The second of my recent DVD purchases "Throw Down", is a Chinese action film, about, and I quote:

"Ex-judo champion Sze-to (Louis Koo) mysteriously retires from the sport and becomes a pub manager until "Leather Jacket" Tony (Aaron Kwok), a spirited judo fighter, revitalizes his fighting desires and challenges him to a match. But there's more to win than just the champion title;"

Directed by Johnnie To, it is a tribute to Akira Kurasawa, and specifically the Sanshiro Sugata films. Some of the scenes in fact arde virtually identical. One of the Dojo scenes and a fight out in a cane field for example.

One thing I really enjoyed were some training scenes, which were them throwing each other and smiling all the while. Which to me felt like Johnnie To understood a little about Judo.
Of course this is a Chinese film and is kinda weird, and theres lots of laughs at the not too flash Judo on display. But it is a film, suspend your disbelief okay! :-)



I enjoyed it, but I enjoy Chinese cinema and anything remotely linked to Judo. Also, owning both the Sanshiro Sugata films, I enjoyed the references. Lastly you do get to here a couple of versions of what must be the Judo song I have been told about but never really pinned down. Of course it's sung not in English, so it could be something completely different.

Anyway, I enjoyed it and recommend it. So far the only place I found it on the web is on yesasia.com. There is a trailer on that site, and their service to me here in the UK was great so given I've failed to find it on Amazon, give them a go.
Let me know if you have seen or do see the film.

I watched this today and really enjoyed it.

It has some really excellent footage from a variety of sources and generations. Footage of Anton Geesink coming third in the Worlds. Shots of many of the big names in Judo.

Quite European in focus, French influence is easily perceived.

But for anyone who enjoys the history of our sport is a definate purchase. Coaches, it is a good DVD to have in the collection so you can have something other than straight competition video.

I am pleased to announce that the initial summary statistical analysis I did of the 2006 Commonwealth Judo Tournament are now available.

Go to http://judoinfo.com/research.htm where some really great research on Judo is. Here is the direct link to the PDF.

The research is simple descriptive data, I am writing a much more detailed scientific report on the data, but it's been on the backburner for a while...sorry!

Here is a local copy http://www.judocoach.com/analysis/2006-Summary.pdf

I am really happy that the research is on judoinfo.com, it is probably the best Judo website out there. I have spent HOURS on that site, so it's nice to "pay something back" by providing some content for the site.

Anyway, please let me know if you see any errors, etc.

Comments welcomed!

I found http://instlux.sourceforge.net/ which is an interesting amalgamation of scripts and brains to install Linux on a pc running Windows without needing any media whatsoever, just a net connection.

I plan to give it a try, has anyone else seen it or tried it before.

P.s. I think comments are working now...maybe. :-)

yeah, I know speak like a pirate day was the 19th, I am not a very devout follower of the FSM.

Anyway, heres my contribution to the campaign:



Save the planet, be a pirate!!