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Judokas and
Sensei: ‘We play Judo for Peace!’
By Belle Garcia, 26
November 2011 @ SM City Cagayan de Oro
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BMFI's
Paul RA Paraguya leads the opening of the Mindanao Judo for
Peace. |
Around 200 judo players,
coaches and officials gathered here in Cagayan de Oro City to launch
the 1st Mindanao Judo for Peace with a tournament of judo athletes
(judokas) and judo clubs. Participants come from various schools and
universities in the cities of Iloilo, Davao, Zamboanga, Pagadian,
Cagayan de Oro and from Metro Manila as well.
In the opening program this
morning, Engr. Jose Aluyen, the President of the Southern
Philippines Judo Association (SPJA), gladly welcomed the
participants, saying: “This is an opportune time to renew
friendship and camaraderie. While judo teaches us to clear our minds
and sharpen our senses, we must also pursue discipline and become
responsible citizens. Thus we must promote judo at the community
level.”
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| Jinseong
Byeon of the Cagayan de Oro Judo Club reads the
Sportsman's Oath. |
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“This is the most
appropriate time to undergo this undertaking and this tournament
since we are celebrating the Mindanao Week of Peace. And Mindanao is
also the most appropriate place to hold the launch of Judo for Peace
as it is most connected with peace,” said Dr. Danilo Corteza,
president of the Zamboanga City Judo Association. He said that peace
is also the fundamental platform of the International Judo
Federation where the Philippine Judo Federation belongs.
“Judo is becoming popular
because it is a dynamic sport and because of the values it promotes
to judokas, internally, physically as well as spiritually. But to
learn judo, you have to know what the judo is all about,” he
added.
Before the start of the game,
Paul RA Paraguya, Executive Director of Balay Mindanaw Foundation
Inc. and a co-organizer of the 1st Mindanao Judo for Peace, thanked
the co-sponsors SPJA and the Cagayan de Oro Judo Club (COJC) and
then made all the participants and the audience do the “bow”
which a judoka does before and after playing judo. Paraguya and
Aluyen demonstrates the “Judo bow for peace” as well as the
opening throw with Mr. David Corten, the President of the Philippine
Judo Federation.
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Judokas
perform warmup before the tournament. |
All the judokas entertained
the audience with simultaneous warm up exercises, movements and
drills followed by the day-long endurance competition of teams and
individuals.
Winners were already declared
from 120 matches for the first day of the tournament but the Aluyen
reminded the judokas that “the success in sports is not so much in
winning the game but how we play the game.”
From this first tournament, a
series of games will follow. The three-year program of the Mindanao
Judo for Peace hopes to be pursued by the Balay Mindanaw Foundation,
Inc. and the Katilingbanong Pamahandi sa Mindanaw Foundation, Inc.
and the COJC headed by its dynamic president, Architect Eduardo
Daang, who was very committed in promoting judo among the youth and
children.
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