The Shintaro Higashi Show - Friday Night Practice

Episode Date: November 21, 2020

In this episode, Shintaro and Peter talk about the famous Friday Night Practice at Shintaro's gym Kokushi Budo Institute. Please support us on Patreon if you can: https://www.patreon.com/shintaro_higashi_show. Any amount helps!

What's going on guys? Welcome back. Thank you guys for coming back and listening to me and Peter rant and talk about stuff. Peter, what do we have in store for today? Well, today I thought we could talk about our famous Friday night practice. That's a good one. It's by far the thing that I miss most from New York. Yeah, it was a great night. Especially now that I'm cooped up at home because of the pandemic. But yeah, so can you kind of describe what it is

for people who don't really know about it? Sure. So at KBI, generally speaking, Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays were the heavy, heavy judo nights where 6 o'clock the mats open up, people roll in at seven for the beginner intermediate class which is mostly drills and skills and then eight o'clock onwards is all live right so some people get there at six and stay till like 9 30 10 o'clock this is crazy long

times you know most people like yourself working professionals rolling after work so 6 30 7 you know you sometimes won't even come to the drill part just just to throw down i'll just show up at 7 30 and then like yeah so much you come in and just go that's right so the 7th 8th beginner and immediate happens and then 8 p.m i send all the beginners home right white belts yellow belts like all right guys your class is done if you guys want to stick around and watch you can and of course you know within those white and yellow belts sometimes you get a wrestler or top level bjj guy like i'll let those guys stay and grapple too you know what i mean it really depends on the person but eight o'clock onward was all live just like time on the clock standing ground standing ground sometimes we do five ground 10 stand up 20 stand up sometimes

we're there till like 9 30 10 o'clock yeah and on friday nights it was completely open so if you were a guest from out of town or if you were just belong to another dojo it's like anyone and everyone could essentially come right and train so we would have 30 40 black belts on the map and that was like i remember like every lower belt would they were eyeing to get into that like it was like one of their biggest goals to like it was an honor for them to be invited by you yep to be on the net you know like i remember seeing like after prac after the beginners class you like pull someone outside and say hey why don't you stick around and they were like oh so excited you know yeah yeah sometimes you know

people really put in the heart and you know people thought it was like a merit-based thing. And yeah, you have to be able to throw down and be able to, you know, be part of that group. But sometimes it was just effort-based, you know? Somebody works hard. I really want them to grow and I really want to help them out. And they're just dying to be there.

And I'm like, all right, guy, you know, come on in. You know, guy, girl, whatever it is, and just come on in and, you know, join us. And then sometimes I'll cut them after like five or six rounds. Like do a couple rounds in the beginning and then you know okay your time is up uh but a lot of people stayed you know and we had an entire yeah yeah gallery of people just sitting around an audience right cheering they had their favorite black belt maybe they were betting on the matches who knows it's getting really rowdy and out of hand.

I wonder how many people bet on me. I don't know. But you were hot. And then we had Matt 1, which is the closest to the front of the dojo. And we had Matt 1, 2, and 3. But we do maybe four or five rounds at once. So if you were on the top mat, the first mat, Matt 1 was like the coveted place to be. Anthony and I will always try to like kind of hold down the mat one. Yeah.

Because we always come earlier than some of the out-of-towners. That's right. That's right. And even the out-of-towners, you know, like they could just come and they belong to Dojo New Jersey and they would be there. And it would be a great way for my guys to get exposure and for those guys to train and we mentioned in the last episode you know we had the new york state championships and you know full podiums everybody that we saw on friday night the weekend before or the friday before like they were all on the podium it was really wild you know in new york new jersey like we really had that thing going for a while and I know a lot of it was so good to see

you know the tech judo guys come in and then they're because they're all they have a huge dojo there and then they're all like it's part of the high school's program and you know they have a lot of uh good up-and-coming guys and like established judoka is like Salama you know yeah yeah Salama was a silver medalist subiza was a bronze medalist that year anthony fought you know for a medal at the nationals that year right then we would have you eugene you know my cousin and we probably have like seven or eight of the top 73 kilo guys in the new york news jersey reason and those guys are all producing and taking medals at nationals right so it was a real throwdown kind of a night and then sometimes we'd have a very strong upper weight class category situation right remember

andy artani used to come there right right he was a national champion and you know i'm around that weight class vadim would come oh man yeah and then my boy terrazzo took fifth at nationals so just five guys right there you know what christian gorlitz was there yeah you know what i mean so yeah those were the days all right i mean it was crazy really because um i i would you know i i know like some of my friends will like kind of be surprised because on friday night i was like oh i can't do anything i would like can't i'll never you know plan really anything yeah that was the yeah it's because i was i was like oh this is so fun and it's coming up yeah and and it's like we got all the guys from the

tri-state area but i think the coolest part was i guess it's because of the nature of the city new york city where you know it's like a hub like a global hub a lot of international guests came through on friday all the time you know whenever people yep that's right people call in say hey i'm visiting new york for this week you know when can i come into judo and i say oh come on friday night you know can i come in monday or wednesday i'm like ah you know those are sort of they're reserved for my guys my people right i need to really focus on them um but on friday it's like friday night's free for all yeah come on friday yeah and then it's like kodokan on wednesday everyone knows if you go is that when they do that yeah wednesday night is international

night oh okay oh because on other nights you can't go like if you're not registered or something i think you can i'm not sure but wednesday night is international like everyone knows this nice yeah yeah it was kind of like that and i remember like we had a national team from saudi arabia or something i kind of missed that oh yeah that's right i remember yeah i remember that dude five guys six guys they were here for a tournament it was like the saudi arabian judo team you know and they were just amazing. They were tough. They looked the part. Their coach was really good. Coach was not from Saudi Arabia. And then they tried to recruit me.

They were like, hey, we pay you good money. And they were like, we have oil money. We could pay you oil money. We need to get you out of this dojo and into Saudi Arabia. And I'm like,

yeah, I don't know about that. I'm going to uproot my life now and then just start over and coach judo in saudi arabia i'm like i can't do that oil money for the oil money yeah and it's always kind of scary right when a guest like that comes because it's like at first you know you send your guys out there and then if they beat up your guys then you know you had an enforcer yeah i had a whole system yeah and then you send the enforcer out there.

