Walderslade

2005

Southern Region Open - November 2005

Just under 300 judoka descended upon the Black Lion Leisure Centre for the last championship of the year organised by the Southern Region of the British Judo Council (MAC). This was one of the best attendances for a couple of years and the organisers were very pleased with the support the championships received. Clubs from the BJC (MAC), BJA and BJC attended the event which provided some outstanding judo and some big throws.

Judoka came from across the south of England including 11 from Walderslade. Our fighters covered a spectrum of experience, ranging from new club member Ashley Tagell entering his first competition to Andy Ladbrook a 4th Dan with years of competition experience behind him.

The club's six juniors all fought really well and returned with 5 medals between them. James Clarke in the Boys under 27kgs event was in a tough group with some experienced fighters. He fought hard but ended up 5th in a large group and so just missed out on the medals. James is improving all the time and it wont be long before Walderslade has another medal winning player in its ranks.

Gold medals in the White Belt event came from Hayley Russell, a regular on the top of the rostrum now and Jarad Kemm who fought brilliantly in his group. Jarad in particular showed great determination throwing all of his opponents numerous times and showing great fighting spirit. Club newcomer Ashley Tagell, 13, was competing in his first championship having only joined the club following the Greenacre School Specialist Sports College Launch Event in September. He put a great deal of effort and came away with a well deserved bronze medal. Jadie Russell (U48kgs) and James Barden (U38kgs) both gained bronze medals in hard groups. Barden had an exceptional day, beating a number of experienced fighters on his way to the medal positions. A clash with a head during one contest left him with a battered and split lip but he went on to finish the fight 4 scores up on an experienced opponent who had previously won this event. He was unfortunate to meet Reid Baldwin in closing stages. After an exciting start Reid caught him on the floor and held him for ippon placing James in the bronze medal position.

Walderslade's seniors were next up. Matt Barton was always going to struggle in a group of six in the Mens U66kgs, which included 4 black belts. Matt, who is hoping to grade for blue belt soon was placed in probably the toughest of the pools and although he gave a sound performance he was beaten in both fights and so was knocked out of the medal hunt early on. Younger sister Vicky Barton however did better in the Ladies U63kg group where she once again took gold. Vicky seems to be unchallenged in this group locally and is now having to search wider a field for opponents to test her skills.

Steve (Crash) Stacy showed definite signs of improvement in the Mens U90kgs event. Although he went out at the hands of club mate and eventual group winner Andy Ladbrook, he had an exceptional battle with London's Ricky Turner which he eventually won. Stacy took the bronze in a tough group which was always going to be dominated by Ladbrook.

Walderslade's last medal of the day came from Ralph Hamblett who gained gold in the Mens U100kgs. Hamblett, who also gained his 1st Dan black belt in August, has really stamped his mark on events this year winning the U100kg title at the BJC (MAC) Nationals, a silver at the Anglia Home International and now the Southern Region title, also at U100kgs. All of his four fights were won by the maximum Ippon score. His first opponent from Oxford University Judo Club was dispatched very quickly with a huge driving O Uchi Gari, (Major Inner Reaping throw). His next two contests did not last much longer, one being beaten with one of the best throws of the tournament, a superbly timed Uchi Mata, which landed his opponent flat on his back. For his last contest he changed tactics using Seoi Otoshi (Shoulder Drop) scoring two Waza-ari's to finish the day in style.

It was an excellent day for the club which continues to grow in strength. The new Monday night sessions are building up slowly although new members are always welcome on either Friday or Monday.

Dusseldorf 2005

In September 2005 six senior club members traveled to Dusseldorf in Germany to meet up with our Brazilian judo friend, Alberico. We had been invited to train at their club in Dusseldorf by his instructor. We left on Saturday morning taking an early flight from Stansted to Dusseldorf (Weeze) Airport. We were treated to an exciting weekend on judo, site-seeing and partying and everyone seemed to benefit from the experience. The following photo shows club members with some of the judoka from Judofreunde '73 Judo Club.

Walderslade gains new Black Belt at national judo course

Thirteen club members travelled to Ipswich for the annual judo course in August and all eight of them who graded returned with higher grades. The most exciting result however was the gaining of 1st Dan by Ralph Hamblett. Ralph can now claim to be the first ever club member to gain his Black Belt whilst studying at Walderslade.

The rest of the results were as follows:

A number of club members also took Coaching and Referee's exams. Vicky passed her Coaching Award and Level 1 Referee Award and Ralph also passed his Level 1 Referee Award.

BJC (MAC) National Championships 2005

Nineteen club members took part in the BJC (MAC)'s largest event of the year over the weekend. Everyone fought hard and all but two of those who took part came away with a medal. Walderslade's two unfortunate members were Yellow Belts Adam Bale and Martyn Brooke, both of whom fought in large groups containing much higher grades and experienced fighters. Both tried their hardest, but were unable to get through to the medal positions.

