I certainly should start by expressing my deep sense of gratitude towards my father who in his wisdom introduced me to martial arts when I was six years old. I still vividly remember my first classes of Karate where many of older students would "crack" and surrender when faced with the on endurance postures. After my family moved back to the capital city of Bamako, I had to stop practicing Karate for couple of years.
After my family relocated again, this time to Gabon, I had a great opportunity at the age of 12 to reconnect with martial arts now through Taekwondo. Taekwondo classes were held in a room adjacent to a Judo dojo. After watching one Judo training session, I was mesmerized by the Judo instructor Sensei Makaya, who was so immersed in his art and so passionate about Judo that I fell right away in love with Judo and its principles. After the class was finished, I spoke to Sensei Makaya, who told me that I needed to buy a judogi in order to start practicing. I wasn't sure how my father would take the news about new expenses; yet, when I came back home and told my father that I wanted to do Judo, to my great surprise my father was very supportive and bought me my first judogi the same week.
I fell in love with the subtlety and values of the art of Judo. I found the philosophy of grappling and direct contact (emphasizing "kinesthetic feel" rather than force) more appealing than striking. Early on, through close contact the judoka develops a different way of communication with others. Through pushing, pulling, grappling, throwing, turning around, the Judoka learns how to "feel" the opponent. For the most part, the direct contact martial artist develops the kinesthetic intelligence and learns how to control the situation. A direct contact martial artist's focus is on controlling and handling the situation by means of higher, universal laws, while a striker, for example, might just blindly fight back dealing explosive punches. This could translate to development of rather different personality traits in practitioners.
Even with a lot of audacity and vigor at the age of 12, I was compelled by the "gentle way", or the efficient way of utilizing your opponent's energy against himself. The principle of minimum effort for maximum efficiency seemed so elaborate and artful that my interest in Judo kept growing.
Since 1988 Judo has become my way of life through which I am committed and dedicated to give my best everyday. Under Sensei Makaya's leadership and teachings Judo came to me naturally- from my early competitions as a cadet I won gold at national championships and then on my Junior years as well in Gabon. Even as a junior, I took silver in the adult national championship while juggling with the hectic final year in senior high school. Indeed I was ready for a life self-quest. Being a "good" student earned me a scholarship to one of the best engineering school in Tunis where I polished my judo skills by earning my blackbelt degree in Judo. Training within the best Judo club(EST Judo) in Tunis helped me take my competitive Judo to an even higher level. Under the master mind Haraketi, I was able to redefine my Judo knowledge from a truly scientific perspective; Also, through participating in regular training camps and contacts with French trainers frequently visiting and training in Tunis, I was able to build on my competitive skills and got to represent Mali for the first time in the African Championship in Casablanca, Morocco, in 1997, where I placed 7th.
More high level tournaments and traveling followed, while I was performing a real balancing act trying to complete an intensive academic program in Electrical Engineering by summer 1999 At that time I had to compromise to pursue my other life dreams and goals, having come to a realization that obtaining good education was, in the long run, the right objective to focus on. This meant getting the best and practically oriented education in US. In New-York City while studying and soul searching, I joined, NY Athletic Judo club, which was a great and welcoming training dojo under sensei Yoichiro Matsumura where I formed many lasting friendships. Sensei Matsumura's technicality also opened my eyes at many levels. I went on to win more tournaments, including the NY state championship in May 2000, The Empire State games in summer 2000(gold under 81 kg). With the successes and growing exposure I started to seriously reconsider the highest challenge that a judo athlete could stand up to: The ultimate goal the Olympics.
The longing for making my dormant second life dream of becoming an Olympian was reinforced. I wanted and needed a place with good education and intensive Judo practice. The answer to my wish formulated itself: The No1 Judo collegiate university in the US: San Jose State University (SJSU). After applying and being accepted to the graduate program at SJSU, I headed to the west Coast. I was looking forward to becoming a Spartan in summer 2001.
There can be no doubt about efficiency and demanding training regimen of the varsity programs at San Jose State that, under the leadership of the founder and head coach Yosh Uchida, has been a pioneering force in the development of Judo in the United States. The San Jose State Judo team is rich in tradition dating back to the 1940's and the first Olympic Team in 1964.Over the last 7 decades, San Jose State has become the most successful judo program in the country with 40 National Collegiate judo titles, 8 World medals, 4 World University medals, 3 Olympic medals, 6 US Olympic team coaches and 1 Olympic team manager. Thanks to training at SJSU, I was able to sharpen my Judo skills and my competitive strategies under Yosh Uchida, assistant coaches and alumni such as Keith Nakasone, Mike Swain, Marius Popescu, David Williams, Chuck Jefferson, Eitan Gelber, Tetsu Okano, Shozo Fukuda, Jose Bencosme and many more.
The experience acquired at SJSU allowed me to qualify and participate in many more tournaments. The Bronze medal won in the NY Open in 2002 was a good confirmation of my progress .More competition followed including the African Championship in Cairo in 2002, and many more wins in 81 kg (Silver Medalist California State Judo Championship in 2002, and 2003); Buddhist Tournaments, silver in 2002 and 2004). The training at SJSU had since given me confidence and confirmation that my Olympic dreams was within reach, especially with the opportunity to participate in training and sparring sessions with world class athletes.
I was going after the 2004 Olympic dream for which the final Olympic trial competition was held in Tunis in May 2004. I was in great shape and in ascendance until I found out after the Buddhist tournament in Mid-February 2004 that I had broken my right hand (which meant 3 months in the hard cast). I was devastated. All my plans for tournaments before the main event in May were ruined. The best scenario was that I would have only 2-3 weeks to complete my hand rehabilitation and to get ready for the event for which athletes train all year round. Yet, in order to follow up on my plans and to finish the process, I decided to take my chance and went on to compete in Tunis with a weakened right hand even without proper preparation. There was no medal victory for me at the end of that day. My only victory of that day was overcoming my own fears.
Looking back, going through the process was a great experience for me. I grew in two keys areas: I completed with success my Master's degree in ISE(area of focus in Supply Chain Management) and, most importantly, I also learned that with better and earlier planning I will be able to successfully pass qualification for the Olympics Games in Beijing 2008 . Now, enriched with my experience I am confident about my chances to compete in Beijing in August 2008. What is more I am hoping to be the first African to win a gold medal in the Olympic Judo history. Better planning means reaching out (Overview in reaching Beijing 2008) and making an early start in order to earn some points through international and selected tournaments. Therefore, I have decided to devote all the remaining time left before August 2008 solely to intensive practice, high level tournaments, and international training camps.(See my schedule/and results). My comeback at local level started in May 2004 (with silver in a Watsonville Invitational, followed by gold in SF City College Invitational, Monterey Invitational, and Palo Alto (Nov 06'), and recently a bronze medal at the Buddhist Invitational (Feb 07'). For more information on my upcoming events please visit My Schedule/Results.