UKCC RESPOND

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

I have had some correspondance with the UKCC which I have attached below, I did ask if it was OK to place the email on my Blog. I have first attached a summary from the UKCC which explains there position, my own opinion is they have been very open and honest which is a good sign

Please note that UKCC is not an organisation. Sports Coach UK has been identified as the lead agency for the development of coaching and we work with the sports to develop their UKCC awards.We ENDORSE these awards against an agreed set of criteria. All awards to press are also qualifications on the National Qualifications Framework.


Dear Mr. Clarke
I have been alerted to your recent correspondence concerning the UKCC and would just like to elaborate on our reponse a little. With regards to the licence - there is no suggestion at this moment in time that a licence or any licence would become a legal requirement. We have commisssioned research into the feasibility of a licensing scheme for sport, with no preconceptions whatsoever as to whether or not a national licensing scheme is feasible or even desirable, and whether it would be administered by the sports themselves or by an independent body. Many people feel that professional regulation of sport is desirable and indeed I have had several communications from people in martial arts urging tighter regulation of 'coaches'. As I'm sure you are aware there have been several high profile cases recently of child abuse in sport. However at present this is very much an employment/deployment issue. If we take my own sport we do have a licence to practice, and without that it would be difficult for me to gain insurance. Nonetheless if I am able to gain employment without it I am able to do so. Local authorities and clubs hwoever are incresingly vigilant, understandably so, over who they employ.Re. the UKCC - I have considerable sympathy with your views here. I worked for a long time in the arts industry myself and have promoted the similarities here on many occasions. When the UKCC was first mooted there were suggestions of generic coaching courses but these were not generally welcomed by the sports themselves and as we were instructed to work with and through NGBs the UKCC became a sport specific award. There are many vested interets in the sporting world!However the coaching process / coaching skills content at each level of the award is the same across sports - the key point is that theory and practice is integrated, that theory is applied. If you have a level in one sport then you should be able to apply the coaching knowledge in another sport once you have picked up the technical content, which is not that far away from your own suggestion. Please get back to me if you have any further queries or points you wish to raise.


My Reply
Thank you for the reply and taking an interest in my point of view, What you have said makes a lot of sense and I would like to put your reply on my Blog if you agree because I believe it shows that the UKCC is an open organisation and is prepared to listen to people opinionsYour comments on a licensing are very reassuring and to some point I agree that a professional attitude in sport should be a criteria but I do not like the word regulation. Many martial Arts Coaches may want tighter regulation but I sometimes wonder Why they want tighter regulation is it to protect the Public or is to Promote themselves and limit the opposition. In the past when Martial Arts did have an umbrella body like the old Martial Arts Commission many a time the question arose "who regulates the regulators" With regard to child abuse some of the cases have been within the various governing body for sport, To assume any professional regulation would eliminate child abuse is wrong.Insurance is one way of bringing people into line in my own little organisation all Coaches must have insurance other wise they do not coach period, if they do not attend an annual course there insurances is suspendedIt is disappointing the NGB's did not agree to a generic coaching system This in my mind would have solved all problems especially in the Martial Arts world, it seems the NGB's want hold to their power base, with ideas that to teach a sport you need to learn the sport first. This in my mind is so out dated and one can understand why British Sports do not do better in the International scene, I wonder if learning the sport first before you learn to coach could be a hindrance because you are already stuck with pre conceived ideas.One of my concern is not so much with the Martial Arts because to teach you will have to have some practical knowledge of the art you are teaching but what of the Dad who starts kicking a ball around with some kids and the next moment he has formed a team and maybe his only experience has been his enthusiasm, his knowledge grows the more he does, and remember a lot of sports clubs start up that way, these type of people may never have thought of coaching anything they got involved by accident they in many cases become the back bone of sports clubs. I very much doubt they would be involved if they had to attend a course and pay. My other concern is for existing coaches surely any new scheme must value what is commonly called Grandfather rights, I have 40 coaches in my organisation who have said they would not continue coaching is they were compelled to take yet another exam.Many of them have asked the question who will examine the examiners, some of these coaches like myself have been coaching at a very high level for nearly 40 years can any sport afford to lose that wealth of knowledge.It may seem I am anti the UKCC this is far from the truth but I do not think it has yet to come up with the ideal formula but then again you have to start some where.The pursuit of knowledge should be voluntary not through legislation or litigation. Educating the public should be the way forward but sometimes the public do not want be educated that is the hub.
Posted by Martin Clarke at 7:13 PM

0 comments

Is Anonymity Right?

The internet has proved to be of great help to mankind, especially in its ability to promote different ideas and points of views but it also opened the door to charlatans. As of yet it seems people can write what they want and say what they with little chance of being sued, this can and does lead to people making outlandish false accusations. It is not too bad when these individuals give their name you can respond but a lot of forums allow you the right to anonymity, this I believe is wrong and should be stopped.
As I have mentioned before this has happened to me through a web site entitled “Judo Forum” Someone calling themselves Chichorei Kano, using the Judo Forum has told a pack of lies and I made the mistake of replying to him, where I corrected all his lies he replied with even more unsubstantiated information, friends of mine rallied to my side but each thread gave him a chance to spew out more bile but this time it was just against me but many other judo Stars like Paul Radburn for example.So who is he, obviously some one who dislikes me and is jealous of my success, although I believe I know who he is I would not name and shame him till I was 100% sure. The most important thing is that should anyone get involved with any forum that allows people to hide their identity? The answer must be NO especially those forums who given so called expert advice as any researcher will tell you must always be able to check your source.
Needless to say I shall not involve myself with "Judo Forum" untill they take a Moral Stand against this abuse of the Net and advise everyone to do the same.

John Clarke World Sombo Action

IS the UKCC a mistake

The United Kingdom Coaching Certificate has caused lots of controversy over the last few years especially in the Judo World, where dissenters were suggesting that it was an indirect way to eliminate Judo Bodies not affiliated to the Governing body in this case the BJA. If you read the article below and a UKCC became a legal requirement to coach Judo they may have point.

