Walderslade

November 2006

Club trip to Lille, France

In November we made our last trip abroad for the year, when 14 of us travelled to Lille to visit judo Club Monsois. We started early on the Saturday morning for the weekend trip, travelling by minibus across from Dover to Calais by ferry.

The trip across was uneventful and smooth, as was the drive down to Lille, which only took about 90 minutes. Upon arriving in Lille we met up with Michael Claeyssen at the dojo and were introduced to our host families. The group went its separate ways and everybody was treated to lunch before we had to meet back at the dojo at 3:00pm for the afternoon’s first training sessions. Almost straight away the adventure began as Michael and Sharry became stranded in the elevator at Michael’s apartment. The door became jammed slightly open and it wasn’t until the brute force of Ralph was brought into play did we manage to get the doors fully open and release the trapped pair. (The Scorpion King saved the day again!)

With everyone fed (and some watered !!) we met up at the dojo for our first judo of the weekend. The session was shared by Michael and Eddie, with Michael coming out tops on the bi-lingual front!

There were two sessions, one for the younger members and one for the teenagers and seniors. Everyone enjoyed the lessons, which were run in a relaxed atmosphere and catered for all abilities. Judo Club Monsois is a medium sized club, much the same as our own, with a real breadth of experience levels, from the very inexperienced, to some good quality Black Belts. After the lessons everyone then went back with their host families for dinner and whatever entertainment had been planned for the evening. Some it would seem had more excitement than others ! Matt Sage and Ashley Tagell were treated to an interesting evening travelling around Lille on the local trains and a number of us were taken out to a steak dinner with members of Judo Club Monsois.

For some of the seniors the party went on late into the night with seniors and Coaches from both clubs sharing drinks and stories and hopefully cementing the relationship between our two clubs. The morning came early for some of us and we headed back to the dojo for the mornings lesson. Michael had invited a special guest instructor along for this session which was a real treat. Everyone worked hard during the morning and hopefully learned something new. All in all, the trip was seen as a huge success. The host families and club officials were all presented with Walderslade club mugs as an appreciation of their kindness and club badges and stickers were handed out to everyone on the mat. We are already making plans to receive the French club back in March or April 2007 and it is hoped that this will be the start of a long term link with Judo Club Monsois.

---

Southern Region Open

Five club members attended the event at the Black Lion Leisure Centre over the weekend, which attracted over 280 entries. First to fight was Jarad Kemm in the Under Yellow Belt event. Seven year old Jarad waded through the other young lads in his group with ease, defeating all with maximum Ippon throws.

During the three fights he had on his way to collecting another Gold medal, he scored the quickest Ippon of the day, when he threw his second opponent the very second they took hold, with a excellent O Soto Gari for Ippon which left the other lad wondering what had happened.

Ashley Tagell was the clubs other junior competitor at the event, taking part in the Boys U60kgs category. Ashley was unlucky on two fronts, as he weighed in just outside of the U55kg category he was aiming for and so had to compete against heavier boys and was also drawn in the same preliminary pool as eventual group winner. With 13 entries for this category the competitors were split into 4 pools with only each preliminary group winner going forward to the finals. Ashley gave his all and was even a Waza-Ari score up on his first opponent, which he scored with an perfectly timed counter. However, he was caught with almost the same technique near to the end of the bout leaving him the hardest fights to come. He was thrown again with a counter in his second fight and then he met Lewis. Ashley, took the contest to the experienced youngster and nearly applied a well-timed counter for a score. However, in the end he was caught and held for 20 seconds and hence went out of the event. It was a good effort from an inexperienced but improving young fighter.

Vicky Barton was hoping to repeat the success of her October win at the East Anglia International and got off to a good start in the U63kgs group, throwing her first opponent for Ippon. Her next couple of contests went much the same way with Vicky easily outclassing the other women. The final was a much tenser match between a quality opponent recently returned from a British Cadet training camp in Cuba. There was some intense grip fighting and both girls made initial attacks, which looked as though they were probing each other’s defences. In a close call Vicky was attacked to the rear with a leg grab but managed to turn her backward direction into a throwing opportunity, managing to turn the tables on her opponent and gaining a score. Vicky defended her lead well and even managed to add a further score to the board in what was a tough final and a well deserved win.

Two out of the eight men in the Men’s U81kgs group were from Walderslade, but here once again the only real battles were ever going to be for the bronze and silver places as Andy Ladbrook has had this category sewn up at this weight for a number of years now. As predicted, Andy went through each opponent with ease using a series of techniques to dispatch each fighter for Ippon. Andy’s has continued to develop his range of techniques over the past few years, which has helped him retain an edge against his opponents. His only real test was Norfolk fighter Chris Abel who lasted longer than most but was eventually thrown for Ippon with a variation of a drop shoulder throw Andy had been working on recently.

