Appendix II - How To Present Public Displays

Once your Judo Club becomes known in your district, you will very probably be asked to give short public displays, in connection with sporting events, garden parties, and so on. It is quite useful to do this, as it provides good publicity for your club, and may bring in other members, even when there is no financial reward. Some clubs like to hire a local hall, and put on a display themselves, as a means of raising funds for the club, and gaining publicity. Indeed, such a display might even become an annual event in your town.

I shall therefore say something about the organization of displays, and give some specimen programmers, which have been tried out in practice by my own club.

There are sets of pre-arranged movements in Judo, to which we have referred in Lesson Forty-five, known as Katas. These Katas are used by Japanese experts both for practice and for displays. There is Nage-no-kata, which is a selection of fifteen throws, three from each group. There is Katame-no-kata, which is a selection of Holdings and Groundwork movements. There is Kime-no-kata, which is a selection of self-defense movements. These Katas are performed with great ceremony, and endless pains are taken to be accurate, i.e. to make the attack at exactly the right moment in the opponent's advance. A tremendous amount of practice is needed to make these Katas look good to the public, and some Judo men feel they should not be attempted in public by grades below Black Belt. You may or may not agree with this view, but I feel personally that beginners would do better to build up their own selections of throws, and their own method of presentation. Katas are a study on their own, and it would need a book to set out the movements in full. There are already charts, and excellent books on the subject.

The first thing to decide in the case of a display is how long it is to last. If you are putting on a show for the organizer of some local event, make certain of this to begin with. It is usually twenty minutes to half an hour that is required, if the demonstration is to form part of a programmer. Then plan the time you are allotted to show something of each of the aspects of Judo, i.e., Break falling, Throwing, Groundwork, and Self-Defense, and let one item follow the next in some logical sequence that will give unity to your show. If you jump haphazardly from one thing to another, you may have a succession of brilliant acts, but you haven't got a show. Unity is the keyword in production. It is best to appoint your most capable member to plan it, and then accept his decisions. If you can, appoint a Commentator who knows something about Judo, so that if a mistake is made, he is not all at sea, as a result. I have seen a show, in which the commentator fell behind the performers, so that for each throw he named they did the next, and he was left with one over at the end.

The following is a suggested thirty-minute routine with the theme that it illustrates what a student has to learn.

Thirty-minute Display

Item No.                                                                         Time in Minutes

1.         Breakfalls (7)                                                                  2
2.         Hip Throws (8)                                                               3
3.         Leg Throws (8)                                                              3
4.         Hand and Shoulder Throws (8)                                       3
5.         Sacrifice Throws (8)                                                       3
6.         Holdings (8)                                                                   3
7.         Arm locks (8)                                                                 3
8.         Strangleholds (8)                                                            3
9.         Self-Defense (15 movements)                                         4
10.       Randori or free practice between one or more pairs        3

It is possible to increase or decrease the length of the programmer slightly by varying the number of throws demonstrated in each section. Throws can, if desired, be demonstrated twice, the first time slowly so that the commentator can explain it to the audience, and the second time quickly as the throw is normally done. It is not advisable to have too much Randori, which tends to become boring to an audience who have not seen Judo, since they cannot appreciate what the contestants are trying to do. Contests are even more boring, unless there is interest from some other point of view, e.g., an Inter-Club event, or inter-town contest. Self-Defense is the most popular item with an audience, and if you have a lady member who can do it with a male attacker, your show is assured of success. Children are also popular with an audience, particularly if they are seen to throw adults.

The aim of a display should be educational, to show the audience something of what Judo really is, and not just to amuse them, but if it is entertaining as well, it is more likely to succeed in its object.

Before planning a full-length display organized entirely by the club, club leaders should count the cost. Hire of a hall, advertising, entertainment tax, and transport can be expensive items, and it is a gamble whether any profit will be made. If your premises are suitable, it is possible to present a display in your own Dojo, seating the audience around the mat, but make sure your hall is properly licensed for such events first. If you hire a hall, you will have to decide whether to put the mat in the middle, and seat the audience around, or to put the mat on a stage at the front. The latter has the advantage that performers have their audience in front of them, and can stand so that everyone can see what they are doing. With the audience all round, what those on one side can see, those on the other cannot. This becomes particularly noticeable in the groundwork demonstrations.

If you can afford to have guest artists, you might persuade some of the leading Judo men in the country to come and take part, and their names on your bills will attract other Judo enthusiasts, but bear in mind that this adds to the cost of production and will not necessarily attract the general public, to whom even famous Judo masters are quite unknown.

The following programmer is possible for a normal club, if you have about twenty members, and does not entail outside help.

Two-hour Display

Item No.                                                                                        Time in Minutes

1.         Chairman's introductory remarks on what Judo is                           2
2.         Randori (Throwing only, no groundwork.
            2 three minute periods)                                                                  6
3.         Hip Throws (10 slowly, then quickly)                                             4
4.         Holdings, with struggles to escape                                                  4
5.         Leg Throws (10 slowly, then quickly)                                             4
6.         Arm locks (with explanations)                                                        4
7.         Hand and  Shoulder Throws (10 slowly, then
            quickly)                                                                                         4
8.         Strangleholds (with explanations)                                                    4
9.         Sacrifice Throws (10 slowly, then quickly)                                      4
10.       Breakfalls, with throws to illustrate their use                                    3
11.       Throws and Counter Throws                                                         5
12.       Randori, with one opponent blindfolded (This is
            quite easy, and is in fact a method of practice)                                3
13.       Randori on the ground only (Groundwork. 2 five-
            minute periods)                                                                             10
            Interval                                                                                         10
14.       Two-team Contest (10 a side, each pair having one
            minute. Total points at end)                                                           10
15.       Either invite the audience up to try movements, or
            answer questions on Judo                                                             10
16.       Contests   between   members   of  different   grades,
            beginning with the lowest (Say, White Belt contest.
            Yellow Belt contest, Orange Belt contest. 5-minute
            contests)                                                                                       15
17.       Self-defense against holds                                                              7
18.       Self-defense against kicks and blows                                              5
19.       Self-defense against weapons                                                         4
20.       Girl versus bandit act                                                                     2

This gives you two hours.

There are several advantages in this plan for your programmer. First of all, it is varied. There is something for everyone. Those who come to see contest are satisfied, those who want it explained to them are satisfied, humor is catered for in your blindfold Randori, and your girl versus the bandit. By alternating throwing with groundwork in the demonstration section, you avoid boring the audience. Your Randori on the ground only (Item 13) will please those of your audience who like wrestling. You end on a popular note.

In Item 15, it is not advisable to challenge the audience. Even experts don't usually do that. They invite members of the audience to come out and try movements, and are, of course, careful not to hurt anyone who comes forward.

There is a lot of work in organizing a display, but if your club members all back you up, it is very interesting and well worth while, and to the immediate profits from takings must be added the publicity and goodwill that arise. Most local newspapers, if approached in time, will send a photographer, and publish a report, and the result is new members.