What is more important is that the UKCC have lost a unique opportunity to improve Coaching in the UK. Many years ago I was very friendly with that Great Coach Geoff Gleeson; he was one of the founders of the British Association of National Coaches, Academy of Coaching, Guild of Sports Internationalist he also helped in the formation of the National Coaching Foundation organisations I belonged to as well. Geoff always said that Coaching was an art form in its own right; I did not always agree with the use of the word art but totally agreed that Coaching was a subject in its own right. He tried to bring along the idea that you could learn to Coach and subsequently Coach with out knowing the details of any specific Sport, this why both of us formed the Academy of Coaching.

I was hoping and under the impression that the UKCC was going to be an umbrella group for people to learn how to Coach. You would first learn to Coach take the relevant exam and then go to a sport with this qualification, ask what the technical aspects are required to become a coach in that particular Sport. In Judo it would be relatively simple i.e. Level 1 1st Dan plus pass a referees exam. Individual could become a Professional Coach, Coaching many different Sports, they could use this qualification to create employment for themselves for example with Schools haemorrhaging teachers they would be an asset to any school. The Coaching Award could be used in various sports but also in the Arts i.e. Drama, Musical Instrument and before you condemn when the Academy of Coaching was in existence we had many Seminars from people who worked in the Arts and the similarities when Coaching a student were the same.

I have supported a UKCC but if it is to become a legal requirement it could become a big stick to beat people into place and that will with the proposed pricing drive people away from Coaching which in turn lead to less people doing sport. Lets hope this will not happen.

Yours

Martin Clarke


Hi Martin

Many thanks for your e-mail. Unfortunately, it is not possible to take a UKCC without doing so in a given sport. This is for a number of reasons. Firstly, each sport is responsible for organising their own courses and their are no generic courses run independently, eg by sports coach UK. Secondly, whilst the UKCC is a generic course in the sense that it ensures that quality and consistency are maintained between sports and across levels the technical requirements, style and organisation of each sports UKCC levels are significantly different.

The courses have been designed by the sports, in consultation with sports coach UK, and are tailored to the needs of the specific sport. Whilst their are instances where qualification in one sport at a given level may (via the Accreditation of Prior Experience and Learning scheme that is being introduced) be considered relevant by another (eg allowing you to take Level 2 in one sport, having completed Level 1 in another) this is for the sport to decide in the given instance. And you would initially require UKCC Level 1 or equivalent in a given sport.

However, recently Multi-Skills clubs have been introduced, which focus on non-sport specific physical activity and for which there are courses available. However, these are not assessed courses and are not linked to UKCC levels.

I hope this is of some help. If you have any further questions please don't hesitate to contact me.

Many thanks
Alistair Hay Business Support Officer sports coach UK 114 Cardigan Road Headingley Leeds LS6 3BJ Tel: 01132 043523/2245 (internal) E-Mail: ahay@sportscoachuk.org

Should Girls Fight Boys

The IBF meeting of Coaches in January should be very interesting; one of the main subjects will be Junior Judo. Do we have smaller age bands i.e. 7/8 year old with weights cats and grade bands, do we change the rules of Judo, etc. Plus do we allow Girls to compete with Boys in competition? A Mini Mon competition was held in Dartford which done this and it attracted 100 players and according to Trevor Davies 6th Dan was very successful. I personally have my doubts, although in this PC dominated society Men and Women are supposedly equal, I still feel if a boy loses to a girl they were be ridiculed by their friends and this would be a loss to Judo. "Yes you say but they all train together in the club" that may be true but in my case when I taught youngsters it was due to necessity not choice. There may have only been a couple of boys in the class so they would have to fight each and it is the contesting that I feel is the problem Kata and techniques demonstration is OK. Boys and Girls are not only physically different but emotionally different and that will be always the case until the Human race changes where one human being has female plus male genitals and can reproduce themselves like an amoeba, no matter what the PC Brigade say.

My other concern is the way we award medals, I refer to the fact if there is only two Judoka in a weight class both win a medal, it is a fact that there are youngsters who have a hatful of medals and never won a match, this may be good for the club as it looks good in the papers that the club has won lots of medals but is good for the child or good for Judo? I think not.
Firstly it is unfair on other children in weight groups, what of the youngsters who wins 3 out 5 fights and get nothing is that fair.
Secondly Young people should learn that in life you have to work for something once again modern society has produced a whole generation believing it is there right to have anything they want regardless if they have earned it, do we in Judo have to help that attitude?
Thirdly, one of my senior grades suggested that should everything be about winning, well sorry if you enter a competition the idea is to win. You may enter at first to gain experience but ultimately the idea is to win, life is about competing.
Fourthly because I have these views does not mean a child should not be rewarded, every child should get a participation medal or certificate, I realise that for some children it quite a courageous act to enter a competition, not all are suited to be competitive but that should not be an excuse not to compete. Judo is as much about a person conquering his own fears this can only make them a stronger individual.

One I tried some years ago was to have a JUDO MEET we invited children who never entered a competition to come along to fight other children like themselves. They were matched on the day, they then fought under competition conditions but at the end of the day there was no big medal presentation, there was no pools etc every child had three matches and every child was presented with a medal. None of them including their parents went away the idea they were champions yet everyone enjoyed themselves. I doubt if this would work at all levels.

I would welcome a reply of what people think, I will publish all sensible replies

It seems Chichorei Kano's attack on me has caused quite a stir, I was beginning to think this guy had a crush on me by the ammount of time he spends writing about me, but no it looks like I will not be recieving roses. For according to emails I have recieved from other people who use the forum he is rude and insulting to most people, in the past he has questioned Percy Poole's (father of Mick) 3rd Dan issued before WW2. in his latest Diatribe he riducles Judo legend Paul Radburn, he then tries to make fun of Sombo Wrestlers by saying if he had to dress up in their typical outfits. The Fashion Police would immediately arrest me.
Why does he behave like he does he obviously has followed Judo, so why not use his real name? has he got something to hide, has he a murky black past who is to know. You can just imagine Instructors warning their Judoka "If you do not behave yourself Chichorei will come an get you"

Lets make a challenge to all those budding detectives out there, who can be the first to find his identity

Colin Carrott responds To Judo Rule changes

Hello Martin,

I write in response to your recent Blog site article and the IBF coaches revalidation course in January. You pose some interesting questions as to the future of IBF refereeing and interpretation of rules, and I would like to add to this discussion, with some thoughts of my own.

