Sibling Judo Rivalry by MBP (MWFAN318@aol.com) Judo lessons pay off for one of the Johnson siblings. Lisa bounded through the front door to her house, grinning. The self-satisfied 11-year- old kicked off her shoes and socks and skipped over to the couch, grabbing the remote control and popping on the TV, all in one motion. She curled into a comfortable position, enjoying the day. Presently, Jeff followed his sister’s footsteps. The boy was embarrassed, bewildered, and more than a little angry. The show on TV was of no interest to him. Jeff moved around the house pacing like a caged lion. It had been nearly 4 months since the siblings began judo classes together. Jeff and Lisa attended the same classes, had the same instruction, did the same exercises, and worked equally as hard. So what had happened Jeff simply couldn’t understand. He was matched up with Lisa in randori, the judo practice session. Jeff was 5 years older, and much bigger and stronger than his little sister. Yet Lisa had (literally) thrown him all over the dojo. The silent bus ride home with his ebullient sister only darkened Jeff’s mood. The two young judokas on whom he has hoping to make a good impression had seen his little sister wipe him out. As had the entire class. It would have been one thing if Jeff’s opponent had been higher-belted (than his white belt); it was another matter since Lisa was equally inexperienced. His lion-in-the-cage bit had covered the entire house. Jeff walked back into the living room, where his sister still lay on the couch. He had to say something. “Just because you may be better at judo than me…,” Jeff began to say as Lisa interrupted him. “What do you mean, may be better? I kicked your ass today.” Jeff winced but maintained the thought. “It doesn’t mean you can beat me up.” Lisa replied “That’s exactly what it means.” “C’mon Lisa,” Jeff said. “It’s only a sport. Just a game. It means nothing in real life. If I attacked you in the street, I would simply overpower you. The judo lessons would not work. They’re just good for the dojo.” Lisa turned to her big brother, an ingratiating smile on her lovely face. She struck a pose designed to display how young and petite she was. “You can deny it however you want,” Lisa said. “But you know a fifth-grader kicked your butt. Some big man you are. Can’t even handle a preteen girl.” Jeff had no answer. He started to leave the room, as Lisa returned to her TV show. When she turned around, Jeff sneaked up on her and planned to attempt a choke hold. But his sister had expected something. As soon as Jeff touched her, Lisa grabbed his arm with both of hers, rolled forward, and the teenager flew over her head and the couch and crashed into the carpet. Lisa rose off the sofa. She stood there with her hands on her hips, eventually looking up nearly a foot at her brother’s face as Jeff got off the carpet. “I can’t believe you haven’t had enough,” she said. But Lisa didn’t have a chance to say anything else as Jeff suddenly tackled her. Instinctively, as she had been trained, Lisa rolled on impact and managed to not have her brother fall on her as they hit the floor. The young girl recovered quicker. She wrapped her right arm around Jeff’s head while trapping his right arm with her left one against her side. Her body was pressed tightly against his; only his left arm was free. Jeff had been caught in this hold many times and instinctively tried to unbalance Lisa. But she kept moving her legs and lower body into a balanced position, and the boy could not make headway. He tried to use his strength. Unable to free his right arm which was effectively pinioned by her body and left arm, Jeff pushed his free hand against Lisa’s head. The preteen grabbed the older boy’s wrist with her free hand and pulled it across his face. Jeff knew about the move but never would have believed Lisa would be able to hold him like that. But she did. As Jeff thrashed around, his little sister maintained her tenuous hold. Jeff knew Lisa had excellent technique, but she was much stronger than he expected. Lisa was athletic but slim; Jeff was also but had guy muscles. And he was nearly 70 pounds heavier. He should have been able to simply extricate himself, but he couldn’t. The grade school girl held the 5’10” teenager tightly and felt her brother struggling hard. It wasn’t easy for her, but Lisa held the boy for a couple of minutes. However, there was no way Jeff was going to give up in this position, so Lisa released him and got to her feet. Her brother also rose, much more slowly, as he planned his next attack. Trying to match his sister at Judo wouldn’t work. As much as Jeff didn’t want to admit it, Lisa could throw him at will. He didn’t know much about wrestling, but realized that nearly any position he would