A team of ten from our club visited Southampton on a cold Saturday to compete in the Southampton Samurai Championships. The Southampton Samurai club are a highly regarded BJC club who boast National Squad members in every category. But they were in for a surprise once the Chalfont Judokwai team got on the mat.
With six Gold's, two Silver's and a Bronze we dominated each category that we entered. Particular mention goes to Jonah who decided to fight a weight group higher as otherwise it would be too easy, Jonathon who went on the mat saying "I am getting Gold" and in a hard final contest pulled off a great Ippon in the final seconds and to Molly who fought in a manner that her Sensei has not seen from her before.
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
Allen
Allen is up against an opponent with a very strange 'bouncing' movement. This can't help his balance and sure enough, within a few seconds Allen has him on the ground. Allen attempts to get to work on the ground but ends up off the mat and is called to standing again.
As they restart, Allen moves for a Ko Soto Gari and his opponent falls gaining Allen the Ippon.
Allen
Allen
Allen is thrown with a weak Tani Otoshi and on the ground Allen first of all tries to get a strangle and then an armlock but fails on both.
When standing again Allen moves in and takes his opponent with a Tani Otoshi but he scores an Ippon winning the contest. Unfortunately the referee has blocked our view on this throw, but it is there nevertheless.
Allen
Allen
Allen's opponent attacks with a O Uchi Gari and brings Allen to the floor for a Yuko. Allen attempts to get a strangle but this fails.
Upon standing again, the opponent tries with the same technique but Allen is ready this time and counters with Tani Otoshi bringing his opponent down for an Ippon.
Allen
Allen
Allen's opponent continually attacks with very poor versions of various forward throws. None of them are properly formed. They end up on the ground and Allen is almost in hold down but manages to escape.
Upon standing again, the previous scenario reoccurs and upon falling down to the floor (with no score) Allen manages to take control and begins to apply Ude Hishigi Juji Gatame, it takes a few seconds before he has it right, but the outcome is inevitable and the opponent submits.
Allen has now won the Gold in this competition.
Allen
Chelsea
Chelsea is up against an opponent who is a good match for her in terms of size and grade. Chelsea attacks well, primarily with O Soto Gari which ends up actually being an O Soto Otoshi which gains her a Yuko. Upon restarting Chelsea attacks with a variety of techniques and scores again with O Soto Otoshi and this time gains a Koko. Chelsea is clearly confident and attacks again once more with the same throw this time getting Wazari. She moves into a hold but the opponent appears to be hurt and the contest is stopped. Chelsea has won this convincingly.
Chelsea
Chelsea
Here Chelsea is up against Victoria from St. Albans Judo Club. Victoria has considerably more experience than Chelsea and this shows from the very beginning where Victoria takes Chelsea down with a decent enough throw but only scores a minor point. As the contest continues, activity rather stalls in the middle and the referee awards a Shido to both contestants for non-combativity. Upon restart Victoria once again throws Chelsea for a minor point but continues on the ground into a strangle thereby gaining an Ippon. Chelsea has not experienced this before and is left a bit shaken by the experience. But is now better prepared for the next encounter.
Chelsea
Fairoze
Fairoze attacks with Tani Otoshi but unfortunately, lands flat on his back with his opponent on his side. The referee awards an Ippon to the opponent. Technically, this is incorrect as the opponent made no attempt at a technique and the outcome was an accident. A better score would have been no points awarded at all or possibly a Yuko to Fairoze for initiating the attack. However, it is all very well to be clever after the event whilst watching the contest in slow motion. In the heat of the moment, the referee will have awarded as he felt best and the best way to be sure of getting the right result is good clean 'Ippon' Judo where the opponent is flat on his back and you are still standing. Then there is no doubt.
Fairoze
Fairoze
Fairoze starts off with a strange grip which thankfully he corrects after a few seconds. As the opponent makes an attack Fairoze counters with Ko Soto Gari and takes his opponent down and obtains a hold down which is very tightly on. After a few seconds the opponent submits which makes one think that he was probably also being strangled. Fairoze has therefore won this contest.
Fairoze
Jessica
Throughout this contest Jessica is clearly in control. The opponent spends quite a bit of time in grip fighting but this doesn't benefit her which makes the whole process pretty pointless. Jessica tries a variety of throws most of which don't score much and upon the ground she tries to gain control but is on the whole not successful. The minor points continue to accumulate and at one point she throws the opponent on the edge of the mat which is initially scored a Yuko but is then cancelled as the referee (David Sensei) considered Jessica to have completed the throw out of area. Upon examining the video, it is clear the referee was wrong.
However, upon restarting Jessica does manage some sort of throw which is not scored but this time gets a hold on. This is secure and the opponent can not escape. So Jessica wins Ippon.
Jessica
Jessica
In this contest Jessica's opponent also engages in some pointless grip fighting whilst Jessica attempts to throw. After a short while they end up on the ground but Jessica can not quite turn her opponent over to secure a hold. This repeats itself after restarting. Jessica then manages to score with her next throw and also gains a hold. But her opponent manages to escape. Throughout all of this Jessica is clearly in control but not overwhelmingly.
Upon restarting Jessica manages to pull off something the is a mix between a Makikomi and a Sode Tsuri Komi Goshi which secures a Wazari. She tries to get a hold on but is to far out of the mat and is unable to secure it without moving off the mat. In her next attack Jessica gets a Koka but gets a much better hold secured and uses this to control her opponent for the duration thereby winning this contest.
