Tackling Nature

“I won the All Japan Championship in the fall of 1937. My dream came true. I pinched my cheek several times. It really hurt. It was not a dream. After dinner, I did 500 push-ups, bunny hopped 1km, and did Makiwara strikes of karate 500 times.”
Masahiko Kimura

“At the height of his career, (his training) involved a thousand push-ups and nine hours' practice each day. Kimura's training regimen also involved significant weight training and resistance training in which he would push and pull on trees.”

For those of you that don’t know Kimura was the legendary judo master that defeated Helio Gracie. What is of interest to me here is his training practices, which, as quoted above include the use of trees. When I used to practise judo we were told that Kimura used to attempt to throw a tree up to 1000 times a day with various techniques. I did some more research and learned that Kimura would often bleed profusely from lacerations on his back as he smashed it against the tree.

A Simple Principle

Kimura never, as far as I am aware, managed to throw a tree, tearing its roots from the ground. But Kimura took on nature as part of his training regimen and that, by comparison, made the challenge of men much easier. I think today’s dominant ego culture has many athletes wedded to the energy they gain from overcoming others. But a man will only help you develop to a point. Nature, in my opinion, can take you further.

If you’re tackling then, think about the prospect of trying to tackle a tree to the ground. Do you think you might improve your commitment to the tackle? Do you think that tackling a man may become easier by comparison?

“Kimura was extremely disappointed with his four losses in 1935. He considered quitting Judo, but through the advice and encouragement of his best friends Funayama and Kai he began training with a new found determination. All through the nights he practiced against a tree to perfect his special Osoto-gari.”

“It was not unusual for his opponents to request "no Osoto-gari" before practice.”

So take a leaf out of old school hard training practices and go find yourself a tree and beat the sh*t out of it.