Vengeful cop uses judo lesson to pay back son’s bullies
A Tokyo police officer is in hot water after he admitted to tormenting two elementary school boys during a judo lesson he gave in retaliation for bullying his son, it was learned Friday.
The unnamed officer in his 30s was apologetic. “It is true that I did it in retaliation. I deeply regret my actions,” the officer stationed at the Ome Police Station in the Tokyo suburb reportedly told his superiors.
Ome police officials said the officer took part in a judo class held at a local hall on Jan. 26 as a volunteer instructor. He picked on the two boys and repeatedly threw them onto the mat with excessive force. One of the boys suffered a burst eardrum while the other boy was left with heavy bruises.
Realizing that he had gone too far, the officer reported what he did to his superiors after the class. The officer and the chief of Ome Police Station visited the boys’ homes and offered their apologies. The Ome police chief plans to punish the officer. (Wire reports, Japan, Feb. 13, 2004)
There are a lot of stories about the japanese judo instructors and the way they treat their kids. I have taken part in japanese training on several occasions including the infamous ‘winter-training’. I remember how it was forbidden for the kids to tap off. On my first visit, not knowing the rules, I strangled the other player who was a kid half my size and half my age. The kid was aware that the instructor was watching us - and kept fighting until he was out cold . The coach then congratulated me of teaching such an important lesson for the kids. Fact is that a lot of japananese kids absolutly hate judo, only go to training because they have to and stop practising as soon as they can.
The mindset of training (we were told) was that training in Japan was typically brutal and a lot less touchy feely than here in America. This was years ago and I heard that in a very tough traditional Karate school I was in. I know that the Sport schools are now a lot “softer” in some ways…wondered if the Kodokan was like that.
The ways have changed a bit - last year when our club was visiting our partner university in Japan, for the first time ever, I saw the instructors playing a game with the kids. Never seen before…
It was some brutal stuff, but it was a game…
Don’t know about the kodokan. Have trained there with seniors and they were only brutal with one person - myself.