DaFoot's Judo

Another year is ending...

2011-12-29T06:41:00.000-08:00

This time of year it seems traditional to review the previous year and work out if happy with it and what you might change.

It's been a very busy Judo year for me this year. Newly qualified as C ref, coaching, area committee commitments, maintaining area website (www.yhjudo.org.uk), competing.... in fact from September right through to early December I think every Sat/Sun was given to Judo.

As much as I enjoy most of these things and I do volunteer to do them, it's still nice to have a break. Coaching won't resume until mid-January when the students return then it's prep for our annual team competition. Talking of students... occasionally I get a thankyou after a session from one of the students and the last couple of years the student committee of the club I coach at has given me some beer to say thanks from the club. Just before Christmas I was given a nice bottle of Port from one of the guys at the club as a thankyou which I shall be enjoying this weekend with some mouldy cheese :)

I'd say I'm mostly happy with my Judo stuff this year, though competitive results could have been stronger. I think that having lost lots of weight I'm still trying to work out how my fighting is changing/should change. Down to 93Kg now from 105Kg in the summer. So I tend to be one of the lighter guys in the group now (I was never the heaviest! ;) ). "Only" another 4Kg or so to go and I can fight in the <90Kg group. That will be different.

So generally a good year. What about 2012?
Well I'd like to continue to try and pick up grade points (starting the year with 30 in hand), so obviously competing is required - maybe the British masters again. Getting under 90Kg has to be a target, having lost so much weight in the last 6 months it would seem a waste not to lose the last few to get under.

Having said that I need to be careful not to injure myself as I have secured a place in the 2012 London Marathon! No doubt that will help the weight loss as I do my training. If you want to follow my progress BTW you can at bensmarathon.com or on Twitter @bensmarathon of course the website has links to my sponsoring pages ;)

Well here's to another year of Judo, let's raise a glass to achievements in 2011 and to endeavours in 2012.

Samarai masters/high grades

2011-11-14T01:55:00.000-08:00

I'm feeling achy today!

Yesterday I was at the Samarai Masters/high grade event. I'm a big fan of this event, it seems to be run with the specific intention of giving people good crack at getting dan grade points and it does that.

I fought in Masters group in the morning, then a 3rd dan event in the afternoon and an open event. In all must have had 10 or 12 fights. Only came away with 10 points, I really wasn't fighting to my best ability which is always frustrating when that happens.

Still, trying to be positive I did get 10 points and that was from a guy (Tom Walker) who I think is doing the top level circuit - he went on to take gold. There seemed to be quite a few guys that were regulars at top flight, but that's to be expected I suppose when I'm trying to get points for 4th dan!

So now I'm looking forward to next weekend when I shall be reffing at my club's kyu grade tournament (19th Nov 2011, contact me if you know of kyu grades wanting to enter! Split up to orange then green-brown, not point scoring), then the following weekend reffing again at the Bev Price team comp in the Midlands.

At some point I have to find time to do some more running (10km race on sunday 20th in Leeds) for my marathon training. Seems every weekend from Sept through to the end of the year is taken up with Judo.

Slight aside - the weight is still going on....

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Nominated ...

2011-07-18T00:36:00.000-07:00

I got a letter from the BJA at the weekend. Yipee thinks me, my ref badge/papers have finally arrived (did my assessment 21st May!), but no.

It was a letter to say that I have been nominated for a BJA "Make a Difference" award. I didn't win it, but not too bothered about that. It's just lovely to know that someone feels I am doing something good for Judo to nominate me.

Unfortunately the letter doesn't tell me who nominated me so I can't thank them.

I nominated someone for an award and I got letter regarding that last week but I better not say too much in case that person hasn't received notification yet!

BJA Masters 2011 and weight loss

2011-06-22T01:48:00.000-07:00

The British Masters tournament is fast approaching (17th July IIRC). I fought in British masters a few years back, taking gold in the <35 <100Kg category. That was when I was 30 and 6 months. Some would argue there shouldn't be a 30-35 group in the masters competitions, but that's a discussion for another day.

I'm now 33 and miss being able to wear that shiny badge on on kit so I was hoping to enter the masters again this year. Unfortunately with too much of my Judo mat time devoted to coaching I've found myself in the unenviable place of having to try and lose 5 or 6 Kg between now and 17th. This morning I was just under 104Kg on my bathroom scales, but of course I want a 'safety' margin so need to lose a bit more than 4Kg.

So it's minimal eating, lots of exercise and no beer for me for a few weeks. Even then it will be touch and go.

I'm using a weight tracking application (Libra) on my phone and have been for a month or two. It plots a trend of weight changes using data provided. So while my while is going down, the trend is still upwards apparently. :(

This is going to be an uncomfortable few weeks.

Even if I do manage to shift the excess blubber in time, I then need to find money for the entry fee and the accommodation the night before (I don't fancy a 2 hour drive before an 8am weigh in!) ....

... donations/sponsorship always welcome!!!

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End of another academic year

2011-06-15T00:35:00.000-07:00

So another academic year comes to an end at Sheffield University Judo Club. A fairly successful year for the club I feel. Not just in the competitive arena (it was, we got a number of medals and entered a good number of events) but the club core grew substantially.

In the last session I decided to have a go at the 1st set of Nage-no-kata as it's been a while since we looked at it. Post warm-up I tried an exercise involving moving down the mat on own trying to perform the foot movement of the 3 wazas in the 1st set of Nage-no-kata. I think it worked. The lower grades seemed to pick up the kata version of techniques much more easily than usual, they almost understood the balance/timing!

Maybe I'll try and work on the rest of Nage-no-kata with the club over the summer.

Of course now is the hard part - saying goodbye to those students that are leaving to go home for the last time as they graduate. I can only hope I have instilled an enthusiasm for Judo that leads them to find a club at home/wherever they end up working.

Bring on the Sports Fair in September!

PS. Just noticed the strange formatting of my last posting. I must try and find the editor to correct that!

My Judo heads in (yet another) path

2011-05-23T02:01:00.000-07:00

At the weekend I applied for indoctrination into the reffing fold, that is to say I sat the assessment for Area ref award. Apparently while I felt like a bundle of nerves, I appeared to be confident and calm to onlookers.

