By Norm Cowley, edmontonjournal.com March 31, 2012
EDMONTON - Justin Wack looks like any other 12-year-old competing in the Edmonton international judo championships.
Looks can be deceiving.
Wack has been blind since birth.
The soon-to-be teenager, who proudly says he stands five feet “and one-quarter-inch” tall, has already achieved an orange belt after two years of judo training, and has won some silver and bronze medals in competitions.
“Honestly, it does not hurt me at all,” he said about his disability. “In fact, I think if anything, it’s an advantage. Some people, when they go to throw you, they’ll look down at their feet and your feet. Basically, that can screw up their balance, which can make it easier for you to throw (him).”
“It’s all hands-on, so it’s a good sport in that respect,” said Wack’s father, Alan. “He’s good at that.”
Justin was disappointed to lose both of his matches to more experienced opponents in the under-15 age category at Saturday’s competition at West Edmonton Mall’s Ice Palace. His opponents didn’t have any physical disabilities.
“He’s got more heart than most kids,” said Mark Hicks, who coaches Wack at the St. Albert Judo Club. “He’s very enthusiastic. He’s willing to take a bump or bruise just to get things done. He’s good with that.
“He’s not fearful of the fact he is in jeopardy of being thrown because he feels comfortable from holding on that he can assess where his competitor is. He’s got pretty good balance and he can adjust his weight to try to get control of his match.”
Wack, who suffered a hearing loss about five or six years ago, also wears hearing aids, except when competing.
“The refs are right near you, so I can hear the refs no problem and that’s really all I need to hear,” he said. “I can hear the coaches, too” for instructions on what types of throws to try and how much time is left on the clock.
Wack, who is well-spoken for a Grade 7 student, did rock climbing for six years before he tried judo and has played soccer in the spring. He’s currently learning to play the guitar, reading the notes by braille, but has also taken piano and voice lessons. He has read braille since he was about three years old.
According to Alan, Justin followed the same progression growing up as his older brother, Stephen, who played bantam AAA hockey with the St. Albert Sabres this season and is currently trying out for the Alberta Cup competition.
“With our older son, we have sort of a benchmark as to what happens when,” said Alan, who raises the two boys with his wife, Trish. “It’s been pretty much all the same with the same types of milestones growing up. Everything has been very similar, a little bit adapted at time with not being able to see, but it’s been the same type of things with reading and walking and all that stuff.”
Oh yeah, Wack also won CISN radio’s Youngest Anthem Singer contest three years ago and sang O Canada before a Saturday night Hockey Night in Canada broadcast on CBC. He has since sung the national anthem at another Oilers game and the NHL team’s skills competition, as well as for the Canadian Olympians at Commonwealth Stadium in 2010, when he got to meet some of the athletes.
“That was pretty cool,” he said.
In fact, Wack has dreams of representing Canada down the road.
“I want to try to go to the 2020 Paralympics for judo,” he said, “so I’m just going to work really hard until then and see if I can make it.”
What prompted Wack to try a contact sport like judo when he doesn’t even have any light perception and requires a fellow athlete to guide him during warm-up runs or stretches at the club or to find his mat during a competition?
“I wanted to do a competitive sport, and we had heard that judo was a good sport for adapting, even though there’s hardly any adapting at all,” he said.
In Wack’s case, the only adapting, or adjustments, made to accommodate his disability is he is permitted to remain in contact with his opponent at all times.
“Normally, when they start a match, the two opponents start apart,” Wack explained. “For me, me and my opponent just start in contact. If we lose contact, we just start in contact again. Otherwise, it’s the exact same rules.”
Wack said stopping the match when the fighters lose contact can also be an advantage for him. “If there’s ground fighting and you lose contact, then they just make you stand up again.”
He likes both ground and stand-up fighting. When pressed, he admitted that stand-up fighting is his preference, although “it depends on the other person.
“If they’ve seen me fight, then they know what the scoop is,” he said about always being in contact with his opponent. “And I usually try to track down my opponent and explain this is what’s going to happen because you can catch some people off-guard.”
ncowley@edmontonjournal.com
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http://www.edmontonjournal.com/sports/Blind+judo+competitor+allowing+disability+block+path/6392215/story.html#ixzz1qtHvLWHM
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