A team of eleven travelled up in the minibus with another joining us at the sports centre in Luton. We gained three Gold, four Silver and four Bronze. This includes David Sensei who was roped into making up a pool for the seniors as a result of the shortage of numbers. Outclassed in terms of grade, age, weight and height, he is looking for excuses to justify only getting Bronze.
Below are videos of some of the contests, both wins and loses. They are worth studying to see what works well and what does not. Particular attention to the times we lost and the lessons that can be learned from them will pay dividends in the long run.
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Video
Chelsea v Ellen
Ellen has no contest experience and so is more nervous that Chelsea who is now familiar with what goes on. Chelsea displays a solid base keeping her balance well centered. Despite this disadvantage, Ellen is putting in a lot of attacks and is having a good go. However, Chelsea correctly judges her moment and with a little tap of a Ko Soto Gari throws Ellen for a Yuko and follows up with a hold down from which Ellen can not escape.
Chelsea v Ellen
Chelsea v Emma
Emma also has no contest experience and also has a significant weight disadvantage. Emma's stance is quite 'wooden' and she must learn to move in a more 'fluid' manner. Again, Chelsea catches her with a Ko Soto Gari for a Yuko and immediately gains a hold down from which Emma is unable to escape.
Chelsea v Emma
Elliot v Jamie
Jamie has had a bit of a break from contest but is demonstrating that his skills have not left him. However, he is a bit rusty and is after being dragged down to the ground he is caught off balance by Elliot and is put into Tate Shio Gatame hold. Jamie puts in a very good attempt at escape but Elliot adapts by changing his hold. At one point Jamie even breaks the hold by catching Elliot's hip with his leg but the referee does not pick this up. In the end, it would not have made much difference as Elliot immediately gained a fresh hold.
Elliot v Jamie
Elliot v Jonathan
Jonathon is at a significant disadvantage here. There is a weight difference of over 10Kg as well as a three year age difference. Jonathon does as well as he can but Elliot is at least as skilled as he and with the advantage of weight and age quickly over powers Jonathon with a throw that scores Wazari and then a hold.
Elliot v Jonathan
Ellen v Emma
Emma puts in quite a few spirited attacks as does Ellen although she has not broken the balance properly which is stopping the throw from taking effect. Ellen attacks with O Soto Gari but does not bring her weight to bear properly and as a result, the throw does not work. After about a minute, it is clear that both contestants are getting tired as they slow down. Ellen makes a better attack with Tai Otoshi and this time throws Emma for Ippon. She, correctly, goes straight into a hold down as she has not realised that she has won. Once aware the contest is stopped.
Ellen v Emma
George
George who is wearing red and his opponent put on a very feisty display of Judo with a wide range of attacks and displaying good control of each other. There is no scoring and the contest looks like it will result in no score until around three quarters of the way into the contest the opponent manages to push George down to the ground (no technique so no score) but once there is able to obtain a hold down. George puts in some very good demonstrations of proper escapes of which the second is successful but the opponent manages to regain the hold so the count starts again. George continues to try to escape but the hold is on too firmly and the contest is lost. Nevertheless, George should be very proud of his performance.
George
George
In this contest George is wearing the yellow belt. The two contestants attack with a wide variety of techniques but so far are not able to complete with them. George needs to pay attention to his footwork. Several times he brings his feet together and also crosses them which leaves his balance vulnerable and ready to be exploited by his opponent. George then attacks with a very unwise O Soto Gari where his foot is so outstretched that his balance is weak and he could easily be pulled down. He was lucky that his opponent did not take advantage of this. George manages to bring his opponent down with a weak Ko Soto Gari but does take control with a hold down very quickly and with this, wins the contest.
George
Jamie v Jonathon
Jamie makes an early attempt at Tai Otoshi but Jonathon manages to make sure that he lands on his front. Jamie manages to gain a hold but Jonathon stops it by bringing his leg over Jamie's hip and taking control of the leg. Jamie appears to have forgotten that he has to remove the leg for the hold to take effect. Upon restarting, Jonathon moves in a more natural fluid manner but is bought to the ground by Jamie, annoyingly, off camera whereupon Jamie obtains a hold and keeps it for the count thereby winning this contest.