Happy to say that not only did I pass, I was promoted to Nat C straight away, result! Now the hard work begins in improving my reffing and (internal) confidence

That was saturday at the North of England competition (results will be on area website once I get them and have time to type them up!).

On sunday the area held a dan grading, this was to be my second event sitting in as an examiner. Looking into revalidation requirements for Nat C ref, examiner and coach it seems I shall now have even less time to myself that isn't spent doing Judo related stuff.

Which reminds me, I have an area meeting in a fortnight and must enter that June high grades comp in the Midlands this week......

Nil points (again)

2011-04-18T00:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was another attempt at pointage for 4th dan. I say another, but I think this was the first 4th dan grading I've tried. Picked up 20 points at a comp in the autumn and felt inspired to have a go.

So... no points won, but it wasn't a complete loss. I didn't feel I was completely outclassed which is encouraging. Credit due to one guy who swept me with a superb ashi waza, I never mind losing to such a clean and crisp technique.

I did really feel the need to improve my fitness though. While I know I need to get back into the habit of regular running (5th entry to London Marathon this year, for 2012), I really struggle to actually get myself out of the flat to go running once I get home in an evening. Just can't get myself motivated.

Perhaps if I do manage to get myself into the habit again it will get easier.

Back to reffereeing

2011-04-14T00:22:00.000-07:00

Years ago, back when I was living in Wales I had started reffereeing. Not far, just been awarded my area award when we moved to Sheffield. That was 7 or 8 years ago now.

Well I've done a couple of events as a trainee recently and have just been invited to do the assessment for the area award again. So my Judo goes in yet another direction! No wonder I don't have time for anything else with my current Judo schedule:

Level 2 coach (main coach at club)
Area committee
Area website/FB/Twitter
Trainee examiner
Trainee referee

Just need to add table officialling/competition controller training to that and I'll have a full set! Nearly forgot.... I'm still competing and trying gather more dan points too!

Online entries

2011-04-05T00:38:00.000-07:00

Following on from a discussion on the BJA forums I have tried again to persuade the more...established...members of the area committee that online entry is the way forwards for our events, again the idea is resisted by the old guard.

Of course in the thread above the person complaining hasn't discovered that in fact most entry forms are available for download on the area website and they didn't respond to my request for more info in order to help them. You can lead a horse to water...

Putting aside the silliness of people not accepting help when offered, can anyone help suggest how to explain the benefits of an online entry system for the Yorkshire and Humberside area?!!

It doesn't help the old guard for the most part aren't regular computer users, in fact our main competition controller has only just aquired a computer - and that was reluctantly! :(

Waiting to get them set up with an internet connection now.

Frustrating. All I want to do is make things easier for Judoka in our area.

Buying kits

2011-03-09T01:04:00.000-08:00

It's lovely having a second coach on the mat. My partner recently completed her level 2 coach award so can now officially run sessions, meaning I get to Randori >:) and I did last night....1st bloody nose in ages!

Anyway, the point of this post.... who do you (UK) coaches/clubs use to buy your JudoGis? I have trade accounts with both blitzsport.com and kicksport.com.

Blitz offer a great discount, but beyond the beginner kits I'm not keen on the heavier Gold/Olympian and it doesn't seem they are keen to supplier any other brands. Kicksport have a better range, including Adidas and DanRho and offer free delivery but the club/instructor discount on kits aren't so good. I'm really liking the DanRho Sensei and the Mooto Master kits they sell though.

So, who do you use for you club Judo kits and why?
Range of products?
Price?

Motivating students at your club

2011-02-16T00:59:00.000-08:00

Last night's session was hard work. Not in the sense of me getting tired and sweaty but in trying to get the students to put some real effort in. In a class of around 20-25 (uni) students only a few looked to be really trying, the rest just going through the motions of the exercises.

With a few competitions coming up soon I've been picking up the pace and working on sweatiness more than technical/grading stuff. Last few sessions went down really well with everyone giving their all but for some reason there seemed to be a large group that were feeling lazy/seemed more interested in socialising than training :(

How do you snap your students out of it when they get like that? I tried my usual switching tempo to try and wake them up, tried couple of minutes of slower stuff, I tried doing the 4x30seconds circuit style work outs that usually gets them going (or knackers them out!), tried talking quietly and loudly but nothing.

So frustrating. I can only assume I lost them early on with too much breakfalling/gymnastic type exercises and didn't get them back :( One day they might understand that being able to fling yourself about without fear is good for their Judo!

On a side note, I've just offered the Leeds uni club to take a couple of one off sessions. As some readers will know I set up the club as coach a few years back after it was missing from the uni for a while then got unceremoniously removed as session times changed to some I couldn't do.

Seems one of the guys involved in that removal has given up his part of the coaching ( session a week) after just 4 or 5 months so they are down to 1 session a week and it seems there are a few who want more than that. I keep inviting them to Sheffield uni but it's a bit difficult as I don't think any of them drive, £10 return on the train + £3 tram + £2 mat fee for a 2 hour session is understandably a bit much for students to be committing to.

Next step in area website development

2011-01-27T02:01:00.000-08:00

As some will know, I have been responsible for building and maintaining the area website (www.yhjudo.org.uk) for a while now. A site that is heavily under utilised, there are features to allow clubs to manage their own mailing lists for example. Online entries to events are doable but organisers of events are reluctant to use online entry systems despite it taking a load of work away from them. Maybe that's why they're not keen?

If anyone can suggest ways of encouraging clubs/event organisers to make use of features like these feel free to suggest some!

I've created a Facebook group and page and a twitter (yhjudo) account that are generating some interest, but trying to keep Facebook page/group events up to date with an ever changing calendar can prove tricky at the best of times! I created a FB application that can display the calendar on a user's FB page using the calendar database behind the area website, but a few glitches to work out yet.

I've added components to the website to allow people to comment on news items, for example, using their FB logins.

I have RSS feeds of area news and the calendar that can be subscribed to (I really should start gathering stats on RSS use, suspect it's very low!).

Some folks volunteered to help, they soon (a month) stopped doing updates for FB. Meanwhile I continue to try and expand the yhjudo 'brand' in the modern world.

