Welsh Junior Nationals – 13th July 2008
On the 13th of July, Barnet Judo Club went to Cardiff to participate in the Welsh Junior National Championships. There were nine entrants from Barnet, who went along with parents, coaches and me. We arrived early and were ready to compete. First was the primary contests, in which Anthony represented Barnet Judo and despite having a poor start he managed to turn it around and pick up a silver medal.
Next were the two girls, Laura and Nazanine. Nazanine had a rough start after picking up a head injury during her first fight, but came back fighting. Unfortunately she did not manage to receive a medal this time. Laura, after being out of contests for a while performed extremely well and won a silver medal.
After this were the five junior boys: Sean, Marcus, Nicolas, Ken and David. Sean had a very good start but unfortunately got knocked out of the competition. Marcus and Nicolas improved tremendously, but as they have had limited competion experience they did not collect a medal. Ken was on form and showed us how groundwork is as much a part of fighting as standing. Ken won all his fights and got gold. David unfortunately lost his first fight which cost him a medal position, even though he won the rest of his contests.
Last was the espiors catagory, in which Lisa competed. As there were limited numbers of girls, her category was combined with two others. After managing to take an early lead, she lost to her final opponent which gave her the silver medal.
Name |
Medal |
Anthony |
Silver |
Laura |
Silver |
Ken |
Gold |
Lisa |
Silver |
London Youth Games - Saturday 28th June 2008
Barnet’s Judo team arrived at the Harrow Liesure centre ealy on Saturday morning ready to compete in the 2008 London Youth Games. Jonathan Hart from the Sport development department accompanied the team and also shared out the Team T-Shirts, Hoodies and Kit bags.
We had been warned in advance that the registration time was to be delayed to 9.45 am to allow for mat laying, however we did not expect to be still waiting for the Mats at 11.00 am.
However, eventually everything kicked off with the first category involving David, Sean, Tomsk and Arthur. This was a fairly large category of about 20-26 competitors. After some very interesting contests and a very spectacular Tomeo Nage from Arthur David finished joint 3rd , winning a Bronze medal, Sean and Arthur finished joint 5th, and Tomsk acquitted himself brilliantly considering this was his first contest of a serious nature.
In the next catagories, Marcus and Nicholas had very tough fights. Just like Tomsk both Nicholas and Marcus were having their first taste of competitive Judo outside of the club environment. The nerves and inexperience on the day did not help their causes.
Then we were left with the Girls – Nazanine and Lisa.
Due to the low numbers in Nazanine’s category it was combined with one from a similar weight, where 5 girls ended up all fighting one other. Nazanine managed to beat 3 and lose only one winning the Silver medal.
Lisa category was also combined allowing Lisa to have three fights where she ended up winning the Silver as well.
All in all a very good result for all of those taking part and one which Barnet can be proud – the two silver and one bronze medals together with 8 people entering has given Barnet one of the best results in the Judo at the London Youth Games for several years. All the competitors gained experience and we will go on to be better and stronger next year.
Team members – Tomsk Noon, Sean Price, Arthur Pires, David Medzinskii, Nicholas Paul, Marcus Paul, Nazanine Sadeghi and Lisa Gaitley.
North London Area Basho - Sunday 18th May 2008
On Sunday the 18 of May, Barnet Judo Club hosted the annual North London Summer Basho. This is a friendly Judo competition where competitors fight in order to receive Gold, Silver and Bronze. Many people from the club entered the competition and met many others from different clubs.
Anthony and Adam were on first and performed very well, however their opponents were well prepared and neither of the boys got gold. After that, it was the under 40kg category. This was a popular category with Arthur, Tomsk, Sean and Pavlos entered from Barnet JC. All the contests were really energetic and all the boys were determined to win. Sean got gold after his win against Arthur in the final. Arthur got silver and the rest of the boys got bronze. The fights in these categories were very interesting and it showed that the boys have learnt much more since their last competition.
