A JUDO STORY

By: Mark Hunter

Once there was a small boy seeking something he didn't know existed.  Perhaps it was support, maybe self-esteem or the feeling of belonging.  He was fatherless, his mother depressed.  She was trying to raise him and his two brothers by herself.  His father never came around, and he had no one to turn to for help.  He felt as though no one cared about him.  One day, his life changed dramatically.

He discovered JUDO! 

His mother had taken him and his brothers to the YMCA to see if she could get a family membership through the Sponsorship Program.  The Sponsorship Program enabled low-income families to participate.  His mother couldn't work because she had suffered a nervous breakdown and from depression when his father had abandoned the family.

As they entered the YMCA, he heard a loud crash.  Through a glass door he saw a man lying on the mat.  Above the man stood a little boy, smiling.  The man got up saying, “That was great.  You threw me!”  Shyly, the boy peeked into the room and saw little kids having fun throwing big kids around.  He thought, maybe I could do that.

Well, the YMCA gave his family a sponsor membership.  On the way home he thought about what he’d seen.  He knew he wanted to do that and told his mom. 

Next week his mother took him to the YMCA to go SWIMMING!  But once there, he didn't want to swim.  Rather he wanted to watch kids throwing each other.  His mother, however, knew sponsor membership didn't cover that and couldn't afford the class fee. 

So he kept peering into the Judo room.  A guy wearing a brown belt came to the door and said, “You don't have to peek.  Come in and watch.”  The little boy entered, sat, and observed. 

The next week they returned to the YMCA.  Guess what the little boy wanted to do?  Yep.  He wanted to watch the kids throwing one another.  The brown belt asked the little boy if he wanted to try.  Embarrassed, he admitted that his mom couldn't afford it.  The brown belt said that was alright and invited the boy onto the mat.  Somehow, incredibly, the little boy was able to throw the brown belt.  You should have seen his big smile!

The very next day the YMCA called the little boy’s house to ask if he wanted to take Judo.  They said that someone wanted to sponsor him by paying his Judo class fee.  This was the first time the little boy felt that someone cared about him. But who had paid for his Judo class?  It was the brown belt, the new YMCA Judo Instructor.  His Instructor had decided to quit Judo for health reasons and turned the class over to his assistant.  

The little boy joined Judo and became close to the Instructor.  They went to tournaments together.  The little boy had someone whom he could look up to, who made him feel special. 

Five years passed.  Now age ten, he was old enough to get a paper route to help pay for his Judo class, to which he daily looked forward.  Judo had taught him valuable lessons in life.  He had self-esteem and the feeling that he belonged.  His instructor became like a father, and he looked up to him.

This little boy, who started Judo lacking self-esteem, thinking no one cared about him, became a Judo champion.

Now, 39 years later, is that boy still in Judo?  You bet he is!  I was that little boy.  Judo has touched my life.  I wonder how my life would have been had I never had the opportunity to take Judo.  If it wasn't for someone who took the time and supported me, I wouldn't be the Judo Instructor I am today.  

Please join me to help support the growth of Judo.  Sponsor a youngster, so he or she can have the opportunity to learn a lifetime skill that will improve that person. 

I have volunteered over 15,000 hours teaching Judo at the Findlay, Ohio YMCA and the Lima Family YMCA. The YMCA continually seeks volunteers.  As a Judo teacher, you have the power to change youngsters for life.  Judo helps develop people and has touched the lives of many.  I know, because I am one.