If the enforcer gets his butt kicked, then it's like, all right, then I have to step in. But it's designed in a way where after you've gone through some of my primary guys and the enforcer comes in, you're like four or five rounds deep, and I already watched this person do judo for like four or five rounds. So I know what they do, and they're tired. So it's always stacked against them and it's always stacked to my favor and then they will say never they'll never say no to you by the time you you say yeah yeah that's right that's right i mean people do oh really yeah yeah i mean in jujitsu like you're never

supposed to ask a higher rank for a round. That's like an unspoken rule. You ever heard of that? Oh, really? Well, I didn't know that. Yeah, in judo, there is no rule like that. In BJJ, you can't just go up and ask for a round. Well, is it kind of frowned upon?

Yeah, it's frowned upon. If you're a blue belt, you don't go up to a pro and be like, hey, you want to roll? You have to wait for the higher belt to come ask you. And a lot of, I think, schools still kind of enforce that unspoken rule. Or maybe it's explicit. I see. Yeah, we don't really have that.

I've heard guys be like, hey, I was like, hey, you want to do a round? Or they're like, I'm too tired, sensei. Or sometimes they'll call me out. It's like, sensei, you want to go? You know, and I've heard that a bunch of times. And it's always a little bit like, you know, all eyes on me. Oh, you don't remember when that guy came. He was a champion from – he was an African champ.

But he was a heavyweight. Not from South Africa. Oh, the big, big guy. Dude, he was like 6'7". He was just watching him, I remember. He was watching and then he broke the chair. Oh, just sitting down. Yeah, he couldn't fit on one chair.

So he put two chairs together and sat in it. And then he leaned to one side and then the chair broke underneath him. And that was like a regular metal chair that I got off Amazon. He was watching and then I guess he got fired up. He got fired up watching us play. And he asked for a round. He didn't really ask for a round. It was more like, it was a very interesting thing.

He broke the chair and then I got him another one. So he had two chairs still. He's sitting watching and we're doing Nagakomi on the crash mat. You know what I mean? The Nagakomi. And then he goes, ohomi on the crash mat you know what i mean the nagakomi and then he goes oh man this is uh you know and he starts like insulting me kind of he's like why you guys weren't using crash mats you know i trained judo in africa with my sensei who trained in japan and we never used crash mat you know like why would you it makes you soft why are you making

your students soft you know and he's kind kind of criticizing me and my teaching skills and my coaching things from the side. I'm getting more and more pissed off. Eventually, he's showing me pictures of his sensei. He's showing pictures of his dojo. He's like, I haven't done judo in 5, 10 years since I moved here. I'm just kind of getting more and more fed up. We're doing Rondori. He's like coaching from the side. How come the guy don't do this? I'm like kind of getting more and more fed up and we're doing Rondori and he's like

ah you know he's like coaching from the side how come the guy don't do this and I'm like you know what

forget it and I went to the back and found the biggest gi that I could find it was like a size 8 I didn't even know they made up that and I was like

I gave it to him and I was like here put it on and he's like yeah I was like yeah

and then freaking he put it on and it was so small he couldn't even close it this guy's 6 foot 7 man it was like 350 and then freaking he put it on and it was so small he couldn't even close it this guy's 6 foot 7 man it was like 350 humongous guy

humongous guy and then he like tied his belt together like you couldn't double wrap it so he had like a fucking size 5

like wrapped you can't double wrap a judo belt yeah so then he like wrapped it once came on the mat and I remember

Vadim was there was Vadim there too did he go with him once, came on the mat, and I remember Vadim was there. Was Vadim there too? Did he go with him? Dude, Vadim was the first person that was. Vadim looks at this guy. He walks onto the mat, and I remember one of the yellow belts who stayed to watch the Friday night fight. He goes, Sensei, you going to be okay here?

I'm like, man, shut up. I would never say that to a student but i was like nah i got it i got it you know don't worry about it don't worry like how dare you doubt me you know right right and then he walks onto the mat and he's towering over everybody and vadim just walks up and goes hey let's go uh-huh and i don't even have to do anything vadim drags him around and throws him more goshi oh gosh dang yeah yeah and then everyone all of a sudden got confident right and then and then christian girl is like i got him next i got him next and goes after and christian's 100 you know 95 pounds soaking wet you know he's like 5'9 he's like my size so this guy has a foot on

him and freaking 100 and something pounds on him and he's running him size so this guy has a foot on him and freaking 100 and something pounds on him and he's running him around and you know attacking him and the guy's getting tired and he's out of shape and then he was beat he was beat

right right he was like after that he had two black belts go after him Gretlitz was dragging him around right can't really do anything and then he's shot

and then he looks at me and I go come on buddy right he went with you right yeah he did go with me yeah and then he was like like oh my back kind of hurting you know i'm out of shape i just grabbed him and dragged him around the mat i went for like a san agi or something to him and then he hurt his back oh he actually hurt it you weren't there for this? I'm kind of

no I remember I remember him I remember you going against with him and I don't remember him getting hurt though he hurt his back but there was another

two times that we had a guy that was a super heavyweight that came in and you know one time a Moroccan Olympian you know and he was like another guy that was a super heavyweight that came in and you know one time a moroccan olympian you know and he was like another one that was like six five six six and he wanted to work out with me of course that was very scary i saw his back pass too i was like god damn it he

fought in the olympics it's like uh just fighting in the olympics won't really intimidate me but the fact that he outweighed me by 100 pounds and he immediately pulled out my phone looking judo inside like, all right, what is this guy's credentials? Who has he beat? Who has he lost to? Wow. And then you look at that list and then you could kind of decide, you know what I mean? That's when you know someone's legit. Judo insider or we will always look at the years, you know?

That's true. When someone comes in and they're like, how's his year? How's her year? the years you know welcome that's true when someone comes in and they're how's his year how's her year you know oh that's right yeah the cauliflower year yeah that's the first thing you do that's a tell yeah yeah does this person have cauliflower year yes okay what do you remember that one time this white belt came in and he had the nastiest savage most savage cauliflower year i think i actually wasn't there i don't think i don't think i was there yeah you weren't here for any of these stories peter were you even at kbi i know maybe i wasn't even going there you know why because it was date night you

you're probably not allowed to go oh maybe i'll have to check i'll have to check yeah what what did he do how did did he have such gnarly? This guy came in, right? He goes, I've done, you know, a little bit. Can I train? And I'm like, yeah, you didn't do a little bit. You're a freaking massive cauliflower. You're like, boom, like in your face, right?

