A library book about Judo is what triggered Ken Ossian’s early fascination with the sport. He’d practice the throws from the Judo book on a neighbor kid, and when he got to college, he took his first Judo lesson. Today, almost 40 years later, Ken is preparing to compete in the international Judo masters’ competition in Japan in 2003.

Ken Ossian, owner and president of Ossian Inc., an ice-melt manufacturer in Davenport, Iowa, will start training seriously for the international masters’ tournament about a year in advance of the event. “Seriously” means about 10 hours of practice a week — and Ken has resolved to avoid training until he’s a year away from the tournament. “As you get older, your potential for injury is higher, so you try to limit your exposure.” For Ken, participating in the masters’ games in Japan is one of those significant lifetime goals you set for yourself at certain ages. He’ll be 60 then. In the meantime, he stays active in the sport as a referee.

Judo’s roots are in jujitsu, an ancient Japanese system of hand-to-hand combat. Modern Judo, a less aggressive form of jujitsu, started in Japan in 1860. Judo, which means “the gentle way,” involves throwing, grappling, armlocks, and choking. Ken explained that the major principle is to take advantage of your opponent’s force. You use your opponent’s energy flow to work against him; for instance, if he pushes, you pull.

Judo is not a hobby for Ken Ossian; it’s a passion. He has already won three back-to-back national championships in the masters’ division. He also won the Midwestern Judo championship, the Iowa championship (several times, in fact), and was named the Iowa Outstanding Athlete in the sport of Judo. He was responsible for founding the Judo club in his area 25 years ago, has been president of the Iowa Judo Association and the Midwestern Judo Association, and was instrumental in getting Judo included in the first Iowa Games — the statewide “mini-Olympics.” Besides being a competitor, he’s a Judo coach as well as a nationally certified referee. Currently, Ken is a fourth degree black belt (a black belt represents an expert-level ranking), and is close to earning his fifth-degree black belt.

I figured that Ken would consider his championships to be his career highlights. Not so.

“Oddly enough,” Ken said, “my most satisfying moment in Judo was a political thing. While on the national governing body for the sport — United States Judo Inc. — we were trying to establish national ranking standards, but couldn’t reach an agreement. I suggested a compromise, and ultimately my compromise became the national standard for ranking.”

In 1964, Judo became an Olympic sport, so the same rules apply worldwide. These world standards make it legitimate for Gregg Humphreys, national sales manager for Ossian Inc., to, as he says, “beat up my boss after work at the Judo club and then have a beer with him afterward.” When Gregg was 17, Ken Ossian was his first Judo coach, and 17 years later, Ken hired Gregg and he’s still with the company today. Like Ken, he has a fourth-degree black belt and is passionate about Judo. Gregg competed in the world masters’ tournament in Japan just last year, and will compete with Ken in Japan in 2003.

Gregg reports that Judo is the second most popular sport in the world right now next to soccer, and not just in the Asian countries, either. Judo is very popular in Russia (Russian President Vladimir Putin is an aficionado), and there are more Judo black-belt holders in Paris than in Tokyo.

It’s unavoidable: When you’re involved in a sport that you win by throwing, choking, or holding your opponent, you’re going to get hurt. Gregg said he “blew his knee out,” broke his nose four times, separated a shoulder nine times, herniated two disks, and broke every finger and every toe. Whew! It’s a good thing he has an understanding boss.

Gretchen Roufs, a 15-year janitorial supply industry veteran, owns Auxiliary Marketing Services of San Antonio.




POSTED ON: 1/1/2002