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Judo Team Captain Hopes for Gold

NEW YORK (AP) -- Celita Schutz-Owens couldn't wait for her sixth birthday. That's when her mother promised she could take up judo.

``My mom was worried I was too young. It looked like an aggressive sport for a 5-year-old,'' said the 28-year-old New Jersey native. ``Telling me to wait a year was a strategy -- a parent's way of thinking their child might forget. But I didn't.''

More than two decades later, the 5-foot-6, 134-pound first-degree black belt is heading to the Olympics.

Neither Celita nor her mom, Beatriz Valera-Schutz, has any regrets about that birthday promise.

``She could beat all the boys. They were nervous to compete against her because she was so good,'' said her long-time coach, Nagayasu Ogasawara.

As captain of the U.S. women's Olympic judo team, Schutz-Owens will lead six teammates to Atlanta to compete against France, Cuba, Japan and other countries.

It will be only the second time women's judo has been an official Olympic sport. Men's judo has been in the Olympics since 1964.

Judo, which means ``the gentle way,'' started in 1882 and comes from the ancient martial art of Jujitsu.

The movements and goal are similar to wrestling. The emphasis is on throws and pins, rather than on kicks and punches.

The objective is to break the opponent's balance and throw him or her onto their back on the mat. A fighter tries to make the opponent submit by using his or her aggressiveness and momentum to throw the contender off balance. The aim is to use the minimum effort for the maximum efficiency.

Women's matches last for four minutes, while men compete for five. Players wear the traditional garb, or ``gi.''

``Judo is a total mind and body sport,'' said Schutz-Owens, who also likes playing basketball, soccer and racquetball. ``Some think it looks aggressive and violent. But it's really more beautiful and graceful than that.''

Celita, who is adopted, credits her brother, Del, and father, Donald, for inspiring her when she was a youth to put on a gi.

But her mom also played a major part.

``She made a conscious decision not to interfere with anything her child wanted to do -- never pushing me and never hindering me from pursuits,'' she said. ``For any athlete who finds success, usually it begins with their parents.''

Her agility and swiftness are the results of years of practice and discipline.

She won her first competition at age 7, and her first national tournament when she was 9. She won 19 titles by the time she was 16.

Her discipline paid off after she fractured her ankle six months before the Olympic trials.

``I've learned how powerful thoughts and emotions are,'' she said. ``Understanding how to control them and learning how to put positive images in my mind has helped me perform better.''

After graduating from Yale, where she was All-Ivy League in soccer and basketball, Schutz-Owens became art director at the Segal Co. in Manhattan.

A year later, she returned to judo in Westwood, N.J., to relieve work stress. But after a short while, she began competing and winning again. Her participation in the sport took on a new intensity when she won a gold at the U.S. Olympic Festival.

Although she didn't make the Olympic team in 1992 -- ``it was like cramming for exams'' -- she kept her sights on 1996.

``I was going to practices exhausted from work and deadlines. Judo wasn't getting 100 percent of me. And neither was my job,'' she said. ``I realized if I gave myself a chance I could do something with this. I decided to take up on it while it was still an option.''

She resigned her $50,000-a-year job and moved with her husband, Darrin, from their New York City apartment to Hillsdale, N.J., where they rent a house near her training center.

Her weekly workout routine includes five cardiovascular and weight-training sessions and four judo practices. On Saturdays she cross-trains by cycling or playing racquetball, soccer or basketball.

``Sundays are my time to relax,'' she said. ``I even try to walk slow.''