I was like, you know, you're telling me you don't have any experience, but your ears tell a different story. You said that to him? I said that. And he was like, no, man, I really just, you know, three or four months of BJJ, I swear. I was like, where did you train? He's like, oh, someplace in Brooklyn. And like, I'm asking him all these questions and he's giving me nothing. He's literally like, oh, I'm really a beginner.

And I'm like, I don't know if I believe this guy. You know, like maybe he's coming in and sandbagging and he's going to choke everybody. Or maybe he's a wrestler, a top-level wrestler. He's going to wait for someone to turn and just freaking suplex them on the head. Who knows? And then I see him warming up and he's kind of an athlete. But when I start to see him drill, I'm like, oh, this guy is really a beginner. And I'm like, how is this even possible?

Like this massive year. And he goes, I just asked him later asked him later on i was like dude i really thought you were just sandbagging like what is the story why do you have that cauliflower ear he goes i started jujitsu i was doing groundwork and somebody accidentally elbowed me in the year two weeks into my my like beginning martial arts and i got kai fire the first two weeks i'm jealous yeah and then he was like everyone kept joking like i didn't like it i didn't want it i didn't know what it was i was scared and everyone's like oh and i get so much cred oh yeah man of course i'm like now yeah you got pretty ears i have virgin ears man i got nothing i got nothing you got you got you got nice i got yeah i got just this right one's a really good one yeah but yeah he was like i now i can't quit now i can't quit you can't quit you

can't quit after that and then he was too embarrassed to come back i think but well yeah and we got like we got guys from south south africa like some all over the world and i think you you talked about uh this guy on in some of your days and you even had a video together bernardo oh yeah yeah bernardo faria he's like the most famous bjj guy. He does BJJ Fanatics. He was a world champion at the time in the black belt division. And he had a guy who does this weird drop Sanagi that he would get caught with. And he was like, I want to learn how to defend it. I want to get good at stand-up.

I'm going to do one more world championship. And I really want to be good on the feet. And it was about a year before he fought in his last world championship. And he was like, teach me stand-up. And he came, you know, for almost a year. And it was awesome. He actually lived two blocks from the dojo. Two to three blocks, right?

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I guess it's a – I didn't know at the time because I didn't really know about the whole BJJ competition circuit. But, I mean, I actually went Newaza with him. Of course, he let me win. He's good.

He's such a nice guy. Yeah, he's good. I could say I practiced with Bernardo. That's right. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champ on the mat on a Friday night. Doing some stand-up. Learning some stand-up. Not so good on his feet, but then we go to the ground he's killing everybody i know you know everyone's like wow he's good

you know he's really tight he's like very methodical he also brought us a gracie too hi that's right hyra and gracie yeah hyra gracie funny story because he was dating uh hyra gracie and her cousin was hyra who was living with her at the time and He also lived on on June 6th. So he would come in and train, you know, Judah love that guy such a goofball Remember he funny man. He's a funny smart charismatic great grappler. He's just like a charming guy You know, I mean, no, who so much too. i remember like when he first came in he was you know just a little chubby teenager but i by the time like you know before i think we saw him like before the whole pandemic but he he is grown like he i see him on instagram and he's yeah he's jacked

you know his father's high and gracey you know and he just has this legacy lenny and his dad and his uncle is henzo right and he comes to the dojo and thrown down doing judo and they're really great you know so we had a lot of jiu-jitsu guys during that time right because you know if you know bernardo if you know hyren you know those are two major major major names in new york city bjj scene at the time and they're learning stand-up and then those students are like where are you learning stand-up right they're like oh i go to shintaro's place on on the upper west side and those guys want to come in you know what i mean and then uh yeah it was exciting times you know yeah sometimes those jiu-jitsu guys are very very uh competitive

oh yeah i mean yeah someone challenged you too no people always challenge me and you know i don't really like it because it puts me in the spot and you know sometimes like my back hurts sometimes i'm not warmed up yeah you know like dude this guy one time came in like on a saturday you know and we do nuwaza on saturdays and he was like hey you know can we join and i was like oh man why does this jujitsu guy have to come in on a saturday when we're doing new waza you know what i mean because then that's everything is disadvantageous because you know my new was not that good you know and then thankfully he goes i want to go with you standing i'm like why would you want to do that yeah and then he goes i've been training standing you know i trained stand up in bra. And then he gives his friend,

he gets on the mat. I'm already on the mat. I'm like, okay. And then as he comes on to the mat, he gives his friend his phone. He's like, record this.

And the guy just straight up challenged me. You know? Was he, he fully expected to beat you? Oh yeah, yeah. He was so confident. He probably was going to beat me and then put was so confident he probably would was gonna beat me and then put it online or something yeah BJJ owns BJJ black belt

owns black belt you know all that yeah lucky for me like the guys who are on the international judo circuit that can beat me and then make me look bad those guys are competing full-blown and then they don't have time to come to new york and hang out and try to embarrass me you know what i mean thankfully you know uh so but yeah that was very interesting stuff like that happens all the time you know it's kind of the dojo life and judo is unfortunately like a show me martial art and if you're below a certain threshold you're gonna have people challenging you right once this beautiful lock of hair turns all gray then people i could just kind of rest on my laurels and just be like oh you know i used to be tough oh i'm too old now to take challenge matches but as of right now

how did your dad handle that when he was i don't know yeah same man he was tough he was one of the he was on the heavier side right and you know that's kind of like the joke between me and my father too. He's always like, man, thank God you are relatively heavy because you can be very, very good technically. You're 130 pounds and you have the same experience when a guy comes in 250, 260. You're going to have a really hard time. It's tough. It is tough to be a lightweight. So weight does matter. Weight matter strength does matter power weight you know all that stuff matters right right so my dad did it hard until 50 he said and then he was like after 60 years old

you really can't do that much randori you know that was his thing you go hard till you're 50 50 to 60 you like taper off and he goes when, when you're 60, can't do Rondori anymore. Sorry, buddy. I hope I can make it up to 50. You start BJJ when you're 50. No, I don't mean it in a condescending way. But in judo too, you could do a lot of Nwaza. Nwaza, you can keep doing it forever.

