2012 Summer Olympics: Ivo dos Santos Judo Blog
Australian judo player and MMA fighter Ivo dos Santos is currently preparing to compete in the men’s 66-kilogram (145.5-pound) division at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, where he will attempt to become the first Australian male to medal in judo since 1964. Here is his latest blog entry.
It’s hard to believe that this whole journey I’ve been on has less than four weeks left. The final month of preparation, whilst exciting, is also the most nerve-racking.
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After a lot of planning, it was decided the best course of action would be for us to do a solid preparatory phase of training at home in May and June, compete at the Australian National Championships and then head to Europe in late June. We started in Prague for the European Cup competition and Nymburk training camp. Moving on from there, we’ve gone to Castelldefels in Spain for another European Judo Union training camp. We are then going on to Hungary for 12 days of training. This will be followed by a week in Walsall, England, and finally on to the Olympic Village.
The opportunity to train with the guys we’ll be fighting at the
games was too good to pass up, so unfortunately we won’t return
home until after it’s all done.
So... the competition in Prague didn’t go too well for me, as I made a tactical mistake against Israel in the first round and was thrown for ippon in the final minute despite leading by a yuko. Luckily, the Nymburk training camp had 12 of the guys contesting the 66-kilo division in London, so I was quickly able to switch my focus to them and how I would methodically break down their styles and work on effective game plans.
I’ll elaborate on that. So, I don’t know what the future holds for me post-London and, to be honest, right now I don’t care. I am treating July 29 as the final competition of my life and will prepare for it accordingly. Now, I am pretty sure that out of the 32 guys in my division come London, I am the only one with a job and a mortgage.
With that in mind, I know exactly how much work I’ve put in over the years and where my strengths and weaknesses lie. My plan in this final phase is to fight my competitors as often as possible. Regardless of how many times I get caught, I am looking for small chinks in their armor, where I can pinch a yuko or nullify their strong grips enough to get them into shido trouble.
Don’t get me wrong: I am not enjoying getting thrown around like a rag doll. (Thankfully not everyone is doing that to me!) I am putting every ounce of energy into beating these guys, but I am under no illusions that I will be the most technically accomplished player stepping onto the mat on the day. I have good cardio, my strength is almost comparative to the top guys, my grips are unorthodox and annoying, and my newaza transitions are OK.
The self-talk I have in my head for every second of these randori is to just find a way to bring them into my world. There have been hundreds of occasions in judo where a top player has lost to some numptie (i.e. me) in a fight where the stronger player just couldn’t impose his game. I need to channel all of my energy into pushing the odds my way.
It is definitely frustrating when the best guys in the world throw me 10-12 times in five minutes, but what has been happening -- and has given me some hope -- is that I’ve managed one or two throws in almost all these randori. Call them lucky or sympathy ippons -- they count in my mind! Long term, this isn’t great for my development because it is showing that I am well behind them, but I just need to find a way for my lucky or sympathy ippon to be the first one on July 29. Like the famous phrase in judo goes: “Only the first ippon counts.”
In between fighting my Olympic competitors (14 of them in Castelldefels), I have had plenty of good randori with local Spanish judoka and national team players from all over the world. My focus in these randori is to drill the things I want to do to the top guys. If they don’t work or I get thrown by these guys, it’s no biggie. They won’t be on the mat in London, so I don’t care.
Well, our coach was nice enough to give us today off training as we were all exhausted. I have used the day to catch up on laundry, sleep and write this blog! Tomorrow, it is back on the grind for the last four days of this camp before we head to Hungary.
I’ll post up another progress blog and probably ramble on about more of the judo garbage that goes through my head once we’re a bit closer to the Games.
Ivo
Read more from Ivo dos Santos at IvoJudo.com and follow him on Twitter @ivo_dos_santos.
