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The thing that made it all work, though, is that the students were not the only ones affected. Each Tuesday and Thursday night for the past fifteen years, after practice, McGuire and Baptist and Otaka and Payne have driven up the road to Gussie's Restaurant and Lounge on West 112th Street. They order buffalo burgers and Cokes, and sit and talk and laugh. (About two years ago they decided to spread the wealth, so now they stop at Neighbor's Grill and Bar, on Huron Street, on Thursdays and eat fried octopus.) Every summer for as long as anyone can remember, they have gathered for a picnic; each winter they assemble again.

"This year my company had a Christmas party, and my wife's company had a Christmas party," recalls Payne. "But we didn't go to either; we went to Page's house and sang karaoke." Other parties at Baptist's house seem to occur spontaneously about once a month. McGuire and Otaka still work together daily at McGuire's optometry practice. In the past quarter-century, the four men have withstood plenty of judo wins and losses together, as well as divorces and empty nests.

Anthony Camera

Dennis McGuire, Page Baptist and Shuichi Otaka have spent a combined 95 years at the Northglenn Judo Club.

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• Northglenn
• Doug Payne
• Dennis McGuire
• Martial Arts
• Judo

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Anyone who has excelled in a sport can tell you that there are plenty of satisfying moments to be found in one's own sweat: a swift and quiet run, the perfectly placed shot. It is less common to reach the point where the gratification of sport is gained from more than mere athletics. And so, even despite the inferior quality of today's students, McGuire and Baptist and Otaka and Payne continue to put in hundreds of hours at the club not improving their judo. "I myself don't want any more -- rank means nothing to me," Otaka explains. "Judo is just giving. You cannot take anything."