Ronda Rousey, her second trip to the big game. She just won the silver at Worlds. There's a serious chance that she's coming home with a medal, quite possibly Gold.

http://rivercitypc.blogspot.com/2008/07/ronda-rousey-orgasmic-sneezer.html#links

I'd roll with her "classically..."




http://thestudywithin.blogspot.com

I've rolled w/her. Not "classically" unfortunately...

did she sneeze at all?

LOL. No. I'll cover my gi in pepper next time.

or antihistamines.

Ronda just won her 1st match by ippon (pin). You can watch it live right now at:

http://www.nbcolympics.com/judo/index.html

won her 2nd round w/an armbar at 2:48. She's in the quarterfinals now.

Fell asleep.

Ronda lost her third match, then came back and won two matches to take the bronze. Uneo (JPN) took gold and Hernandez (CUB) took silver.

A-
What is the hand sign when they roll their hands like travelling in basketball? I have seen it a time or two and don't understand.

One observation with Judoka in these games:
THey need more focus as after they throw they have a bad habit of looking up at the ref to see if they got ippon. A lot of sloppiness in that regard.
Jake

the traveling=shido

typically a penalty for stalling, non-combativeness.

Jake,

The judoka are looking at the referee to make sure the corner judges don't overrule him/her. I've seen bjj black belts look at the ref too in order to make sure they get their points as well. These are sports, after all.

Thanks Jason. I was guessing something along those lines. 1 point penalty right?

A-
So have I, but the Judoka seem to come out of position to look, instead of maintaining control and just looking with a turn of the head.
Thanks
Jake

J,

That's b/c you usually knock the wind out of your opponent when you throw him/her. I've thrown oppt's and looked up to see what the call was, b/c we both knew that a throw was just completed. Besides, most people aren't in an advantagous position after a throw, which is kind of the point. BJJ has a hierarchy of pins, judo has a hierarchy of throws. And, we like the idea of ending a match in a split second.

The other thing to consider is the impact of the throw. I've knocked out oppenents, and been knocked out myself. I felt one guy go limp when we hit the ground, so I knew he wasn't plannning any kind of counter attack. I got knocked out during my first black belt match. I woke up w/my oppt in my half guard and I was working a choke. I couldn't finish it b/c the left side of my body went numb!

FYI, we're nice to our training partners during randori, but we land on our opponents in shiai. That's why we sign waivers to compete.

shido is now equivalent to koka, so a match cannot be won outright by way of penalties in the tradional sense, but will be won by decision at the end of the match if there are no higher scores.

attacking someone ~ three times in a row without a response from your opponent is the typical strategy to actively pursue your opponent getting penalized. That way, you are ahead from the beginning, and force him to pick up the pace and or take risks to close the gap.

Ronda won Bronze-

she was upset/surprised about ten seconds in to her match against a Belgian that obviously did her homework and scouted her HARD.

I am totally crest-fallen. She should have won GOLD. But, this is actually the FIRST ever medal an American woman has brought home in Judo.

Speaking of Olympians, -60kg player Taraje needs help. Check out this post to see what he's going through.
http://rivercitypc.blogspot.com/2008/08/help-olympian.html#links

I feel for the dude, but give me a break, there are hundreds of thousands of us out there that have financial issues, and are in over our heads in CC debt! Instead of helping one kid, how about trying to change the bullshit system?
Tuition has gone through the roof at all universities, big or small, in all cities. We won't even mention the cost of books, or the cost of living!
I wish him all the luck in the world, but really his story is not unique. This is the legacy one generation leaves for the next. We are truly a debter nation.
Jake

I'm w/Jake on this one. Besides, what about all of the other Olympians? Rhadi Ferguson spent $30K on travel to make it to the Olympics in 2004. I don't see him asking for money. I guess that's why his products don't come cheap either.

Ronda did the smart thing and put off college while training for the Olympics. She got a job at Home Depot in Boston, through the Adopt an Athlete Program, and suplemented her income by giving judo clinics throughout the US.

Not sure about other sports, but many Olympic judoka in the US live w/family to make ends meet.

There are companies that will help him manage his CC debt for free. I recently changed majors so I could receive an assistanship and other funding to pay for grad school.

$30K!?!?!?!?! WOW!

Frankly I think college is overrated anymore. Not like it used to be when my parents (60 YO) went. My father was adamant about me going, and honestly though I enjoyed it immensely, it really got me nothing but debt. I have yet to have a job where a degree comes in handy. I certainly have not been paid more because of it! Of course I got a LA degree, so it is all subjective. But even many of my friends that are getting masters and PHD's say they are simply trying to bide time before having to pay off debt.
It is a shame what has happened to this country in terms of education and monetary situations.
Jake

It gets better. Rhadi had only been competing in the US. And since the competition level is lower than most parts of the world, none of those medals meant anything. Other people, like Ronda for example, had spent a fraction of money on competitions and opted to go to training camps and as many dojos as possible. The competitions she did go to were international level, which carry more weight, so it was easier, and cheaper, for her to qualify. Rhadi was also finishing his Ph.D. at the time. He wasn't a happy camper in Athens...

An excon told me a couple of weeks ago, "A BA is the new high school diploma." Inflation hasn't kept up with college degrees. And many employers are looking for more than a degree. They want specialized experience, the ability to think on your feet, and being multilingual helps too.

There are always scholarships. I got so much money last year to study Chinese that I was able to spend a month at the Kodokan after I was done in China.

The type of degree helps too. I had a couple of friends that had MBAs or MAs in Comp Sci that went to China to strike it rich in the booming dotcom industy. Well, when they got there, they found out why all of these multinational corporations are doing business in China. There are so many people in China w/business related degrees that even the white-collar jobs don't pay well. My friends were only making $10-$15,000 USD/yr. while working 14hr. 6 days/wk. They had student loans to pay off here, so they came back.

My classmates who didn't go to grad school have been in China for the last few years making a killing. They are making $75,000 USD/yr. teaching English at universities in Beijing. They are only working 20 hours/wk, and the universities have bought them nice apartments, and cars for those who have Chinese spouses. They all have BAs in history.

The best thing to do is to find a niche for yourself. I am going back to China next year to study Environmental Policy. I'll have a MA from Renmin Da and an interdisciplinary MA from NMSU. It's a problem both countries need to address, and they are putting lots of money into finding a solution, which means they're going pay me to study this and improve my Chinese in the process. I got a job offer last week and I haven't even started the program.

If you want to teach English or go back to school to improve your Chinese, or possibly get another degree, send me an email. I can send you some links for funding and/or research opportunities.