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POSTED: Sunday, Jan. 25, 2009

Mental energy fires competitive spirit for judo master

Name: Ralph Bajema

Age: 72

Residence: Birch Bay for 10 years, before that Bellingham for most of his life

Exercise routine: Bajema has been involved in the sport of judo for 50 years, and continues to compete in national and international competitions.

Motivation: "I was a skinny kid in high school," he says. "At the (Whatcom Family) YMCA one day, there was a fellow visiting from Japan who was a judo player. I got interested in it and never quit."

The importance of practice: Bajema practices judo twice a week for a total of four hours with the Western Washington University Judo Club. "I try to never miss practice," he says.

Competitive edge: Bajema travels one to three times per year for national and international competitions to cities such as Cleveland, Virginia Beach, Las Vegas, San Diego, Houston, Tokyo and Toronto.

Awards: "At the national level, I have five gold medals, seven silver medals and two bronze medals in the mastery division," he says. "At the world level, I have three bronze medals."

Favorite place to compete: "Virginia Beach, because I like the boardwalk. When I'm not competing, my wife (Nila) and I like to walk along it."

Staying trim: Bajema says he usually gains about 10 pounds during the holiday season, but maintains a weight of 160 pounds the rest of the year. In order to lose the "holiday pile," as he calls is, he cuts down on sweets and fat, and avoids snacking after dinner.

Older is better: "A lot of people ask me how I can compete at my age," he says. "In judo, there are two different powers: extrinsic energy and intrinsic energy. In our late 30s and 40s the power of our outer muscular system tends to decline. But as we grow older, we tend to rely more on our intrinsic energy - the power of the mind and spirit - and it gives us endurance and the ability to stay calm and relaxed."

Other ways to stay healthy: "Lots of stretching exercises," Bajema says. "As we get older we tend to stiffen up. So I (stretch) three times a week at a minimum."

Moving past fear: He also practices falling as part of his judo training. "I need to be able to fall without breaking a bone," he says. "While it is a high-impact contact sport, if I can fall correctly without breaking anything, I can compete better because I've eliminated the fear of falling."

Keeping up energy: "My energy comes from within," he says. "Being able to stay calm in a stressful situation extends my energy, so relaxation - the absence of unnecessary tension - creates longer endurance."

Staying centered: Bajema also uses deep "belly breathing" exercises to increase his sense of calm. "If you can learn that technique so that it's a habit, you will naturally have more energy," he says.

How he stays motivated: "The challenge of competition," he says. "If it were just practice, it would be hard. There are times I don't want to go to practice, but I go anyway because there is a possibility of winning a competition down the road."

Spousal support: "My wife is very supportive, because in the end, (judo) may keep me out of a wheelchair, or out of the hospital," Bajema says. "She likes the idea of my staying healthy, and judo is a sport that is quite safe, regardless of the high-impact combat. We practice safety and our motto is 'mutual welfare and benefit.' We don't want to injure our training partners, because if we did, we wouldn't have anyone to train with."

Clean living: Bajema says neither he nor his wife, Nila, who is 75, are smokers, and he also lives about 500 feet from the salt water in Birch Bay. "So I always have clean air," he says.

Favorite judo memory: "The competition in Tokyo in 2003," he says. "It was an honor to lose against the president of The Japan Masters Judo Association. That was a very high level competition, and I came close, but I lost."

On sometimes losing: "Actually, losing can be fun, if you're fighting against someone at that level."

Judo goal: "My aspiration would be to fight (Russian Prime Minister) Vladimir Putin, who is a high-level judo master."

How long he plans to practice judo: "Until I can't."

Heidi Schiller is a Seattle freelance writer and journalism graduate of Western Washington University.