Daniel McCormick is representing the USA as a Judo Olympian in Beijing, China. Daniel is a former student of Jim Irvine. (Jim is an instructor at the club who recently came to us from Texas). The head instructor for Daniel during his 10 years in Dallas was “Ace” Sukigara assisted by Judy Choquette)

The last 2 days since the Opening Ceremonies have been mostly focused on 2 things.

The first one is making sure that I am healthy. I am not 100% yet, but I do feel much better then I did a few days ago. I'm trying to make sure this is completely through my body so that I am completely focused on the day I fight. The second is getting in good, solid workouts for the next few days. Its hard to get a decent workout in right now. Alot of my team has already fought and they are ready to start enjoying China, and who can blame them? We are also forced to workout in the warmup area at the venue, and these mats are very crowded. Right now I'm able to workout with Adler Volmar our 100 kilo player and a buddy of mine from Haiti that fights in the same division as me. But each day it is getting harder and harder to get a workout in.

Yesterday I spent late morning and early afternoon at the tournament venue. Got a workout in and then watched the tournament for a few hours. After that I came back to the village and rested. A great thing about our room is the the TV we have has 20-some odd number of channels with live Olympic feeds. So there are always sports to watch. This way when I get back to the Village I can watch the rest of the days Judo mathces, and any other event that is currently going on.

Today was very similar to yesterday, except that I had lunch with a friend from Texas and his girlfriend. This was my first meal outside of the Village and training center and I was a little cautious. It was very good, and we got to see the workers line up and do a chant of some sort. I was told that every restaraunt does this everyday. Its like a team meeting or a pep talk. Then I watched the finals of the 73 kilo men and 57 kilo women. I had watched the finals everyday so far, just on TV. In person its much more amazing to see. Their excitement and passion when they win the Olympic medal has to be a one of a kind feeling, unmatched by anything. Yesterday a girl from China won Gold in the 52 kilo weightclass. The crowd went balistic. It was deafeningly loud. It was so much fun to see.

I can feel the nerves slowly start to set in. Seeing these people win medals at the Superbowl of my sport. Seeing the country's section stand up and cheer for them as the win. Its a great experience and I can't wait to get my turn on the mat.

I'm afraid I do not have any new photos with athlets or politians. Its been strictly business since the Opening Ceremonies. But I have attached photos of the venue, along with some of our warmup area. The venue is the nicest I have every been to. The crowd is very loud. Not quite like opening ceremonies, but still as loud as any judo tournament I have ever been to. The warmup area alone is as nice as any club I have been to. It has 3 full mats, each of which are the size of what most clubs would have. And next to the warmup area is an athlete lounge with food, drinks, and TVs playing the matches live.

Its getting late here and I have to get up early to get my workout in before my parents get to the Village to get their VIP tour. They have this very handsome and tall young man as their tour guide. They're very lucky to get him, hes usually all booked.