1) Should we stick to the letter of the IJF rule book, follow BJA guidelines or introduce new or different rules to try to modernise Judo?

With the success of the under 8’s rule, I believe this shows that we can be innovative and that we should not be afraid to take the initiative. The experiment at The YJC 50th. Anniversary competition seemed to work well (i.e., entering ground work can only be done, following a successful scoring throw), perhaps this should be the first rule change to be adopted? Unfortunately, I can’t see that following BJA guide lines on age banded competition will work for us, as we just don’t have the numbers for this to work. Surely we would end up with only a couple of competitors in each pool?
If we are to introduce rule changes, either permanently or on an experimental basis, we must communicate this on entry forms, so that there is no confusion on the day, for different associations. Referees also need to meet regularly before competitions so that everybody understands and works uniformly on the interpretation of the rules, both old and new. I know that we try and do this already, but usually, there are only half a dozen officials present, then, through-out the day, others are co-opted to sit in the corners or take charge in the middle, who have not been at the meeting.

2) Scoring system.

I can’t see that changing the scoring system will work. If you try and mix the Japanese terminology with a numerical score, this surely will only confuse things even more. How do you explain to a parent, or novice judoka, that they have 2 Yukos and 10 points, but have just lost to their opponent who has one waz-ari and 7 points?
Points scoring only, would work if the scores were accumulative. But I don’t think this would attract players, as they would feel that for some reason, it was not “traditional Judo”.

3) Referee’s Uniforms

I for one, would love to see referee’s wearing something less formal then a blazer and tie. However, we have got to have something that is the same, worn by all. We have a lot of good, young referees at the moment, who generally look smart in suits, but every-one is wearing something different. Whatever uniform is decided upon, it must be fairly cheap and easily available, as many people just will not go to the expense of buying it. I like the look and appearance of wrestling officials, but perhaps, again, we should try to be different? How about, for example, trying the traditional referees outfit, but with a modern twist? White judo gi trousers, with either a red sombo or green kurash style jacket? Referees could then wear their judo grade belt, or even one of a neutral colour? Nearly every-one will already have this clothing, even if they have not worn it for a while!

4) Grading

Maybe we should take grading a step further, and recognise competition. A judoka could be of a certain grade, but have letters after his/her belt description. E.g. a blue belt E.C. would be a European Competitor. N.C. for National Competition player, E.M. European medallist, N.M. National medallist etc.

Colin Carrott.

New Rules For Judo

JUDO RULES

For the first time I could not attend the IBF UK National Judo Championships, I am told it was extremely well attended and well run, well done to all concerned. I am still waiting for the organisers to send in a report with photos when they come I will publish them on the IBF Website.

Two things were brought to my attention one was dress standards and secondly was the change of rules. It seems that some officials were under the misconception that the Junior Rules used at the Young Judo Club 50th Anniversary Championships i.e. “You can only enter Ne Waza if you had scored with a throw” were now standard IBF rules, this is not the case. IJF rules with the IBF amendments still are to be used in all IBF competitions.

Yet this mistake was enthusiastically welcomed by the majority of people present, so that leads me to the question “Should IBF UK abide by IJF rules or adopt their own”. As most of you are aware Judo in Europe is on a down turn and lots of very experienced Judoka and associations are looking for ways to revitalise our Grappling Art, IBF members have been very lucky in the fact that members also participate in other grappling sports such as Sombo, Kurash, Belt Wrestling and CombatSombo Wrestling, they have seen how different styles and their scoring system works. I have been involved in Judo for 52 years and the one thing I have come to realise that a lot of Judoka consider they and Judo superior to every other Grappling Sport, as Judoka they think that participating in other styles some how will create a virus in Judo which will destroy it.

Rules of Judo should be a topic at the IBF Coaches seminar in January and here a few ideas:

1) Continue using the rule where you have to score before Ne Waza, for years people have moaned that the high throws have gone and children just drag each other to the floor. The BJA concept of dealing with this was to restrict the amount of time in Ne Waza, this has led to competitions with hardly any Ne Waza. I was at the Kent International and if you did not get hold, arm lock etc in 5 seconds you were stood up, for those who understand Ne Waza will know it can take time to manoeuvre your opponent in position. After all in Tachi Waza you do not attack every 5 seconds.
2) Should we change the scoring system do away with Japanese terminology and use accumulative scoring, you may remember I tried this 15 years ago with some success. If we done this we could get the referees to dress the same as Olympic Wrestling Officials i.e. White tracksuits with coloured sleeves this is less intimidating and officious then wearing a Blazer.
3) For those who wish to keep the Japanese scoring what about indicating the points first then the Judo signal i.e. 1pt indicated closed fist with thumb raised followed by the Koka sign etc
4) Coloured Gi and Judo boots
These are just a few ideas but can I say I have just return from the World Sombo Championships and this was the most exciting Jacket Grappling event I have seen in 20 years, big high throws, brilliantly executed arm locks, continual action throughout the whole competition and most importantly easy to understand scoring. The British Sombo Federation was asked to take a Press Officer with the team, he had never seen any form of Jacket Grappling including Judo, within 30 minutes he could understand the scoring and by the second day he was questioning referee scores could this happen in Judo?

So I say to the entire Judo Fraternity wake up and smell the coffee other wise Judo will die.

I would welcome you constructive comments either via the Blog or by direct email


Martin Clarke 8th Judo Sombo Grandmaster

Inappropriate Clothing

Dear IBF Members

I am told the IBF National Judo Championships were very successful, so I would like to thank everyone involved especially Ian Parker and his Club members who made the whole thing possible.

The IBF did however receive several complaints about the hygiene of some competitors, make up and inappropriate clothing. Can I bring to your attention?
1) All competitors must have clean bodies, hair, finger nail etc.
2) All competitors must have a clean gi which must be worn in the correct manner.
3) Female competitors must wear white T Shirts and shorts under their trousers
4) Make up and piercing rings etc are not allowed
These rules are fundamental for the Health & Safety of the individual and their opponent.


Yours Faithfully


Martin Clarke 8th Dan
IBF President UK

Could the UKCC be the demise of Judo?

Could the UKCC be the demise of Judo?