And then when you turn 70, you pick up or golf or golf yeah yeah yeah that's you know and then there's yeah such so many good guests and and not only that it wasn't just about judo because after like we said like you said we would stay around to like 10 and we will go eat that's right yeah and um there was our favorite spot this japanese place called sun chan yeah broadway 103rd yeah such a good spot we would like we're friends with the staff and then we'll go almost every week at some point yeah that was that was the days you know before i i had a kid you know before you moved to michigan yeah and we had our core crop of black belts training for the nationals and all this stuff it's something we talked about before right but it was perfect because it's this

japanese barbecue izakaya sort of a place you know two blocks from the dojo right whether you like it or not you're gonna go to the subway you're gonna go buy it and if everyone's going to the subway to go home you're gonna walk by and be like hey you guys want to just grab one cold one before we go and then we would go and eat and hang out and it was literally next to the subway like the entrance so it was like no excuse yeah and then we'll just like hey got some asahi that's right sushi yeah you know yakitoris it's amazing and sometimes we were terror you know sometimes you would get too drunk and too rowdy and then people would be like what's up with that guy you know a lot of college kids would go there too i think like a lot of the columbia university

college kids would be in there. And it's a very small, intimate setting, but not when we were there because we were rolling 15, 20 deep. Yeah, we'll just kind of occupy the whole corner. Yeah, occupy that thing. But, you know, we spent in there and we were very respectful and the staff loved us. Right. To a point where a lot of the waitresses would be texting us like, are you guys coming to Sanchon after judo? Like they knew, you know, after judo? Like they knew,

you know, like judo happened and then that we would be rolling in there. I know. And that Peter was going to be hitting on all the waitresses. No,

I did not. I was very respectful. I was very respectful and friendly. That's for your fiance that's listening. He's a doctor and a hero.

She is. She is. And, well, not a fiance anymore.'re we're not oh that's right that's right i was there for that i forgot and then i remember um i forget we probably had dinner and then we also went out one night we also went out to a dive bar and then we're going home we're going home you probably remember this and then you were like let's stop by at a bodega to pick up like haichu or something yeah there was and then remember and

then we go into that bodega right right next to sanchan yeah and then there was this group of guys hispanic guys in the back throwing down Modelo you could say Mexican they were Mexican you could say Mexican no I were they all Mexican yeah

I forget you could say Mexican it's okay Peter no I just I just want to make sure they're all Mexican because they could be from some other country

they told us they were Mexican oh okay well there were three Mexican guys two who work at Sanchan and one works right like flor de mayo and they're just after work throwing down just you know drinking modelo yeah and then

like playing some music in the back why they gotta be drinking modelo i don't know i mean it's a good fear they love modelo and then you had to go and talk to them and then we like remember that night there was that's right yeah it was just fun man it was like five judo guys six judo guys and then there's these mexican guys and we know them from the restaurant like you said right and we was like hey can we join you i don't know who said what but then before you know it we're just throwing back beers in the back of the bodega we got like tacos from the bodega and then they cooked us yeah that's right and then you had this great idea of doing um they had like legit jalapenos that's right and you were like you

always come up with this crazy competitions and you you basically convince them to do rock paper scissors and then the loser oh that's a huge chunk of that jalapeno yeah people would be like screaming and like oh my god it's so spicy your face is red and people would come in and be like hey can i buy this gatorade and then this guy who's working the cashier is like get out of here like he's like throwing water down his mouth and like shoot everywhere and and then remember this like guy came in it's like he's he's all like oh yeah i live across the street i've worked in wall street he was like he's all coked up yeah it was like it was clear and then he was like oh i'll do that challenge and he's he was pretty coked up and

then he took a huge bite of it. And then he was like, okay. And then nothing. It didn't hit him at all. And he just walked home. Yeah, it's because he did the blow. And then he rubbed it into his gums. He was doing nummies.

So he couldn't feel anything in his mouth. Yeah, he's going to freeze. He's like, ate the chili pepper. And he's like, mm. I know. That blew me away. He's like, have a good night, guys. And then just left yeah and then the the crazy thing is i actually had to compete at uh promotionals

yeah like the next day so i got home at five and then the promotionals are like two and then you're you wanted uh we're gonna carpool together over to new jersey and your dad was gonna come with us because he's on the committee right yeah and i wake up i get ready and then you know because i so much spicy food like my stomach is not sitting well and then i like rushed rushed to the dojo to meet up with you guys and then your dad and you are in the car but i had to tell your dad like what happened and then i'd like rush to the bathroom and whatnot it was it was a the aftermath was painful well let me tell you that was one of the most memorable nights is that the tournament where oh i knew you would bring it up yeah we, we can talk about it. Whatever. Let's talk about it. Yeah.

So, yeah. And then I, so I like, I was, I was, my stomach was a little upset. Like took care of that. And then we'll go over. It was, I was going for my Nida, second degree. And it, I had to play, there were like a handful of black belts there. And so I forget which one. I think it was like my last match i just had to win that one just to get qualified i don't know this guy so i play and i'm like okay i think i can beat this guy so i was pretty comfortable yeah and then i like did some throw

and then like i had him in my guard But he started doing the Ezekiel choke. And then I was like, oh, he's in my guard. Ezekiel choke. This is amateur hour. So I was kind of relaxing. Of course, I can get out. But then it locked on. It locked on.

And then I feel it. I can feel that I'm going out soon. And I'm trying to wiggle wiggle wiggle yeah and then he he has his arms around my neck essentially and then like i was about to go out and then like lightly tapped and then he let go but as soon as he lets go the ref says mate to stop yeah and stands us up back and I'm confused I'm like

okay I you fully expected the match to have been done he's like oh man I gave up

and you gave up you gave up you gave up very slightly like this and the referee didn't see it the guy let go

and then you were like shit I you know lost this match and then you guys get up and the referee's like, all right, guys, go, fight. Yeah. And the guy's like, what?

