the
Official
Detroit
Judo
Club
Historical
Website
Publish or Perish
Don Pohl
Associate Editor, Judo Illustrated
November/December 1968
With
this issue, Judo Illustrated closes the first two years of its publication. In the short
span of two years, this magazine has made a definite contribution to the prestige and
development of judo.
This is not to say that judo lacked prestige or respectability, but without a first-class publication to help mold the image, few would be aware of the scope, development or worth of the activity. This is true with most endeavors - organizations are judged by their publications. Their membership is kept informed, ideas are exchanged, new developments are reported and interest is kept alive. In short, a magazine breathes life into an organization.
Aside from this all-important role, a first-class publication is also the organization's "public image." It serves as an educational and public relations vehicle through which the organization hopes to generate interest among the public and respect and notice from the news media. No other function or activity carries as much weight as respect for the organization as its official publication.
The USJF has been fortunate to have weathered a less than illustrious beginning in this field. Launched in the middle-50's, the first attempt at a national magazine was a mimeographed, "sometimes" publication, followed in the early 60's by a somewhat improved but still unprofessional offering.
While these efforts served a useful membership purpose, they did nothing to improve the image of the organization. On the contrary, they would have to have been considered a liability from the standpoint of representing the organization to the public.
A first class professional publication requires not only the talent and finances but the membership support as well. The USJF has been fortunate to have found the first two ingredients - professional talent and finances. The enthusiastic support of the general membership, however, has been lacking - lacking to the point where it now jeopardizes the very existence of the magazine.
Besides reporting items of interest to the members, let's consider the non-judoka value of the magazine. First of all, judo is relatively new in comparison to the so-called standard or accepted sports. While the majority of these sports rank far below judo in the number of registered athletes, they nevertheless enjoy considerably more publicity and prestige. Why? Why, when judo is third in the number of registered athletes and the fastest growing sport in the country?
The answer, we think, is simple. It's our image—or worse yet, our lack of it. Few in the news media have any concept whatsoever of judo other than as an off-beat form of mayhem indulged in by a few exhibitionists.
Fewer still are the colleges and high schools which realize that judo is a safe, well-organized sport recognized and enjoyed the world over. And to the general public, judo is nothing more than a form of brick breaking made necessary by the desire to defend oneself. In short, our real image is all but non-existent.
Judo Illustrated has gone a long way to help correct this image. But until it gets wider circulation and into the hands of responsible educators, sports writers, and the general public, judo will continue to suffer a second-rate status. From a purely selfish viewpoint, it would serve us all well to see that each of the above-mentioned figures in our community got a subscription. Such an investment would be indeed small, when compared to the future understanding, response and coverage which would be sure to result.
The energy, enthusiasm and sacrifice of the judoist in the pursuit of their art is matched by no other sport. Nowhere do we find such zeal or dedication. Also, nowhere do we find such complete contradiction to the judo theory of "maximum efficiency with minimum effort" than in judo.
Our raw dedication and love for the sport is matched only by our inability to recognize that we must get judo out of the dojo and into the view of the public and the press. Maximum efficiency demands that we pull our head out of the sand and think in terms other than our small dojos and tournaments and rely instead upon a collective campaign to project the true image of judo.
All the champions and activity, in themselves, will not sell judo. We have a wholesome and worthwhile sport, but unless we tell the world about it through the means of communication, we will no doubt continue to be thought of as a third-rate sport instead of a sport in third place.
Those of you who read this editorial will naturally be those who already subscribe to the magazine. And since it will be only you who will realize the importance of the magazine to your future local development, we must trust in your individual desire to do something about it.
The danger of the publication going bankrupt is not only predictable, but immediate. Unless we take a greater interest and support the magazine, at least to a point of breaking even, we run the risk of not only losing the magazine but losing the only professional public-relations vehicle at our disposal today.
What will it take to guarantee publication? Actually very little. There are well over 2,000 clubs in some 1,000 cities. If each club delivered just three subscriptions and subscribed just two key sports writers in their city, we would guarantee not only the continued publication of the magazine but its major expansion as well.
It's now up to you, the dedicated subscriber . . .