As I have reported before there seems to be some sort of unity happening in the Judo World, I refer of course to the fact that the British Judo Association has now opened their doors to all Judoka regardless of there Judo affiliation. This has been a bold move but it has also been a move born out of necessity as Judo in the UK is in rapid decline and Unity is the only way for it to survive.

This brings me on to the subject of the United Kingdom Coaching Certificate (UKCC), this organisation has been set up to introduce some conformity and regulation within British Sport, which hopefully will improve Coaching Generally throughout the UK. This to some is quite a novel idea but it not really a new concept because that Great British Judo Coach Geoff Gleeson some 30 years ago formed the British Association of National Coaches, where National Coaches from all sports came to together to share their knowledge and experiences in Coaching. When this folded Geoff and I formed the Academy of Coaching, some of the members the AOC went on to form The Guild of Sports Internationalists, sadly to say both are now defunct.

So as you can see I am all in favour of improving our Coaching Skills but there are several things that worry me:
1) The price! although I have said that Judo is under priced and under valued, I wonder if the proposed pricing structure is just “the straw that broke the camels back” £200 for level 1 plus 30 hours learning requirement, Level 2 £400 88 hours learning requirement, Level 3 in excess of £800 plus 307 learning requirement. These figures are taken from an article written by Dave Duffy BJA National Coaching Officer. To be fair to the BJA they are looking for organisations to help fund this new UKCC but what if they can not get any help, can small Judo Clubs of 20 members afford this? I have my doubts.
2) What of Grandfather Rights (This is where people who have coached for many years are given the award). I personally started Coaching when I was 19 years that is a total 38 years in that time I was a member of BANC, NCF founded the A.o.C, member of BISC , formed IBF Coaching Effective Scheme along side Geoff Gleeson 9th Dan, was a KCC Coach for 9 years do all these qualifications and experience amount to nothing? For me personally I am not worried as due to injury I do very little coaching but I know of hundreds if not thousands of Judoka who have given up their time, effort and in many cases their money to teach and promote Judo. Can we afford to lose them? I do not think so.
3) Some people want the UKCC to become a legal requirement to Coach and the way this Labour Government obsession with interfering with our lives and bringing into legislation laws to control every aspect of lives also with Prime Minister Gordon Brown practically handing over our Nation to the EU this could be a very likely possibility. Some say that this is not possible as will infringe our Human Rights to choose, once again this could be a possibility but like most things if this Government & the EU want something like most dictatorship they normally get it. That way will be using Health & Safety legislation, you can just imagine the spin from some Government Minister her is an example of what they could say “Any one can teach Judo or Sport in the UK , we after all a free country, the only criteria is that they competent” . Great but what is competent? Of course a UKCC. Insurance companies will eventually insist that you have a UKCC.

The UKCC will not only affect Judo Coaches but all Sports Coaches, hopefully I am wrong and the UKCC becomes a symbol of light for Judo and sport. Yet one wonders with Sports participation in rapid decline in the UK shouldn’t we be trying to promote Sport/Judo rather then putting in obstacles. Sport/Judo in the UK has relied mainly on those volunteers who are prepared to help their sport without any pay or reward, will the UKCC stop this? That is up to you to decide.


Martin Clarke 8th Dan Judo Sittingbourne Kent
Grandmaster Sombo, World Masters Judo Champion
World Sombo & Jiu Jitsu Silver Medallist

Colin Carrott World Bronze

47 year old Colin Carrott from the Sittingbourne Young Judo Club/Warriors Grappling Academy has just returned from the World Masters Sambo Wrestling Championships in Moudania Greece with a World bronze medal. Colin competed in the Men’s 45 – 49 years, u90 kilo class, in his Bronze medal fight of he had to take on a Frenchman in a very close match, the bout went the distance with Colin winning 4pts to 3pts.
Colin who trains at Sittingbourne and is one of the clubs senior coaches, lives in Folkestone where he runs family business DELMAINES electrical and white goods, the reason I mention this is because of his family he got involved in Judo. Both his sons are black belts in Judo and Sambo in fact his youngest son Danny has been selected for the World Senior Championships in Prague in November. Colin started Judo in 1194 at the ripe old age of 34 years; he started because his two boys were involved in the local Hawkinge Judo club, his youngest boy Danny started because he was bullied at school. Just a few weeks into starting Judo he severed a nerve in his ankle when someone threw him wrong, he was in plaster for months.
This did not deter Colin and he came back more determined and since then he has amassed the following:
3rd Dan Black Belt International Budo Federation, British Judo Association, British Sombo Federation
British Sombo Champions, IBF National and International Judo Champion
2 World Bronze Medals
Has competed in the following countries Scotland, Holland, Germany, France, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Malta, Czech Republic, Poland and Greece.
Senior Examiner for the International Budo Federation and British CombatSombo Association
Senior Instructor for the Young Judo Club and Warriors Grappling Academy
He also runs the Spitfire judo Club Hawkinge and the Capel Le Ferne Judo and Grappling Club

Colin is an example to us all that age and adversary should never hold you back.
For more details of Sombo/Sambo go to www.britishsombo.co.uk

JUDO or DRUGS

Steve Jacob has just informed me that he has had to cancel his competition this weekend in Bedford.
One must ask the question what has happened to Judo and Judo players in the last few years, why is there no support from at least our own organisation the IBF, are parents and coaches to lazy to travel or are they just frightened of competition? What about all those who took gradings at Summer Camp where were they?
This problem is not unique to the IBF Judo has been decline for several years but most of Judo Politicians have been in denial over this. Even the bigger Judo organisation i.e. the BJA/BJC has had to cancel events that a few years ago were attracting hundred of fighters.
The UK is in a pit of despair, rising crime especially violent ones, means of disciplining kids in school being eroded, parents refusing to take responsibility for the children, massive percentage of young people experimenting with drugs, alcohol and under sex. Can you wonder when you ask young people to try Judo they reply “What’s the point man, it’s not cool” The obsession with the celebrity culture does not help, every where you look or listen there is details of what celebrities do, these youngsters worship them like Gods in fact I would go as far to say it is there new religion. The great majority of these celebrities are terrible role models with their drug and drinking habits, with their low morals, with their total disregard of the environment, with their total disrespect of money I could go on.
I do not know the answers although I have some ideas but I do know this country in the last 10 years has lost its right to be called GREAT Britain. Judo has been my discipline since I was 5 years old, I hope it does not go the way of Amateur Wrestling which only has about 500 participants in the country

YAMASHITA THROWN OF IJF EC

new IJF-President Mr. Marius Vizer Hungary

I am told that at the recent Elections of the International Judo Federations EC all the Japanese were thrown of the committee including Yamashita, have looked at the IJF web site but found very little

Rumor has it the Kodokan may break away from the IJF and form a rival organisation?

