hi Emma jidoka now if you don’t know
what that is
the term judoka is used to describe
someone who practices the martial art of
Judo and even though if how the number
of different roles and titles throughout
my lifetime identifies a judoka because
the life lessons I’ve learned in judo
are responsible for everything good in
my life and continue to guide my actions
today you see as a child I needed help
my mother who is a wonderful person has
battled mental illness my entire life
bipolar disorder and illness as cruel as
it is unpredictable
growing up bipolar disorder or the
illness as I like to call it dominated
our lives there was no space for me at
all so over time and without any sort of
positive outlet I began to build up
feelings of anger and frustration by the
age of 10 I had so much rage built up
inside of me that I physically wanted to
break something so one day when I was
watching television and saw kids my own
age practicing karate and breaking
boards with their bare hands I knew this
was something I had to do fortunately
when I talked to my dad about it he said
there was a karate dojo located right
across the street from his work but when
we went down to register the head
instructor said I had to be at least 16
years old before I could join karate so
he suggested that I try judo instead now
as 10 years old at the time so waiting
six years to do something that I really
wanted to do seem like an eternity so
reluctantly I decided to give judo a try
lesson one
clear your mind at first you don’t seem
to be the exact opposite of what I
wanted to be doing for example we had
begin every practice with a ritual
called muxo this involved us kneeling
down closing our eyes and taking several
slow deep breaths for what seemed like
forever
apparently it was the intention of this
practice for us
to clear our minds and refocus our
attention towards judo prior to the
start of every session now this was
incredibly difficult for me at first
plus I thought it was totally ridiculous
hey but if this is what needed to happen
before they were gonna let me be people
up then fine now at first I merely just
tolerated this practice but then one day
something happened that completely
changed my perspective on it I was
sitting at home in my living room when
suddenly and for no rational or apparent
reason my mother came up to me and
completely lost it on me which if you’re
at all familiar with bipolar disorder
can be a pretty common occurrence
however in past when I’ve been attacked
by her illness it would leave me feeling
devastated and I’d retreat upstairs to
my bedroom where I’d often spend the
rest the day up there alone in tears but
on this particular occasion I remember
getting up going to my room closing the
door kneeling down closing my eyes and
taking several slow deep breaths I
cleared my mind of my interaction with
her and then decided to refocus on how I
was gonna spend the rest of my day
then I opened my eyes got up and went
outside to play with my friends and that
was the moment where I truly understood
the value of this practice that by
engaging in muxo I could not only clear
my mind of any unpleasant experiences
that I might have but I could also then
choose what I wanted to focus on now
this was quite a revelation for me
because up to that point in my life I’d
been a total prisoner to my interactions
with others how they treated me
determine whether or not it was going to
be a good day or a bad day but in that
moment I learned that by engaging in
muxo I could control the way in which I
would experience the world lesson to go
with the flow okay so maybe muxo was not
so bad but I still wasn’t sure about
judo because the next thing I learned
was completely contrary to the idea that
I would one
turn my body into a lethal weapon
believe it or not I learned that the
literal meaning of the word judo was get
this the gentle way I know right that
the basic principle of judo was not one
of aggression but one of flowing with
things now in Japanese this is referred
to as say do Kazan yo or maximum
efficiency minimum effort that just as
water flows effortlessly through around
obstacles when it meets resistance in
nature when a judo throw is properly
executed that too feels effortless okay
sure
needless to say I was totally skeptical
about this at first but then I had that
one moment the moment that anyone who
has ever fallen in love with judo has
experienced the very first time you
successfully throw someone with a judo
technique I remember it like it was
yesterday I was practicing with my
partner and then suddenly and completely
accidentally I turned in at exactly the
right moment the next thing I knew my
partner was flying high over my head and
crash landed down hard on their back
beside me it was awesome
a joy like I’d never experienced before
in my entire life and it didn’t require
strength or force and it felt like I’d
done nothing to make it happen
except move in exactly the right way at
exactly the right time sadiel Kazan no
maximum efficiency minimum effort I now
truly understood what this meant I had
no idea how to make it happen again but
that didn’t matter because I was hooked
now and determined to try and master
this principle my commitment to going
with the flow began to help me at home
too I began to notice the difference
between whether or not I was dealing
with my mother or the illness and was
able to respond accordingly when the
illness was there I just stayed away
but when my mother was herself we began
spending time together
through this I got to experience her
warmth the compassion humor and the
wonderful mother and woman that she was
without judo I’m not sure that I ever
would have been able to experience this
gift and for that I will be eternally
lesson three effort is accomplishment
okay so now I was totally committed to
judo but I still wasn’t very good at in
in fact for the first two and a half
years of my judo career I lost every
single match in competition then when I
turned 13 I was offered the opportunity
to play soccer for a pretty high-level
team but when I learned that making that
team would mean I’d have to quit judo I
felt torn so I went to talk to my coach
about it and even though that
conversation took place over 30 years
ago today I can still see a vividly in
my mind I remember going up to her after
practice and explaining my dilemma to
her in great detail she listened
intently and then at the end looked me
straight in the eyes and said I think
that you should choose soccer because
you have no natural ability in judo ouch
now I feel like I need to say that she
was not at all being cruel
she was actually thoughtfully commenting
on what she’d observed for me up until
that moment still I was mad and I wanted