Whilst Andy was working through to another gold medal, Blue Belt, Barry Hutchings was making a return to competitive judo having taken up the sport again recently. Although only winning one contest he was pleased to make it to the medal positions and come away with a bronze for his efforts. Barry is hoping to grade for his Brown Belt in the New Year and so was using this event as a benchmark and to shake off some of the cobwebs from years away from the mat.

All in all it was a good result for the local club.

---

Sport Medway - Special Kata Event

At the Anglia International, held at the University of East Anglia near Norwich, both of Walderslade's senior members present came away with gold medals after some tough fights.

Andy Ladbrook fought in the Men's U81 kgs event having come back down from the U90 kgs group he competed in at the BJA Kent Closed earlier in the year, and devastated the opposition in style to claim yet another international gold at this weight.

Meanwhile clubmate, Vicky Barton was taking part in her first event since gaining her 1st Dan at the National Summer School. She won each of her fights well, although found her Swedish opponent awkward to set up for a big throw due to her unorthodox style. However, in the end Vicky managed to get the decision she needed to also give her another international gold to add to her collection.

The competition was a well run and well supported event with teams from France and Sweden taking part, which added to the excitement of the day.

---

School - Club Link attracts new members

Our club development plans continue to progress well. Matt Sage continues to work hard at the leaflet drops and we are receiving a good number of calls as a result of these. Then on 16th and 17th October, two Club Coaches and a mat assistant attended the Greenacre School in order to provide taster lessons to children from local junior schools in Year 6.

Three local schools provided four classes for the 90 minute lessons. In all, around 120 children took part in the four sessions and all of them thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to experience judo at the Sports College. Jon Rye the Sports Partnership director was very pleased with the feedback received and thought that the event had been a great success all round.

The taster sessions have sparked a great deal of interest in the club with youngsters who attended the Monday morning session already returning to the club to train on Monday evening.

The sessions covered the basics of judo taking the children from warming-up games and judo specific exercises, through to breakfall practice and eventually building up to moving with a partner. The youngsters learned kesa gatame and finally stepping across for a basic version of tai otoshi. All of the children were well behaved and attentive which enabled so much to be achieved in the 90 minute lessons. Each of the schools also took away leaflets to hand out to their remaining classes. Everyone who took part was presented with a club leaflet and a judo sticker kindly provided by the BJA and arranged through Karen French.

Although the sessions were hard work, they were a really good way of introducing youngsters to judo and giving them an good idea of what training in a judo club would be like. The Greenacre School was very supportive of the events and even cancelled morning Assembly on Tuesday so that the mats could remain in the main hall for the two days. This helped us on Monday evening as well, as the mats did not need to be laid for the evening classes. This was yet another excellent initiative and a great example of school-club links working well in order offer sporting challenges to children in local schools.

---

Walderslade gains new Black Belt

Walderslade gained another Black Belt this month, when Vicky Barton was awarded her 1st Dan at the BJC (MAC) National Summer School in Ipswich. Vicky has demonstrated her contest ability on numerous occasions and the promotion was well deserved. Vicky also had to demonstrate Nage No Kata, a series of Renraku Waza and 30 techniques, all to the Examiners satisfaction, during the intensive weeklong course.

Vicky proudly wearing her fathers Black Belt, which was presented to her by Walderslade 4th Dan Andy Ladbrook after the Course Presentation Evening.

Although a number of Walderslade members attended the course, only one other judoka took a grading. Fourteen year old Ashley Tagell did exceptionally well in the junior grading, defeating three of his opponants with style and gaining promotion to Green Belt + 3 Blue.

---

BJA Coaching Award Course

Between 5th and 7th May all of the clubs Dan Grades and Coaches underwent intensive training and assessment in order to transfer and validate their grades and Coaching Awards within the British Judo Association. It was an excellent couple days and all of those involved worked really hard. We were very lucky to have Dermot Heslop, National Schools Development Officer, Steve Lesik, Examinations & Promotions Commission, Dave Duffy, National Coaching Officer and Kerry Manfredi, former British Team Member here to help and to put everyone through their paces.

The weekend was the direct result of the Greenacre School gaining Specialist Sports College status and our involvement with the BJA in trying to develop judo further at the school.

All of the club's Coaches passed with flying colours and we even gained two new qualified Coaches in Vicky Barton and Steve Stacey. In order to ensure the assessments could begin on the Friday evening we were pleased to have visiting Coaches from Parkwood Judo Club on hand to take each of the lessons on the Friday, and our thanks goes out to them.

---

BJA Kent 'Closed' Championships 2006

Four senior club members took part in the BJA Kent 'Closed' Championships on Saturday 22nd April. The venue was the splendid new dojo at Dartford which opened just a few months ago. The £4.3 million centre was a great venue for this type of event with two full size contest areas set on a purpose built floor. The attendance was fairly low for seniors but the standard of those judoka taking part was very high.

