to avoid throwing partners against the walls. One must train to throw very…
I had a student, a doctor, who was a charming man. We were used to working together. When he controlled me on the ground, he would say to me every time, “Mr Corréa, you will not get out!” I would answer him, “No, I will not get out, but I am getting out right…
You have probably already seen bullfights, you have seen the bullfighters. The encompass they perform is something extraordinary. When the bull passes, they remain facing it. They do not turn away to let it pass. The first thing they do is an encompass. Only afterwards do they turn towards the bull. It is the…
I can make you feel something, give me your hand. … Now do something, move your hand in any direction you like. … Whatever your movement, I am ahead. I feel what you are going to do because I am in control continuously. What is the link with kumikata? That is kumikata. Now you…
In what way does imbalance come into play in judo? Imbalance does not come into play in the way it is usually conceived. Then how? I can give an example. Take this pen and place it vertically on the table. There. That is a stable balance. Now push it. What happens? It falls. That…
There is something that often happens in training. I remember one occasion in particular. As I arrived on the tatami at the Collège des Ceintures Noires, someone I did not know came to greet me. I greeted him in return, took hold of his judogi, and immediately found myself on the ground. He had…