This guy. He's pissed. He's pissed. This guy tapped. And then you just jumped on him and slammed him. I'm like, yeah, I played to the whistle, man. The villain. Such a villain.

No one saw it, though. And then didn't they say like, you know somebody said like he tapped he tapped and then they asked you right and then the referee looked at you said did you tap and then you were like this i didn't answer i didn't i gave her i gave her a non-answer so what happened was there was so much there was so much confusion none of the people like Salama was manning the mat, like scorekeeping. He didn't see it. Lane didn't see it. Eugene was in my corner and didn't see it. Anyway, so everyone, and then the ref asked me, yeah, did you tap?

And I didn't say anything. I didn't say anything. And then. And then didn't you throw him into the scoreboard by accident? Like you guys ran out of bounds? No, he got pissed. He got really mad. Oh, he was pissed, yeah.

He was like, the guy tapped. Yeah, he tapped. And then everyone's like looking around like, anyone see him tap? And then the referee kind of looked at me. I was like, I don't think so. I don't think so. Right. Everyone's like shaking their head like, no.

And that's the advantage of the Friday night fights because everyone who was there was refereeing so there's a lot of favoritism going on there and it does exist you know it's hard right right and then he got pissed and he threw me to the TV like the school you guys went out of bounds and then you he shoved you into the TV the scoreboard and then and that's it we're broke it did it there was then there was no like the time and the score wasn't on so now they have to fix that so now you guys are standing around the guy's probably looking at you like you freaking tap then you freaking tap that peter's like i don't know what you're talking about and then the guy in his corner was talking to

eugene too like oh dude you dude, your guy just tapped. Like, what is this? And Eugene has no idea. At the end, he got gassed. And then I threw him with Sailor Moon again. I pinned him. I didn't just throw him. I pinned him.

Yeah. And he was pissed. That was a crazy match. I don't know if you're listening. I'm sorry that happened. But I was just being uh i was just can we find out who it was can we just find out who it is and then just reach out to him in a pod i i probably should i probably should i'll i'll i'll probably have to

that's the most dirtiest thing is it dirty though i was playing to the whistle i was no it's all right it's okay you know uh it's just just promotionals come on but yeah after that probably oh i hope he didn't quit i hope he didn't jesus but yeah and then we we had that we like we practiced judo go out after and we had some inter other interesting guests too some some we had some crazy stories friday nights remember yeah a lot yeah that guy joe yeah crazy joe yeah crazy joe he would roll in essentially he yeah essentially like homeless you know just coming in and just kind of nuts and scared everybody you know but you know like he was kind of a regular too though so you know he he was very

talented he very talented he was very athletic he was very athletic and there was that and then remember that guy georgian guy who came in like he was like a teenager georgian yeah he was a georgian champ he's a junior national champ from country georgia from the country georgia comes in he's like i got off plane i come here i challenge you i beat you you give me job okay and i'm like what the hell is this and then he's like uh check out my uh my my championship and then he tries to pull up a picture of him on a podium but his phone was locked, right? So he had the screen lock, and on the screen was just like a bare butt of like a woman,

like a bare naked ass just like on this lock screen. And he's trying to unlock his phone. He's like, hold on, hold on. One second, Sensei, one second. He's unlocking the thing. He finally unlocks it, and he goes, look, look. And it's like him on a podium all juiced up, you know? And then I'm like, man, I don't know if I want to like, I don't think this guy's stable. and he goes look look and he is it's like him on a podium all juiced up you know and then uh i'm

like man i don't know if i want to like i don't think this guy's stable oh this guy got off a plane probably was like on the plane for like 10 hours you know like he has a naked butt just on on the screen you know and he looks like he's pretty legit you know right it's probably sure yeah i i actually missed this practice funny enough enough, too. I wasn't there. And then that's the protocol. It's like, okay, my primary guys go out there. Then the enforcer goes out there. And then he's pretty tired.

And then I was warming up, watching him do judo the whole time. And then I'm like, all right, come on in. And then he goes for the Georgian and I lift him. Because I was just ready for it. He was too tired to fight out of it. You know what I i mean and then once you slam him and you take the first one then you coast for a little bit drag him around right and then i i open up some of my stuff and then timer goes you know and and then he never came back i never met never came back yeah never came back yeah you know you're a bit nice you yeah yeah another friday night just another friday

night at the dojo right you know what i mean we had a french guy coming once and then against their polish guy and they're going back and forth and it just gets little by little escalating you know one kick to the shin one elbow to the mouth a little bit of a headbutt it elevates in turn just start punching each other throwing hands you know i'm like no no stop stop you know and we're not really a dojo like that you know i don't want people to get the wrong idea that we're like sort of this no holds barred dungeon dojo we're not you know we're very highly educated you know we're on the upper west side lots of smart people young professionals good good crowd friendly crowd yeah and i think a lot of these stories might you know give people the wrong impression but yeah those guys started grappling and fighting and

you know it happens every now and then you know just the nature of the sport you know what i mean i think it's it's a good yeah it's it's it is an in the nature of the sport but you know you do i think you do you've done a good job to control for that um thank you i think it's it because that system funny you know it sounds funny of the you know getting the you know some of our black belts out first and then the enforcer goes and then you go out yeah and it's it's kind of it it protects the dojo environment in a way i think it does yeah it does and you know sometimes you got to skip the primary guys because the guy comes in It protects the dojo environment in a way, I think. It does. It does.

And, you know, sometimes you got to skip the primary guys because the guy comes in and then he's, you know, sometimes you don't know what these people who are guests, right? They're out for themselves. They're like, I want to train. I want to fight. I want to grapple, right? And they're not really there for the overall community. They're not really there to make each other better. They don't have that overall community vision.