start could be turned into a Judo hold. Jeff considered a way to use his weight and strength. Judo involves using a person’s momentum against him. The boy moved very slowly towards his sister, trying not to have any momentum to use. Lisa saw her brother move slowly and knew what was happening. But she also knew there are techniques for that situation. So when Jeff came to her, Lisa simply leg-swiped Jeff’s ankles, tripping him to the ground. After a couple more of these, Jeff’s ankles were sore, and he remained on the carpet. Lisa dragged him to his feet, and despite not having any motion to work with, attempted a hip throw called an Ogoshi. Jeff battled against the throw, but Lisa still made headway. She slowly lifted the bigger boy off his feet, onto her slim hip, and despite his best efforts, Lisa threw Jeff to the floor again. Jeff was beside himself. What the hell was he going to do? The Ogoshi had terrified him. Lisa didn’t have him off-balance; he didn’t generate any momentum. So to throw him, his tiny sister had used only a little technique, but a lot of brute strength. Jeff still refused to believe Lisa was his equal (or better) in strength. But she was certainly strong. Getting off the carpet, Jeff circled Lisa and shot a quick punch at her head. Lisa was not expecting the jab. It caught her and it stung. Jeff grinned and kept moving to his left, throwing short, quick punches. A couple caught Lisa but not hard. The boy had yet to throw a big punch, but Lisa could see he was planning on it. She did not want to get into a boxing match, and didn’t really think it was fair of her brother to hit her. But this was supposed to be a “street fight”: anything goes. The next time Jeff threw a punch, she ducked it, got close to him, and shot a knee at his groin. Although it mostly missed, it got his attention. “What the hell are you doing, bitch?” Jeff gasped, winded, as the movement and earlier holds were starting to take their toll. “You started it by punching me. It you don’t swing at me, I won’t go after your nuts.” Jeff replied “OK”, then threw a big punch anyway. The little girl was ready again, moving close to her brother, grabbing the punching arm in the crook of her elbow, spinning her hips and pulling, the boy flying over her shoulder, the victim of a perfect Ippon Seoi-Nage. He landed hard on his back, forgetting to bang the floor with his hand to break the fall. He got up and backed away, but Lisa caught him in an Osoto-Gari, hooked her leg behind his, pulled him off balance and threw him to the carpet. Jeff got up quickly and moved towards the girl. She fell backwards, grabbed his arms, put her right foot into his chest, and rolled him over her with the Tomoe-nage. The 16-year-old got up out of sheer habit, and his kid sister flipped him again. And again. And again. The earlier scene in the dojo repeated, as the pretty 11-year-old girl threw her big brother all over the living room. The boy was exhausted and had lost his will to fight. Lisa helped him off the carpet one more time, and got him in position for another throw. There was a click of the lock on the front door, and their mother walked in. “Hey, Ma, look what I learned,” exclaimed Lisa as she pivoted and pulled her brother onto her back. This time, the little girl paused in the middle of her throw, easily holding Jeff on her strong back, letting Mom see her daughter in control. The boy crashed to the carpet once more, just laying there. Mrs. Johnson, shocked as the realization came to her, said “Jeffrey! I did not send you to Judo school so you could get beaten up by your little sister!” Out of sheer pride, Jeff got to his feet, as the sound of his mother’s disappointed voice resonated in his ears. But he had nothing left. The boy threw a weak punch, nearly falling over as it completely missed Lisa. She responded by leaning over and slinging her brother across her shoulders, slowly rising under his weight. Jeff weighed about 150 pounds, but it was easier than Lisa expected. She felt strong. She could see the look of surprise and pride in her mother’s eyes. The older woman saw her slim, pretty 11-year- old daughter, looking tiny but strong in her tee shirt, shorts and bare feet, with her big brother draped across her shoulders. It was an awesome sight. “Dear, don’t hurt him,” Mrs. Johnson said gently. Lisa spun Jeff on her shoulders a few times, then carefully dumped him on the couch. She whispered, “Any time you want a rematch, let me know.” The winner walked over to her mother, who hugged her fiercely, then Lisa left the living room. Mrs. Johnson ambled to the couch to see her son, and whispered quietly, “What are we going to do with you? You can stay there until you recover.” Then she left the room also, leaving Jeff with his thoughts.