Officially, no testing can be ordered, but common sense often leads to people testing themselves. It is encouraged (quite strongly) to do so.
Yeah, I was 99% sure the law over there was like it is here and that one generally can't force medical procedures on people no matter how benign. In Canada, employers cannot even drug test except for some very specific jobs, like for police and firefighters.
I've read that South Africa has such a high HIV infection rate partly because Thabo Mbeki denied that HIV led to AIDS and the government was correspondingly slow to enact general prevention measures and treatment using anti-retrovirals. Meanwhile the rate just ballooned because the public sector wasn't doing much about it. Obviously you know if that's true better than I do, and I don't wanna get entangled in sensitive politics here, but that 1% doubt was that I thought perhaps the establishment had switched from one extreme from another, as it so often does, and allowed compulsory testing in some cases.
Another thing to keep in mind is that people who get into Judo generally aren't people at the most risk of getting infected with HIV, because Judo is hardly an inexpensive hobby, and HIV is not prevalent in people who have access to quality schools, because we are more aware of how to prevent infection with the illness, and our lifestyles don't lead to quite as many cases of the virus getting transferred. I say that with the utmost sensitivity, but it is still a fact of life in South Africa. So yes, while we can't guarantee that everyone who competes has been tested, or tested thoroughly enough, the risk of infection is not high. It is something to keep in mind, and we are careful, but there's no point in losing sleep over it.
I'm surprised because here, judo is a cheap hobby, I mean not subjectively but objectively. It's very widespread and it's something community centers in many small towns offer. Even elite dojo like the Shidokan in Montreal are not very expensive, and on top of that, for children the costs are tax-deductible as North American children need to move to avoid getting fat
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When I hear that in some parts of the world judo is for the well to do (which is not what Kano intended, the uniform white judogi is in part to erase social class distinctions) I get a bit sad. I wish the Kodokan would do what they did when judo started out and continue to send instructors to teach around the world and set up clubs. I have a lot of dreams and fantasies, but one of them is to get my shodan and my instructor certificates and set up a dojo somewhere in the world where judo is indeed something only the rich can afford and teach for little money. I don't know how feasible that might be but I think it's such an amazing sport and way of life that it should continue to be spread around the globe. The ideals and morals of judo are definitely something that deserve to be spread and discovered by as many people as possible.
I'm sure that as it is a fact of life, the possibility of infection is much less distressing for you as it would be for an outsider like me. Kind of like how in North America, we keep hearing Johannesburg is one of the most violent and crime-ridden cities on Earth, and it sounds absolutely terrifying sitting here up north, but the people that live there must know how to live in these conditions and it is probably not as dangerous as we are led to believe if one is careful and follows certain rules of thumb. That's the annoying thing with distance (and sensationalist media), information gets distorted, so that's why I always relish the opportunity to get information from people as close as possible to issues I'm interested in.
I hope that answers your question? It is not as uncommon of overseas people to wonder about this as you might think. I usually prefer it if people are direct about it anyway.
Yes it does. Thank you for answering me. I don't like beating around the bush but I'm aware it is a sensitive issue for many reasons so I tried to be diplomatic about it. I actually was a bit worried I was too roundabout.
And thank you for your suggestions!
My pleasure. If I had my way, everyone would be doing a martial art, it's worth it on so many levels, so I'm always eager to help. If you want, you can shoot me a PM about what you're looking for in a martial art (perhaps philosophically or in the way it is trained, or what kind of things you're into), it might help jog my memory and think of something. I used to be a general martial arts nut, cataloging information on them, which are worthwhile for what purpose, and so on.
I can do the same for anybody else here if anyone reading this is interested. "Which martial art should I/can I do" is a surprisingly hard question to answer for most people but with some research it's easy to get an idea.
I don't have to compete in it. There is simple joy to be found in just practising martial arts too. With my arthritis, I don't know how long I may even be able to keep practice up, but it is fun nonetheless, and often an opportunity to meet quite a few interesting people. There's just something about sparring against someone that creates quite a tight bond of friendship after awhile.
Well, there is that one cliché expressed by the Echani in Star Wars, about how fighting is a form of expression. I happen to agree (though I don't introduce myself to people by punching them in the face), there's a quaint intimacy created between two persons who've just finished trying to break each other's bones, perhaps for the same reason military friendships tend to endure but on a lesser level.
And yes, I am also used to being good at everything I try, so I understand the feeling. As life goes on however, I often think back on some of my absurdly high expectations of myself and shake my head. It is not realistic to expect to keep finding things one is good at, and one's enjoyment of a particular activity doesn't have to come only from the fact that one is good at it.
Chess, for example, is something I am incredibly good at, but there will always be someone who wipes the floor with me.
I used to be okay at chess (not incredibly good, but I've played in my high school's chess club and did well) but I actually don't like the game much. Chess is the kind of game that's easy to learn, hard to master, but I tend to prefer games with more surface variety because it's easy for me to get bored and nod off if I can't manage radically different things or play radically different styles. Chess is a very deep game, but a bit too "samey" for me if you know what I mean. I would rather play 40K than chess. That's why I like grand strategy games, there are so many ways to play, so many ways to win, if I get bored of one I can switch to another while still furthering my overall understanding on the game. So it is with judo too
And yep, it took me a long time to get rid of these high expectations for myself. The first time I had a sub-85 grade in high school, I cried. To me that was a personal failure, and I thought my parents wouldn't love me anymore if I failed too much (which, just to be clear, wasn't intentional, it just was the way I interpreted things and I'm so withdrawn that it took me a long time to even ask them if that was true). Eventually I got so scared of failure that I stopped attempting anything new at all despite generally easily taking to things, and I stagnated. The crazy thing is that a failure for me may have well been a success for anybody else, so I developed a fear of failing without ever truly failing objectively. It took a lot more willpower than I'm willing to admit to get out of that rut. Fear of failure is a very vicious cycle.
And while physically I was one of those who you've described who relies most on strength, and I was quite good at grappling and the ground game, my reflexes often weren't fast enough to counter many of the throws. I was improving, but it was a slow and bloody painful process.
Newaza is also my strength, but I'm not a very strong person, so I'm mostly about positioning. I train with a lot of big guys and I am not very big myself so I have to be a bit careful
Because I do not have a lot of explosive power, throwing people took a while to get used to, but I finally developed a good osoto-gari and harai-goshi, along with various sweeps and small reaps that are just there to get people on the ground so I can finish them off. I need to work on my reaction time too, dodging throws is surprisingly hard work