You know what I mean? They're there for themselves. So they're here to fight. They vision you know what i mean they're there for themselves so they're here to fight they're here to prove something they're there for their ego you know who knows you know what i mean and then i have to protect my guys and sometimes they walk in and they're like complete maniacs and it's like all right sometimes i just got to go first you know i just got to go every now and then i'll do that but generally the enforcers always right christian girl it's was a enforcer for a while he was just like he had that title because he was great he was a you know top level dj guy he was big he was 200 pounds not too big good at judos did it his whole life he wrestled

also like he was just good all around grappler you know what i mean and sometimes you know they're killer on their feet we'll just start them in the walls and then we'll just do it for a couple rounds yeah and you know that's okay because then you get a guy that's sort of a maniac who might be sort of a crazy person you kind of tire them out you gas them out and you kind of not put him in his place but you know you uh put your best foot forward as a dojo. Right. Right.

Cause yeah, you need that. It's just like, Hey, we're not, we're not just backing down on that. Sorry about that. No,

it's okay. Yeah. No, that's what you gotta do, you know? And, uh, because you don't know what kind of culture they're coming from.

Right. Right. You see these guys in these like, uh, middle of nowhere dojos from russia where it's like you know kill or be killed mentality and they coming in there full blown don't care about your leg we'll drop you on your head anything to score anything to grapple and if that's the background that they're coming from they're gonna fight like that you can't tell them like hey be

respectful hey be like this don't hurt my guys they don't care right right so like you really have to take each person and then sometimes you know somebody walks in i'm like you're not getting on the mat you know sometimes you have to pull that too when they seem like you know crazy crazy unstable or whatever this very rarely but i've had to do that too yeah you have to you know you always observe on the side you know when you're teaching and then you you have to it's like it's not i one thing i really noticed with when you ran your practice is that it's not just a passive thing you you have to constantly keep thinking about how it's gonna play out like you gotta you always i know you always think about the matchups even with them among the judo guys you wouldn't you wouldn't just let anyone go with

anyone you know no yeah yeah and you see it sometimes too it's like these two guys are kind of like eyeballing each other right and they haven't really said anything and they would be a good round for each other and they don't want to go on mat one because they don't want to be embarrassed but then they also like don't want me to interfere if they you know if things get too tight so then they'll just slowly creep to the back of the dojo mat four you know while i'm not paying attention and i'm watching you know and then they're doing some crazy stuff and trying to kill each other you know and that's just not good for the overall culture of the dojo. You get two guys, you know, dropping F-bombs and kind of going at it

and then trying to injure each other. And, you know, yeah, some people thrive in that, but most people don't. Exactly. You know, and it's kind of counterintuitive, right? It's like, yeah, it's a grappling sport. Yeah, it's a fighting sport. But we're not there to fight, you know. We are, but within these rules rules within a martial arts setting where

we're all trying to make each other better you know i mean we have to have that first and then every person that walks into train has to add value to the room the value to the room in a way where they could give back in form of technique or make you better you know and everyone has to have that mindset yeah you know and it's sort of my job to keep everyone safe and keep everyone growing exactly and that that point about inclusivity is i think it's very important yeah like you said you know because of the nature of the sport a lot of times people have the idea some some do about this being a tough sport where it'll weed people out or something like that but i don't think that is the right attitude because judo and any other martial arts too like it's different different for everyone you know it's different for everyone man starting places different different isms you know right uh i'll

tell you a story man two of my best friends from college both wrestlers top level wrestlers you know one guy was uh he was a d3 all-amer, could have been a D1 All-American, had a couple troubles, just had bad luck. And his Division I program got dropped. All these different issues, right? He actually took fourth at the world team trials. Unbelievable guy. And he had this mentality of like, I will never give up. Knowingly giving up is just the most pathetic thing.

And I kind of explained to him the concept. There's chokes and arm bars. If you feel like your arm is in danger like you can give up you tap and then the person would let go

right if you're getting choked if you don't like it you know you feel like you're going underneath you just tap and they would let go

and he was like I will never willingly submit that's not what wrestlers do I will never willingly and he was offended

that I was even telling him the concept that's happened and then you know we work out we wrestle together you know he kills me in wrestling he's unbelievable wrestler right and then uh i get him in my guard you know and then i just do a simple juji choke and i'm strangling him you know and i'm choking him little by little i'm like slowly putting it out right right and then uh you see him shaking you see him trying to fight my hands off but he can't and then he starts scratching up my hand oh my god typical yeah

and like any minute now he's gonna willingly submit you know and then i see him put his hands up just to go tap and then this kid who's my best friend at the time mind you closes his fist and starts punching me in the face oh yeah i swear to god all right and then i have to like bury my head right i'm like you know what if i let go here you know uh i i really can't let go because he's gonna like people are watching right and he's just freaking trying to punch me in the face you know and i'm like hide in my face and then i choke him and as he's about to you know go unconscious he just you know does the tap and then know, what did he say after? Did he,

did he say, okay, I should have tapped. I mean, I was like, why didn't you just tap? He was like, I'll never give up or something like this. I was like,

you just did. And then he was just in complete denial, you know? Um, but he was a phenomenal, he did judo for like a year, you know, and I'm sure he picked up quickly.

Yeah. Yeah. He was unbelievable. He was, you know know still one of my closest friends we're probably gonna have steak in a few weeks good good yeah and then my other friend mike who's part of this you know he too had the same mentality he was in the room when my friend mattia from italy we actually just took third in the sambo world championships oh he was in the room but mattia's is a 145-pound guy.

And my friend Mike was 220 pounds. And he said the exact same thing. I will never willingly admit defeat. I will never tap. Why would you even tell me about the consequences of tapping? You know I won't tap. And then my friend Matias puts him in a chokehold. And then he's trying to fight out of it.

But Matias is behind him. So he's like trying to do this thing. Scratching at his arms. And he just goes out. Oh, completely., Matias behind him, so he's like, trying to do this thing, scratching at his arms, and he just goes out. Oh, completely. He's like, I was like,

yeah, out completely, and he's like, shaking on the mat, you know, and he wakes up, and he's like, whew,

you know, and I remember he had just got engaged, and he woke up, and he was like, I'm like, you okay, Mike? He goes,

he's like, whew, I'm getting married. That's what he said, he's like, I'm getting married. I'm like, yeah, you are, you know, and he's like i'm getting married that's what he said he's like i'm getting married i'm like yeah you are you know and he's like man i did i just get choked and i'm like yeah bro you know and uh but that's just the mentality that's just the culture you know and uh so i think that's yeah so it's like because of people come come to judo come to bjj and all these martial arts in from different

backgrounds and it's those wrestlers offer a lot of things to other people and they can teach them about the hustle the the winning mentality and whatnot but like you say it's not that's not everything so yeah if this diversity of you know views is very important i think it's to the health of the dojo and the community and you know to do that i think uh teaching coaching is not a passive job it you need to be active you can't just like oh i'm i'm a senior coach now i'm just gonna sit back and let them do a Rondori or do a Chikomis. You know, it can't be like that. It's too dangerous, you know, and you see it, right, in the patterns of the technique.