The latest edition to the online collection of tools is a Google calendar which should allow people to view our events in their own calendar and club webmasters the chance to embed the calendar dynamically into their sites, I wonder if that will be met with the same indifference as the other tools I've spent time creating.

Admittedly the Google calendar isn't fully populated as yet as events get added only when the area website saves them to it's database but it's a step in the right direction.

The question is, is all this effort and work done in vain as the number of folks using these features are very much in the minority?

That was better than expected... more competition

2010-11-15T04:05:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I fought at the Samurai masters/high grade competition.

In the masters event I had 3 fights against guys around 140Kg. Beat one of them with drop seoi I've been working on, followed up with a waki gatame after scooting out from underneath. No idea where that armlock came from, took me by suprise as much as him I think! That was enough for a bronze.

Then later, a 3rd dan competition. Opponents closer to my weight, it was also my first test against just 3rd dans. Won 2 of 4 (enough for bronze), 1st with drop seoi for ippon, second win was uchi mata attack then ko soto ish sweep when retreating from the uchi mata attack, the sweeping leg being the same as the one sweeping up in uchimata.

Worked suprisingly well, Uke stood up straight to avoid my uchi mata my sweep took advantage of that perfectly for ippon :)

So I'm off the mark and on my way towards 4th dan with 20 points just a couple of weeks after getting my 3rd, go me!

BJA membership numbers are up....

2010-11-11T00:33:00.000-08:00

http://www.britishjudo.org.uk/home/MembershipRise.php

So, the BJA has more members. The recent drives for recruitment seem to have worked.

What drives were they? I don't know about all by any means but directly affecting me and the students I teach are the BJA efforts to recruit at the universities and changes to the grading system.

The voucher scheme for students offering cheap kits etc are a nice idea, but I suspect a lot of those new members are transient. How many will continue after the social aspect of a uni club disappears (as they leave for a job)? Are the numbers of Judo participants really up or just the number that have BJA membership?

I'm still not wholly convinced on the switch to purely technical syllabus for kyu grades. It seems to be having the desired effect of reducing membership loss, but isn't Judo a physical sport? If physicality isn't someone's idea of fun, perhaps Judo isn't the sport for them. I wouldn't recommend they try Rugby either. Equally I've seen some frankly dire demonstrations of waza being passed both at kyu grade level but more worryingly also from candidates doing technical dan grades.

We (coaches/examiners) need guidance from the BJA as to what constitutes a satisfactory grading standard for each grade. The impression I've gathered from observations/announcements is that the BJA is pushing "get people through the grades" in the hope that apparent progress helps retain numbers. I naively thought grades were about ability in Judo, not how long someone had been practising/has paid?

For sure these changes will be heralded as a great success by the BJA, more members = growth = more money = safe jobs. Maybe too simplistic/cynical a view? Probably.

Well there it is. Done.

2010-10-19T00:21:00.000-07:00

Saturday - running a grading at the club for lower kyu grades. I think they all had a sweat and hopefully all of the required standard (though guidance from the top remains sketchy and what is required).

Sunday saw me fighting for my own grade in Goole. 4 fights, 2 wins. I think it was 4 anyway!
2 wins were against 1st dans so only 5 points each but still gives me the required 10 points needed to claim my 3rd dan.

Got my 3rd...

2010-09-23T02:48:00.000-07:00

...no, I lie I didn't :(

Grading at High Wycombe last weekend saw my (better?) half get her last points needed for her 1st dan. Not seen her so happy in some time!

Which also make me happy as her coach, she will be the 1st person I've taken from novice all the way to dan grade on my own. Sure other guys have got black belts with my help but they came to me as blues or browns or left me at around that level and got it later. Helen started her Judo in my class and has progressed all the way to 1st dan in my class :D

At the same event I picked up 10 points. 4 2nd dans there, 1st fight was against a chap 20Kg heavier and fighting on national circuit. He won very quickly.

Second fight I felt I should win but couldn't quite get my attacks in well enough. The he attacked with a left handed front throw - mistake! Big utsui goshi gave me ippon and 10 points.

Now on 92 points I had 1 fight to go against an older chap who, seeing his other fights, I felt fairly confident against. Was it to be my day for 3rd dan? Apparently he only had 10points to go as well, meaning when we fought one of us would get out 3rd dan and the other would miss out as it would be the last fight of the day for us.

Unfortunately he pulled out before we stepped onto the mat due to a sore/injured knee so we both stay on 2nd dan for now. Frustrating certainly, would've been good to have a joint celebration of Helen's 1st and my 3rd dan.

Nevermind, I'd rather beat someone properly than someone that was only playing at half capacity because of injury. It'll be mine next time! I'd better get that theory done!!

3rd dan gets closer again...

2010-08-15T13:31:00.000-07:00

Today was another day of fighting for me.... 3 fights, 1st won by ippon with Seoi toshi. 2nd was a draw, opponant escaped my osae waza after 18 seconds. No good for points :(

2nd fight was very physical and that showed in my 3rd. Beaten on the ground by ude garame.

Which leaves me on 82 points, 18 from 3rd dan.

Yesterday was also a Judo day. Having been coaching for a good number of years (10-12) I'm now in the process of assimilating to UKCC2. Yesterday was the course, the assessment is in September.
Despite having been coaching for years I feel suprisingly nervous about the assessment.

Goole open 2010

2010-06-14T00:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the annual Goole open, run by the Goole Judo club. I went as a competitor this time in the hope I'd pick up some points. That wasn't to happen (no other 2nd dans in my group).

Only two other guys for me to fight. After we had all fought each other we each had one win and one loss per person, all by ippon with no other scores. How to decide who gets the medals?

Simple - rematch!

One chap had to pull out after he was hurt the first time round so it was down to me and the chap I beat before to decide gold and silver. All the attacks were mine, he was defending all the time. It was just a matter of time before I threw him. Then I lost concentration for just a second and bang....thrown for ippon :(

Silver it is then!

A smidgen closer to 3rd dan...