Jamie v Jonathon
Jay
It is clear throughout this contest that the opponents are fairly evenly matched. However, after about a minute, Jay does manage to counter his opponents attack with an O Soto Gari which gives him a score of Yuko. The score could have been better if Jay had maintained hold of his opponent with both hands so that he could guide the opponent to the ground with greater force and speed. Just before the contest ends (we miss a bit of it as the cameraman was also trying to catch the action on the other mat) Jay manages to duplicate the above O Soto Gari with another one handed effort for a second Yuko which is the winning score. Jay needs now to pay better attention to the way he finishes his techniques so that they gain higher scores.
Jay
Jay
Jay's opponent attacks with in a very cavalier manner with regard to his own balance and as a result, is thrown by Jay just by his slight twisting of his hips. Jay immediately secures a hold down and the opponent is unable to escape thereby giving Jay a well deserved win.
Jay
Jay
In a mirror of Jay's last contest, there is a unwise attack with the balance not correctly placed which results in a Wazari being scored. The difference is that this time it is Jay who has made the error. Now with a Wazari against him Jay has his work cut out and he sets to putting it right. He manages to score a Yuko with an O Soto Gari but fails to capitalise on the ground.
Upon restarting Jay attacks again with O Soto Gari and when it doesn't quite work he drops to his knees thereby increasing the pressure upon his opponent and brings him down for a (in the narrator's opinion) very generous Wazari. However, as Jay secures a solid hold from which the opponent can not escape, it doesn't really matter. Jay has won.
Jay
Jay
Jay continues to favour his O Soto Gari and this carries with it certain dangers, the greatest of which is that the counter is the same throw and a opponent is able to easily reverse the tables upon an attacker. This scenario occurs in the first few seconds but Jay manages to avoid it by turning onto his front so there is no score. A few seconds later Jay does bring off a nice example of this throw to score Wazari. However, Jay's opponent counters Jay's Tai Otoshi attack with an O Soto Gari to also score Wazari so they are now equal. Unfortunately, a few seconds later Jay makes an attack with Ko Soto Gari in exactly the way the club Judoka's have been advised not to and is thus thrown with an O Uchi Gari to score Wazari and thereby give the contest to the opponent.
Jay
Kieran
Kieran's opponent attacks with a poor O Soto Gari which fails. A moment later Kieran attacks with a fairly good Morete Seoi Nage and throw to score Ippon. Kieran doesn't realise this and places the opponent in a good hold. He almost seems to be surprised to discover that he has won. A very good start.
Kieran
Kieran v George
Kieran's (in red) opponent is George (yellow belt) and they are used to working together. Both contestants display a wide range of attacks with a preference towards the major forward techniques which is refreshing. However, for a long time, there is little result for all this work which goes to emphasise that they are fairly evenly matched. Kieran makes an attack with Tai Otoshi which George avoids and turns into his own attack with the same technique almost bringing Kieran down but only to his knees for no score. As George then tries to attack again Kieran catches George with a Ko Soto Gari to score Yuko. Kieran tries to continue on the ground but whilst he does get a hold down in place George escapes almost immediately.
Upon restarting George attacks and almost throws with a Tai Otoshi and again with a Ko Soto Gari. By now something strange seems to have happened. The contest is clearly over the two minutes. George then attacks with a well judged Koshi Guruama which does not work because George has not turned his head in order to allow his shoulders to turn also and thus throw his opponent onto their back. George really needs to work on this.
Kieran
At around the three minute mark, almost a minute over the standard contest time, the opponents more or less fall to the ground but once there, Kieran is able to obtain a hold down and George turns the wrong way thus making the hold on him more secure. At this point the cameraman points the camera at the floor so we are unable to see the action but can hear the count continuing and it is clear that Kieran has won. It also seems that George has hurt his shoulder which fortunately was minor and he was fine later.
