John retires

My Son John Clarke 4th Dan Judo has decided to retire from Senior Judo, Sombo, and Kurash Tournaments at 34 years of age it is about the right time and something I recommended especially as he has trouble with a Knee injury which he got from Football. I unfortunately continued competing ignoring injuries now I have to have a new knee and new hip due to not listening to others and my body, this I do not want to happen to John. His last event was on Sunday where he was selected for the BJA Southern Area Team to compete in the National Team Championships in Kendal Cumbria, his team won a Bronze. John new the event would be hard one with all the competitors being a lot younger then him and in the peak of fitness especially as it was Olympic year but what he was not prepared for was the interpretation of the rules used by the referees, John uses a lot of techniques which rely on him sacrificing his own body weight to throw his opponent this is called Ma Sutemi Waza, this can be high risk as you have to rely on the referees understanding something about Judo. The referees at this event thought if you placed your back on the floor to throw your opponent your opponent should be given a score, this happened once before when John was 18 years old in the World Youths Sombo Champions where he was fighting an American he threw the American for a perfect sacrificial throw only to have the score put against him losing him a place in the finals. John telephoned and was quite philosophical about the event, he said “ I should have done my homework checking on these new rule changes plus I have been enough tournaments to realise you should check out the referees on the day and how they are performing” after all that he enjoyed the weekend felt proud to be a member of the Southern Area Team plus there was some good Judo in spite of the refereeing

I have been lucky in being a successful competitor and also being a successful coach and over the years have got a great deal of pleasure in watching my students succeeding in all aspects of Judo, Sombo, Free Style Wrestling, Kurash and Belt Wrestling yet the ultimate joy is to see you own Son/Pupil excel. John has given many people a lot of pleasure over his competition career and he has given me the most, well done Son you have been a great competitor and I am very proud of you.

Some of John’s successes
Judo:
4th Dan Black Belt
Many Times IBF National Judo Champion Junior and Senior
IBF Great Britain Team member
Medal winner BJA International Event
Sombo:
World u16 years Silver
World u21 years 5th
World Senior 7th
Many Times British Champion

Kurash:
2 x International Tournament Champion

Free Style Wrestling
Silver u18 years British Championship

Belt Wrestling:
British Champion x 2

John may have finished competing in Senior events but he still will be coaching the Senior Club and will be taking a competitive Junior Section and entering a few Masters events, these are competitions for the older players and divided into age groups as well as weight groups. The Masters Events are much more laid back with not quite so much testosterone flying about, more a meeting of like minded individual.

Martin Clarke 8th Dan GrandMaster Sombo

More info www.sittingbourne.org ibfbcsa@yahoo.co.uk 01795 437124