The clubs juniors gained 2 Gold, 6 Silver and 2 bronze medals. The medal haul began in the Under Yellow Belt Event where the club entered a number of first time competitors. Bronze medals were gained by Lewis Andrews in his first ever event, and Lauren Vaughan. Lauren showed some improvement in recent months doing well against girls who had beaten her in previous events.

First of the clubs Silver medals was gained by Liam Caine who had an excellent first championship, attacking constantly throughout each of his contests and throwing his opposition many times in each bout. Silus Atwal also had a good day taking Silver in a tough group, with some excellent techniques being demonstrated. Likewise Luke Simpson had a great debut, defeating all but one of his opponents and taking a well-deserved Silver.

One of the most impressive performances of the day however came from James Bardon. James ended up in a pool of much larger boys and although taken off guard in the first contest he fought back hard in the next and won that on a Hantei (Judges Decision), after constantly attacking his larger opponent, although being unable to upend the bigger boy. In his last contest he showed a great deal of technique throwing and then almost holding a much larger opponent to take a good win and his first Silver in an event of this nature.

The club's only Gold in the Under Yellow Belt event came from Hayley Russell who put in a good performance steadily throwing and holding her opponents all the way through to the final.

Club members also did well in the main junior event with Jadie Russell taking Silver in the Girls U48kgs, James Clarke Silver in the Boys U27kgs and Suzy Bale Gold in the Girls U40kgs events with some sound performances from each. Walderslade's senior members had equal success on the day, even though a number had to compete in the same categories. Out of the seven fighters who took part they earned 3 Gold and 4 Bronze medals.

Bronzes came from Matt Barton in the Men's U66kgs group. Matt has come on leaps and bounds in the last 6 months and was leading in the semi-finals before getting caught with a lovely seoi nage (shoulder throw) for Ippon by the eventual group winner just 30 seconds before the end of the bout. A Bronze also came from Ranj Atwal in the Men's U100kgs. Ranj was in a tough group with at least 2 previous winners of this event and one fellow club-mate to contend with. Ranj, a Green Belt put in a good performance earning himself a well-deserved Bronze in a tough pool. The Under 81kgs group saw three of Walderslade's members fighting for honours. Lesley Williams and Eddie Orgee both fought through their opening pool, which at one stage saw them pitched together, Eddie winning the group and Lesley coming second. This put them both into the finals where Lesley met the eventual winner whilst Eddie met Anglia Regions, Chris Abel and was beaten by a Yuko, leaving both of them with hard fought Bronze medals.

t was 4th Dan club member Andy Ladrook, who took the groups Gold medal once again, finishing the day with a superb left handed hip technique for Ippon against club mate Lesley Williams. Andy never looked to be in trouble throughout the day and moved steadily through to the final against Chris Abel. After some initial grip fighting and a few probing attacks, Andy took Chris down with a well timed knee wheel and held him for Ippon and the U81kgs title yet again. The second Gold in the senior ranks came from Mikaela Morris in the Women's U63kgs. Mikaela had easy wins all the way through to the final. She overpowered each of her opponents with none of her fights going to time.

Ralph Hamblett took the final Gold medal of the event for the club in the Men's U100kgs event. After a hard and tense contest with Paul Knott, a tough opponent from the Eastern Region who Ralph had lost to earlier in the year, he pulled out a superb Uchi Mata taking his opponent for Waza-Ari and then locking a hold-down on for the full Ippon. Ralph also defeated club mate Ranj Atwal and previous group winner Nick Scott from Oxford on his way to winning the U100kgs title and National Champion status.

All in all it had been a great day for the clubs fighters. With the club now having three senior National Champions and 2 Junior National Champions to its name. The young White Belts fought well and we have seen that many have potential to go further in the future and our full juniors acquitted themselves well in tough groups. Our real strength now though seems to be in our senior ranks where we are doing well. Three senior National Champions and good results from the other seniors taking part is very pleasing.

France 2005

Once again our annual week long trip to the South of France was held to have been a great success. Our friends at Judo Club Serignan once more welcomed us warmly and even allowed us to use their dojo in the mornings for our training. This saved us taking mats along for the main house and improved the quality of the sessions we had planned. We trained with them on Wednesday evening and then on Friday evening we joined Gerard and his judoka on a trip out to another club, where we had an excellent evening followed by a 'grande aperitif' as they say in France !

In all, four clubs took part in the training, in what was an exceptional dojo, consisting of three mat areas, set in a splendid purpose built facility.

As well as the judo, we also found time to laze around the pool, visit the local French markets and tourist spots as well as generally chill out amongst friends in the 30 degree sunshine. After an enjoyable week, we loaded the bus for our return journey (which was not as eventful as last years thankfully) and we reached home feeling that we had further strengthened our relationship with our friends in Serignan and already looking forward to our 2006 trip.

12eme Tournoi Europeen du Littoral, 14th - 15th May

Walderslade’s senior men also tasted international competition for the first time, when over the weekend of 14th – 15th May, they travelled to France for an international team tournament, which was deemed to have been a great success.

