Martial Arts •Judo
Spiker can't be beat in either ring

By Dennis Anderson
Advertiser Staff Writer

St. Louis School junior Jonathan Spiker, shown throwing Seth Char, has the potential to compete in the Olympics, according to a national judo observer. Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser

Jonathan Spiker of 'Aina Haina took time off from national judo competition to concentrate on wrestling during his first two years of high school.

He went 76-0 for St. Louis, won two state championships, plus seven more wins and the championship at the World of Wrestling tournament in Reno, Nev., in April.

Then he returned to judo, and, last month:

• Won the U.S. Judo Inc.'s National Junior Olympics 66 kilogram (145 pounds) championship and was named Outstanding Player in the boys 15-16 age division in Louisville, Ky., on July 22.
• Won the same weight and age class at the U.S. Judo Association's national championships at Toledo, Ohio, on July 28.

The junior national championships were Spiker's 19th and 20th since he was 8 years old and won his first of four "triple crowns" — junior judo's three major national championships. This year he didn't attend the first of three nationals because of the cost of travel.

"It gets more challenging as you move up in age groups," Spiker said. "There were other national champions in both tournaments."

In fact, in his first match at the Junior Olympics Nationals, Spiker defeated the champion of the U.S. Judo Federation nationals, the one he didn't attend in California the week before. In the final match, he beat the Canadian junior champion.

Spiker won all five of his bouts in the Junior Olympics by a full point. To earn a full point, one must pin his opponent for 25 seconds, throw him so that he lands completely on his back, or force him to submit with a choke hold.

At the Junior Olympics, Spiker earned his full-point victories in a single day with three pins and two throws, and was an overwhelming choice as Outstanding Player.

"He has a real beautiful throw with speed and force," said Lowell Slaven, tournament director at the Junior Olympics. "You don't see if often when you are going against the best from all over the nation. He was far superior to the competition."

Lloyd Migita, instructor at Honolulu's Shobukan Judo Club since 1956, has coached 47 individuals who have won national championships, including 1996 Olympian Clifton Sunada.

Migita has coached Spiker and his two brothers, Jason and Jared, who were also triple-crown winners.

"Jonathan's biggest asset," Migita says, "is his desire to win. When his timing is on, he's awesome. At other times, he struggles with his timing, but he takes advantage of others' mistakes and still does enough with his desire to win."

Migita also credits Spiker's intelligence — he's a straight A student at St. Louis. "We do a lot of advanced technique, we have a special class in 'mind development' where I work on the psychology of winning, visualization and affirmation. No other club in the U.S. uses the techniques we do and intelligence plays a very important part."

USA Judo's Slaven, who has been a judo referee and coach for 40 years, notes that in addition to his excellent technique, Spiker is "a super nice kid, real polite. You don't see that a lot any more."

"I expect to see him representing us in the Olympics if he stays active. He definitely has the potential," Slaven said.

Spiker's next goal is a little closer. School started Monday (he is a junior) and, as he put it, "I need to get ready for wrestling."

AT THE WORLDS: Hawai'i's three representatives at the World Championships in Munich, Germany, were all eliminated without a victory. Olympian Amy Tong lost two straight in the women's 78kg division, Taylor Takata lost two by ippon in the men's 60kg and Neal Takamoto lost once by ippon in men's open. . . . Takata, an Iolani School graduate, will take the fall semester off from San Jose State to train at the Olympic Training Center at Colorado Springs. . . . Jonathan Spiker has participated in 21 national championships and won 20. He finished second once when he was 9. In his 20 tournament victories, he was not scored upon.