Sunday, 21 March 2010

Bushido Class Master Easter Competition, Tonbridge

Ford judo clubs youngster travelled to Bushido's Easter Competition held in Tonbridge, Kent the weekend.
Following in the footsteps of their more experienced club mates the 8 players ranging from the ages of 8 to 11 were competiing alongside 300 other competitors from around the south and south east took part in the event.

The inexperienced team see some exceptional performance especially from Dolce Jones. Dolce, 8, was taking part in her first competition. In a pool of 5 players Dolce won 3 of her 4 fights with maximum 10 point wins, giving her 30 point total. A great performance and a gold medal for Dolce.
The day started well for the Ford players with the first 4 players winning gold medals, they were Dolce, Isaac Gauld-Monseguz, Bret Jones and Joseph Kelly all producing fine performances to take the top spot.

Lewis Fong and Martia Medaglia both produced some good judo to win Silver medals, with Thomas Medaglia and Connor Schaffer both winning fights to take home bronze medals.

This is a great development competition for the Ford players, and all performed well gaining valuable experience to take back to the club giving inspiration to their club mates.

Well Done Everybody

Bill...

Sunday, 28 February 2010

North West

Saturday:- Charlie Jackson -42kg, flashes of brilliance from Charlie after a disastrous start, after losing his first fight Charlie went on to look impressive in his next 2 bouts. Controlling and maintaining good posture Charlie showed some mature judo winning both fights in good style. His 4th was hard fought but Charlie lost out on dubious decision from the 3 flags of the referees.

DJ Irving -38kg was in fine form and looked totally in control using excellent ne-waza to win his first 2 fight in quick time. In a extremely hard category DJ worked his way to the final. This was to be against the National Champion, it turned out an exciting bout with opportunities from both sides to score but good defence from both kept the scores at bay until his opponent caught DJ for ippon. A very well earned silver for DJ

Duncan Ward -60kg could not find his form from the Midlands. Carrying injuries into a competition at this level is difficult but Duncan showed his fighting spirit by fighting hard and with determination. It is always good to reflect after each performance and I know Duncan has done this and is more positive for the future.

James O'shea -55 A band, continues to show his promise for the future by giving another strong performance. Its clear James has a good judo brain and learns from each mistake that is made which will strengthen his judo ability for the future, a well earned silver from James.

Sunday. Richard Jackson also was under par for this competition. A bug picked up seemed to have drained Richard of the endless energy he had at the Midlands, an important comp for Richard as it was selections towards the Cadet Europeans. A 7th place for Richard which I know he will be disappointed with but hopefully it will make him stronger.

Matt Kavanagh -73kg Seems to be settling into his new weight category very well. 2 competitions and 2 medals, a bronze medal to go with his Silver from the Midlands. Matthew still has a few KG's to spare and this will enhance his performance in the future. Again Matt has been reflecting and has targets for the Cadet European trials which should get him peaking for the event.

Kelly Staddon -52kg, Kelly took part in a new weight category for her and did not look out of place in this weight. Winning her way to the final with ease. The final came to an abrupt end when Kelly was strangled, a little in experienced showed when the defence to the strangle was omitted. A good performance from Kelly, bodes well for the future for her and gave her important ranking points for the forth coming trials. Silver for Kelly.

Tom Williams -81kg, Tom looked in unstoppable form, winning his weigh with great control and technique. Tom through his fulltime training at Camberley is maturing into a top class player. This is an important year for the 18 year old as he is looking at being the number 1 ranked player to be picked for the Junior World and Junior Championships to be held later this year. Gold for Tom

Chloe Jackson -52kg, a complement for Chloe as she is making all the other girls in the weight raise their game. Still on form showed her fitness and speed by providing a barrage of attacks on her opponents. The final see Chloe against her rival from almost every competition she has competed in, changing her tactics to allow consideration for the new leg grab rules, Chloe dominated to take the gold by all 3 flags after the fight went to decision.

Maddy Chapman -57kg, this was a learning curve for myself and Maddy, although I had coached Maddy on previous occasions over the last few years, never for Ford. A strong performance from Maddy which will stand her in good stead for the future, after another dubious decision from the referee's Maddy was penalised out in golden score in the semi finals. A strong performance gained Maddy the bronze medal.

