It’s important to keep your body fuelled when training. There is a lot of research available online and in print as to what to eat and when to eat.
All evidence suggests that there should be a clear 2 hour window between eating a meal and training. The body needs time to digest food before exercise.
Eating too much too soon before exercise can lead to feelings of sickness and in extreme cases the body will look to get rid of what it has eaten. Physiologically, this is because the body needs blood to aid in digestion – the same blood that it needs to transport oxygen to and remove lactic acids from working muscles. The body sees supporting exercise as more important – as part of its fight or flight response – and will therefore look to remove any obstacles to maintaining muscle efficiency.
We recognise that with the younger players starting training at 6pm it is difficult to achieve a 2 hour gap, but please can meals be kept light to minimise the risk of any unpleasant moments on the mat.
The Judo Code is a list of values that Professor Jigoro Kano believed all judoka should follow. By following this code, they would improve themselves and ultimately society.
British Judo has added another value, that of Fair Play. This was added in response to the horror stories that we hear frequently of player, parent and fan behaviour in other sports, at all levels. Fair Play really can be summarised as being a good sport, playing by the rules, don’t cheat, equity and equality.
Players are asked about the Judo Code as part of their gradings.
This provoked an interesting discussion with the younger players on Thursday – is it ever ok to swear at the referee when their decision goes against you/your team (they were all very clear, NO!). To “dive” to win a penalty, to feign an injury to get a free kick? To take drugs to enhance performance? The posturing, posing, name calling and showboating of other combat sports that get regular media coverage? Some of these are harder to answer – some are plainly cheating but play out regularly across our TV screens in elite, professional sport. If sporting idols demonstrate this type of behaviour, what chance is there for grassroots sport? Just imagine if all tennis players had followed the example of John McEnroe….
It would be foolish to deny that Judo has had some unsavoury incidents. But as one of the largest sports in the world (both in terms of member countries and participants) they are rare. This may be of course simply because there is no (or very little) money to be made in Judo (sad but true) so less incentive to cheat. Or it may be because of the values that Professor Kano built in from that start.
All sports coaches in the UK should follow the Code of Practice for Sports Coaches. Players and parents should also be aware of the Code of Conduct published by Sport England. By following the Judo Code and these simple rules we can keep Judo and sport in general fair, safe and enjoyable for everyone.
Tony and Kev had the honour of representing the Club at the celebration of the life of Tony Twining, held at The Oaks in Havant on Tuesday 28 February. Tony passed away at the end of January.
Tony was a keen judo player, starting his judo career with Percy Sekine at the London Judokan before gaining his black belt with us. Tony had some great ashi waza and a devastating hip throw. He was key in Tony Brown gaining his Level 2 coaching award, being his uke for the day. He was also present when the BBC’s Jon Cuthill came to the Club to record a piece for his show on Radio Solent.
A coach himself, he introduced his daughters to judo as well as supporting many other players – and always had a story to tell!
Tony was also a former governor of Court Lane Junior School.
Although not present on the mat for a while, Tony was a familiar sight around Cosham, walking his beloved dogs, and will be much missed by all who knew him.
Our thoughts are with his wife Bernie and daughters Anna, Beckie and Sophie.
Tony, Craig, Kev and Steve travelled to High Wycombe Judo Centre on 12 February for a training session with multiple Olympic and World medallist and six time All-Japan champion Yoko Tanabe.
The day was split into two sessions – ne waza and tachi waza (i.e. ground and standing techniques).
Yoko presented a range of simple, basic but effective techniques that will improve the quality of your judo – techniques which we ruefully wish we had learnt years ago but will be incorporating into our own coaching and practice going forward.
The day was very well supported, with a wide range of grades in attendance.
Thursday was the last day of our training programmed for 2022.
The club has continued to grow throughout the year, with a new group of adults also joining us. Our recovery from the pandemic has been better than we could ever have anticipated.
The club has returned to competition during the year, something we hope to see more of next year. It has been exciting also to see a number of players progress to their next colour belt.
It is with considerable sadness that we say goodbye to German, who is returning home to Ukraine. A talented and hard working judo player, German will be missed and we wish him and his mum well for the future.
Classes will resume from Thursday 5 January.
We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
As you are probably aware, the BJA implemented a new membership system over the summer (“the Dojo”).
Like you, we were expecting a fully developed and configured system to be unveiled, especially as the go live date was put back.
Not the case however! All that has been launched so far is a minimum product, that enables members to check their own details and renew licence. There are no coach or club modules currently available, meaning that we are unable to process the grading results from July. BJA staff are also unable to process gradings at Head Office. It is hoped that this functionality will be rolled out shortly.
We apologise for the delay in players receiving this new grades, sadly the situation is out of our hands. As soon as we can submit new grade information we will do so.
Having worked on a new IT system configuration for the last two years, and just entering the really interesting stage of assisted migration runs, User Acceptance Testing and parallel running – it is disappointing to see the delays and gaps in the new Dojo system.
The Judo competition will run from 1-3 August. There will be extensive coverage via the BBC and iPlayer, as exclusive host broadcaster. The first session – knock out and repechage in the men and women lightweights – starts at 10am on Monday 1st, with the medal fights being held later in the day.
The home nations of England, Scotland and Wales will do well, possibly a medal for Northern Ireland. Australia and Canada are also sending some big names. You can never rule out a surprise result from India or one of the African countries either!
Did you know that Court Lane Judo Club has links to the Commonwealth Games?
Brett Caswell was training partner for Team England’s Sophie Cox in the run up to the 2002 Manchester Games.
The 1×1 metre mats that we use every session came from the same edition of the Games – they were used in the warm up area.
Outside of the Commonwealth Games, there is also a Judo Commonwealth tournament, which now features Junior and Veteran divisions. Court Lane’s Brett Caswell won the inaugural Junior Commonwealth tournament in 2006.
After a hiatus caused by the Covid pandemic, the Southern Area intercounties tournament will resume this year. Hampshire has a proud record in this event: the winning boys and girls teams from 2004 are pictured. (Court Lane’s Lewis Dolman is holding the trophy, with Andy Gould wearing GB patch behind him).
This year’s edition will be held in Eastleigh on Sunday 8th May. Hampshire’s team will be announced based on squad attendance and results at Hampshire Closed, to be held in April.
The event has been restructured, and will now feature more but smaller teams than previous years, along with grade banded mixed gender adult teams.
Each team will consist of 7 players with there being six categories – u12 years of age boys and girls teams, u16 years of age boys and girls teams, senior mixed kyu grade teams and senior mixed dan grade teams. Technical restrictions will be in place for the u12 teams and armlocks and strangles permitted only in the senior events, minimum age 14 years.
Team Formats
U12 Boys u27kg, u30kg, u34kg, u38kg, u42kg, u46kg and o46kg
U12 Girls u28kg, u32kg, u36kg, u40kg, u44kg, u48kg and o48kg
U16 Boys u42kg, u46kg, u50kg, u55kg, u60kg, u66kg and o66kg
U16 Girls u40kg, u44kg, u48kg, u52kg, u57kg, u63kg and o63kg
Mixed Senior Kyu Grade (maximum grade 2nd Kyu) Men u66kg, u81kg, u100kg and o100kg Women u57kg, u70kg and 070kg
Mixed Senior Dan Grade (minimum grade 1st Kyu) Men u66kg, u81kg, u100kg and o100kg Women u57kg, u70kg and 070kg
Senior teams will fight alternately M, F, M, F, M, F, M
Regardless of the changes, team judo is one of the most exciting competition formats and this promises to be an exciting day as always!