Rumor has it that the new EC want to introduce coloured Judogi?

JUDO COULD SEE SOME RADICAL CHANGES

Will anyone watch Olympic Judo?

The Mail on Sunday recently reviewed the book “The Pyjama Game: A Journey into Judo” I am not going to repeat the whole article but just take a section which summarise Judo exactly.

“One of the main sports hardly anyone will watch at the next Olympics will Judo, nor did they in Athens, Sidney, Atlanta or Barcelona. Nor will they, very likely, in London 201”

“To the untrained eye, the flurry of white cotton as a pair of Judoka grapple with one another looks about exciting as a laundry on spin cycle. Add to that Japanese terminology, complex rules, terrible staging and impenetrable scoring system and you understand why Judo is never going to capture the nations imagination like football”

“I am not sure it will be given many of us to understand sentences such as, Reissman threw himself up into the air before being thrown with a wonderful Uchi Mata Sukashi, for which amazingly Kashi only received Waza-ari”


These are a few examples from the article but it does high light what the ordinary layman thinks of our Combat Discipline. I believe Judo only needs few minor things to make it more popular 1) Coloured Judogi 2) Judo boots similar to those worn in Sombo 3) Change Japanese competition terminology i.e Koka become 1pt indicated with a closed fist and a thumb, Yuko becomes 2 points indicated with thumb and finger, Waza-ari becomes 5pts indicted by full open hand, Ippon is 10pts is a Total Victory indicated as current. 4) points are accumulative whoever gets a 10pt majority or scores a Total Victory wins.

I say these are minor points yet the traditionalist will accuse me of heresy, yet I have suggested changing the basic ethos of Judo Kata, grading etc should all remain. Judo is slowly dying and needs someone to bring it line with the 21st Century, what Judo needs is a Kerry Packer (he was the man who changed one day Cricket)

Interested in my Summer Camp go to www.budo-ibf.co.uk

The Judo was abysmal at Crystal palace

Kent International Judo Championships

The last time I competed in Judo at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre was in 1983 since then I have concentrated on IBF Judo and promoting, teaching and competing in Sombo Wrestling as well as introducing CombatSombo, Belt Wrestling and Combat Wrestling, so when I had the chance to see a top international Judo competition at the Palace I jumped at the chance. The reason for going was simple two of my student’s one being my son had entered this event, with the BJA now allowing Judoka to hold their license as well as anyone else’s, several of my Young Judo Club/Sittingbourne Judo Society members took out BJA membership and had their grades ratified, therefore could enter this event. In truth Judo was not the reason they entered both lads have been selected to represent GB in the World Sombo Wrestling Championships and in my son’s case John had also been selected to compete in the World Kurash Championships and this standard of Judo would give them much needed quality competition. Both did not expect to win medals but just have the benefit of competing against top class athletes, Danny at 21 years had only competed with the smaller organisations and John at 33 years had not competed in a BJA event for 16 years but they need not have worried Danny out of 4 fight won 2 on Ippon John out of 6 fights won 5 on Ippon (most probably the best Ippon performance of the day) which gave him Bronze, a full report can be found on http://www.youngjudoclub.co.uk/.
On arriving at Crystal Palace I noticed nothing had changed in the 24 years since I was last there, the same old mats, the terrible tiered seating, the nauseating smell of the swimming pool, the drab interior, no comfortable seating, plastic beakers for you beer. This was acceptable 25 years ago but today NO if you want attract people to Judo you need a user friendly building no wonder most BJA events are held in other venues and I would suggest if the Kent International is to continue they use another venue. The tournament was very well organised and was finished around 3.30pm the organisers deserved a medal for that and the referees wearing Polo Shirts (something the IBF and Sombo have done for several years) was an excellent idea it made the event less pompous and officious. The Judo itself was abysmal as was the refereeing to be quite honest if this what top level Judo has come to I am not surprised people no longer wish to do the Sport/Art. This was my initial impression but I have not seen this level of Judo since 1983 so things I am told have changed so let me explain what I saw, most of the competitors were on the whole evenly matched something that did not happen in my day, they were all very fit and very strong but seemed to be limited on techniques. In fact it seemed that the only technique being performed was that horrible drop knee Kata Guruma, a technique which you would have been disqualified for using in the 80’s. This one technique has changed the look and practise of Judo, I am surprised that Judoka do not have a permanent stoop in their back the amount of time they spend bending over, ban this technique and you will have Judoka standing upright. In the 70’s and 80’s you had Judo superstars like Adams, Jacks, Radburn, Starbrook, White etc who in the preliminary rounds were performing some devastating spectacular throws which excited the crowd as the competition drew to a climax obviously the matches became more tactical. During the day I only saw one Ippon with a Standing Seoi Nage only 2 Ippon’s with Uchi Mata, 1 Ippon with Haria Goshi (performed by my son) and 1 Te Guruma, there may have been more but that is what I saw, the point I am trying to make is that the event was mundane not spectacular.
With regard to the refereeing I will state something’s I saw that I thought were wrong and hopefully there will be a top IJF referee out there to put me right.
1) No penalties were given for wandering of the mat in my day this was a Keikoku offence.
2) Throwing someone on their stomach was awarded as a Yuko in my day there was no score
3) Both players are allowed to fight outside the area and score in my day this could have led to disqualification
4) If you rolled on your back you lost by Ippon, in my day to score an Ippon your opponent had to land on his back with force and impetus
5) If you attacked from your knees and the technique was unsuccessful you were allowed to keep fighting from your knees to score, in my day if you attempted to throw with a drop knee technique and you where unsuccessful Matte was called if you continued you were penalised
6) Injury call, my son was deliberately kicked in the inside of his leg on the second time he was kicked he complained to the referee. The referees huddled together and then the centre referee warned my son that if he complained again he would be disqualified, I am sure the only reason he was not disqualified was because he was losing and the refs thought it would make no difference to the outcome, it is a pity that John got the hump and threw his Dutch Opponent with an Ippon Haria Goshi. Plus in this age of litigation if my son had been kicked again and had a serious injury could he sue the referee for negligence? The first duty of any referee no matter what sport is to protect the player from injury and insure fair play, it could be the referee was inexperience and did not realise this.
7) In my day if a referee scored Yuko, judge scored Koka and the other judge scored Waza-ari the middle score stood as opposed to giving no score.