2010-05-25T07:27:00.000-07:00

This weekend saw a competitive dan grading being held in Goole. Quite a few 1st kyus turned up, but also 3 1st dans and me (2nd). I ended up competing with the 3 1st dans for half points, winning 2 of 3 for 10 points. So a little bit closer to 3rd but still 25 points (I think) to go.

Won with my usual koshi-waza to counter left handed front attack and something I'm not really sure what to call... kinda like tani-otoshi only without the leg across opponants. Used hip to push him sideways and up then a tani-otoshi action to land him on the floor.

If anyone can suggest a name for that I'd be curious!

Finally got my Judo competition software underway...

2010-05-17T01:38:00.000-07:00

Ages ago I decided it might be useful to have a go at writing an application to help with management of Judo competitions. Now I am getting more experience behind the scenes of events to get a feel for requirements I feel I'm in a better position to get going with it.

It's going to take me a while to nail down the appropriate data structures I suspect... though again I suspect this is just a matter of gaining experience running events.

Writing it in Java/Spring/Hibernate. At first I was planning on PHP/MySQL and to run it as an extension of functionality behind www.yhjudo.org.uk. Even though event organisers seem reluctant to use the online entry system I have in there, the functionality is there (just needs switching on, on a per event basis).

Decided to write it as a new application from the ground up to keep the two projects separate for ease of maintenance. I can always setup some networked data loading from the website by the new competition software, probably an asynchronous call answered with XML or JSON but I haven't decided for sure yet. I suspect JSON will win out.

So I throw the call out there... what features would you want from an application built to manage Judo events? My first thoughts follow....

online entries would be a given, quite possibly by a different system (yhjudo website, existing onlineentries.co.uk system if I can bring those guys on board) and loaded either over the air or perhaps by a one hit import from XML/CSV etc.
Manage competitors - recording their weigh in/licence exp date etc
auto populate pools/knockout sheets - this need more learning from me on processes but should be doable
either print a sheet to send to a table to run or provide an interface to be run on laptops at each table. The former is easier to start with, latter I envisage being much more useful (auto update the main database as event progresses)
able to print result sheets for submission to BJA and/or website(s)
auto update websites as event progresses - RSS?
provide a public view for people to see what is happening/who is where. This could even go down to who is on which mat if the tables record things directly into the system via networked computers

Timekeeping

2010-05-09T23:47:00.000-07:00

With my body creaking at the seams and being involved in the area committee I figure it's time to extend my Judo further into the world of officiating. Yesterday at the North of England split grade competition in Bradford as well as fighting (need 40 points still for 3rd dan) I had a go at timekeeping on the table.

Good job I did too as we seemed to be rather short of volunteers again :( Quite the experience. All so clear and obvious what buttons to press, until that is the ref calls matte-shido-hajime-yuko-osaekomi-toketa-matte all in very quick succession! End up tying my fingers in knots!

The refs were patient with mistakes and supportive which was a relief and the recorder on my table was also very considerate in helping me out when mistakes happened.

Any parents/coaches out there that find they are sat around for ages waiting for their guys to to be called to the mat, try helping out your local area. I don't think you need particular Judo qualifications to be a timekeeper and you can be sure the competition organisers will welcome you with open arms if you say you want to help! :)

Trying to stay under 100Kg...

2010-05-07T00:47:00.000-07:00

With a couple of comps coming up I'm supposed to be staying under 100Kg. I probably should be under 90Kg but that's only if I were a lean fighting machine. I'm not. I'm more of a pie and beer disposal machine. As such staying out of the opens is the aim for now, those guys are scarily huge!

This morning my bathroom scales weighted me in at 99Kg. They seem to weigt light compared to event scales so the North of England Open in Bradford is going to be touch and go on sunday which category I end up in. Good chance the 0ver and under 100Kg sections will get merged anyway. I really should get under 90Kg :/

Graded up a bunch of kids to their 1st mon last night in Barnsley. Clearly some were better than others but all sufficiently competent IMO to be allowed a stripe on their belts.... it is only the first one after all. Hopefully it will give them some renewed enthusiasm to train!

Also ended up taking the senior session afterwards, gave them a taste of some lively competition practice drills... uchi komis at various pace interspersed with drills like squat thrusts/burpees/situp->standing. I think most 'enjoyed' it. ;) Bit of grip work and drills to get them doing 'grip and go' attacks seemed to go down well too. Lots of smiling and laughing as folks collapsed into heaps!

Another event, another medal...

2010-04-26T01:16:00.000-07:00

This weekend I went a Midlands area competition. Personally fought in the over 90Kg open grade section. Beat 2 1st kyus to take bronze, the 2 other 2nd dans beat me this time so no dan points :(

Taking a more positive outlook, other 3 members of the club took 2 golds and a silver between them in their respective groups. The silver medal winner was beaten into silver by another from my club!

I must be doing something right then. Overheard someone saying to one of players how much she had improved in last 6-12 months... :)

Appreciation of efforts

2010-03-19T07:43:00.000-07:00

Being involved with Judo in an organisational/official capacity can be something of trudge at times. Feeling people take your efforts for granted or don't realise quite how much time is given up by people, very often for no financial reward.

I'm happy to say this post isn't about those moments, this time it's a nice thing!

For my birthday recently (Feb) a bunch of the students got together and bought me a few presents - a selection of beers, a book and an xbox game, but that's not important what the presents were. It was lovely to feel that perhaps people do notice that as a coach you're there week in week out. As an official you're away at competitions/meetings for other people.

In short, a simple thing but lifted my spirits significantly as I was getting a bit fed up with Judo eating so much time. :)

(If you read this...thanks guys!)

Women's initiative

2010-01-26T00:45:00.000-08:00

I'm all for helping more people enjoy Judo, so long as it remains Judo. Recently the BJA have been really pushing their women's initiative, getting more women into the sport and providing more and more women only events/sessions.

I guess the drive behind these events is to try and get more ladies attending.

I find myself wondering however, having recently spotted a 'womens grading' which is being sold to women using the point that all the officials will be women. I'd be interested to hear from you ladies out there what you think, is this really helpful for you?

To me it seems like little more than a way to say "we are promoting womens Judo" when in fact once someone gets to brown belt and decides to fight for dan grade they are settled enough in Judo that I wouldn't have thought a women's grading would make any difference. For the lower grades, they can be grading within the club they practice at so why would they travel?