Then it was my turn to fight and I was put in the under 45kg category with two other competitors, an orange belt and a yellow belt. I had to fight the orange belt first. We both bowed to each other and the referee shouted HAJIME! (begin). I started moving around the mat and I suddenly did a tai-o-toshi and threw my opponent. An ippon was given and I won the fight. In the next fight, I had to fight the yellow belt. This time I also was awarded an ippon for his throw and as a result, I got gold for this category. I then was moved up to the under 60kg category, yet I am only 38 kg. On my first fight, I had to go up against a white belt with 2 yellow tabs. I also performed a tai-o-toshi and was awarded ippon for that. In my second fight, I was moveing around the mat performing techniques but I was countered and his opponent got a waz-ari. The match lasted for 2 minutes and my opponent won by the waz-ari. The third match was also a tough match. I was thrown for a waz-ari and there wasn’t much time left but after a poor throw my opponent and I went to groundwork and I held down my opponent for 30 seconds and won the fight. Finally I stood up for his last fight. It was fairly short, and my tai-o-toshi was countered by tane-o-toshi and my opponent was awarded an ippon for the brilliant throw. As a result I was awarded a silver medal.
While I was in my second category, Bobby Bao was fighting in his category with two other competitors. His opponents were really experienced with one of them being a green belt. Bobby’s first fight was against a white belt but after his opponent performing few successful throws, Bobby lost the first fight. In Bobby’s next fight, he was opposing a green belt. Unfortunately, Bobby was thrown for an ippon by a superb throw and therefore he received a bronze medal.
It was a really successful day and all the entrants enjoyed the event thoroughly. A competition is good experience and gives you targets to train for when you are practising at the club. I would like to thank all the staff for organising this event and putting all their hard work into training us!
Arthur receiving his silver medal
David receiving his ippon after a throw
Tomsk receiving his bronzeBJC Junior Nationals - Sunday 4th May 2008
Lisa Gaitley wins bronze - full story to follow.
Sensei Hosaka Weekend Course - Saturday 26th / Sunday 27th April 2008
James and Andrew Kelly attended the Senesei Hosaka weekend course at St Albans Judo club this weekend.
Somerset Area Invitation Tournament - Saturday 26th April 2008
Saba, David and Sean went to the Somerset Area Invitation Tournament on Saturday.
Sean was over weight and had to compete in the under 40Kgs with David. They both won their pools and ended up fighting one another in the semi finals - David won. David then went onto win the final, and Sean beat the other losing semi finalist to get the bronze.
Saba won here weight category and then volunteered to fight in the Dan grade comp to make up the numbers, winning the bronze.
St Ives Easter Course - Thursday 20th / Monday 24 th March 2008
All had a great time at the St Ives Easter course this year.
The results from the grading - Maurice to 2nd Dan, Jo to Green plus 2 blue tabs, Sean to Orange plus 1 green tab, Niall to Orange and Charlie to Orange.
We had an eventful journey down with Caroline's car blow it's head gasket, but apart from that it was a great course.
BJC president Robin Otani was presented with a watch in recognision of 30 years service to the organisation. Barnet Judo AGM - Friday 7th March 2008
The club AGM was held between sessions at Lyonsdown Hall and the following are the main changes that resulted:-
- Barnet Judo club Constitution and Child Protection Policy where approved and adopted.
- The club will change it's name and will now be known as Barnet Judo club.
- Barnet Judo will work towards obtaining Club Mark accreditation.
Herts Schools (HSJA) compertition - Sunday 2nd March 2008
Congratulations to Lisa, Sean and Niall who all won Bronze medals. Well done.
Sean was placed in a large group of boys in the under 38Kgs, unfortunately he lost his first fight to the eventual gold medal winner, but came back strongly to beat the remaining competitors for Ippon to take the Bronze medal.
Lisa was placed in the under 52Kgs but as there was no one else competing at her weight she was asked if wouldn't mind moving up 3 weight groups and compete in the under 65 Kgs as this was the only option available to her. Considering her opposition were 30 lbs heavier she gave a good account of herself and won a Bronze Medal. View competition results table.