Jessica
Jonah
This contest did not last very long. Jonah is attacked with O Soto Gari and he counters with Ko Soto Gari. Because he has managed the Kuzushi correctly, he does not even make contact with his foot to sweep his opponents leg away but just takes his opponent to the ground for a hard landing. Note that Jonah has already moved into groundwork in order to capitalise upon his advantage in case the throw did not score Ippon.
Jonah
Jonah
Jonah is up against a much bigger boy as a result of entering into one weight group above his own. Jonah carries out a number of attacks and eventually scores as a result of a counter of Ko Soto Gari to the opponents Ippon Seoi Nage attack. This gets Wazari.
The contest continues to time but Jonah wins with Wazari (plus two Yuko and one Koka) to a zero score for his opponent.
Jonah
Jonah
This contest features two well matched opponents. As a result, it is not terribly exciting as little appears to happen in their struggle with each other. However, in the final two seconds Jonah takes his opponent down to win with a Koka. A very minor win, but a win nevertheless. All that is needed to secure his position in the final.
Jonah
Jonah
In this, the final of this contest, Jonah attempts a Morte Seo Nage but fails due to the strong Jigotai of his opponent. He immediately goes for a combination with Ko Uchi Gari. The first attempt fails but he senses that his opponent is defensive and stumbling and tries again taking him down for a hard landing where he is straight into a hold down. The landing was hard partially due to a weak breakfall by the opponent who then tries to escape the hold. He succeeds but is clearly hurt and the contest is stopped and the medic called. After a while it is clear that the injury is minor.
Jonah
Jonathan
Jonathon has a very game start to this contest. However, he misjudges his move and his opponent manages to throw him with a hand throw (Te Waza) for a Yuko. Jonathon redoubles his efforts and manages to throw his opponent for Koka but continues into the ground with a hold and gains an Ippon. The opponent is not happy and begins to show poor etiquette and has to be cajoled to follow the correct protocol.
Jonathan
Jonathan
In this final, Jonathan is pretty determined to win his first Gold. However, the whole affair is a bit scrappy with little real Judo on demonstration. Mostly just a lot of pulling and pushing around. However, towards the end, the opponent attempts a Kube Nage (neck throw) and is given a Shido (penalty point) for this which leaves Jonathan with a slight smile on his face. He also glances towards the clock and notes that he has only eight seconds left to pull of a winner. Much like Manchester United in their 2010-2011 season, he does just this with a great O Goshi to score Ippon
Jonathan
Molly
Molly attacks with a not quite Tai Otoshi and not quite Harai Goshi. But whilst she brings her opponent down with a solid throw, she achieved this with her arm around the opponents neck which is a Kube Nage (neck throw) and is banned in contest (to avoid spinal injury). Molly receives a warning for this. Upon restarting she attacks again and almost does the same thing but can be seen to remember and adjusts her grip to take the Judogi close to the armpit. With this she pulls off the same throw for a very stylish Ippon.
Molly
Molly
Here Molly is up against Chloe, who is the current national champion. With this in mind, Molly is doing quite a good job of it but it is clear who is dominant. Chloe is continually taking Molly off her balance and Molly is struggling to regain it.
Chloe takes Molly down for a Yuko but immediately gains a hold with which it is just a matter of waiting for the time to pass to the certain win.
Molly however was competing in a different weight group to Chloe. Molly was victorious against all in her weight group so she gains the Gold in this championship whilst Chloe gains the Gold in her weight group.
Molly
Noah
Noah starts off in a cautious manner without exposing himself but maintaining a fairly constant rate of attack. After a while Noah does succeed in throwing his opponent with a poor Ko Soto Gari which scores a Yuko. Noah then tries to do the same again but the opponent has learnt and blocks it. However after a while the opponent attacks with Ko Uchi Gari Noah counters with Ko Soto Gari and scores another Yuko. He continues straight into Ne Waza and obtains a hold down which he maintains for more than twenty seconds which scores Wazari. Noah loses the hold through allowing his hips to rise up which gives the opponent the space within which to turn and escape. However, upon restarting Noah attacks with another Wazari which gives him the contest.
Noah
Noah
In a frustrating contest for Noah he loses on a Wazari that we are not able to witness from the referee standing in the way. But the key lesson to learn from this is that Noah needs to work on his groundwork and most importantly, turning over his opponent.
Noah
Noah
Noah appears to be contesting with someone who is used to grip fighting. Noah is not used to this but as a consequence, the opponent takes a dominant grip and take Noah down with a sloppy Tai Otoshi which is scored at Wazari. The opponent puts Noah straight into a hold and Noah despite his attempts to escape fails. It should be noted that by turning away from the opponent, the effect is to tighten the hold. It is better to try and turn into the opponent.
Noah
Tom Hargreaves
This rather scrappy contest results in a number of minor points and towards the end, Tom's opponent does score the 'extra' Yuko that wins it for him. The key thing for Tom to focus on is that in these tournments, the contests he loses are lost by minor ponts and the ones that he wins are by major scores and usually Ippon. It is his Sensei belief that it is more of a confidence issue and that he should be bolder in going for the larger attacks earlier. He also needs to improve on
this grip work.
Tom
Tom Hargreaves
Tom attacks with his usual Tani Otoshi and takes his opponent down for Wazari. He immediately moves into groundwork securing a very solid Kesa Katame which is clearly putting a strain on his opponent who submits after a short while. This is a good demonstration of the advantages of a fast move into groundwork before the opponent has had an opportunity to recover from the throw.
Tom
Tom Hargreaves
After an amount of mucking around by both contestants with Tani Otoshi and other techniques which his Sensei disapparoves of, Tom pulls off a lovely Harai Goshi for Ippon. This is the sort of Judo that Tom should do more of!
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