Blog Archives

10 months and counting…

Posted on January 26, 2021

When we closed the club in March 2020, a week before the first national lockdown, none of us really envisaged that 10 months later our mats would still be empty.

We were lucky enough to be able to run some sessions outdoors over the summer, but our return to indoor training has been knocked back – first from November 2020 to January 2021, and now indefinitely in the third national lockdown. We remain committed to opening when it is safe to do so.

Like everyone else, we await the lifting of Covid restrictions. Infection rates are falling, but are still high; and hospital admissions and deaths show no signs of abating. Sadly, Covid related deaths have even affected Portsmouth’s judo community.

International judo has been affected, as has been the Olympics. It is probably 50-50 at best if the rescheduled 2020 Tokyo Games will take place this year. GB’s Alice Schlesinger has announced her retirement, missing her last Games, and Nekoda Smythe-Davis has announced her withdrawal from the selection race for Tokyo as she recovers from a serious concussion.

We hope you are taking advantage of the online sessions organised by British Judo. These are FREE to licensed members – another reason to keep your British Judo membership in date. You can book on to these sessions here.

Thank you for your continued support of the Club via Portsmouth Lottery and Easyfundraising. With online shopping our new normal, this is a great way to generate donations to the Club, at no cost to yourself. Funds raised will help us to weather the current pandemic and return stronger when we can get back on the mats, with whatever restrictions may still be in place. Judo, martial arts and other indoor contact sports will be the last to return to normal.

Please remember it is OK not to feel OK! The last year has been extremely testing for everyone. British Judo has published a list of organisations who can offer support if you or members of your family are struggling. Alternatively, you may find suggestions in Dr Rangan Chatterjee’s book ‘Feel Better in 5’ helpful. The Morning and Evening Flows are great stretching and relaxation processes, whilst guidance on daily gratitude list, affirmations and breathing practices may also be of benefit.

Finally, stay safe, look after each other and we look forward to seeing you all back on the mat when it is safe to do so.

Posted in Blog, Training
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Seeking your views on outdoor training going forward

Posted on September 9, 2020

As you will have seen from an earlier Facebook post, we have cancelled the Tuesday sessions in Drayton Park. We have made this decision based on the lack of attendance the last few weeks.

We are now seeking your views on Thursday sessions – is there interest in keeping these sessions going? If so we would look at starting at 6pm, as it is getting darker earlier.

Alternatively, we could look at a session over the weekend if that would be of interest.

Or would you rather wait until we can get back on the mats? Hopefully after the October half term.

Please let us know your views.

This has been an incredibly difficult period for everyone, and a 6 month break from our sport has been unprecedented. We appreciate the support from those who have attended the sessions and welcome your feedback on our suggestions above.

Posted in Announcements, Blog, Training
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Don’t forget training tonight!

Posted on June 23, 2020

Don’t forget, we will be meeting tonight for a socially distanced fitness and movement training session, as announced previously. Please let us know if you are coming!

Bring outdoor sports clothing and water, an exercise mat is also useful.

Our next session will be Thursday.

We are expecting guidelines soon from the BJA as to what a return to mat based training could look like – but we will be dependent on the school allowing hall hire to recommence. Recent news from Croatia after Novak Djokovic hosted a tennis tournament, with several players testing positive afterwards, also flags up the value of a cautious return to sport.

In the meantime, don’t forget you can help us to boost club funds so that we can come back stronger by playing the Portsmouth Lottery or using the Easyfundraising website or app when shopping online – we have recently benefitted from purchases at Amazon, Uber Eats, Dunelm and Ordnance Survey, to name just a few. Signing up now could win us £500!

Posted in Announcements, Blog, Training
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It’s getting nearer…

Posted on June 19, 2020

The Government this morning announced a drop in the coronavirus alert level from 4 to 3. This is likely to result in some further easing of restrictions over the next few weeks.

We understand that British Judo is close to publishing its own guidelines for Phase One of a return to training. We suspect that this is likely to follow a Judo Fit type model – randori and shiai will remain impossible under social distancing guidelines.

We are cautiously optimistic that in theory at list, we may be able to make some start of return in September. However, this must be economically viable for us if there are restrictions on class sizes due to distancing requirements, and is dependent on the school allowing external groups to use its facilities.

In the meantime, we will continue with our recently established outdoor training programme.

Posted in Blog, Training
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Not the post I thought I would be writing

Posted on March 28, 2020

On the eve of the Hampshire Closed, I would usually be writing to wish our players good luck. Or to remind people that clocks change tomorrow and to not be late for the weigh-in.

But not today. Covid-19 has changed everything.

The Club is currently closed. Officially until after Easter holidays, but until at least June if we are being realistic. Personally, I think September is more likely by the time we add in summer holidays (remember those?).

We have not been able to say goodbye to John Luijken before he and his family move abroad.

We did manage to get in to clean and disinfect the mats before the school was closed. Thanks to Kev and Craig as always for their help.

The Hampshire Closed has been cancelled, as has the Southern Area teams tournament. The Tokyo Olympics have been postponed until 2021.

Thankfully as we only hire the hall on an hourly basis from the school, we are not exposed to the same cashflow risks that clubs who own their premised are exposed to. (And I never thought I would be grateful for not having our own dojo, but always something to be glad about if you look!).

If you are online shopping, don’t forget that you can raise funds for the club at the same time via Easyfundraising – use this link to register: https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/courtlanejudoclub/?invite=3H5QVP&referral-campaign=c2s and we will receive an extra donation when your donations reach £5. We have 19 supporters currently – 8 of whom who have never shopped via Easyfundraising. It’s easy, free and doesn’t cost you a penny more.