Team BJC training - Sunday 2nd March 2008
It's not like Joseph and David to miss the opportunity to take part in a competition but the reason they did not attend the Herts Schools was because they were squad training with Team BJC at Tamworth instead.
This is the third (or is it fourth) time that they have been and this time Joseph and David could join the green belts who easily out number all the other grades put together.
The morning starts out with an hour of intensive fitness training and is usually followed by games of some sort, this time it was twenty a side football outside. After lunch is a hour of technique coaching followed by an hour of randori.
Barnet Press article - Thursday 21st Febuary 2008
Open a copy of this weeks Barnet Press at page 28 and you can read an article on the club. You will also see a couple of nice photos of David & Joseph and Jerry & Anthony in action at Barnet Judo @ Woodhouse on Tuesday.
Click the image to read the article.
Barnet Judo Club - Tuesday 28th January 2008
Barnet Judo Club was pleased to welcome two old friends as guests this week, Sensei Nino Vitanza from "Just Judo" in Borhamwood and Sensei Roger Marks from "Kyushinkai" in Stoke Newington (both standing in pic).
As well as helping our own Sensei Simon with instruction of junior members, both Roger and Nino looked as though they got a good workout and contributed to the humidity levels in Studio 1 so much so that the mirror wall was almost completed steamed up by the end!
At the end of the session every one practiced Naga-no-kata and this picture shows Joseph and Sean practicing the first part, Uki otoshi (floating drop).
Barnet Judo Club Opens - Tuesday 15th January 2008
Barnet Judo Club opens in North Finchley at the new Woodhouse College sports hall.
Every Tuesday 7:30 to 9:30pm - all ages and grades. (Primary students leave at 9:00pm)
On Tuesday Barnet Judo Club held it's second meeting at Woodhouse College and this week we were moved to the smaller of the two fitness studios because of building work (back to studio 1 next week).
This photo shows Simon demonstrating on Ashley how NOT to broadcast your intentions to your opponent, with the rest of the group looking on intently.
Watch this space!
Royston Basho - Sunday 2nd December
On Sunday 2nd December 2007, Lyonsdown Judo Club took 8 young hopefuls and 1 not so young hopeful (myself), to the North London Area Winter Basho which was held in Roysia school, Royston, Herts.
Niall Kempson won one of his 3 fights, getting a Bronze medal and had a good day. Laura Corbett did very well and got a Silver. Oscar Simpson fought in a junior pool and got a Bronze! He beat the gold winner with a koka but the other boy won his other fight with Ippon so won overall. Anthony Droungas fought very hard and got a Silver. James Kelly did great and got a Gold !!! Andrew Kelly did really well to get a Bronze as he was fighting a bit above his weight. James Kidd made a great effort and got a Bronze ! Arthur Pires was on form and took a Gold !!! Lastly, I (Oscar's dad) got a Gold in the Kyu grade pool (up to brown belts), though I was the highest grade by far. Then I couldn't sit back and watch the Dan grades scrap so jumped in and took a Silver in the Dan grade pool (black belts).
A Day with Ray - Sunday 2nd December 2007
On the same day as the Royston Basho, Maurice, Lisa, Joseph and David went to High Wycombe BJA Judo Club to attend a one day "Classic Japanese Judo" course given by Ray Stevens (Olympic Silver Medallist Barcelona 1992). The course was not for beginners or youngsters and Joseph and David were lucky to be admitted. They were surprised to find that they shared the mat with only 16 others (of which 9 where dan grades!) and this meant that they got plenty of Ray's attention.
The mourning session was devoted to standing work and O-soto-gari (major outer reap), Tai-otoshi (body drop), Seoi-nage (shoulder throw) and Uchi-mata (inner thigh sweep) were studied and practiced in depth. Everyone, dan grades included, was surprised that there were subtleties to O-soto-gari that they had not appreciated. From a spectators point of view the Uchi-mata practice looked particularly impressive.
