Entry Twenty-Six: Judo States

Evan Masutani, about to dominate his opponent. MMGOOD.

Happy Mother's Day! Saturday was the Hawaii State Judo Championship. I did not win any of my matches, but I tried hard. However, I would like to point out that juniors Garett Chan and Evan Masutani took fifth and first places in their weights. GOOD. There was a lot of physics involved in the tournament. For one thing, the judoka had to deal with the force of gravity, which is 9.8 m/s^2. This was a painful force for many who were slammed mercilessly to the mat. Another principle of physics that was involved was friction, both static and kinetic. The judoka needed the force of static friction to keep them in place while they pulled on their opponent to throw them. Lastly, I guess I'll mention that there was some circular motion. Many of the throws ended up with one of the judoka sailing through the air in an arc (very exciting to watch), while their opponent pulled them in. This was the force, directed radially inward, that caused the motion. Judo is awesome.



Here is a video of some judo. Respect.