Vince Tamura Judo (for Judo Guy in particular)

[Ryu (non-working password]

Judo Guy,
I have been pacing back and forth in restlessness these days, and have given thought to possibly attending Vince Tamura's judo institute. It is only $50 a month, so I might be able to better aford that then 100...
But I am somewhat ignorant about the man, and wondered if you knew about him at all. He is a 17 time US champion in judo, and has been coaching for 38 years it says...
So any feedback you might have would be great. Thanks

Ryu

[Ryu (non-working password]

wow, I've been looking around on the net, and he seems very legit and impressive! I may check it out. I'd still like any type of info you can give though

Thanks again,
Ryu

[dan downard]

Is that where you got those tech pics from?Whats the address?Come on,give.

[duchman]

http://www.bangedup.com great grappling pics! lol just kidding!

http://www.judoinfo.com

[Ryu (non-working password]

Duch, I like you, but please don't muck up the board with stuff like that. Okay?

Dan, it is actually a kosen judo site (mostly in Japanese)
here is the address http://www.gws.ne.jp/home/demo2/wazae.htm

[Ryu (non-working password]

http://www.gws.ne.jp/home/demo2/wazae.htm

[duchman]

http://judoinfo.com

http://webhost.avint.net/astra/judovideoclips.htm

http://www.judocentral.com/

[Ryu (non-working password]

much better

[judo guy]

Ryu,

Vince Tamura was a great player back in his day. His brother Mas was very good too. If I'm not mistaken, Vince represented the United States in the first World Judo Championships in 1956. I believe he lost to Geesink that year. He wasn't a 17 time champion. The only person who has a record like that is Leo White. Pat Burris was the first champion to have 4 titles and he competed in the 70's, way after Vince's time. Maybe he is including masters titles which might be possible.

I would imagine he is an outstanding coach though I've never trained with him. I do have his self defense tapes which are lacking in my opinion. Mostly static situational stuff. I'm pretty sure his school has been around for a while so it must be one of the tougher Texas clubs.

If you don't like his club, there is another guy named Kenny Patterson who was teaching in Texas. He was a national champion in the early 80's. A guy I train with (when I'm training) was a national champion of an Eastern European country back then. He competed against Kenny and thought he was a very nice guy. I honestly don't know if he is still teaching, but he was a few years ago. Might be another avenue to explore if you don't like Vince's club.

Good luck.

[Ryu (non-working password]

I just gave them a call at the Tamura institute, and they sound nice. I'll go check out a class, and see what I can do. My throwing is terrible, so to the beginner's class I will go...hopefully my BJJ and wrestling experience will help me out in newaza.
Judo Guy, thanks again for the information, and thank you for the other choices as well

Ryu

[Linden]

Ryu, I trained at Tamura's when I lived in Dallas, and it is a very good club. The people there are great, and very willing to help you with anything. The training in the mornings is really nice if you like free training. The night classes are much more structured, and generally follow a warm up with ne-waza training on certain nights, and nagi-waza on others.

Vince generally looks over most of the classes. He's much older now, and is suffering from arthritis so he doesn't spar alot. He will occassionally hit the mat though. He is very kind, and knowledgeable. He has that old time wiseman personae that makes you feel as if he has seen it all.

He also has many different black belts from different parts of the country who occasionally come in to teach. He also has guys come over from Japan to train sometimes.

Last time I was there he had a team from Slovania I think it was, train with us, so you will deffinitely get good quality training. When I was there all the guys were great, and very cordial, and the training is top notch.

Go and check out a class, but in my opinion he is the best Judo training in the Dallas area.

Hope this helps.

[Ryu (non-working password]

Wonderful, I'm sold!
I'm definately going to check it out. Thanks everyone for the replies.

Ryu