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Address: 47-69 Sheppards Street, GordonvaleTelephone:0405239655Email: southside_judo_club@hotmail.comFacebook:www.facebook.com/CairnsJudoSouthside/Website:www.judocairns.com
KOUKETSU NA JUDO
My path.....to Kouketsu-Na-Judo.
My name is Luke Ronlund and I am the sensei (teacher) at Cairns Southside Judo Club. While I may have founded the club only 5 years ago, as well as being the cause for much change in North Queensland Judo in that relatively short period of time, my Judo journey started far too many years earlier. Along the way, my judo changed as did my views on how I should pursue it's practice. I hope this page provides some idea of my judo journey to date, and how my approach has slowly but incrementally changed due to my experiences along the way....
"What is Judo"? "Is Judo a self defence?""Is Judo a sport?""Is it a religion?""Is Judo for collecting different coloured belts and medals?""Why is Judo practiced differently in different clubs and why are there different rules and different organisations?"
To partially answer some of these many questions, I believe the answer to "what is Judo" can be seen when looking at different judo clubs and can be found when looking at different judo teachers, sometimes called "coach", "instructor", but also occassionally referred to as "Sensei". Without a Sensei (Japanese for "teacher") there is no Judo club. And the way that the Sensei teaches.... what, how and why he (or she) teaches.... all adds up to a club with an organisational culture that may be good (and even excellent), bad (and even toxic) or indifferent (or just "middle of the road"). Over time, judo clubs may even morph from one extreme to another...from a position of weakness to strength or from strength to weakness. The majority of judo clubs seem to eventually "die" ie to close their dojo doors. More often than not, this is due to the health, personal life, and enthusiasm of the club Sensei. The fact remains however, that a Judo school survives (and hopefully thrives) only with the presence of a Sensei, and the manner in which the Sensei conducts him or herself on and off the Judo mat. In short, Judo in a club or dojo is often a mirror of the instructors approach to his or her teaching.
For me, Judo has been a continual journey beginning 40 years ago at age 12, with occassional pauses and changes of direction due to other life pressures. What Judo has been to me...what it has meant to me... has changed and evolved over the years. My Judo has included everything from club recreational "play" to National level competition. It has included coaching, managing, refereeing and administration at every level from club up to National. I have been a member of 4 different Australian states, and of 5 different State Associations. My judo experiences have involved mountainous highs as well as almost debilitating lows. As for "politics".... in short, I've seen it all!! And now, as the main instructor of my second club (the 1st being Larrakeyah Barracks Judo Club in the Northern Territory during the 1990's), Judo seems to be taking me down yet another path. Especially over the past 4 years, it has been my experience that personally testing times can give rise to serious introspection, re-allignment of priorities, and the motivation to step into new and unchartered waters.
So 40 years later, at age 54, as a 5th Degree black belt, and with a club of approximately 80 active judo players (a club which I have been teaching with assistance since it's start back in April 2013), I have reached a point where Judo to me is "Kouketsu Na Judo"..... Literally this translates as "Noble Judo" but to me its meaning is more akin to "Judo with integrity". This is a concept which I came up with through the assistance of my student and friend Mitsuhiro Fujita. For me, Kouketsu Na Judo is Judo with Integrity. Anything less for me, would be hypocrytical and would debase the life-long journey I've undertaken to reach this point. Kouketsu Na Judo is what I believe to be my approach to Judo and represents not only my judo journey to this point but also into the future.
Kouketsu Na Judo is not about ego as a player or coach, of winning medals or major competitions. It is much more than simply "sports Judo" based on a narrow perspective, a perspective that I once had as a young and inexperienced National level Judo competitor. Kouketsu Na Judo is also not just about learning a collection of Judo skill sets for "recreation". If judo is not just a recreational sport, it is also not "just" the alternative ie a method of "self defence". And the values inherant in Budo (the Japanese warrior code underlying all Japanese martial arts) make Judo much more than simple a means of physical activity. For me, Judo is an activity that should seek to encompass community expectations of being Safe, Supportive, Inclusive and Enjoyable. Further, consistant with what I understand to be the intentions of Jigoro Kano Shihan (the founder of Judo), I believe values based judo practice allows all Judoka the opportunity to continually strive for personal development (one of Kano's three goals for practicing Judo). I believe Judo should encompass (1) a system of Self Defence (2) a system of physical exercise and (3) a means for intellectual and moral personal development. Judo, "the Gentle Way" should not just be the sum of those three components but rather, the gestalt of all three ie the whole being greater than the sum of the parts. In doing so, Judo is a path, a way of life both on and off the mat. Idealistic perhaps. But it inspires me and motivates me to continue my judo journey in a way that does not just mean collecting medals or helping others to collect sports judo competition medals.
Kouketsu Na Judo....Judo with integrity that adheres to safe, supportive, inclusive and enjoyable grassroots judo practice. Kouketsu Na Judo is a product of my past, as I am have been shaped by my past judo experiences. Kouketsu Na Judo is now the means by which I shape my future Judo and shape the Judo of my students whether that be short term or long term. My judo journey continues beyond that of my past as detailed below. My well wishes to all who also travel on a judo journey....
