Judoka

[Mark A. Mandel]

The other day as I was doing taijiquan (Tai Chi Ch'uan) in a local park I
noticed a man, apparently ethnically Chinese, watching me while pushing a
stroller. I smiled at him and continued, and he sat down on a bench and
played with his baby.

When I was done I collected my assorted impedimenta (fanny pack, splint for
tendinitis, hat, etc.) and sat down on the next bench to reassemble myself.
He said, "You play very well", which led to conversation and a piece of
constructive criticism which I have found extremely valuable.

I was surprised by this use of "play", though I didn't comment on it. Now I
see that it is not just, perhaps, an idiosyncratic loan translation by a
non-native speaker of English. And its usage within martial arts is
evidently more widespread than Ryan and Evan suggest.

-- Mark A. Mandel
[This text prepared with Dragon NaturallySpeaking.]

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From: Ryan Ginstrom:
>> At the dojo's I practiced at in the United States, they called them
>> "judo players."

Evan Emswiler wrote:
> Technically, I don't think that you "play" a martial art in English,

From: Ryan Ginstrom:
Except judo. Some googling should reveal that it is fairly common in
judo circles (e.g. judoinfo.com).
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