10 competed 2 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze.... good result.....

Thursday, 7 January 2010

Happy New Year to you All

Well its been a little while so I thought I would fill you in on what has been happening. I have finally finished working for BT after 23 years of service to start a new venture. I am using my 45 years of judo experience to take judo into the local schools of Havering on a self employed basis. Unfortunately the schools I should have started this week are closed due to the weather conditions.
It has been a hectic time these last few months and I know that will continue for a while longer while I get established and show the benefits of judo in the local education system....

Ford Judo Club is going from strength to strength gaining more new members every week, its getting full to bursting. Some great little players look like they may come through, all looking good for the future squad players...

I will endevour to find time to keep my blog up to date this year.
I hope its a good one for you all, my best wishies for 2010 go out to you all...

Bill...

Tuesday, 3 November 2009

Flanders International Belgium

5 players represented Ford judo club in Belgium the weekend with mixed results, from under performing to rising to the challenge and giving personal best performances.
Kelly Stadden competing in the -48kg was under par losing 2 of her fights then withdrawing from the 3rd due to a knee injury. Tom Williams -81kg competed in the under 20 section and the 18 year old looked impressive. Dominating his first fight and winning comfortably. His second was against an opponent he had met previously. His low wrestling style of judo spoilt William's upright judo this and took him out of his rhythm, a low leg grab from Williams opponent gained a minor score which he could not recover from, new rule changes due in 2010 will prohibit this style of judo which will bode well for the pure judoist. Tom won his next 2 fight convincingly but unfortunately came up against the same opponent he had lost to earlier, although a much better fought fight, the outcome was the same.

Sunday had 3 members fighting, Matthew Kavanagh - 66kg, Richard Jackson - 55kg and Chloe Jackson -52kg. Matthew beat the strongest 2 players in his pool but seemed to run out of steam in his 3rd just losing out on a minor score. His next fight which he needed to win to progress was over to soon when he was caught with a throw gaining maximum points to knock Matthew out of the competition. The 2 players he had beat progressed out of the pool and on to compete for medals.

Richard Jackson was on fine form, looking fit and fast and carried a positive attitude throughout his bouts. He won his first fight controlling his opponents with his grips and using forceful attacks to win by points, he then battled well on his next but lost to the eventual winner. This was a particular hard competition with 15 countries competing and the task was made harder as only one bronze medal was being contested for when normally there are 2. Jackson won his next 3 fights which would normally have given him 3rd position but not this time, the two 3rd place players had to fight off, a small mistake and a loss of control gave his opponent the upper hand and a small knock down resulted in Jackson getting pinned to lose the fight, but this was a solid performance from Jackson and produced one of the throws of the day.

No relation But Chloe Jackson was running on high from her recent National Championship title, Jackson won her first fight in 7 seconds with a lightning fast throw, this put her against one of 2 strong French players, this was closely contested, both giving their all. No score in normal time see Golden Score time added, first to score wins, this was to go against Jackson which only left a possible bronze medal to contend for. Winning her next fight meant she had to meet the other French player who had seemed to be the better of the 2 French girls. Knowing this was for the bronze medal and the last fight of the day, all eyes were on her mat. Finding her form once again she hit the French Player with very strong attacks, one of which gained Jackson 7 points, from here she pinned her opponent to finish the fight and gain maximum points. Her medal was presented by Neil Adams MBE, 2 times World Champion and 2 times Olympic Silver medallist.


The K2 Venue at Crawley hosted an Orange belt and under competition which gave the clubs less experienced players a chance to take part in a grade restricted tournament of Orange belt and under.

