Judo throw saves man from bold bear

Judo throw saves man from bold bear

MATSUMOTO, Nagano -- A man used a judo throw to scare off a bear that attacked him while he was picking mushrooms on a Nagano Prefecture mountain Monday afternoon, police said Tuesday.

At around 3:50 p.m., Keiichi Yamaguchi, 63, a resident of Matsuda, Kanagawa Prefecture, was picking mushrooms on a mountain in Omachi, Nagano Prefecture, when an Asiatic black bear suddenly attacked him, police said.

The bear bit Yamaguchi on the hand and left thigh and he responded by hitting it on the nose and in the stomach. When he used a judo technique to hurl the bear, it ran away from the scene. The bear was about 170 centimeters long, police said.

Yamaguchi said his injuries are not serious, but he intends to receive medical treatment at a local hospital. (Compiled from Mainichi and wire reports, Japan, Aug. 19, 2003)

Source: http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/20030...dm003000c.html

Haha, that's awesome.

Anyone care to speculate possibly what throw was used? :)

This should put all the judo skeptics to rest. Judo...effective for self defense against man and animal...hehehe.

i'm betting it was not kata guruma.

Rob Thornton

I know, Mark, I forgot to sign my name on the original post about the bear. I will stay after practice and clean the mats.

Jerry Hays
Santee, CA

There's a clipping from a Japanese Newspaper, along with translation, in the Ippon Books book 'Tomoe-Nage'. The story headlines - 'Man throws bear over cliff with Tomoe-Nage'.

Perhaps bear throwing is a common use for Judo. I'll suggest to my Sensei that we borrow a few from London Zoo, for a spot of nage-komi.

Quote:

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Originally posted by Bod
There's a clipping from a Japanese Newspaper, along with translation, in the Ippon Books book 'Tomoe-Nage'. The story headlines - 'Man throws bear over cliff with Tomoe-Nage'.

Perhaps bear throwing is a common use for Judo. I'll suggest to my Sensei that we borrow a few from London Zoo, for a spot of nage-komi.

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With the frequency of occurrences, one would think that the bears would have devised some sort of counter to tomoe-nage by now. :D

Judokas - 2
Bears - 0

I think I once had a randori session with that guy. Maybe it was the bear?

:D

Jerry,
Yeah, that's fine, but you have to clean MY mats after a class. Sorry, plane fare not included.

Don,
If you can still see your thighs (without a mirror, of course), you should have evidence of a bare bear bite.


Mark

Mark,

I can still see my thighs without a mirror. Of course, there is considerable shade down there. ;)

Quote:

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Originally posted by Starkjudo
i'm betting it was not kata guruma.

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Maybe...kata guru-guru kuma?