US National Kudo Team learns from Attuned on the way to 2020 Olympics

Kudo has its origins as an offshoot of Kakuto Karate (Combat Karate) and was formally established by Takashi Azuma in 1981. Grandmaster Azuma still keeps careful control of the sport. He meets and personally evaluates all potential branch chiefs like James in person at the KIF headquarters in Ikebukuro, Tokyo.

Kudo will make its olympic debut in 2020 as a demonstration sport. Though the KIF has more than 60 member nations, it is not yet mainstream.

When asked what his approach to motivating such a diverse team has been, James’s answer is compact and all-business.

“I tailor my motivation techniques to each individual fighter. The fighters’ reason for competing differs from person to person. Some of the fighters like Abby or Darian are competing in the World Tournament as a means to test themselves. Others like Bryant or Juan are competing to be World Champion and make a name for themselves.

From a coach’s point of view, it means I motivate by reminding the fighters why they are training. What will be the rewards for success. And what will the cost of failure mean.”

James’s motivator profile (indicated by the purple dots in the chart above) is aligned with or evenly spread across the spectrum with his team in large part. Potential blind spots we noted and discussed as key opportunities were in feedback, progress and status.

As James does not necessarily require feedback to stay motivated and engaged in what he does, one member of his team scores as a need to have. He could be a more effective coach for this fighter by making sure he is thorough and detailed in his feedback.

In a similar vein, two fighters scored well into the “need to have” range on progress, while James himself less so. These team members will be more engaged if their efforts are measured in a way so as to make improvement very clear, as well as being pushed beyond their perceived limits.

At first, James was a bit surprised by a few high scores in the “status” motivator. For Kudo, status is achieved by winning bouts, earning degrees toward black belt status, and championships. As branch chief, James has already attained most of these points. It makes motivational sense that his score would rank neutral, while some of his fighters would still be powerfully intrinsically motivated by the status within the sport — in fact, it goes hand in hand with the need for progress.

I asked James whether or not he had made any clear missteps when trying to motivate his team in the past. Protecting his team, he declined to divulge specific stories, noting that, “I have never made a misstep so big I couldn’t correct myself.”

Going further, he adds, “The short answer is I thought one of my fighters would be motivated by external factors such as money, fame, or plain old public recognition, but in reality, they were purely motivated by some personal demons of their own they were struggling to overcome.”

On what it means to be coach, his answer is fully aligned with his high score in “altruism” as an intrinsic motivator.

“As the coach, I can never show weakness or vulnerability. When we are in training camp preparing for competition the physical, mental, and emotional burden on the fighters is huge. They rely on me as the coach to be someone they can come to when they are struggling and want someone to give them a pep talk and tell them everything is fine and they are doing great.

Since I am also a competitive fighter in this competition on top of coaching, I am going through these same struggles, but I don’t have anyone to play this role for me. This means that no matter how bad I’m hurting, how tired I am, or how emotionally broken down I am, I have to portray an image of calm and control to provide that stability to my fighters.

I don’t get a day off, I can’t skip training. I am supposed to be the rock they can depend on.”

“So Kudo as a whole is a very community focused martial art. Like many Japanese martial arts, we have a formal code or “dojo-kun” we are supposed to strive to achieve. Kudo’s dojo kun is “Through the pursuit of Kudo, we will develop great physical and mental strength. We will educate ourselves and gain intelligence. We will form bonds with those around us to enrich our emotions and cultivate our personalities. We will become positive contributing members of society.”

These principles of Kudo teach us to strive not only for personal improvement but also to form strong meaningful bonds with the people in our lives. When it comes to the sport, team means your national group. During this big international competitions, your team are your fellow countrymen and women. Your team acts as your support structure while you compete. Your team helps you warm-up, cheers for you when you fight, celebrates with you in victory, and consoles you in defeat.

Even though each member fights alone in the ring and their results affect no one but themselves, it is still a team sport. You know you have those individuals supporting you who have struggled and suffered with you through all the training and preparation.”