Throughout the last 12 years, the Ateneo Men’s Judo Team has gone on an incredible run, claiming six championships and establishing itself as one of the premier judo teams at the collegiate level. At first glance, it may seem like the team’s success was a result of a top-notch recruiting program. However, behind the team’s sustained dominance in the UAAP is a rigorous training program that was carefully crafted and designed by the coaching staff as they built their way up from the bottom.
“Our program works for somebody who has no athletic experience, no martial arts background. He trains for a year and then becomes a UAAP championship athlete,” shared Ateneo Men’s Judo Program Director Ali Sulit.
Sulit emphasized the integration of magis in his training program by ensuring consistency in terms of approach and giving importance to the basic techniques and principles of judo. Apart from this, he incorporated elements of wrestling and endurance to build the Blue Eagles’ stamina on the mat. “We kept getting the minor scores, make sure namin [na] pagod na pagod ang kalaban [habang] kami hindi pa, so tatambakan lang namin ng points (We made sure to tire the opponents out while we remained fresh, so we will just bury them with points),” elaborated Sulit.
Conversely, Coach Sulit identified recruitment as one of the team’s biggest pain points. To make up for the lack of judokas in the team, some players had to increase or decrease their weight to fill up the gaps in certain weight divisions. Despite the difficulties, Coach Sulit noted how the Blue Eagles still performed well in the rankings. “Nag-pplace pa rin kami. (We still notched a place on the podium). So that’s the one thing. We’ve almost never fallen out of podium finish,” Sulit shared proudly.
“Champions are made on a daily basis.”
Ateneo Men’s Judo program Director Ali Sulit
As a perennial title contender, Sulit admitted that opposing teams would be scouting the Blue Eagles months before the season. He remembered one memorable instance in Season 72 when the coaching staff outwitted their rival universities. Knowing that their opponents were scouting them, Sulit posted training footage of the team’s rookies to mislead them about the team’s lineup.
“[Our rivals] had the notion na paglalaruan nila yung mga baguhan (that they could easily beat our rookies). So psychologically, it will throw them off. I don’t know if it was effective, but we still won. I mean we got to have fun with it, what’s the point of this if it’s stressing all the time.” Coach Sulit fondly recalled.
Despite their dominance in competition, Coach Sulit emphasized that the first lesson of every martial art is to bow and show respect for each other, whether they are on the same team or opponents on the mat. This is reflected in UAAP Judo’s tradition of having teams line up and bow to each other as a show of respect before the end of each season.
Grounded by the principle of respect and endurance through pain, the Ateneo Men’s Judo Team continue to produce many UAAP champions who live by the motto that “champions are made on a daily basis.”