First up for was Thomas Medaglia, who again put in a good performance and although he lost both of his contests, fought some high graded fighters and gained some invaluable experience. James Allen was next up, competing well and displaying some great judo also showed that he has learnt from his last couple of competitions by eradicating a couple of technical issues, and in his second fight, was leading well until being caught by a very debatable ten point score which ended his progress. Next it was the girls turn with Martia Medaglia. Despite just about moving up to the next weight she showed great determination and fought against much more experienced girls, and took home a well deserved Bronze medal. Then Alana Stephenson fought amazingly well. Winning her first fight by maximum ten points in under ten seconds, and then her second fight with a 7 point throw, following the girl down to hold her to complete the maximum score. In the final, she faced a girl who beat her a couple of weeks ago. Alana fought extremely well, and took the fight to her opponent, but unfortunately lost by a small point in golden score, a fantastic performance by her. Finally, Sarah Allen took the gold medal in her merged category, fighting some girls a lot bigger than her, the highlight being her 1st fight showing real grit to dig deep and throw a much taller girl for two 7 point scores which gave her the outright win, and once again showed that when she is determined she can produce the results that we know she is capable of.

A great effort by all the kids.

Bill...

Tuesday, 13 October 2009

National Championships Sheffield

Ford Judo Club have 3 new National Champions after they gave fantastic performances at the weekend at Sheffield. The 3 Havering youngsters showed their class beating all their opponents. The Olympic Combat Sport requires fitness, strength, speed and flexibility to overcome their opponents and all 3 of the Ford players demonstrated these elements to win all their bouts. Matthew Kavanagh 15, was fighting in the -66kg division, winning his first 4 fights, winning his first fight in an amazing 8 seconds throwing his opponent for a maximum ten points, this earned a place in the final, which was to be a repeat of the Heart of England final which was held at the NIA Birmingham which Matthew had won. The final was hard fought and Matthew went down a score halfway through the fight, but kept his composure to throw his opponent for a greater score with 20 seconds to go to take the National title.

Chloe Jackson - 52kg was on great form, looking fit and fast. Chloe worked her way through her first 3 opponents, dominating each fight with great control. Her speed and strength along with her technical ability gave her 3 victories to take her into the final. This was to be a repeat of the final from last year against the same opponent where Chloe had to withdraw in the early stages of the fight with a broken arm. Chloe put this out of her mind and concentrated on the task ahead. The fight was to go into golden score as neither player had a score at the end of normal time so 2 minutes of sudden death judo was to come, after a barrage of attacks from Chloe she threw her opponent for a 5 point score to take the title. Both Chloe and Matthew work with Carly Green, a strength and conditioning coach at David Lloyds, this really paid off for them.

Tom Williams fighting in the -81kg looked in great shape, the 18 year old moves a step closer to be in number one position for next years Junior World Championships. Tom won his first 2 fights convincingly then met the number one Scottish player, this was to be a great fight with Tom picking up a score against him. Keeping focused he lifted his game throwing his opponent for maximum score. His next fight was to be the semi finals against an old adversary, these are usually great battles that could go either way, but it went Tom's way with Tom throwing him for maximum score in the early stages of the bout. The final was a repeat of the UK School Games final in August which Tom also won. Totally dominating the fight it looked very one sided with Tom's constant attack, although his opponent avoided being thrown for a score, picked up enough penalties to make Tom National Champion. Tom is at Camberley Judo Centre training full time in preparation for the Junior World Championships and setting his sights of an Olympic place.

Brandon Tutthill -55kg, Brandon who is part of the England Talent Squad found himself in a new age category which did not cater for his former weight which was -50kg so had to fight up a class. Brandon's first fight was against the final winner, although giving away a lot of weight Brandon gave a great performance. The lose put Brandon in the knockout section, here he showed the confidence he had gained from the previous fight and went on to win his next 2 bouts with excellent performances. His forth fight was against the Scottish number 1, a mistake from Brandon was capitalised by his opponent who pinned Brandon to take the points, a great performance for Brandon.

Kelly Staddon -48kg and Richard Jackson -55kg Narrowly missed out on medals taking 5th places, both players missed out loosing their semi final matches by referee's decision as no score was gained in their fights the referee awarded the fights to their opponents. Also Danny Irving -38kg and Charlie Jackson -42kg both showed improvement in their contest judo gaining much needed experience in large events. Both players came away with a win under their belts and are eager to use this experience to further their competition judo.

The club members now join James O'shea who won the A Band Nationals the week before. Four National Champions, a great performance and hopefully will give encouragement to their club mates who are training hard along side the Champions..