However, despite the strong opposition our judoka still came away with two gold, one silver and one bronze medal.

Andy Ladbrook, U90kgs, led the way with straight ippons on every opponent, as did Ralph Hamblett in the U100 group. There was initial confusion in Andy's first fight following what we thought was a seoi nage for ippon near the edge. After a meeting of the judges it was decided that the score not only did not stand but that Andy should have a penalty for stepping out. Andy's response was to repeat the move seconds later in the centre of the contest area. There was question that time and the Referee signaled ippon.

Vicky Barton was unlucky in the final of the U63 category. She threw and held her opponent, but with 24 seconds on the clock and just one second to go, she could hold on any longer and her opponent escaped the hold down. Just 30 seconds later the tables were turned and although from where we were standing matside it looked clearly as if she had escaped the hold and was sitting on her knees, the Referee saw it differently and called the hold until time. It was a tough fight but clearly Vicky was very unlucky. Eddie Orgee, U73kgs, came away with the bronze after two tough fights, finishing off another successful day for the club.

---

Senior Coach visits Judo Club Monsois, Lille, France

Over the weekend of 8th and 9th April Walderslade's Senior Coach visited Judo Club Monsois in Lille, France. It was all part of a great birthday treat and what better way to celebrate than to do some judo too !!

The Senior Coach at the local French club is Michael Claeyssen who visited us in Walderslade recently and it was a great opportunity to build a stronger relationship between the two clubs. Michael turned the Sunday morning training session over to Eddie, who took all of the 2 hour lesson. The hospitality shown throughout the weekend was superb and it is hoped that we can reciprocate this in the future. The following photograph shows the judoka present after the session.

---

Walderslade 'Millennium' Championships - 4th March 2006

Once again our annual championship was a great success and we were very pleased this year to have a new guest instructor with us. Michael Claeyssen a French 3rd Dan who teaches in clubs in Dunkerque and Lille was with us from the Friday until late on Saturday evening. Michael took the Friday night sessions and then led the free Saturday morning session too. We were also pleased to have 4 Dutch judoka on the mat from To-Zai Judo Club in Holland. This really added to the international feel of the day.

The individual championship was a very exciting affair with 77 young judoka taking part throughout the day, many of them our own members. All in all, our club gained 5 gold, 8 silver and 13 bronze medals, but most importantly, all of them fought hard and fought well showing good sportsmanship determination.

The team event saw 5 clubs take part this year; Akzo, Lenham & Harrietsham, Parkwood, Walderslade and Wrenwa. It was a very exciting event which Parkwood won by just one win to take the title for the first time. Our team fought really well with Suzy pulling off one of the throws of the day with a very good tomoe nage for ippon. Bronze medals were gained by the team which was one member short in the Girls U25kgs.

Thank you to all those clubs who supported the event and to the Officials and helpers who kept going all day long to make this yet again a great event.

---

BJC Senior National Championships

In November a number of club members made the long journey to Hereford, to take in part in the BJC Nationals for the first time. It was bitterly cold morning when we set off, with thick frost everywhere but, after a few missed turns we arrived safe and sound.

We had four fighters competing, and Vicky Barton was first to the mat in the Ladies Kyu Grade U63kgs. Vicky stormed her way through to the final and never really looked threatened by any of the other women in the group. Later in the day Vicky also entered the Ladies Kyu Grade Open event, which she also won in style. This gave Vicky both the BJC (MAC) and BJC U63kg titles at Kyu Grade level, an excellent achievement.

Steve (Crash) Stacy was next up in the Mens Kyu Grade U90kgs. Crash had a blinding start with a hold-down for ippon. However he then got caught in his next two fights which put him out of the running in what was a very large pool. Crash continues to improve and is certainly going to be in the medal positions soon.

Ralph Hamblett had a good competition gaining a Bronze in the Dan Grade U100kg event, and demonstrating some big throws on his way. He finished one fighter off with a superb seoi otoshi and the next with tai otoshi, both for ippon. Ralph even managed to pull off a sumi gaeshi during one contest. However, he got caught locked onto his final opponents back and was sent crashing down for a huge o goshi. All in all, it was a great show and gained Ralph a well deserved bronze in a very tough group.

Ranj Atwal had a number of tough opponents in the Kyu Grade U100kgs category. However, he battled through to the end and came away with a well earned Bronze following an exciting final contest which Ranj eventually won with his strong ne waza.

Although the event was a successful one for our members, the venue left a lot to be desired. The hall was very cold, which may have added to the number of injuries seen on the day. Of the four mats in operation, only two had three Referees officiating each of the contests. Although the organisers had very strict rules on the day about what size badges could be worn on jackets and insisted that competitors wore zoris to the competition area instead of outdoor shows, I feel they would have done better by concentrating more on the safety of the fighters and the organisation of the event rather than worrying about little things like wearing zoris to the matside when fighters toes were going blue with the cold !!

---