Lehigh In Japan - Day 3 Blog
Three Lehigh University wrestlers: Mitch Minotti, Laike Gardner and Mason Beckman, are in Ajinmoto learning and working out at Japan's National Training Center. They will be providing a daily blog to FLO documenting their trip and experiences. It all began from JFK airport in New York to Seattle to Tokyo-Haneda Airport.
August 8th: Evening Session and Dinner (by Mason)
After a bit of resting and relaxation, we headed back over to the wrestling room for a session of live wrestling from 4:30 through 7. The warmup and drilling portions of the practice were fairly routine and lasted about an hour, after which we took a quick break and started wrestling live. We were a bit surprised to find that the format had changed a bit, though. Instead of going matches like we had been in previous practices, we were only doing 1-minutes goes and the winner had to stay on the mat until they lost one. Needless to say, things got a bit heated and it wasn't long before anyone who had won a few in a row was exhausted.
At one point or another Mitchell, Laike and I all wrestled our way through a good number of consecutive goes but eventually gave up a takedown to somebody. Mitchell looked to be stuck with some kids that are a good deal bigger than him, but luckily for him cement mixers and elevators work on wrestlers of all sizes!
Laike had a few goes against some kids that looked downright massive in comparison to him as well, but his sneaky good scrambling gave him an advantage. Sato was present for practice and seemed to greatly enjoy watching us all wrestle as well as coaching us. After practice ended, we posed for photos with each university team and the coaches that we have been working with.
Just as we were walking out of the wrestling room, Coach Sato grabbed ahold of us and asked us if we liked barbeque, to which we all quickly said 'yes'. He told us that he would take us to a place along with Ray Suzuki, a 1990 graduate of Lehigh who is of Japanese heritage and lives here in Tokyo. We all quickly grabbed a shower and met up with our two companions to head over to the restaurant.
A short cab ride later we arrived at a small place in the middle of the city. Each table had two urners built into it and we cooked our own food, of which there was a TON! Mitchell's diet went straight out the window for the night, but it was more than worth it. Each of us agreed that it was one of the best dinners that we had ever had, even if it did include things like cow tongue and stomach!
As we ate, Sato shared many of his stories from over the years as well as his thoughts and views on the correct ways to train. He truly is an encyclopedia of wrestling! At the conclusion of dinner we all headed back downstairs and Sato hailed a cab for us to take us back to the athlete's village. One more session in the morning and then we will head off to the second leg of our journey!
August 9th: Practice-Travel-Night at Nippon SS Univ. (by Mitch)
To start, today was a very interesting day to say the least. We checked out of Ajinomoto Training center at 8:30 am today (just as we were getting comfortable) and loaded up Coach Sato's hatchback before heading to practice, which today consisted of a long warm up, reviewof technique, then 90 minutes of live or 'sparring' as they call it.
After the practice ended we said our goodbyes to our new friends and we departed for Nippon Sports Science University. We arrived here about an hour and a half later due to traffic and a few stops. Our first stop was at a well known sandwich/bread restaurant out of town where we got smoked salmon sandwiches and this type of sausage infused in a seasoned roll with some kind of chili on top. It was delicious! And of course just as Sato stuffed food down our throats last night he had the same influence today.
We then stopped at his house in a nice neighborhood near the university and met his daughter.
Soon enough he dumped us off at the university gateway, informed us someone will pick us up, wished us luck and took off. While waiting on the curb hoping we understood correctly, a van pulled up driven by 2008 Summer Olympics Bronze Medalist ,Kenichi Yumoto. He escorted us to the wrestling house where we are staying for the night, and departing at 6 AM by bus to head to a training center in the mountains a few hours away.
When we arrived at the house we quickly realized that, unlike some of our friends at Ajinomoto, no one here speaks English. We struggled with them trying to figure out the wifi connection, which turned into an hour-long ordeal with about 10 people on the case! At 5:30 we went to see the wrestling room and meet the university head coach as well as be introduced to the rest of the team. It was a tough introduction given that the best person with English was pretty shaky. However, the team applauded as we walked in the room, I am unsure why, but it was a nice entry.
Later, we went to eat at their cafeteria and Laike, Mason, and I were blown away at how good the food was! As we finished and walked back through the university to the house, almost every student turned their head to catch a glimpse of us Americans on their campus. Tomorrow from what we hear, we have a long day of travel and a practice in the afternoon if I understood correctly. We are looking forward to the shift in partners and getting a feel for some different wrestlers and new technique.
Interesting things about the House/University:
- It is in a extremely nice neighborhood
- Has three floors with a kitchen, showers, common room area, balcony, and multiple dorm rooms.
- Dorm rooms are extremely small, and have two bunk beds in each sleeping 4 people!
- Each room has a sign over it with the host city of the Summer Olypmics that year and it goes in order by year and room. First floor starts at 1972 Munich, I believe leading up to our room 2012 London.