Bill Taylor

Wednesday, 7 October 2009

Didn't You All Do Well

Another National Champion for Ford Judo Club, James O'Shea gave an impressive performance at the Goresbrook Sports Centre where the age banded National Judo Championships were being held. 11 year old James beat all 4 of his opponents by maximum score to take the over 46kg title. James who weighed in at 50kg was giving away 10kg in the final but produced a fantastic throw in the early stages of the fight to take the title, hopefully this bodes well for his club mates who are participating in the older age bands this weekend at the English Institute of Sport, Sheffield. Also taking part were James Allen and James Cliff, both gave very good performances in what were very high calibre weight categories, and are sure to be contenders for the future.

Also The National Masters Championships were being held at Goresbrook on the Saturday, Good performance came from George Madrick, Kenny Wickens and Mike Allen who was placed 5th in the -100kg division, which was a good result as Mike usually contested the -90kg division.

Nicky Jackson who is training for her UKCC level 1 Coaching award was competing in her first veteran competition and although picking up a elbow injury in her last fight had done enough to secure the bronze medal position, a good result for Nicky which should secure her place on the Masters National Squad.

Tom Williams continues his International success winning a Bronze medal in Alicante, Spain. Tom is showing his potential for 2012 competing in a Senior event and medalling even though he is still classed as a Junior Player, just turning 18. Tom will be favourite to win his place in the -81kg division to compete in next years Junior World Championships.

Bill...

Tuesday, 8 September 2009

A Busy Weekend...


It was a very busy and successful weekend for Ford Judo Club, with 3 competitions being contested by the club. The UK School Games were being held in Swansea and Chloe Jackson -52kg weight division was fighting for England while Tom Williams was competing in the -81kg division. Tom had the privilege of being captain of the boys team, an honour he relished. Tom narrowly missed out last year winning a Silver medal in the final, he made sure that was not going to happen again and went on to win the final bout for gold medal position.

Chloe Jackson was a bronze medal winner, losing out to another English girl in the dying seconds of the bout, a lack of concentration let her opponent in to make a minor score but was enough to prevent Chloe going through to the final, but a good performance was given by Chloe throughout the day.

Trials were held at the High Wycombe judo centre Saturday, with 6 players competing for a place in the National Championships to be held at the EIS Sheffield in early October. With some strong performances from Richard Jackson and Matthew Kavanagh who were both on top form. Tom Williams and Chloe Jackson, both got automatic entry as they were representing their country when the trials were being fought.

Danny Irving, Charlie Jackson, Brandon Tutthill and Kelly Staddon all won their place to compete in the national championship.

The busy schedule continued as the club members travelled to Birmingham to compete in the Heart of England Championships at the NIA. This is a huge competition and is a point scoring event for the National squads of the home countries and a forerunner to the national championships. The morning had Julianne Florey competing in the senior section +78kg. Julianne was carrying a wrist injury which prevented her giving the performance she was capable of but fought hard. The young 12-13 year olds see Sarah Allen, Danny Irving and Charlie Jackson competing. This was to be Sarah's first major competition and although nerves created some minor mistakes fought extremely well. As did Danny Irving, despite picking up a large bump on his cheek bone Danny fought well, building on his performance from the previous day.

Richard Jackson started well competing in the 15-16 year old section, winning his first 2 fights and was looking sharp but failed to find his for his next 2 fights but produced a 7th place. Kelly Staddon -48kg, was looking strong, and was controlling her fights extremely well in the 15 to 16 year old section, winning her first 3 fights to get to the final, Kelly was the younger of the 2 players and a small mistake was enough to let her opponent in to win the fight, but it was a well earned Silver for Kelly.

The 2 remaining players were fighting in the same age band, Brandon Tutthill was on supreme form competing in the -50kg division. He displayed a wide and varied array of techniques to take apart his opponents, a very good days work for Brandon taking gold.

Matthew Kavanagh to displayed a peak performance, -66kg. The work the players strength and conditioning coach, Carly Green of The David Lloyd centre has been doing with the players really showed as Matthew dominated all 5 of his opponents, Matthew threw all for the maximum 10 points in each of his fights, the equivalent to a knockout in boxing, he too won Gold.

All in all it was a good performance from the Ford Judo Club Players that are based at Bretons Farm, Upper Rainham Road, and the mistakes made will hopefully be ironed out for the National Championships in October.

Bill...