There were several other things which were of a minor nature but I would like to hear someone comments, I am quite aware people will say I am old and living in the past but can I say that in the 70’s and 80’s there was a lot more people doing Judo and we had ome of the most successful international Judo players in the World. So has Judo improved or should we return to the Judo of yesteryear?


Martin Clarke 8th Dan

Technical Grades at 16?

The IBF appointed a panel of Black Belt to revamp the Junior and Senior Judo Grading syllabus, one of the panel suggested Technical Grades from the age of 16 years what follows is Colin Carrot 3rd Dan panel member feelings on the subject:

I personaly don't believe you should be able to get a technical dan grade at 16, and would set the minimum age requirement at 30. Surely a 16 year old who does not compete, cannot have the full understanding of a technique. For example, to perform o-goshi either text book style, on the move, or even in randori, is completely different from trying it in competition, where your oponent does not want to be thrown and at the same time is trying to counter you.Therefore, does this not make the competitor more skillfull?If this is the case, then surely the two players should not be the same grade?However, an understanding of the sport, in all its forms, can come with more experience. As you advance in years, you look at things differently and understand why things work, as opposed to excepting that they work because the book tells you they do.Colin.

PS The minimum age was agreed at 30

NON COMPETITIVE JUDO is it JUDO

In the British Judo Association Magazine MatSide April edition an article appeared called “Technical Renaissance Q & A” this was one of the best articles I have read on Judo in years, some one had at long last actually questioned where Judo was going and trying to stop its decline. Although I enjoyed the article I did not agree with a lot of things that were written, the author states that the true spirit of Judo had become overshadowed by the fact it was considered an Olympic sport hence a competitive sport as opposed to a Martial Way this may be true. For over 20 years people would refer to Olympic Judo and Traditional Judo as if they were two different things instead of being two parts of the same coin, Competitive Judo without the theory & Kata is not Judo in the true meaning but the same must be said of Judo Kata and Theory without a competitive aspect. The BJA and the Olympics must accept the blame for drive to promote competitive Judo at the expense of all other aspects of the Way at one point their grading syllabus was based on competition only! Yet can you blame them for moving in the direction of the Olympics as the only way they will get Government Funding is to produce Olympic Champions, I have always said Government Funding should be based on public participation not on champions, get more people to do Judo and you will have a much larger catchments to get champions, concentrating on Elite Athletes is normally to the detriment of the grass roots.

Although I did not go to the Olympics I was member of the Moscow Olympic Judo Squad and considered myself a reasonable player, yet I had to study Kata, Theory and other aspects of Judo, I believe this enhanced my Judo skills, my club Dan Grades are graded on the same criteria (read “Martin for Moscow”). I can not agree with the idea of a totally non competitive grading syllabus which calls itself Judo, many years ago I had a discussion with the late, great Geoff Gleeson who was very much a radical thinker. He said give gradings for Kata, Ukemi, and Theory even putting on a Judogi as long as people get involved in Judo, I retorted that you could not no longer call it Judo, he then said well give it another name i.e. Kata Judo, Technical Skill Judo, Tia Chi Judo, Judo Yoga what ever as they still connected in some way to the Judo Fraternity, I am still not sure he was right but it something to consider

Why do I think that competition in Judo is particularly good for youngsters, apart from what the articles says about “Non Competitive Grade will demonstrate techniques in a realistic situation” the only realist way to prove a techniques is effective is by being putting it to the test in competitive situation whether that be in a competition or in the end of session bash in the club, by definition a Demonstration is not REAL. Yet the most important point which I feel is being missed is the philosophy of Judo in that it is not just about competition and the perfection of technique it is about producing better Human Beings. Controlled Competition for youngsters is as much about them overcoming their fears and dealing with failure, something very important they need to know for life in general. This modern day Politically Correct society continual tries to wrap kids in cotton wool and softens them that a lot can not cope with Adulthood; surely the time has come to stop that.


Yet after all I have written the reason why the BJA wants to introduce Non competitive grades is to get more people doing Judo or what ever you want to call it and Bravo to them. Yet I feel that there is little wrong with Judo,what it is not doing is getting people through the door, so what attracts kids something that is VISUAL and COOL lets get multi coloured Judo Gi’s , change the design of the Gi, introduce Judo boots, make competitions glamorous with compares, bright lights music. Make Judo a spectacular. I bet that has made some of you cringe!


Martin Clarke 8th Dan

Robin Hyslop Replies

I can remember my first taste of judo way back in 1972! an old Nissan hut in a quiet area of Dumfries, wind howling through the not so well fitting windows and a canvas flooring, just right for all those burns that I’m sure we have all sustained at some point, i also remember the gradings that some of us went to, demonstrate a few throws and then fight and win to advance up the grading system. It is true that Judo has changed over the decades; it seems to be more sport orientated rather than a martial art and has lost a lot of its identity over the years! So what direction should Judo take??? Who wants to get bashed about these days??? Who is willing to travel to comps??? Who is willing to be a coach or instructor??? Who wants to be a referee? (Now that’s a joke)!!! so what if you have a pink Judo suit, it would certainly get people talking! Where have all the Judo players disappeared to over the years? are they all really stuck in front of a computer screen or did they all just get pissed off with the way Judo was going in the UK? i think the latter! In the 70s if you picked up a Martial Arts magazine you would only find about 2 or 3 organisations advertising in it, nowadays its not worth buying one because they are all full of adverts. The coveted Black Belt? well if you dilute something then you weaken it, i think that’s an easy way to express how i feel about all of these so called experts that talk too much, (get a job as a car salesman for goodness sake, and stop kidding us on!) What i like to see is just plain competitive Judo! There’s nothing better than to see 2 evenly matched Judoka fight, a real pleasure to watch clean technical throws being executed, oh! and a referee that has a clue about what’s going on, (maybe that last bit is too much to ask for) think i have had a decent moan, got to go, have invented this new martial art/sport which entails both players whacking each other about the head with a laptop also doing courses in laptop self defence and laptop Kata, if i ever get my hands on the people who send spam!!!!ROBIN HYSLOP 4th DAN