Am I missing the point?

2010-01-13T09:26:00.001-08:00

Slightly annoyed right now....

I look after the website for the area I am involved with. Someone was organising some courses in the area in official capacity, so I duly added to website calendar.

I asked (email) if said person wanted me to enable online entries on the website for his events. No reply. Though I do get replies about other things.

Today I discover event organised in that list are being enabled for online entry but via another website.

No biggie, but person is employed in an official capacity by BJA for this area. >:(

xbox with shipping people

2009-12-17T05:56:00.000-08:00

Continuing the xbox story... yesterday I got my labels for shipping. Tried to use UPS website to arrange collection from office but seems I needed a UPS account to do that.

Alternative? Drop it at a UPS depot.
So, check for most accessible one for me... Sheffield. No sign of any opening hours on the website so figured I'd just have to go and see if they're still open when I get there.

Straight to UPS from work, get there around 5ish after driving round the houses a bit. They're hidden at the back of an industrial estate.

They were open. :D

Now I'm tracking it online, apparently UPS expect to get it there by tomorrow. Then it's wait and see how long it;ll take for one to be sent back. Hopefully my own repaired one but reading around online it seems there is a good chance it may be someone else's "refurbished" machine :( Not very happy about that, I took good care of mine it's pristine!

Ouch!

2009-12-16T00:26:00.000-08:00

Hurt my little toe last night at practice. Came home and have a lovely bruise on the inside/base of toe.

Now the students have finished for the term I was hoping to get to Barnsley Judo club tonight, but don't think this toe will let me train on it :(

Will have a couple of weeks after Christmas to do some 'me' training before students return though.

Judo to take more of my time now!

2009-12-02T04:30:00.000-08:00

As of the weekend I am now a member of the Yorkshire and Humberside committee proper.

I've been looking after the website for a little while now (www.yhjudo.org.uk, feel free to suggest design improvements! I make things happen, not make them look good ;) ) but now I am in a position to influence policy in the area hopefully.

It may be a slow process but I'm hoping to drag the area into the 21st century bit by bit!

Tired today...

2009-11-16T01:13:00.000-08:00

After a weekend in Loughborough at the BJA Technical Congress/AGM I'm feeling rather tired today. The start of the week at work I had asked for as holiday last month.

Congress was certainly worth attending, picked up a lot of information about Judo training methods & technique as well as information about coaching structure, talks by a couple of Judo legends inc Kosei Inuoe (apologies if that's spelt wrong!), gradings, BJA policies and I dare say a smattering of politics!

So much information I suspect I've forgotten a fair chunk already, despite trying to make notes.

I can only hope the BJA will make info available on disc at some point along with videos etc. of techniques. Even a crude recording of talks and demos given compiled to CD/DVD would be great. Doesn't have to be shiney/edited etc.

Competition FAIL :(

2009-11-09T01:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday saw me fighting with the Sheffield University team in the Yorkshire and Humberside team closed. We didn't do too well as a team. Some good individual performances but as a team we lost 3 of 3 matches :(

Personally only won a single fight, though some consolation in that it was a strange. Which I don't very win with.

Much more work to be done. Maybe I'll have to scout out the other clubs that did well to see how they train.

Busy busy!

2009-11-04T10:01:00.000-08:00

November is a hectic month it seems. Comp this weekend.

Work to do on the area website (www.yhjudo.org.uk) including thinking about design...really need input on how to make it look nice! ;)

At the end of the month is the Yorkshire and Humberside Judo area AGM, hoping to get myself officially added to the committee, so more time lost to Judo!

My work on the website is paying off slowly, I have now achieved a Google PageRank of 4. Not bad for a small site. Still a lot of work to go though, but the important bit is being best ranked site that purports to be representing the Yorkshire and Humberside area. I think I have secured that one now.

Samurai masters / high grade event

2009-10-26T01:22:00.000-07:00

Another comp done this weekend... the Samurai Masters and High Grades competition.

Two competitions in 1 day, 1st up, the Masters +90Kg event.
Arrived late after satnav died and we got a bit lost. Fortunately I have a old fashioned paper map in the car too!

Arrived, organisers kindly let me join in with the Masters event that was just starting so get changed, onto the mat, dump the guy with Ura-nage :)
Good start...it quickly went downhill.

Next match was against a monster of a guy...must have been 130Kg. Found out later he was also 4th dan (compared to my 2nd). Couldn't do a thing with him. 3rd fight I lost to a 2nd dan via sumi gaeshi. He went on to win the 2nd dan competition in the afternoon so not too bothered losing to him.

Enough for a bronze medal.

Next up was the high grade event. This was a competition divided by grade.
Only won one of a number of fights, so not too happy with my performance, but it did mean I won 10 points towards my 3rd dan.

Met the same 2nd dan I fought in the masters, he sumi gaeshi'd me again. I was very annoyed with myself being caught in the same way again when I was looking out for it :(

Still, a medal, 10 points and no injuries so could have been a lot worse!

New uni term kicks off

2009-09-28T00:52:00.001-07:00

It's that time of year again, students signing up to try 'martial arts' in the hope they will learn to defend themselves.

As ever, dozens will turn up to training at the start of term. Many will realise it's hard work and not come back. Others will get distracted by beer + the opposite sex.

Hopefully we'll retain a good few though!

The annual sports fair (where clubs gather to sign up new members) seemed rather quite this year at Sheffield. Fingers crossed that wont be reflected too much in the numbers that turn up on Thursday (1st beginner session of new term).

More about IJF changes

2009-09-09T00:40:00.000-07:00

http://www.intjudo.eu/?Menu=News&Action=Full&type_id=1&id=284&lang_id=2&mid=4

In last post I commented on the leg grab potential rule changes from the IJF. This post should be a bit shorter!

In the same notice from IJF above it is suggested Judo should run with just 1 ref on the mat. He should be allowed to consult video replay to confirm his decisions.

Currently Judo has a system of 3 refs where the majority decision is the decision that is used. Sounds complicated but the refs can change decisions as the match continues without much interruption.