To partially answer some of these many questions, I believe the answer to "what is Judo" can be seen when looking at different judo clubs and can be found when looking at different judo teachers, sometimes called "coach", "instructor", but also occassionally referred to as "Sensei". Without a Sensei (Japanese for "teacher") there is no Judo club. And the way that the Sensei teaches.... what, how and why he (or she) teaches.... all adds up to a club with an organisational culture that may be good (and even excellent), bad (and even toxic) or indifferent (or just "middle of the road"). Over time, judo clubs may even morph from one extreme to another...from a position of weakness to strength or from strength to weakness. The majority of judo clubs seem to eventually "die" ie to close their dojo doors. More often than not, this is due to the health, personal life, and enthusiasm of the club Sensei. The fact remains however, that a Judo school survives (and hopefully thrives) only with the presence of a Sensei, and the manner in which the Sensei conducts him or herself on and off the Judo mat. In short, Judo in a club or dojo is often a mirror of the instructors approach to his or her teaching.
For me, Judo has been a continual journey beginning 40 years ago at age 12, with occassional pauses and changes of direction due to other life pressures. What Judo has been to me...what it has meant to me... has changed and evolved over the years. My Judo has included everything from club recreational "play" to National level competition. It has included coaching, managing, refereeing and administration at every level from club up to National. I have been a member of 4 different Australian states, and of 5 different State Associations. My judo experiences have involved mountainous highs as well as almost debilitating lows. As for "politics".... in short, I've seen it all!! And now, as the main instructor of my second club (the 1st being Larrakeyah Barracks Judo Club in the Northern Territory during the 1990's), Judo seems to be taking me down yet another path. Especially over the past 4 years, it has been my experience that personally testing times can give rise to serious introspection, re-allignment of priorities, and the motivation to step into new and unchartered waters.
So 40 years later, at age 54, as a 5th Degree black belt, and with a club of approximately 80 active judo players (a club which I have been teaching with assistance since it's start back in April 2013), I have reached a point where Judo to me is "Kouketsu Na Judo"..... Literally this translates as "Noble Judo" but to me its meaning is more akin to "Judo with integrity". This is a concept which I came up with through the assistance of my student and friend Mitsuhiro Fujita. For me, Kouketsu Na Judo is Judo with Integrity. Anything less for me, would be hypocrytical and would debase the life-long journey I've undertaken to reach this point. Kouketsu Na Judo is what I believe to be my approach to Judo and represents not only my judo journey to this point but also into the future.
Kouketsu Na Judo is not about ego as a player or coach, of winning medals or major competitions. It is much more than simply "sports Judo" based on a narrow perspective, a perspective that I once had as a young and inexperienced National level Judo competitor. Kouketsu Na Judo is also not just about learning a collection of Judo skill sets for "recreation". If judo is not just a recreational sport, it is also not "just" the alternative ie a method of "self defence". And the values inherant in Budo (the Japanese warrior code underlying all Japanese martial arts) make Judo much more than simple a means of physical activity. For me, Judo is an activity that should seek to encompass community expectations of being Safe, Supportive, Inclusive and Enjoyable. Further, consistant with what I understand to be the intentions of Jigoro Kano Shihan (the founder of Judo), I believe values based judo practice allows all Judoka the opportunity to continually strive for personal development (one of Kano's three goals for practicing Judo). I believe Judo should encompass (1) a system of Self Defence (2) a system of physical exercise and (3) a means for intellectual and moral personal development. Judo, "the Gentle Way" should not just be the sum of those three components but rather, the gestalt of all three ie the whole being greater than the sum of the parts. In doing so, Judo is a path, a way of life both on and off the mat. Idealistic perhaps. But it inspires me and motivates me to continue my judo journey in a way that does not just mean collecting medals or helping others to collect sports judo competition medals.
Kouketsu Na Judo....Judo with integrity that adheres to safe, supportive, inclusive and enjoyable grassroots judo practice. Kouketsu Na Judo is a product of my past, as I am have been shaped by my past judo experiences. Kouketsu Na Judo is now the means by which I shape my future Judo and shape the Judo of my students whether that be short term or long term. My judo journey continues beyond that of my past as detailed below. My well wishes to all who also travel on a judo journey....
1976-2016: a 40 year Judo Journey that continues
1976 1983 1987 1997 2016
QUEENSLAND JUDO
1976-1979: Queensland Amateur Judo Union (QAJU)Aged 13-16
1980: Leaving Qld at age 16 to Join the Australian Defence Force-
10 years service with the Australian Regular Army....
NEW SOUTH WALES JUDO
1981-1989: Judo Federation of Australia (NSW)Aged 18-26
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VICTORIAN JUDO
1989-1992: Judo Federation of Australia (VIC)Aged 26-29
1992: Leaving Victoria and the Army-
move to the Northern Territory, Completing University and Chasing some Cattle...
NORTHERN TERRITORY JUDO
1995-2000: Judo Federation of Australia (NT)Aged 32-37
2000: Leaving the Northern Territory and Judo-
Again beginning with military service (including 3 operational deployments) and leading on to other life events including
marriage, family and living overseas.
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QUEENSLAND JUDO
2012 -present
Aged 49-54
Jan 2016-present: member of the Australian Kodokan Judo Association (through its state affiliate QKJA)
Nov 2014-Jan 2016: member of the Australian Judo Union
Apr 2012- Nov 2016: member of the Judo Federation of Australia (through its state affiliate JFAQ)
Nov 2014-Jan 2016: member of the Australian Judo Union
Apr 2012- Nov 2016: member of the Judo Federation of Australia (through its state affiliate JFAQ)
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