- The cafe we ate at is exclusively for athletes
Three Lehigh University wrestlers: Mitch Minotti, Laike Gardner and Mason Beckman, are in Ajinmoto learning and working out at Japan's National Training Center. They will be providing a daily blog to FLO documenting their trip and experiences. It all began from JFK airport in New York to Seattle to Tokyo-Haneda Airport.
August 8th: Evening Session and Dinner (by Mason)
After a bit of resting and relaxation, we headed back over to the wrestling room for a session of live wrestling from 4:30 through 7. The warmup and drilling portions of the practice were fairly routine and lasted about an hour, after which we took a quick break and started wrestling live. We were a bit surprised to find that the format had changed a bit, though. Instead of going matches like we had been in previous practices, we were only doing 1-minutes goes and the winner had to stay on the mat until they lost one. Needless to say, things got a bit heated and it wasn't long before anyone who had won a few in a row was exhausted.
At one point or another Mitchell, Laike and I all wrestled our way through a good number of consecutive goes but eventually gave up a takedown to somebody. Mitchell looked to be stuck with some kids that are a good deal bigger than him, but luckily for him cement mixers and elevators work on wrestlers of all sizes!
Laike had a few goes against some kids that looked downright massive in comparison to him as well, but his sneaky good scrambling gave him an advantage. Sato was present for practice and seemed to greatly enjoy watching us all wrestle as well as coaching us. After practice ended, we posed for photos with each university team and the coaches that we have been working with.
Just as we were walking out of the wrestling room, Coach Sato grabbed ahold of us and asked us if we liked barbeque, to which we all quickly said 'yes'. He told us that he would take us to a place along with Ray Suzuki, a 1990 graduate of Lehigh who is of Japanese heritage and lives here in Tokyo. We all quickly grabbed a shower and met up with our two companions to head over to the restaurant.
A short cab ride later we arrived at a small place in the middle of the city. Each table had two urners built into it and we cooked our own food, of which there was a TON! Mitchell's diet went straight out the window for the night, but it was more than worth it. Each of us agreed that it was one of the best dinners that we had ever had, even if it did include things like cow tongue and stomach!
As we ate, Sato shared many of his stories from over the years as well as his thoughts and views on the correct ways to train. He truly is an encyclopedia of wrestling! At the conclusion of dinner we all headed back downstairs and Sato hailed a cab for us to take us back to the athlete's village. One more session in the morning and then we will head off to the second leg of our journey!
August 9th: Practice-Travel-Night at Nippon SS Univ. (by Mitch)
To start, today was a very interesting day to say the least. We checked out of Ajinomoto Training center at 8:30 am today (just as we were getting comfortable) and loaded up Coach Sato's hatchback before heading to practice, which today consisted of a long warm up, reviewof technique, then 90 minutes of live or 'sparring' as they call it.
After the practice ended we said our goodbyes to our new friends and we departed for Nippon Sports Science University. We arrived here about an hour and a half later due to traffic and a few stops. Our first stop was at a well known sandwich/bread restaurant out of town where we got smoked salmon sandwiches and this type of sausage infused in a seasoned roll with some kind of chili on top. It was delicious! And of course just as Sato stuffed food down our throats last night he had the same influence today.
We then stopped at his house in a nice neighborhood near the university and met his daughter.
Soon enough he dumped us off at the university gateway, informed us someone will pick us up, wished us luck and took off. While waiting on the curb hoping we understood correctly, a van pulled up driven by 2008 Summer Olympics Bronze Medalist ,Kenichi Yumoto. He escorted us to the wrestling house where we are staying for the night, and departing at 6 AM by bus to head to a training center in the mountains a few hours away.
When we arrived at the house we quickly realized that, unlike some of our friends at Ajinomoto, no one here speaks English. We struggled with them trying to figure out the wifi connection, which turned into an hour-long ordeal with about 10 people on the case! At 5:30 we went to see the wrestling room and meet the university head coach as well as be introduced to the rest of the team. It was a tough introduction given that the best person with English was pretty shaky. However, the team applauded as we walked in the room, I am unsure why, but it was a nice entry.
Later, we went to eat at their cafeteria and Laike, Mason, and I were blown away at how good the food was! As we finished and walked back through the university to the house, almost every student turned their head to catch a glimpse of us Americans on their campus. Tomorrow from what we hear, we have a long day of travel and a practice in the afternoon if I understood correctly. We are looking forward to the shift in partners and getting a feel for some different wrestlers and new technique.
Interesting things about the House/University:
- It is in a extremely nice neighborhood
- Has three floors with a kitchen, showers, common room area, balcony, and multiple dorm rooms.
- Dorm rooms are extremely small, and have two bunk beds in each sleeping 4 people!
- Each room has a sign over it with the host city of the Summer Olypmics that year and it goes in order by year and room. First floor starts at 1972 Munich, I believe leading up to our room 2012 London.
- The cafe we ate at is exclusively for athletes