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Judo in the News
Tampa Tribune
Sept. 29, 2005
The Gentle Way
By: Tom Brennan
Brandon, Fla. - For Sarah Subko, the attraction of
judo is simple.

Her parents hoped their daughter would learn
discipline, build self-confidence and learn to commit
to something.

"What I like best is throwing boys over my head," said
the 8-year-old.

Jonathan Harden, 16, has been taking classes for seven
years. His motivation is also clear.

"We're too afraid to leave," he chuckled. "Maley would
kill us."

Maley is Edwin Maley - a gravelly voiced, 73-year-old
judo master who has been teaching for more than 50
years, and at the Brandon Recreation Center since
1960.

The recreation center was the Lions Club back then, he
recalled, and State Road 60 "was just a one-horse
road."

Sarah and Harden are among the students taking courses
from the shihon - Japanese for "professor" - at the
center at 510 Sadie St. on Thursday nights.

"I have people who started with me when they were kids
who are now in their 60s," Maley said. "Now, I'm
teaching their kids."

Harden is one of those legacies.

His father, John, took lessons from Maley at age 7 at
the Seminole Heights Recreation Center. He drifted
away after seven years but came back when his son
showed an interest.

"I have always felt better when I worked out," he
said. "This is good cardiovascular exercise."

He and his son help Maley teach the youngsters before
taking their own class.

"I want to help carry on what he taught me as a
child," John Harden said.

Maley was drawn to judo while taking night high school
classes in Brooklyn in 1949.

"It had everything - wrestling, tumbling, balance. It
is a great way to get in and stay in shape," he said.

Maley kept practicing when he joined the Air Force two
years later. He was working out at the base gym in
Roswell, N.M., when a sergeant saw him and asked if he
would like to teach conditioning to crew members of
the newly created Strategic Air Command.

The Master's Way

"We taught them how to survive," Maley said. "How to
avoid the enemy if you can and how to take them on if
you can't."

While in the service, Maley was sent to Japan for
three months. There, he was taught by the country's
best martial arts teachers. It was then that he earned
his black belt.

He is rich in credentials. He is an eighth-degree
black belt, or hachidan, the highest level awarded in
the United States. He is a member of the Black Belt
magazine hall of fame and was named its Judo
Instructor of the Year in 1980. He is the founder of
the Kiaiado form of jujitsu. For 32 years, he owned
and ran the Florida School of Judo on MacDill Avenue
in Tampa before selling the building in 2001.

Maley said judo is second only to soccer in worldwide
appeal, being taught in 182 countries. But he said it
is losing out to other forms of martial arts with
today's American youth.

"They like breaking boards and jumping in the air," he
said.

Maley blames the country's culture of instant
gratification.

"You have to have patience" to learn judo, he said.
"It takes time to build the body up, to get the
reflexes, to get the coordination."

Taking To The Mat

The students bow as they enter the recreation center,
which becomes their dojo, or practice place. They bow
again as they step barefoot onto the blue and white
mats.

Parents ring the mats, setting up folding chairs among
the pool and foosball tables.

Among them was Meena Joseph, of Valrico, who was
watching her sons Jovin, 10, and Jaison, 7.

"I thought it would help build their self-esteem and
teach them they can defend themselves if something
happened," she said.

She said the boys were constantly holding mock fights
with pretend karate kicks, so she thought it was
better that they learn a real martial art in a safe
atmosphere.

Bernice Watkins sat on the sidelines with her
grandchildren Cambre Williams, 10, and Raymond
Price-Murray, 10, both living with her in her Brandon
home.

She said her grandson was eager to take the classes,
but she was unsure about her granddaughter's interest.

"I like the discipline and the exercise," she said.
"With so many children getting abducted, I want to
make sure she has a feeling of empowerment in
herself."

After watching the class, Cambre was eager to join.

"I like the way they flip each other," she said. "I
think I'll enjoy it."

Robert Subko said his daughter Sarah wanted to learn
judo at age 5 after seeing some children taking
classes at the Campo Family YMCA while she was taking
gymnastics.

"We were hoping she would get some confidence and
learn about committing to an activity," said her
mother, Natasha Subko.

Sarah has won a gold and silver medal in her division
at the last two national Junior Olympics.

Maley is trying to let others do most of the hands-on
teaching these days.

"If I did it all the time, they're never going to
learn," he said jokingly. "This way when I quit, when
I'm 100, there's someone to take over."

But he can never see a time without judo.

"It is such a beautiful art. It is a part of me."