The afternoon session was devoted to ground work with a variety of escapes and counters practised and particular attention was paid to Sangaku-jime (triangle strangle). The day was rounded off with some randori and finally everyone wanted their photo taken with the Olympic medallist. At the end I heard more than one person say that they wished that practice had gone on longer.
Thank you to Ray Stevens and High Wycombe judo club for putting on the event and inviting Lyonsdown to attend.
Peterborough Course - Saturday 24th / Sunday 25th November 2007
Lyonsdown Judo Club was represented in this event by Simon, Ashley, Robin, Saba, Lisa, Nial, Shawn, Anthony and Adam. The large sports centre hall contained 6 medium sized practice areas one each for ~30 primaries including Anthony and Adam, ~30 juniors including Shawn, ~20 seniors including Nial and Robin, ~10 training on katas training and ~15 training to become instructors including Saba and Lisa. The remaining area was used alternatively by seniors and instructor training. The ~15 instructors including Simon and Ashley rotated through the areas running 1.5 hour sessions in each. This produced a variety for all and included a number of 15 min breaks and a 30 min lunch break.
The event was opened by the 3 senior instructors BJC Chief Examiner and Technical Advisor Mr Akinori Hosaka (Kodocan 8th dan), BJC Vice-President Mr G. R. Mealing (7th dan) and Simon Mazzullo (6th dan). Sensei Hosaka focussed his attention on training the instructors while Sensei Mealing focussed on kata training. The first day was devoted in training including randoori and preparation for the second day's grading. During Sunday's grading Saba and Lisa obtained their FPJ1 level 1 instructors qualification, Nial his yellow belt (5th Kyu), Shawn two orange tabs to his yellow belt and Anthony and Adam two orange tabs to their white belts. Grades were awarded by Sensei Hosaka and Sensei Mealing.
This was a well attended very successful and enjoyable event with plenty of action and learning as well as fun.
BJC Welsh Junior Nationals - Sunday 1st July 2007
David and Joseph each win a Bronze medal at the Welsh Junior Nationals at Cardiff.
As a result, both boys were invited to train with the BJC National squad at their regular training sessions at Tamworth, near Birmingham. If you don't see David and Joseph at a local event it is probably because they are training instead as they need to attend regularly in order to qualify to join the National squad and be eligible to compete internationally.
This is an old piece of news now but still worth a mention.
London Youth Games - Sunday 9th June 2007
David and Joseph represent the Borough of Barnet at the London Youth Games at Crystal Palace.
Again, this is an old piece of news now but still worth a mention.
BJC Junior National Championships - Sunday 6th May 2007
Joseph Masters and David Medzinskii enter the BJC Junior Nationals in Hereford this year. Both boys were excited and a bit nervous as this was their first major competition. The day started at 6 o'clock on Sunday with a three hour dash up the A40 to the Welsh border. David entered the under 35kg category and Joseph just scraped into the under 45's. Malcolm joined both dads as a spectator.
David came up to rei and start his fight with his opponent who was a green belt. The match looked fairly even as the boys moved around the mat attacking and counter-attacking. As David started an attack, he was thrown for yuko and held down for 30 seconds David had lost his first fight.
In the second fight, David was evenly matched again. His opponent was really aggressive and the boys struggled for control and grip. There was a lot of foot sweeps and the boys tripped over each other but never fell. Finally time was called but nobody scored a point. The match was awarded to David as he attacked more.
Joseph was on next. Joseph was upset when he missed a good chance to throw. Eventually, time was called and the referee awarded the match to Joseph, because he showed he was attacking more.
In his second fight Joseph made a poorly performed throw for which he received Kei Ko Ku (penalty). Later he was thrown for wazari, which combined with the penalty meant he was out of the competition.
Although neither Lyonsdown boy gained a medal this time, they each managed to beat a medal winner. They both enjoyed it thoroughly and felt they gained a lot from the experience and made their dads proud in the process.
Competing has given their training purpose and inspired them to progress their judo skills further.