This evening I returned to training after a two-week holiday.
I was a bit apprehensive about returning to the dojo, like when you pick up an old habit that you’ve put aside for a while. Was I going to lose my feeling?
Will I be completely out of breath after five minutes?
In the end, the session turned out to be much more enjoyable than expected.
The warm-up with the wheelbarrow exercise was both fun and demanding.
Carrying your partner forward on your hands and finishing with push-ups is a good way to wake up muscles that have tended to go to sleep over the holidays.
The exercises involving moving on your back, without touching the ground with your hands or feet, were particularly interesting. It’s fascinating to see how this kind of movement, which seems so simple, places such intense demands on the abdominal muscles. At 43, I feel how essentially these deep muscles are.
Working on the ground allowed me to deepen my techniques for turning over and controlling the belt. I realised that precision in the grip is comparable to the adjustment of a precision tool, a millimetre can make the difference between an effective technique and a futile effort.
The randoris were particularly rewarding, especially when we were asked to start in a defensive position or to use the rock-leaf-scissors game to determine who attacks first.
These small, playful variations make the workout more dynamic while forcing us to think quickly.
Physically, I feel surprisingly well for a recovery. Of course, there’s that characteristic tiredness, but it’s a healthy tiredness, one that reflects a body that’s worked hard.
My abs will certainly remind me of this session tomorrow morning.
But that’s precisely what I’m looking for in coming back to judo after all these years, this intense connection with my body, these authentic physical sensations that contrast with an often overly cerebral professional life.
What strikes me after this break is how quickly you can find your bearings on the tatami.
It’s like riding a bike, the body remembers.
I’ve noticed that I need to continue working on my stability on the ground and the precision of my turns.
Mastery comes with repetition, and this is perhaps the most valuable lesson that judo offers me at my age: accepting that progress is gradual, that it comes in small successive steps rather than in spectacular leaps.
This recovery reminded me why I decided to return to judo after so many years.
Beyond the physical exercise, it’s the balance between effort and pleasure, between discipline and play, between individual work and connecting with others.
I can’t wait to see how this recovery continues over the coming weeks.
“Patience and consistency are the keys to progress.
I trained as a judoka with the Arlésien Judo Club in the 90s, and discovered the rigour, humility and collective spirit of this martial art at a very early age.
After a 27-year hiatus, I decided at the age of 43 to put on my judogi again and start practising again, at my own pace and with an adult’s eye.
This website is the diary of that resumption, with the rediscovery of techniques, personal reflections, physical pain and deep satisfaction.
My goal: to achieve my black belt before I’m 50 and prove that you can always progress, whatever your age or background.