And then you see people like, oh, this person's looking to counter that thing. What's he going to counter him with? Is he going to counter him with Taniyatoshi? It seems kind of dangerous, you know. And then you kind of know like, okay, can this person, you know, defend the Taniyatoshi safely, right? Is this other person going to sit on his leg and snap his leg? How high is the risk? What is it worth letting them just continue versus me stepping in and saying,

hey, watch that Taniyatoshi. And that's one thing that I always do is watch that Taniyatoshi, and that's for both of them. The person who's about to take it, oh, shoot, is that coming? And the person who's about to give it, like, yeah, watch it. Maybe I won't go for it. Because I'm so openly talking about it. know and easy easy hey watch it watch it you know don't go stay in bounds all these different little cues that it teaches the

player like i'm listening i'm watching you know and uh it keeps everyone safe really i'm kind of like i tried to equate myself like people think i do you know coach this high level judo stuff but most of the time just directing traffic you know what i mean all those guys like at the airport going like this i'm like hey watch out no tanya toshi don't do that you know they'll punch him you know like right those little things early top early those little things are the you know that they always say the devil's in the detail it is about the detail yeah and i think the armbar too right people take the armbar too right people take the armbar and they go back too fast and i always say right you extend it don't hyper

extend it and then the person who's receiving it sometimes like okay he's not gonna hyper extended it it's my arm is straight okay now i'm gonna try to fight out of it and that's okay two people trust each other but two people that don't really know each other on a friday night right right right okay you know watch it all right you got it i'll say you got it you got it you got it you know tap early tap quick right it's not always the case like if you and eugene are doing on you know juji right one of you guys are in a stock position the arm is extended i'll let you guys find it out and then play with each other a little bit in that position right to learn you know because you need to put yourself in that position but two guys that i don't really know or a guest versus one of my guys with the arm extended i'm like yo you got it you

got it yeah i usually just tap right away as soon as i don't know yeah it's not worth nine times out of ten yeah so besides yeah this important points about being at uh being having an active coach and then being inclusive and whatnot how i i'm sure all other dojos would love to have this kind of practice too like i'm all uh you know having guests all over how did you like do you have any tips for other dojos about just specifically inviting people, like how to reach out and whatnot? How did you manage to build up this kind of network? That's a good question. You know, people always ask, like, they're always looking for rounds.

Right. You know what I mean? And then when someone comes in that's good from another dojo, I always want to make sure that they're coming in on good terms with their coach. Right. So I have a very good relationship with all the coaches in the region. So it's like, hey, where did you train? I trained at this club. And then I'll talk to the coach.

Hey, man, this guy came in. What do you think about this guy? Is he okay to come train? Did you know that he was coming? Because some people are kind of old school. They don't want their students training outside. And I think that's a little bit weird too in this day and age you have to go out and train a little bit and you know those old days of belonging to one dojo and one dojo only you know it's kind of different now you know what i mean um but yeah make sure i have

a dialogue with their coach to talk to that you know about them and stuff like this and then when they come in, it's like, Hey, listen, I don't know how you did it over there, but in my dojo or in our dojo, you know, we're not supposed to do,

we don't do Tanya Toshin. They're like, why not? You know, it's freaking ridiculous. Whatever it is. It's like, okay,

this guy's out of here. I don't really like the way he's not receptive to the, you know, right. Right. And I get it. It's like, why,

how come they're just inquisitive? Okay, sure. I'll explain it to you. These are the reason why this move is dangerous. If it's like why how come they're just inquisitive okay sure i'll explain it to you these are the reason why this move is dangerous if it's a black belt black belt match i will let this happen you know whatever it is right but just based on each sort of milestone in the conversation i gather little by little enough data do i want this guy here or not you know what i mean and generally if they pass all those sort of little check marks and then they're able to be on the mat and be a very good part of the community, they add something and then they get something in return.

When they go back to their club, they'll invite people that are just like them to the club too to do judo. And if they want to join on a Monday or Wednesday, I'm like, no, not really. You can come on Friday though. Only with the blessing of your coach because I'm not in this business to take other people's students right i really don't want to do that you know and sometimes you can't help it right it's like this coach is an asshole and i don't really don't like it there can i join train here and even still then i nine times out of ten will reach out to their coach and be like hey this guy came you know what do you think right because yeah that being open to other coaches is i think it's it's a good point uh very important too because if you show respect like that i remember like a lot of coaches

actually brought their students themselves on friday yeah that's happened many times yeah i don't think there's one dojo owner in new york new jersey who's like ah shintaro's an asshole actually maybe i don't know. Maybe they are. But generally speaking, I think I'm very respectful. I know some coaches sort of get at each other's throats and they have like, I don't like that guy or this guy.

Whatever it is. That sort of respect goes a long way, man. And having that dialogue with everybody and really being communicative, that's really the key. and really being communicative that's really the key yeah you know and i've had instances where it's like a guy comes in to train with me and then i'm like i talk to their coach and then they're like guy's no good man yeah how did you have that kind of conversation you know speaking of communication like you need

to have this sometimes you have to have these tough conversations like like how do you how do you because i'm not really good at that i mean i always saw that you're really you you are good at it and i was wondering how you approach these tough conversations yeah you know i think you have to have be direct and kind kind obviously you know uh for instance there was a guy that came in to do judo with me at my club and he just expected it to be free. And that's a problem with judo. People think judo is free.