Now as I understand the proposal, if a ref isn't 100% he should consult the video replay. Meaning a break in the action for spectators but also and perhaps more importantly, a break for the players to rest.

Players getting (albeit short) breaks in the match while the ref consults the video would surely change the dynamic of the match where one player may be fitter that the other.

Would these video review breaks be long enough to make enough difference to players when considering the required fitness levels?

IJF rule changes

2009-09-09T00:26:00.000-07:00

Well, they're not changes yet but ideas to be trialled....
http://www.intjudo.eu/?Menu=News&Action=Full&type_id=1&id=284&lang_id=2&mid=4

Essentially any technique that involves grabbing below the belt may become illegal. So the ashi dori and kibusi gaeshi techniques that were introduced to many with the new kyu grade syllabus 18 months ago become illegal. Presumably that would mean the BJa would have to re-think their kyu grade syllabus.

I wonder if coaches would get any prior warning of another significant change to grading system or whether it will just appear one day unannounced?

As for the impact on competition of this change, I believe the aim is to get back to more upright 'proper' Judo. Which some would say is a good thing. Personally I'm of the view Judo is a combat sport, so whatever works (and is reasonably safe) should be permitted. Kibusu Gaeshi attacks are not something I'd be keen to try in a 'real' fight situation so maybe a good thing to see them go.

However if these changes do become a mainstream change to the rules then we'd also lose techniques that have been part of the Judo for...well.. ever!
Say goodbye to:
Sukui nage
Te guruma
Some variants of Tani otoshi presumably
Kata guruma

That's a significant change.

In addition to the banning of a spread of techniques, this change also suggests that there should be a shido for the first infringement (as per all other minor rule infringements), but a hansoku make for the 2nd infringement. Thus the potential rule about leg grabbing suddenly becomes a bigger bigger penatly that other gripping style offences (where there are 3 shidos before hansoku make). Effectively making the leg grab attack a keikoku penalty.

Judo ditched keikoku a while back in order to make the sport more straight forward to ref and to follow as a spectator.

Now this change, if implemented as stated in link above, would mean not only the return of keikoku, but keikoku would be given for a grip penalty but called a shido. Only this particular shido is more serious that other gripping shidos.

Presumably as it s called a shido it would give the opponent a score as current system:
1st shido = no penalty score
2nd shido = yuko for opponent
3rd shido = waza-ari for opponent
4th shido = ippon for opponent

So 1 gripping penalty (eg. fingers in sleeve) would give opponent a score as per above, easy enough. Shidos add up, they are cumulative.

Except if a shido (even the first one) were given for a leg grab, then a second shido were given for leg grabbing techniques the player would forfeit the match. For all other gripping offences it would just give the opponent a yuko score.

Confused?
Let's hope the commentators are good at explaining it to non-Judo people!

Autumn British Masters competition

2009-07-22T09:34:00.000-07:00

Looks unlikely I'll be able to fight at the British Masters now :(
Continuing to fight with mahoosive debts then get a hefty car bill. The competition will cost £20 to enter, which is fine, but then I have to add travel costs from Sheffield to London and overnight accommodation.

Altogether that is likely to cost more than I can sensibly spare right now. I haven't even managed to find the money to get back to regular Karate training so this would be a real struggle.

Shame, but maybe for the best. If I keep telling myself that maybe I'll believe it!

Goole Open - Silver

2009-06-17T00:15:00.000-07:00

Competed at the Goole Open competition on sunday in the over 90Kg 1st kyu and up section. Took silver, which is nice, but didn't feel my fighting was at it's best.

Didn't get any points for next dan grade either which was slightly disappointing as that was one of main drives to get there. Really should be positive though, it's good practice prior to the big comp in the autumn (British Masters) where I have to try and defend my under 100Kg title!

Though if the weight loss keeps up (see my 'Life and stuff that gets in the way' blog) I might make it into the <90Kg section!

Be grateful you're not running a student club!

2009-05-27T13:09:00.000-07:00

Besides the obvious.... trying to get students to be organised and prompt I've recently been discovering more difficulties with running student clubs.

When I was at uni, the sports centre attached to the uni was run by the student union for the students. Prices were stupidly cheap and a little more non-students could use the facilities.

Now I find the situation is changing with the sports centres being run as independent businesses. At the Leeds university I have an instructor card that I swipe to gain entry to the facilities, this expires at the end of term so AFAIK we wouldn't be able to train through the summer hols should we want to.

Non-students have to pay £4 to get into the sports centre, on top of any mat fee we charge. So £6 a session for non-students with poor facilities. There is a second university in Leeds, the sports centre told a student from that uni he had to pay the £4 entry as the public would, he didn't come back. So we lost a black belt, potential instructor. Hardly supporting the growth of a new club.

At Sheffield university they are getting tighter on who can get into the buildings where we training, I suspect for the same reasons at Leeds....money.

More recently in Sheffield we're also starting to get a new problem, another student club. Namely the Jitsu club, who understandably want access to mats for practising their throwing. Not a problem in itself, but when they decideto move mats about to suit themselves (make sure they have better mats to practice on) it gets irritating, more so as I believe the mats actually belong to Judo and we let Jitsu use them.

Of course that's irritating, taking control of better mats when the mats don't belong to them.

I've been practising sporadically with Jitsu and find myself getting annoyed each session as players don't wear shoes, or even one person that does always wear shoes on the mats. Mats are dragged/carried bent overhead etc etc maybe causing damage to mats that Judo bought.

I've tried a quiet word with one of their sensei (they insist on being called sensei) about the shoes off mats thing. He smiled and nodded but said nothing :(

I tried mentioning it to a couple of the senior Jitsukas, but much the same reaction :(

Maybe we (Judo) should wrap a strap round the mats and padlock it? :D

Tired and aching

2009-05-11T01:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I took part in The North of England Open, hosted by the Yorkshire and Humberside Area. While it was a point scoring event, my opponents were 1st dans, so no way I could score points of them (being a 2nd dan myself). So I used the event to experiment a bit with technique I've been playing with in the club randori.

Scored a waza-ari from yoko kata guruma otoshi and an ippon from a left ryo hiza seoi otoshi (to use Roy Inman's parlance!) so quite happy with myself. The kata guruma was turned to ippon by way of a pin later in the match.

