Jeff, I appreciate your taking the time to answer me.

I saw Ishikawa Sensei once in Havana. My teacher took some of us to see him do 
a kata demonstration. He was impressive but I am afraid I did not know enough 
to understand how good the guy was.

When I came to Miami I was just too busy trying to make a living to even try 
to get back to Judo. I visited a dojo on Tamiami Trail near SW 72nd Avenue 
that was run by a friend of my teacher a few times. The place still exists and 
I am going to try to visit again to watch.

I guess I hurt my knee early but I can imagine what a bad knee after years of 
playing Judo would be like. I hurt it when we were doing some training for the 
new police force right after the revolution and a guy fell on my extended knee 
while showing him how to do a tai otoshi. Instead of falling he just collapsed 
on me. Hit my kneecap on the way down.

Best regards

Bert
(who still loves the sport)

Dusty wrote:
> After occasionally lurking here I decided to reply to this post. Bert, the
> habit of not looking away from your opponents eyes when bowing goes way
> back, over 50 years in Judo for me, and has always been taught in Martial
> Arts dojos that I have been associated with.  BTW, Ishikawa Sensei was one
> of our great teachers in the USA and while I never met him many of my
> friends learned from him.
> 
> I lived in Miami for nearly 25 years from early 1973 until late 1996.  I
> opened several Judo dojos there and taught until the early 1980's when my
> knees gave out and Judo politics finally threw me over. I assisted at the
> Kolligan Judo Club, and created the Sylvania Judo Club and Silver Bluff Judo
> Club.  When Len Vieria left I took over his Homestead Judo Club.  That was
> the last club I taught at and finally stopped practicing Judo in 1988.
> Knees were shot.   Of course, I would remember the Judo guys and gals down
> there if their names were mentioned, but at my age memories of those days
> are foggy.
> 
> Jeff Beish (retired)
> 
> 
> "BertS" <aasainz@ix.netcom.com> wrote in message
> news:zEqdc.1970$zj3.628@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net...
> 
>>I learned Judo in Cuba in the early years of the Cuban revolution. I was
> 
> an
> 
>>orange belt at the time I left Cuba and never continued due to an injury
> 
> to my
> 
>>  right ACL. :-(
>>
>>We were taught that we would salute by bowing but never let our eyes move
> 
> away
> 
>>from our opponent's eyes and to keep our fists in front of the family
> 
> jewels
> 
>>to protect against a sneaky early attack. I am not sure where the custom
> 
> came
> 
>>from but both my teacher and his teacher trained under Ishikawa (later
>>Ishikawa Sensei) at Havana's Judansha kai before he left Cuba to go to the
> 
> US.
> 
>>I had not seen a competition since then until last month's US Collegiate
>>Championship in Miami and was curious why the competitors would shake
> 
> hands. I
> 
>>guess I am behind the times. :-)
>>
>>I did see a couple of strangulations that I thought were outlawed in
>>competition. Something done with the lapel, okuri-something, lapel pulled
>>tight across the neck. Are those allowed now?
>>
>>Bert
>>