Kieran
Kieran makes an early well judged attack with a Ko Soto Gari but is unable to pull it off. However, as he moves around his opponent, it looks like he is setting himself up to attack with a Morete Seoi Nage but places his balance poorly before turning in and is literally 'pushed over' by his opponent. This does not score as there is no technique but does allow the opponent to put Kieran into a hold from which Kieran is unable to escape. Nevertheless, in his first ever competition, he does win the Silver so very well done.
Kieran
Molly
Molly starts in a slow half hearted attempt but after a few seconds winds up the speed and force and throws her opponent for a very nice Tai Otoshi which scores Ippon. Her opponent has a slightly bleeding lip. It is important to remember when competing to keep ones mouth closed and the tongue behind the teeth.
Molly
Molly
In the first few seconds Molly attacks with Ko Soto Gari and throws her opponent for a Yuko. Molly obtains a hold down very quickly but is hard up against the wall so Sono Mana (freeze) is called and the judges move the contestants further towards the centre of the mat. Then Yoshi (continue) is called and the count starts again. The opponent is unable to break Molly's hold and once twenty five seconds is reached, Molly wins with Ippon. It is possible that Molly had a hold so tight that it was close to a strangle as the opponent seems to be very out of breath.
Molly
David Sensei
These contests continue to show that David is past his 'best before date' in terms of competition. But he refuses to give up. There are some early attacks but they are not properly committed and David in retrospect realises that he should have from the start attacked with far greater force and wider range of techniques in order to unsettle his opponent and try and force him into a mistake. David does keep his right hand in a high grip in order to prevent his opponent from using his greater height to gain a domineering grip. David attempts a standing strangle but this is not successful and the referee then gives a shido for gripping on the same side with both hands although David was not as a cross strangle was being attempted. By around three minutes David is beginning to tire so the attacks are slower but
nevertheless he continues to try. Upon Hantei being called, David wins.
David Sensei
David Sensei
In a contest where the opponents are carefully matched for skill, age, weight and height, the narrators main motivation is to stay upright. He makes a number of attacks but they are more designed to get a reaction upon which he could build from as his attempts to break balance are so far unsuccessful. The opponent appears to taking his time and is looking for a clean win rather than a sloppy 'point grab'. At one point the opponent reaches down and grabs the narrators leg in what is clearly a leg grab and is prohibited under the current rules. However, the referee does not penalise this. It doesn't make much difference in any event as the narrator makes an error by bringing his legs together thereby weakening his balance which is immediately seized on by the opponent with a leg sweep taking David down for
Ippon.
David Sensei
David Sensei
In this contest, David is facing off Richard Hobbs, a competitive 5th Dan who is 6' 2" tall, around 110Kg and two decades younger. There is no doubt as the outcome so it is only a matter of how long it will be coming. David makes at attempt at pulling him down to his height but this doesn't work. There are a few feeble attacks on him but Richard catches David for a gentle Uchi Mata which one of the corner Judges decided to call Koka despite that score no longer being available. It was then given a Wazari despite clearly being of Ippon standard. This was done just to make the fun last a bit longer. At this point David says to Richard whilst gripping up "I bet you can't throw me with O Guruama". A few seconds later a perfect O Guruama is demonstrated and this contest is over.
David Sensei
David Sensei
In the final contest David is up against a 2nd Dan who whilst being shorter and lighter than the previous opponent, is nevertheless quite a bit larger and more skilled than David. Around the half minute mark David is thrown with Hiza Guruama for a score of Wazari. At that point the opponent attempts to get a Ude Hishigi Juji Gatame (cross armlock) which David was quite determined to block and in the process fails to realise that he is now in a hold down. David being quite chuffed with himself for blocking the armlock continues for about seven seconds before realising that he needed to try to escape. By that time the hold was pretty well tight and the contest was as good as over.
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