Lost 1 of my three matches meaning silver medal. So not a bad result, but more importantly the stuff I've been practising is paying off :)

Students mostly interested in grades :(

2009-05-06T02:24:00.000-07:00

A year after the BJA decided to change their kyu grades to an entirely technical syllabus, it seems to be having a strong impact on the structure of lessons, maybe not for the best.

I recently created an anonymous survey to get some feedback from my students to see what they want from sessions. Grading syllabus practice for a number of folks seemed more important than contest Judo. They are focusing on grade attainment rather than realising that with regular Judo practice grades will come.

Could do with reversing this trend, really want students that are at training to learn Judo rather than just chasing grade. A coloured belt is not the same as being 'good' IMO.

Yorkshire and Humberside closed 2009

2009-03-09T03:57:00.000-07:00

Still struggling to get my 'game head' on. :(

Yesterday I competed in the area closed individual event. I was the only entry in my weight group (<100kg)>100Kg group.

They were 'only' 5 or 10 Kg heavier, so only like being one of lighter people in my normal group.

1st match against a 1st kyu, I was thinking too much instead of playing and got thrown for ippon rather too quickly. :(

Second match against a 3rd dan, went a bit better. I got attacks in, so did he. I managed to get off a couple of very strong attacks from him which I was pleased with. Ended up knocking me down for a low score and finishing me with a very tight hold for ippon.

Helen has decided that we are going to have a summer of Judo. As I will only be teaching one night a week at Sheffield Uni club and not at all at Leeds (student clubs shutdown over the summer) I will have more time to visit other clubs and get some real training in for my Judo which has been suffering with all the teaching I do.

So far I have EIS, Rotherham Tigers, Huddersfield and Knottingly clubs lined up. I might even make it to Pudsey a few times.

It'll be costly (driving to them/paying for training) and I'm not sure my finances will allow as much as I should do, but I'll do what I can.

Hopefully I'll then be ready for the British Masters event in the Autumn.

World Masters 2009

2009-02-19T00:13:00.000-08:00

So it seems the IJF world masters event is being held in Germany this year (2009).
http://www.wcjudo2009.de./index.en.php
Sindelfingen (Germany) from May 28th until 31st.

As I'm actually eligible to enter, I think it would be a great experience for me. Even if I don't get anywhere in the results table the experience should be good and imagine being able to say you competed internationally/represented you country! That would be awesome!

27th May: Arrive Stuttgart
28th May: Weigh in
29th May: M1 competition
30th May: Home

Here comes the problem, cost.

The masters squad have no central funding from BJA/Lotto etc so I would have to pay for everything myself so:

Entry fee: 100Euro
Hotel (minimum): 3x90 = 270Euro (double room for me + partner based on info on website above)
Flights: ~£85 (plus taxes/extras) from Birmingham with Flybe for me + partner (skyscanner.net)
Insurance: £25 ??? Going to cost a bit more than regular holiday insurance because of higher risk.

370E + £110
Plus any taxes added by airport, cost of extra baggage (Judo kits), getting to venue from Stuttgart airport, food + drink during travel + in Germany.

So if I'm really careful, I reckon I could do it for £550. Shame I don't have that sort of money available.

Then there are the optional items:
30E Personalized badges for back of Judo kits
40E Merchendise/momento pack (t-shirt / diploma / pin / lanyard and a special WC-gift)
20E Fighters party ticket (+ drinks and would mean another hotel night if attend)
25E ish if find a few other people there to put together a team entry (may mean another hotel night)

While I'd love to go, I can't afford to spend that much to attend an event where there is a good chance I wouldn't get very far in the competition.

Really disappointing as I've earnt the right to attend as British representative and that aint gonna happen every year!

Good session yesterday

2009-02-11T05:41:00.000-08:00

A few more people, around a dozen, at yesterdays session in Sheffield. Gave them a good sweaty session, what with the University team competition coming up soon. No technical work at all.

I think most people enjoyed the session, even if they were feeling knackered afterwards!

More negativity...

2009-02-04T04:06:00.000-08:00

At the university club I teach at, we have a Thursday and a Tuesday session during term time. Out of term time it is usually just Tuesday, that includes exam times like January.

When I was at uni, Judo gave me much needed release from academic stuff. Somewhere I could have some fun and get a good sweat going to completely forget all other stress (like exams/coursework etc).

Seems the students here don't share that enthusiasm I once had. Last night I had the grand total of 7 students turn up. While this gave me a chance to experiment a bit on training methods I did feel like saying the session wasn't going ahead as not enough people. Of course that would mean that less people turn up next week as they worry about wether the session would actually happen or not.

This sort of debate is, I think, contributing to my decline in enthusiasm for teaching over recent months.

Really need to find a way to get the students into proper, regular training and expand the class attendance again. Maybe then my enthusiasm will return.

First 'NIL' on points card :(

2009-01-19T02:17:00.000-08:00

Yesterday there was a dan grading held in Sheffield. As I live in Sheffield it seemed daft not to go, even if I'm not up to fitness.

I had 2 opponents, the 1st was a much lighter, much younger guy on some British squad or other. I was soundly beaten by him so can't complain about that one.

My second match was against an older chap (who I beat by yuko in the area team veterans a while back) so I was feeling optimistic. I scored first with a waza-ari for an Uchi-mata technique.

I scored a 2nd waza-ari a bit later with a rear throw but it seems the ref didn't agree with me or the people watching. Ah well, another day I might a similar descision in my favour.

My oppnent then caught me with a Juji-gatame for a submission and so he wins by ippon.

So in my efforts in point collecting for 3rd dan, this will be my first NIL on my points card. Let's hope there aren't too many more. I can't afford to get zeros when events cost £15-20 a time to enter.

Talk of costs, I wonder if I would be able to find anyone interested in sponsoring me to get to the European/World masters events. I might officially be on the British masters squad, but I still have to pay own travel/accomodation/entry so it simple isn't feasable, which is really annoying as I'd love to do a couple of international events.

When is enough, enough?

2008-12-17T05:46:00.000-08:00

How do you know when a particular interest has run it's course?

