Judo Club throws people

Dressed in Judogi, white practice uniforms traditional in judo, the members of Judo Club laid out large, padded mats in the center of the CoRec’s multiple purpose room 6. They worked together, talking about summer school and jobs as they straightened the mats on the floor, creating one big square in the center of the room.

The group, led by Judo Club President and third-year graduate student Michael Yackovich, began a series of synchronized stretching before practicing the Japanese martial art.

Yackovich said he learned about Judo Club during his tour of Purdue for graduate school. The club allowed him to observe practice, where he promised himself if he were to go to Purdue, he would join.

In the fall of 2022, he joined. One semester later, he was elected president of the club.

“The previous president was leaving and we had no one to fill the position,” Yackovich said. “I got elected because I really love judo.”

Yackovich said he had some experience with judo before attending Purdue, but most undergraduates join with next to none.

“We’ve had quite a few wrestlers,” he said. “We have some people from different martial arts. Most people are undergraduates and they have just come into Purdue with zero experience, but they found judo and they thought it was interesting.”

As practice continued, members split off into pairs to practice technical skills. Pairs worked together, occasionally stopping to let someone adjust their footing or retry a move.

“We do a lot of technique in this club,” Yackovich said.

After stretching and technical drills, they get to the most exciting part: the throwing.

“The first thing we have to teach everyone is how to fall correctly, because you can fall incorrectly and hurt yourself,” Yackovich said. “The second thing is how to be a good throwing partner and not hurting your partner.”

Throwing is one of the differences between judo and other combat sports.

“Most people in America are familiar with wrestling, or at least what it looks like,” he said. “In wrestling, they have ‘takedowns,’ which are different.”

In judo, athletes wear heavy jackets that allow competitors to easily grab onto and throw them.

“Throwing is the coolest part,” he said, as the group gathered around him.

Yackovich demonstrated a throw with another member, taking extra care to show the individual foot placements and core movements in each step, before leveraging his partner’s body weight to throw them to the ground. Then partners mirrored him, practicing the wind up a few times before attempting the throw.

Many of the pairs focused on technique, while some successfully managed to flip their partners and slam them onto the mats.

Though many members attend judo club just for fun, there is the opportunity for them to compete in judo competitions at various universities. Purdue will host a Judo tournament in the fall. Yackovich said practices are friendly, but he enjoys the competitive aspects of judo as well.

“We don’t have a lot of people that are interested in competitions, so the last few had been me and one of the other officers — he also likes to go,” Yackovich said. “One of my favorite memories was just me and him, hitting the road at 6 a.m.”