to prove her wrong but a part of me
wondered if maybe she was right that was
probably the part of me that had lost
every single match up until that moment
anyways I left our conversation feeling
even more confused than when I’d arrived
but as it was quietly exiting the dojo
on that day a poster with a picture of
the founder of Judo on it dr. jiguro
Cano caught my eye on it was a quote
which read with effort there is always
accomplishment and I don’t know but
something about those words in that
moment resonated so deeply within me
it didn’t matter whether or not I was
winning or losing at judo
I was already accomplishing things just
by trying inspired by those words I
decided that I was gonna continue to try
and not just try I was gonna work hard
harder than anyone and that was the
moment when I chose judo or should I say
when judo chose me lesson for always
seek help I awoke the next morning with
a renewed hope in my ability to be
successful at judo in fact I got up
every morning early after that and did
push-ups sit-ups and went running for
five kilometres no matter what the
weather I never missed a judo practice
and sought out every opportunity I could
to get extra help and guess what
slowly gradually I started winning
matches in competition at first one
match at a time but then one competition
at a time I finished that season in the
finals of the Canadian Championships for
my age and weight category all because I
had been able to see the accomplishments
in my efforts then shortly after that I
received some incredible news women’s
judo had been named a demonstration
sport at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul
Korea as a result several of the top
Canadian female judoka we’re gonna be
training regularly at my judo club and
some were actually gonna even moved
there with their arrival we began doing
judo six days a week
these women were amazing the 14 year old
version of myself idolized them and
dreamt of one day being able to
represent Canada on the world stage as
they did plus they all had these really
cool nicknames like lizard blaze zip and
Andre the Giant and even though these
women were much older than I was and
much further along in their judo career
they immediately embraced me and
accepted me as a part of their group
well
embrace me or started beating me up
regularly embossing me around either way
I was a part of it seriously though I
could tell that these women really cared
for me and appreciated how hard I was
working because soon I too had a
nickname they called me rocky
I loved my new nickname I immediately
embraced it and felt empowered by it
because for those of you who are
familiar with the story of rocky it
involves an unknown underdog who worked
hard harder than anyone and when given
the chance to shine shock the world was
that they were able to accomplish so for
me the nickname Rocky meant far more
than just these women cared about me and
accepted me it meant that they believed
in me their belief in me at a time when
I did not yet fully believe in myself
fueled my purpose to achieve my
competitive dreams and less than 2 years
later because of the hope empowerment
love and purpose that I received from
these women on a daily basis I made
history becoming Canada’s youngest
senior Canadian champion ironically one
of the first people to come up and
congratulate me after my win was my
coach who just three years earlier
suggested that I quit judo but this time
when she approached me she looked me
straight in the eyes and said today you
have taught me any kid can win and this
will change the way that I work with
athletes from now on and it did and that
was the moment I learned through her
ability to make herself vulnerable to me
in that moment that teaching and
coaching was not a one-way street it was
a collaborative partnership and that
even though you may know a whole lot
about something you never stop learning
and that sometimes when we seek help we
end up inadvertently helping others in
less than five contribute to society
following the 1988 Olympics we all
decided to relocate to the new National
Training Centre in Montreal there I met
my new coach a Japanese guy who everyone
respectfully referred to as sensei at
all times at first I was afraid of
sensei
despite his serious exterior and
incredibly hard training practices I
soon came to realize just how much this
man cared about each and every one of us
the final principle of Judo is to strive
to perfect oneself and contribute to
society
no one exemplified this principle more
than sensei sensei received everyone
with an open heart and an open mind no
matter where you came from or what your
skill level wasn’t judo but his
commitment and dedication to us went far
beyond anything that happened on the
mats
he and his partner who we affectionately
nicknamed mrs. sensei would routinely
have us over for dinner and to celebrate
the holidays with them he gave up the
top level of their home to house judoka
who otherwise would not have had a place
to live and when I was personally
struggling financially since they got me
a job and when he saw that my working
was interfering with my ability to
perform at judo he helped to secure me a
full corporate sponsorship in Japan it
was through his example that I found my
true purpose in life I wanted to teach
inspire and help others I want it to be
like sensei so many years later after
retiring from competitive judo I began a
lifelong career in public education and
of course began coaching judo in my
spare time and just like my wonderful
sensei and my teammates did for me all
those years ago I have always tried to
lead with compassion and instill
feelings of hope empowerment love and
purpose in everyone I meet embrace the
gentle way so now many years later
as I contemplate the future of learning
I can’t help but reflect on these
lessons learned in past because the
lessons I’ve learned in judo are
timeless and would benefit anyone I
believe that by actively teaching our
children how to clear their minds
refocus their attention go with the flow
and see the accomplishments and their
efforts we are providing them with the
essential skills needed to navigate our
complex and ever-changing world that by
gravitating toward the things or people
that fill us with feelings of hope
empowerment love and purpose we are
laying the foundation for inner peace
and that educating others to lead with
compassion and contribute to society
through our own example is crucial to
the survival of our planet for me this
is the future of learning because the
final lesson I’ve learned from judo is
that by embracing the gentle way we can
all help to make the world a better
place thank you
[Applause] [Music]