Julian Hartshorn, Reflections

Unforeseen Benefits of International Sports

My one year study abroad at Chubu University was the most valuable experience I had during my time in college. It drastically changed the way I think about and understand cultures as well as had a huge influence on my career after I graduated. One of the experiences I had during my study abroad that affected me the most was my time spent with Chubu University's Judo Club.  

Prior to my study abroad I had always wanted to try a martial art. I had a background with wrestling from a young age and practiced judo at Ohio University through the Japanese Student Association for a few months but I had little confidence in my judo when compared to the level at which I thought my peers would be at in Japan. This made me extremely nervous to join a judo club at a Japanese university in addition to being in a new culture, a new country and with a significant language barrier as I only had one year of studying Japanese at the time. Regardless of my worries I still wanted to give it a try since I finally had a unique chance to learn judo at a level I knew I probably would never have the chance to again. 

Luckily, I was able to be introduced to the club through a connection with Chubu University's English Department and could meet the club during my first few weeks into my study abroad. Although I was relieved that I could join, this opened the door to some new anxieties: Was my judo good enough? What would they think of an American with little experience joining? Would I get in the way of practice? I walked into the dojo which was a very large and, at the time, intimidating building tucked away in one of the back corners of the university with multiple floors and different martial arts clubs practicing on each floor. The kendo club practiced on the ground floor of the dojo so I could hear the screams of kendo practice and banging of wooden swords before I could even see the building which admittedly put me even more on edge. Once inside the dojo, I met the judo club. To my surprise they were just as nervous as I was as they had all heard that an America would be showing up to join. They explained that they were relieved that I could speak some Japanese and had an idea of how judo practices usually operate. I was also put at ease that they were much more easygoing and less intense than I had anticipated.  

After a few months of practicing with the club almost daily, some things started to stand out when compared to how I practiced sports in America. First, there was a coach or sensei, but he wasn't always able to make it to practice and practice was usually ran by the student members of the club. Secondly, there was a much larger disparity in skill between members than what I had expected. Some members had been at the top of the ranks in their respective home prefectures and had been training practically since they could walk. Some surprisingly had less experience than I did at the time. This meant that we had to work together to improve and motivate each other which was something usually reserved to coaches from my experience with sports in my home country. I had experience with being a teammate from playing football and other sports that I played when I was younger, but I hadn't had the experience of athletes holding almost all of the responsibilities of the team or club. During practice everyone wanted to win and do well, but members of our club had different motivations and reasons for joining. Some were dedicated to judo and wanted to be the absolute best, some joined to get in shape, and some wanted to get their black belt as a personal achievement. This contrasted my American view of always wanting to be the best and win everything. This ultimately changed my perspective on how to train for sports and allowed me to focus on my own goals and focus less on comparing myself to others. 

Another important aspect of being involved with a more traditional club that was beneficial for me was that I was unknowingly getting firsthand experience of so many aspects of Japanese culture. Our club had a student leader, different members who were delegated certain responsibilities, and our club's sensei who was a faculty member in addition to the rest of the other student members. Since I was an active member I was able to see how to apply the Japanese I was learning in class during Unforeseen Benefits of International Sports Julian Hartshorn practice. I started to better understand when and who to use formal speech with, how to interact with junior members, new members, and senior members among other countless experiences. These experiences helped me immensely with my career once I graduated and started working for Japanese companies as I was able to apply the knowledge I gained from being involved in a club to future interactions with those who would be my bosses, managers, and coworkers. For example, early in my career I felt more comfortable when interacting with senior and higher-ranking members of different organizations as I already had firsthand experience with similar formalities at club ceremonies and competitions. It also gave me a lot of confidence with interviews and other work related events as I felt more at ease and usually had some form of a reference in my head of what was expected of me in different situations. 

I believe my time spent with Chubu University's Judo Club was invaluable to my growth as a human and highlights why going abroad is so important. Initially, I thought joining would allow me to make some new friends and improve my judo. Also, as I was so focused on judo during my time spent with the club, I could not have expected how much I would grow as a person through merely participating. However, being a member of a club at a Japanese university provided me with endless unforeseen opportunities to learn and grow as a person that I would have otherwise never had the chance to experience had I not first studied abroad and been in a totally different culture.