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Jody Holeton
7th December 2001, 00:43
Dear all,

I am about to move to Tochigi prefecture, which is just outside Tokyo, and I was hoping to train at the Kodokan.

Any advice about training there?
Should I wait to get my shoudan before going there to train?
Any other places I should consider training at?
There any Gracie jujitsu schools or shoot-fighting schools in my area?

Any advice would be appreciated--Jody Holeton

MarkF
7th December 2001, 11:20
Hi, Jody,
Training at the Kodokan is kind of a certification of where you are in your training. For example, if you had a 5-dan, you would still have to start with getting your shodan from them. Many with higher grade do train at the Kodokan to get their black belt certification even though they may have done so in their home countries. One still needs to begin at the beginning, though.

You may find othe dojo which will do just fine, with equally good training, but it is nice to have the licenses/memberships in the Kodokan, but I would also train at a dojo closer to where you live or work. I don't know Tokyo, but if you are outside the city, other dojo work, too.

While the Kodokan is THE judo institute, perhaps enrolling for randori only classes is what you may need, or if kata is weak and you want to improve upon it, this also can be done there.

But whatever you decide, I wish you good luck. Living in Japan isn't easy, especially at first, but you should aclimate OK.

Mark

PS: Don't forget to stay in touch with us. From what I here there is plenty of "shooto" and other grappling styles, but perhaps someone else could be of service in this area.

Anyone?

carl mcclafferty
13th December 2001, 16:03
Jody:

Try my son "Scott Laking" at: Kumoito@msn.com for Shooto information. He's been a practitioner for a bunch of years and has done "television interpreting" when Americans visit for a professional match. He has lived in Sakai for 16 years and knows most of the shooto schools.

Mark F: Looks like Baba-san might pay me a visit in June, I'll let you know if and when I know for sure.

Carl McClafferty