World Champion CON

For many years I have been bemused by the amount of World Champions there are in the Combat Disciplines so I started to investigate an area I know something about that is Sombo/Sambo. I first trawled various web site on the Subject and was amazed at how many World Champions the USA has produced having entered my first World Championships in 1985 and involved in one capacity or another since then, I was some what dubious especially as I know the dominance the Eastern block has had in the past and still does I began to check. Many people criticised the breakaway Sombo Group who found a nesting place under the auspices of FILA (For the uninitiated FILA run International Wrestling Olympic Style and Greco Roman, FIAS is the Sombo/Sambo recognised by the World Governing body for sports GIASF) for running a World Championships claiming that it was a Mickey Mouse affair, this was some what unfair as they did have 13 countries competiting. Admittedly none were top quality teams from strong Sombo/Sambo countries and when it was reported USA asked a Beach Wrestler to enter the event even though he had never competed in Sombo and then he went on to win the event did put the whole thing in context, what was important is that he actually competed he did not know the opposition but had the courage to get on the mat as far as I am concerned he is a FILA World champion but not a FIAS World Champion who notably had over 30 countries at their event. There have always been occasions when there is more then one organisation, one will have a higher standard then the other, my problem is those Somboist who claim to be a World Champion who never fought for them. Yes there are several people who have had a Walk Over in a so called World Event who put on their CV they were a previous World Champion, surely this is a fraudulent claim and apart from that what real competitor would claim a title without a match? I can understand you sometimes want to put bit of gloss on your CV and sometimes you may win an event where there are only two or three players but at least you fought and hopefully if asked you tell the truth.

Am I wrong to be critical of these people? Maybe one them can reply and explain.

Martin Clarke

ANONYMOUS HAS LEFT A COMMENT

I have had my first reply it is a pity the contributor did not have the courage to leave his name and grade this would have added some weight to argument and being anonymous is normally the act of a coward or some one who just watches their children do Judo. He may have some points do you think the Oreintals superior to Westerners ? World championship results dispute that apart from what our contibutor says.
Yukio Tani (1881 - 1950) was a Jiu Jitsuka note the correct spelling
Gunji Koizumi, (1885-1965) introduced Judo to England my father Nobby was taught by him and I met him in 1962 note the spelling
Kenshiro Abbe 1915-1985 he graded both of my parents Nobby and Margret to 1st Dan in 1962, I went on several of his courses
I knew Mr Otani and attended several of his courses

I think anonymous was trying to say in a rather crude way"JUDO should return to being a Japanese Way"
lets have your opinion but lets have names and grades



Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Should Judo be updated": Judo has changed, this is one of the reasons why it is in decline. The idea of making judo more fashionable by having cloured judogi's (which are already in use in many clubs) is ridiculous and the idea of introducing "shoes" just doesn't make sense.The invention of the computer and the internet is the current method of communication, interaction and entertainment and has affected many activities.Judo has changed and not for the better, it has become more like wrestling, it is already easier to obtain grades, at one time to see a black belt was a honour and very rare, now they are tow a penny and some not so deserving exponents have exploited the art, and also developed their own organisation, self graded and exploited people. Judo used to be a scientific art of using techniques and had an air of mystery about which maintained interest.For judo to improve and be able to keep exponents interested it needs to take a few steps backwards to when it was an art. It is very doubtful as to whether this would be possible, it has perhaps gone too far along the wrong road, the Japanese master's that where here like M. Otani, Y. Otani, K. Abbe and G. Kizumi are dead. If you want to have any idea as to what judo is really all about you have to look to the Far East, to Japan, Korea and China. In International competition they rule the mat, just look at their style (ie standing upright) etc.In the western world we have, without good reason and with detrimental effect changed judo in the name of sport, this is a great shame. Posted by Anonymous to Combatarts at 6:47 PM

Should Judo be updated

Judo in the UK is going through a rather sticky patch at the moment, with numbers on the decrease, competitions are not being supported many are being cancelled. 10 years ago you had to stop youngsters entering competitions now we have to insist that they enter at least one competition in between gradings, this apathy is not just restricted to Judo it is spreading throughout the Country for what ever reason people have given up on the UK.

So how can we stop this destructive attitude, some associations think by dropping standards Judo will appeal to more people, having inferior Dan grades only ridicules our discipline. A Dan Grade should be treated like a Degree something of a high standard worth having, Kyu grades and junior grades are just apprentice grades. Today everything thing is visual, if you want young people involved you have to presented it as a Modern trendy thing and what is trendy CLOTHING. Keep the standards and traditions of Judo but change the Clothing, lets have Multi Coloured Judogi’s, maybe change the shape and cut of a Judogi, introduce Judo Boots soft soled like in Sombo but multi coloured, make competitions more exciting introduce light shows, music introduce competitors with a bit of razzmatazz, instead of massive all day events maybe have a smaller venue and just 3 or weight cat, so the competition doesn’t become a marathon. Maybe these ideas are not the way forward but somebody must think the impossible or Judo in 10 years will go the same way as Boxing and Wrestling just a couple of hundred participating


Martin Clarke 8th Dan

I reached my 57th Birthday on January 20th, I recently finished my pamphlet “Martin for Moscow” hopefully this year I will have Knee replacement surgery (without MRSA I hope) until then I will have to entertain myself by writing about my thoughts on the Martial Arts especially my recollections of 52 years of Judo. The one thing older people will say that the standards in their day was a lot harder my own opinion was it was different but am I right? Recently a YJC member from the 50’s and 60’s gave me some Judo magazines from 1958/59 amongst them were the BJA grading syllabus of the time and the BJC syllabus, I have attached them above and I let you draw your own conclusions!

