Congratulations to all Sobell Judoka who travelled to Worthing to take part in the JFAUK Worthing Summer School which consisted of two days of high quality judo training!
Full write up from JFAUK below:
This weekend saw the annual JFAUK Worthing Summer School take place. The second of the two annual JFAUK judo summer schools, the Worthing Summer School followed suit of the JFAUK Borders Summer school which took place a few weeks earlier, however covers southern region of the UK.
Jointly hosted by Worthing Judo Club and Club Judoka, the course saw a number of judoka from various places across the UK flock to the south coast for two days of high quality traditional judo.
The Summer School was an exemplary display of traditional judo in not only the techniques on display but in the conduct, etiquette and attitude of all on the tatami. With numbers on the rise since last year, the course is looking to go from strength the strength and is something that every judoka should be putting in their annual calendar as a place to share ideas, knowledge, meet fellow judoka and also a place to test their skills.
Led by JFAUK President and Vice Chairman of the WJF Technical Committee, Sampson Sampson (8th Dan), the first day began with a competitive focus, looking at how to break down an opponent who is facing you with a Kenka Yotsu (Asymmetrical Grip) stance. Sampson dissected tactics, looking at what hands to grip with first before showing a plethora of techniques such as multiple variations of Sode Tsuri Komi Goshi and Ippon Seoi Nage; all of which focused on clean technique, accurate positioning and of course, Kyushindo movement. Next up was Sayed Abdoljalil (7th Dan), a new member of the JFAUK team hailing from Iran. Sayed spent time looking at how movement and body position affected Kuzushi and the power of nage, emphasising true kyushindo movement and clean technique before it was time for lunch.
Following lunch, the second half of day one saw a series of Ne-Waza techniques on offer from Sampson, looking at the finer dynamics of rollovers and how quick transitions can be utilised to ensure that even if a technique fails, an ippon can still be achieved. Finally, the day was finished with a good amount of randori, giving the hoard of judoka a chance to test out their skills against one another in a friendly environment.
Day two was once again initiated by Sampson Sampson (8th Dan), who warmed up the eager students with a re-cap of day one, ensuring their aching bodies were well activated for a new day of judo. Sampson then spent time using the same principles of Kenka Yotsu and Kumi Kata strategy to showcase the effectiveness of Kata Guruma, an extremely well received technique which many of the visiting judoka had not practised in many years due to rule changes by their governing bodies. Of course, in JFAUK, most leg grabs are perfectly legal. Sampson looked at various entries and variations, as well as variations that comply with all rulesets, ensuring that even visiting judoka had something they could take away and use in their everyday practice.
Next up was JFAUK National Coach Farid Nemouchi (6th Dan). Farid seamlessly followed on from Sampson’s techniques, showing even more ways to enter Kata Guruma and Ippon Seoi Nage based on the same Kenka Yotsu stance, emphasising disorientating twitches and explosive entry. Finally, JFAUK Head Referee Samuel Betu (6th Dan) showed his own variations of Sode Tsuri Komi Goshi, looking at combinations and varying entries, complimenting the techniques shown earlier.
Following lunch, the judoka were treated to a buffet of judo knowledge as a number of our high graded instructors took to the tatami to dish out their experience. First up was JFAUK Chairman Bob Bushnell (6th Dan) who woke up any tired judoka with some dynamic rollovers that utilised Shime Waza to break down uke’s defence. Next up was Farid Nemouchi who followed suit from Bob, showing a number of Shime-Waza focused rollovers. Following on, Sayed Abdojalil began to look at how to break down an opponents defence when placed in between the legs (dō-osae).
Next, was JFAUK Southern Area Representative Chris Cooper (5th Dan) who also looked at rollover techniques, showing some extremely powerful strangles once again based on Kyushindo and circular movement for all judoka to add to their repertoire of techniques. Before passing over the teaching slot, Chris ended his session with a number of escapes from do-osae. Following on from Chris was Samuel Betu, who utilized similar techniques to Chris, re-emphasising the finer details of how to escape from dō-osae and transition into shime-waza. Finally, JFAUK International Referee Rob Elliot (5th Dan) showed a unique rollover technique based on Sangaku Jime which resulted in a neat Juji Gatame to finish off the days judo.
To conclude the course, a social BBQ took place on the Worting Seafront, giving all a chance to re-live the weekends judo and socialise before all headed their separate ways.
We would like to thank all who made the effort to attend this course and hope that each and every one of you enjoyed the weekend of judo. We would like to thank all instructors and officials who shared their ideas on the tatami. A special thank you goes to Chris Cooper and Ross Elliot who have been working together to grow traditional judo in the south coast and have worked tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure that this course was a success. Another thank you goes to all others who worked behind the scenes, also ensuring the success of this course.
All footage of the course will be released on Sampson Judo in due time, so please do keep your eyes on the channel.
We now look forward to the JFAUK National Invitation Championships which will be taking place in October before we end the year with some Open Randori Sessions.