Community groups are going to be vital as we go through this crisis. You can help to strengthen not only us but the wider community if you play the Portsmouth Lottery. Tickets can be purchased via this link, https://www.portsmouthlottery.co.uk/support/court-lane-judo-club

It is important that everyone stays fit and as healthy as possible – we have posted links in the Facebook group to various resources from Sport England and British Judo. No doubt some of you are working out with Joe Wicks every morning! Maintaining your physical health will help to keep you mentally healthy – again, a lot of support is being signposted towards support in this area.

To those who are essential workers, in the NHS, social care, keeping our food shelves stocked – we thank you for your efforts, stay safe, we will all do our best not to put extra stress on you.

Take care everyone, and we will see you on the other side.

Posted in Articles, Blog, Competitions, Training
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Judo and C-19

Posted on March 16, 2020

We are monitoring the situation regarding the spread of Covid-19 (the coronavirus) very carefully.

Latest guidance is that we are still in the early phases of the “containment” stage of the UK’s response to this global pandemic.

There has only been 1 confirmed case in Portsmouth at the time of writing.

Guidance from Sport England on 12th March was still very much that activities should carry on, with due regard to good hand hygiene and self-isolation if you are feeling unwell.

Domestic judo events are still running, although international competitions (Olympic qualification events, European championships etc.) have been cancelled or postponed. Our friends in France have been advised by their governing body to shut down clubs for the foreseeable future. Presumably other European federations are following suit.

If we can source hand sanitiser, we will provide some at the club. As you know, most of the shops have been victim to panic buying so this may not be possible.

However, soap and water is still a more effective barrier. Please make sure you wash your hands before and after sessions.

Guidance issued to schools today (16th March) repeats this message.

It is not feasible for us to disinfect mat surfaces every session. We believe that any transfer to mats will die out in between sessions as the virus has a short lifespan on hard surfaces.

Please make sure judogis are washed after every session.

We understand that many people are making their own decision to withdraw from activities ahead of Government advice, especially if they or members of their household have other underlying health issues, they are carers for people deemed to be vulnerable etc.

If you are planning on withdrawing from club activities, please let us know, so that we can gauge impact on the club, and plan accordingly.

Please make sure you are following us on social media (Facebook – either our Page or private group – and Twitter), subscribe to our email update service or check the website regularly for latest updates. Things are moving rapidly and these will be our primary means of communicating with you.

Posted in Announcements, Articles, Blog, Training
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A Licence is not just for grading

Posted on November 19, 2018

 

The recent grading highlighted that a significant number of player’s licences were out of date.

We would like to remind all players and parents that your licence is a key requirement for practising Judo.

Your licence supplies vital insurance cover – see www.britishjudo.org.uk/my-judo/membership/insurance/

The BJA licence also enables members to access a range of benefits, such as discounted entry to attractions run by Merlin Entertainments – again, for more details see www.britishjudo.org.uk/my-judo/membership/benefits/

Licensed players also receive regular e-mail updates, two print and 4 electronic copies of the BJA magazine Matside.

License fees are used to subsidise BJA area and county competitions and events, keeping costs down.

Each licensed player also contributes 50p towards the cost of the Club’s own insurance.

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Nekoda Davis treats Court Lane to Olympic masterclass

Posted on May 7, 2018

Nekoda with class

Court Lane Judo Club celebrated their 25th birthday with a visit from Rio Olympian and 2014 Commonwealth Games champion Nekoda Smythe-Davis, on Saturday 5th May.

Guests included club founder and original coach Roger Spreadbury, and former coach and News Coach of the Year nominee Jill Brown.

Davis, who herself recently turned 25, demonstrated some of the techniques that helped her win a world bronze medal in 2017, and joined in practice with the players.

In an insightful and honest question and answer session, she answered questions about her judo career, how she prepares for competition and the pressures on her at the beginning of judo’s two year qualification cycle for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Davis was joined on the mat by Brett Caswell. Caswell won the inaugural -21 Commonwealth Judo championships in 2006, 2005 British Championships and represented Great Britain all over the world. Jonty Bassil was another willing uke.

The session ended with Davis and Spreadbury cutting a cake to honour the Club’s 25th birthday.

Nekoda and Brett Caswell
Working with George and Kaiden
Randori with Isla
Sangaku with Jonty
Roger and Nekoda cutting the cake

Current Club Coach Tony Brown said, “It was great to get a player of Nekoda’s calibre down to help us celebrate our 25th birthday. The Club is on the way back up, with several players being selected for Hampshire squads over the last couple of years, and this was our way of giving the players, and their parents, something to inspire them and motivate them to keep working hard at their judo. It is a tough sport, but as Nekoda amply demonstrated, the rewards are there for those who keep their focus and determination.”

Posted in News, Training
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Summer training programme

Posted on July 2, 2017

Judo training

The Club will be open on the following nights in July:

  • Tuesday 4 July
  • Thursday 6 July
  • Tuesday 11 July
  • Thursday 13 July – final Thursday session until September!
  • Tuesday 18 July
  • Thursday 20 July – NO JUDO due to school show
  • Tuesday 25 July

At present we are scheduled to close until September following the session on 25 July.

We are exploring with the school the possibility of continuing to run a Tuesday night session throughout the summer, as we used to do. (It is only availability of a school keyholder that stops us).

If we are unable to do this, we will run fitness session at Hilsea Creek as per the last three years.

Posted in Announcements, Training
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Junior mat fee increase

Posted on July 2, 2017

Please note that as of September, junior mat fees will rise to £5.00 per session. A second session on the same evening will be held at £2.00.

Senior mat fees are unchanged (at £5.00).

We are aware of the impact this will have financially on families who have two or more children attending and are considering a number of schemes to offer discounted fees for additional children.

You can help us to offset additional fee increases by supporting the club through the various schemes offered on our fundraising pages.

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