Judo is not free. It shouldn't be free. You know what I mean? I make my living this way. I have to pay rent. There's operating costs. There's expenses. You just come in here just because you want to scrap and you kick the shit out of some people and then when these guests who are in for themselves hurt my students you know that hurts my bottom line too right you know what i mean and when that's the case they come in it's

like oh hey i'm here to do judo i'm like great this is the price sheet like that it's not free right i'm like no it's not for you wouldn't walk into equinox and expect to get a free workout in you know like what you're gonna go to new york sports club and like hey i'm just here to work out and lift weights can i just lift for free you know what i mean it's like oh what about the free trial it's like as soon as they say the words free trial can i have a free trial it's like what do you why are you entitled to something for free do you go to starbucks hey give me a free coffee you know what i mean so it's like customer education a lot of the times and it's like i have to explain like hey listen there's limited amount of space on the mat we're in a reality where new york city real estate is crazy expensive every square inch of this dojo has a dollar value to it right because

at the end of the day i have to pay the building to operate the school right you know and most of the time when people hear that kind of a thing you know they understand right and it's like hey man you wearing that marmot jacket that's three hundred dollars you know you can't pay you know an x amount of dollars for that fee like judo doesn't mean that much to you my time is invaluable to you you know and at first i was very kind of like shy and timid about it because I didn't want people to think, oh, it's about the money. Right. And it's not about the money.

You know, like I could be charging more. I could be upselling. I could franchise the dojo, this and that. Lots of different ways to make money. But I have just enough that I'm happy with and I'm okay with it. You know, of course, I want to grow little by little. Controlled growth is the key. But the way I ran in the beginning, it was like i was kind of shy about it and i didn't

really know how to go about it but then you know the more times i had the oh you know can i get 50 off oh do you have this right oh i should have no i should i shouldn't have to pay because x y and z uh the more times i came up with that the more experience i have with it the better i got at it yeah you know what i mean i think and it's also you highlight this point where i'm sure you you guys talk about this a lot in in business school too and like you can't it's not just the pricing is not just about making money like you can't just go you know underprice you because people expect what they pay for you know i think you kind of have to have a certain standard and you have to make that expectation clear to everyone

yeah if you have a product right now in your hand peter and i'm like how much is it how much would you give it to me for and you say it's going to be 17 cents and that you were going to give it to me for 17 cents i would probably think it's not worth that much right right but if in your other hand you had something that cost you know three thousand dollars and then you're going to give it to me for three thousand dollars right you probably buy it be like wow it must be that omega speed master right right it's like joke there no but it's true it's people associate value money with value you you know, and that's one thing. Right. And different places warrant different prices because just the operational expenses are different.

You know, if you're on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, rent is going to be different than if you were in the middle of nowhere, New Jersey. Right. Right. You know, so it's that's something that is, you know, I would love to be if I were, you know, millionaire. And if I didn't have to worry about money, then I would run the dojo as a nonprofit. Then it could be like a black belt's get. All I have to do is pay $5 or whatever it is. But then I wouldn't be doing my neighboring dojo a favor because now all of a sudden I'm pricing a certain service at a certain price. Now that person can't make money and can't make a living.

service at a certain price and now that person can't make money and can't make a living you know when you compete on pricing and you undercut each other it's a race to the bottom to see who who's going to get the cheapest thing right now everybody loses everybody has to get a nine to five and then everybody has to slug their way after a long work day to the dojo and give like you know not such good teaching right you know i mean Because they're tired from the day. I'm not saying you can't be a good teacher after nine to five. Right. But if you have a dojo that's successful and that's all you do and that's all you care about, it's a different type of a quality of service.

It's a different quality of service. Not just a side hustle or side job anyway. Not a side hustle. Yeah. Yeah. You're absolutely right. You know, so yeah yeah these are some things that i think about and then sometimes i've had people that i've known for many years coming in

and you know people talk each to each other right you know and people you know that guy on the side that has no one to work out with doesn't have anyone to work out with for a reason you know what i mean and he wants free judo. Right. No one wants to work out with you. You're zero value add. And it's not like, okay, you're a plus one on the mat,

plus one on the mat. I have eight people on the mat. Some of those people are negative. Some of those people are a negative one and negative two. And if those people

don't want to pay, even if they pay, I don't want their money. I don't want their money. I don't want them there because it's toxic. It's a cancer to the club. You know what I mean?

And you have to be able to filter out these people. But you can't just cut them without explicitly telling them. This is the reason why you're not fitting in here. Of course, you have to be a little bit tactful about it. Right. Yeah. And that's what it means to be a manager, right? You have to sell any sort of corporation.

You have to have a vision. and you have to tell the vision and then have the people sort of come on board. And then if they're not doing their job, you have to say, hey, you're not doing your job. You've got to do your job. You have to motivate and be kind and caring. All these different things. It's really no different. I say CEO. But it's like the CEO of your dojo.

And your dad is a CEO. He's retired now. And he's great. Yeah, but it's like the ceo of your dojo you know and you have to be and your dad is a ceo he's retired and he's a great yeah yeah but he's great right he's a very charismatic charming guy yeah no cares he is a very super high level of communication abilities i think you know i'm i'm starting to realize more and more about that like i mean i i i i i'm a software engineer by trade and i when i got out of college i never really thought about communication as as being part of my job description but yeah even in engineering now that i'm more of a senior engineer i realized that it's mostly about communication it's about even within your team like you said we you have a solution you have to convince people a lot of people have different ideas about solutions and they are married to

them sometimes so emotionally attached to them and you have to be very tactful like you said and then convince them that yeah your solution is better and it's's, it's, it's very important. And then every aspect of the life of your life, I think. Yup. Yup. That's absolutely right, man. Well,

I think, um, there was a great chat that we had, you know, coming from Friday practice into some musings about life. And, um, I hope you guys enjoyed it.

Any parting words for the listeners? Yeah. You know, uh, YouTube channel, blah, channel blah blah blah check it out share subscribe all that stuff you know i have this thing i'm doing the dojo.com there's a white belt curriculum on there i have a dvd series on judo fanatics bj fanatics and i have been doing lots of stuff on the blog too with Peter who's sort of my partner on this and

hopefully you know I me and Peter can keep bringing you guys cool judo related content and entertain you guys a little bit and then give you some of our thoughts on martial arts and other things so thank you guys for listening truly like it share it subscribe it all that

stuff yeah thanks for listening guys and uh yeah we'll uh we'll be back with more content more fun content and please stay tuned