We fielded a full team of club members along with two reserves and one Referee to the Tournoi Europeen du Littoral in Dunkerque, which turned out to be a very high calibre event. We left Walderslade at 10:00 on Saturday morning travelling with the official BJC (MAC) team to Dover for the ferry direct to Dunkerque. Although everyone was in high spirits the most eventful part of the trip to France, was the disappearance of Ralph “Huey” Hamblett due to just a little seasickness. In true form, as soon as he reappeared from almost 2 hours worth of illness, we weighed him to see if he could now make the U90kgs. Unfortunately, despite his ordeal he was still a little over weight.

A fairly uneventful drive, found us in the centre of Dunkerque at the Stades de Flandres, the scene for Sundays tournament. We were welcomed by Michael Claeyssen, whom we had met on the Summer School in 2004. The team weighed in with everyone making their allotted category, which was a relief.

Following some speeches and introductions later in the day we were escorted to the hostel.

An evening meal had been arranged for all the foreign competitors and we headed off to the beachfront restaurant for dinner. Although situated on a number of different tables we all enjoyed ourselves, especially when the travelling South American singers came in and treated us to a very special medley of Simon & Garfunkle hits on pan pipes and guitar !!

With our hungry bellies now full we retired to the bar. As the night drew on some of the team began drifting back leaving just the hardcore revellers to see out the night.

So it was, that late in the night Ralph, Ranj and Eddie where to be found creeping considerately and quietly (so as not to disturb their fellow fighters) into their bunks. Following breakfast we were off to the Stades du Flandres again for the big event.

The standard of the competition was very high with some top clubs in attendance. With 14 teams in all taking part we found ourselves in a group along with two French clus, Wormhout and OGS. Everyone in the team fought really hard but with the opposition consisting of nothing but seasoned Black Belts, it was always going to be a really hard job to make it through the first round. There were a few suspect decisions though. Andy clearly took his player down in one contest with a well-timed counter landing him for at least a Yuko and probably more. However, no score was given and Andy was later held for ippon.

Ranj was our O90kgs entry and had his work cut out with some very big looking guys in his group. However, once again luck was against us as he clearly took one opponent with a very sweet Yoko Wakare for what really should have been Ippon. On the video one Corner Judge clearly gives a Yuko but the Centre Referee ignores the technique and appears to have called Matte !! What that was all about nobody knew.

The award for coolest fighter of the day went to Leslie ‘The Dude’ Williams whose laid back style impressed us all. Leslie incurred the only injury of the day when he land awkwardly on an out stretched arm. By the time we reached Walderslade at the end of Sunday evening it had stiffened up considerably.,/p>

With our team out of the event in the first round, we were able to concentrate on watching the excellent judo on display from the stands. Well except for Eddie, who had to wait till lunchtime before claiming “Je suis fatigue” to Michael and bowing out of any further refereeing duties.

The final was an easy win for the Mahorokan Judo Club from Holland with 5 straight ippon wins against Team BJC. In reality the final should have been between Dartford Judokwai and Mahorokan, which would have been much more exciting end to the event. As it was these teams had met in the semi-finals and Mahorokan had put Dartford in the bronze medal play-offs at that point.

Weary and beaten we said our farewells and began the long journey back to Dover. It had been a successful if not daunting first venture into the international scene for all of the club’s fighters, but everyone had learned from the experience and everyone had returned inspired and keen to return next year, with a target of getting us to the second round.

Walderslade girls in the USA

In March 2005 two Walderslade girls travelled as part of a BJC (MAC) cadet team to the USA to take part in a series of training events and compete in the Liberty Bell Judo Classic championship in Philadelphia. Mikaela Morris and Vicky Barton were part of a six girl squad supervised by Marshall Brooks from the Anglia Region. Both girls worked hard at the training sessions and although neither of them came back with a medal in what was a tough 'E Band' tournament, both of them tried their hardest and learned a great deal from the experience. During their stay they trained at McCleary Martial Arts Centre, Atlanta Judo Academy and the Kokoro Tatsu Martial Arts & Fitness Centre and were warmly welcomed at each venue.

Walderslade Championships 2005

Our annual championships was once again a great success. A total of 46 judoka attended the mornings pre-competition training session, which was again led by Finn Gleeson and John Evans, who did a very interesting lesson on movement and a system of 'organising' your judo to greater effect.

The afternoons championship saw 73 entries being fought in 19 groups and some excellent contests.

Walderslade's medalists were as follows:

There were many oustanding performances, even from some of our younger and least experienced members and which are reflected in the excellent results shown above. Medals were presented by our Club President, Ray Whiting and our thanks go out to him for attending the event.

The evenings team event was a noisy and exciting affair between four local clubs. The final was a thrilling encounter between Wrenwa and Parkwood, which Wrenwa won, giving them the championship win for the fourth year in a row.

The final positions were as follows:

• 1st Wrenwa
• 2nd Parkwood
• 3rd Walderslade
• 4th Medkwai

Well done to the Walderslade team, who all fought really well.

Thank you to everyone who helped out in whatever capacity and assisted in making the day a great success once more.