I've found in the last couple of years, my enthusiasm for Judo has been dropping. For a few reasons I think, not least of which is I find myself doing almost entirely teaching with no real training for myself.

It's been like that since my time as brown belt when I took over the running of my uni club. The moved to Sheffield and a year of someone else (much more experience than I) running the sessions ended up turning into me running the sessions more and more. In the last 12 months he may have been along 3 or 4 times.

As a coach I've been feeling less and less like the Judo Association has any interest in supporting, or even listening to, people at my level (grass roots coaches).

Why do I get this feeling? A number of things around the wholesale changing of the grading system and changes in coaching award process. Lots of rumor and hearsay about both but sometimes seems hard to track down real answers. For example not seeing the new grading syllabus until it was publicly available - I had players asking me what techniques are that I've never heard of.

I thought I had an understanding of what is required for me to move my old style 'Club Coach' award over to the new fangled UKCC. Today I read from one of the senior bods in BJA that my previous understanding was not right.

Really used to enjoy coaching, but recently it has lost a lot of its appeal. That is also having a knock on effect for my enthusiasm for Judo generally.

Am I continuing purely because I don't want to feel my 15 years in Judo haven't been wasted?
Perhaps I continue as I'd feel bad if two uni clubs folded because I give up Judo?
Maybe because it's my main social activity (though I'd have time for others if I stopped!)?

I don't know. If anyone out there can help me find the answers, please do!

I can now wear Union Flag on my kit :)

2008-10-27T03:01:00.000-07:00

On Friday I received a letter from the BJA, seems on the back of the results from the British Masters 2008 event (see last post) I am now part of the British Masters squad.

So I can now enter events round the world and fight for Britain, scary stuff! Only problem is that I would have to pay for entry to events, travel and accommodation myself. So unless I can persuade some kind soul to sponsor me, I guess I won't be able to take part in these events :(

Still... even if I can't get to these events abroad, I am entitled to wear the Union Flag on my Judo kit for 12 months. Never dreamed I'd be able to do that!

progress is slow

2008-10-20T03:19:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since posting to this blog...

I entered the British Master 2008 event in the end. Glad I did, it was a good experience and felt I put up a good scrap. Good enough in fact I came away with the gold for my group (<100Kg 30-35 age group). Guess that makes me a national champion! Haha!

As it happens there was only one other guy in my group, he was a 3rd dan so a worthy victory none the less (I'm currently 2nd dan). Winning by Waza-ari means I got 7 points closer to 3rd dan, which put me on 37 total (I need 100).

Yesterday (19/10/2008) I took part in a dan grading at the Richard Dunn leisure centre in Bradford. First fight against Matthew Clempner. For those that don't know the name he is in early 20s and competing ragularly at national level. Credit to him though, he could have flattened everyone at the event but he was quite restrained, rather than putting us all through the floor he threw everyone for ippon but without being too nasty!

My 2nd match was a masters squad player. Found myself on the defensive all the time, eventually sucumbing to a strangle - another second I'd have been out cold I suspect.

Last match was against Archi Shrimpton. Archi used to practice at Sheffield Uni club where I teach. No way I could let him win. I won the match and gained 5 points taking me up to a total of 42 getting rid of the risk of being stuck on 97 points, but as Archi kindly pointed out I could now end up on 99 :/

I only got 5 points rather than ten as Archi is 1st dan and I am 2nd so can't win full ten from him. Unfortunately for Archi, he has 90 points towards his 2nd dan, my beating him stopped him getting his 2nd on the day.

Sorry Archi! :(

Bit closer to 3rd dannage :)

2008-09-02T03:24:00.001-07:00

On Sunday I decided to have another go at point gathering for 3rd dan. This was a grading event put on exclusively for dan grades by SKK Judo club.

The last go (nearly 2 years ago) I got soundly bounced about the mat, got 10 points and a painful ankle that day. Ankle still clicks!

So I was a bit nervous about Sunday, but needn't have been. Had four matches, won 2 and lost 2.

1: He goes for a gari of some description, both land on side as I do my usual thing of trying to turn opponent onto back during fall. One of us got waza-ari, but not sure who!
I was quicker to react on the ground and spun round to pin with a Mune-gatame ish hold for the point (not sure if it was waza-ari awesete or full ippon!).

2: Very quickly got dumped for ippon fith a drop Seoi-nage. That guy was quick, think he threw all of us with that same technique.

3: I win with my o-soto-gari -> o-soto-maki-komi combination that seems to have become something of a tokui waza for me. Win inside a minute I think with full ippon score :)

4: Longest match I think... he wins in the end with seoi nage (seems I'm leaving myself open for that one somehow as he scored 2 waza-aris with it in same match..). Pleased with my fighting in this match though, as I escaped a couple of fairly secure pins. Managed to move about in the ne-waza parts of the fight in ways I've never done before, almost felt like I knew what I was doing on the ground for a change. A very welcome change it was.

So after 2 point gathering events I have 30 of the target 100 points. More importantly after Sundays performance I'm starting to feel more confident that I should be going for my 3rd dan and I'm not being totally unrealistic.

I also bumped into one of the 1st dans from Sheffield club who was going for his 2nd dan. He finished the day on 90 points, just missed out on getting his Nidan. Does of course mean I now have to double my efforts if I'm to stay a grade ahead... sorry Archi!

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Next event on 31st?

2008-08-22T16:07:00.000-07:00

Maybe. Perhaps. Yes. No.

I haven't decided for sure, but there is a grading event next weekend I might go to. It's a chance to pick up more points for 3rd dan, it's also a fine opportunity to get broken :/

Suffering a bit atm with aches - in my feet. Plantar faciitis apparently. It's can be very painful when Judoing.

Also some sort of injury I picked up while visiting another club. My right rib has been sore now for 3 weeks, it's gotta heal by next week or it'll be a real struggle to fight.

Must be getting old.

First grading under new system

2008-07-14T01:48:00.001-07:00

Not for my grade, but my first time examining some Mons for their new grades. Couple of Orange belts and a blue belt.

An interesting experience. Youngsters were mostly attentative!

It was a nice gentle intro to the new system, I guess the next time I have to do it will be with my own Kyu grades at one of the university clubs.