LADIES SUMO

Channel 4 hosted a programme on LADIES SUMO I watched this expecting to have a good laugh at all these FAT WOMEN waddling about in SUMO THONGS I suppose you would call me a voyeur. How wrong I was I was enthralled with the programme and was quite impressed by the improvement they Ladies made in a short time, Coach Steve Pateman I knew as reasonable 4th Dan Judoka he once visited my club some 20 years ago in them days he was u95 kilo. He has put on some weight since then mind you so have I, many years ago he was featured learning SUMO and attending the 1st World Amateur Sumo Championships in Japan, I am sorry to say the programme did not do the Sport justice. I thought the Ladies done extremely well and watching the World Championships was exciting and interesting.
SUMO to me is the very basis of Wrestling, for those who taught for any length time you will know the first thing any new student will do is to try and push his or her opponent and we instructors teach that natural instinct out of them. It seems to me that SUMO has taken what comes natural and harnessed it to become a very efficient method of Combat.
If you get the chance to watch this programme do so can I say well done Ladies, Channel 4 and Steve Pateman keep promoting SUMO, one question I would like to know can Channel 4 do a the same for SOMBO.

Do not forget the British Open Sombo is on in March we hope to have a team from Mongolia go to www.britishsombo.co.uk

It is to expensive

Its that time of the year again where Judo Clubs ask for membership fees and look at their pricing structure and of course prices will rise mainly because of external factors. Now the moaning starts you are too expensive, why should we pay that amount, you should not charge kids, who gets the money need I go on. I have singled out Judo mainly as the one Combat Discipline the public think should be offered free of charge or at a very low price. Most Judo clubs are run by well meaning amateurs who give up their time free of charge and they run their clubs on a shoe string with little no help or thanks from the parents and this is my point LOYALTY.
My own club is 50 years old this year and we are one of the more expensive NO that is not quite true we expect payment in a more business like manner i.e. monthly or by Standing Order this makes us look like we are expensive. Yet when my mother and father started the Young Judo Club member paid 3D (that’s an old 3 pence about 1p of today’s money) if a member pays by standing order they can be paying as little 84p making members pay this way guarantees an income and the club can plan for the future. Another reason we charge this way was because of an incident that happened many years ago, the club was going through a bad patch membership was down so we approached parents of ex Junior Judoka, only those youngsters who had a lot from the club i.e. won lots of medals, been taken to comps home and abroad which in most cases was subsidised by the club, those who had become an extended member of your family, we asked if they could help support the club in its hour of need? The reply was "what for we paid our fees" do you not want to see other children get the benefits yours had? Reply "that’s not my problem" and so on, so the majority of the public see Judo as just a commodity, a commodity they do not like paying for.
The above is not always the case many of our instructors are people who done Judo as a child and came back as an adult, they realise the benefits of Judo and how important it is in producing better human beings. So when you get that winging parents complaining about prices and how you as an instructor should be thankful their child comes, look down at the Childs feet see how much his designer trainers cost, ask them about their expensive holidays, big screen TV etc, etc and they moan about a few quid educating their child. Because it will be the instructor giving up his or her time to fund raise, give up his or her weekends for courses and competitions, be out two or three times a week need I say more and they will be doing it long after the whinger has left who most probably leave without even a Thankyou.
Remember charge to much you will called elitist do not charge enough and you devalue you and Judo

JUDO is it a Sport?

In the last year BJA policy to other Judo/Budo groups has changed and it is now possible for my Club, which incidentally is 50 years old this year, to belong to the BJA and the organisation I head (International Budo Federation UK). Several of my coaches have taken gradings and coaching certificates with the BJA because of his the club now receives various publications from the association, which I find very informative. In the January issue of MatSide, Sue Dawson’s letter does bring up some interesting points, which I would like to comment on. She is quite right in saying that Judo needs competition the educational system in this country over the last 10 years has let our youth down in particular the attitude to competition generally, so called educational experts are convinced that Sports Competition is bad for children, Judo is one of those disciplines that buck that idea in my opinion for the betterment of the youngsters. Yet I totally agree with the BJA that they should encourage more theory in the grading, I also applaud them for upping their standards for Dan Grading’s I refer to the increased interest in Kata, but to have a totally separate technical grade with out competition for Juniors I believe is a mistake. The only true way to understand a technique and improve its skill is for it to be used in a practical way and under stress i.e. contest. I am not suggesting children should be forced to enter competitions but they should be made to compete in a grading. After saying this I cannot agree with Sue that the majority of children want to compete on the contrary the majority want the opposite they want as do most adults to train once maybe twice a week in a purely recreational manner, this I feel is a very modern day attitude I know from my own experience that in the 70’s and 80’s this was not the case, I remember taking a 100 competitors from my club to the Herne Bay open but if Judo is to survive we have to adapt to today’s people as long as we do not drop standards.
One thing I do disagree with her is that she maintains Judo is a sport not an art, many years ago myself and the late great Geoff Gleeson founded an organisation called the “Academy of Coaching” sadly this is now defunct, the aims of the academy was to promote the Art of Coaching and attracted top coaches from all sports as well as leading figures from the arts and entertainment world one of the reoccurring topics was “Can Sport be Art” this caused a lot of heated discussion for and against with no real outcome. I expect what Sue meant Judo is not a Art in the terms of Martial Art, Judo loosely translated means “Supple Way” Way being a path or an ideology which to follow, Judo’s founder Jigaro Kano maintained it was an educational system a way to make better human beings. Sport is just one aspect of that education but it is not the be all and end all, those who treat Judo as a grappling sport like Sombo Wrestling, Kurash etc do not have long time in the discipline, I have been in Judo for 52 years starting at the age of 5 if it was purely about competition/sport I would not still be a Judoka. As a young man my only reason for doing Judo was to win medals and beat people, luckily enough I was at a period of Judo that insisted when taking a grading I had do all aspects of the discipline, as I grew older I began to understand a lot more and that what makes JUDO so superior to Combat Forms and Sports, Judo is a unique discipline and it must remain so.
Being an ex competitor I am still interested in finding ways to improve our countries competition standards for many years our IBF Holland have implemented No Sutemi Waza, No Kubi Nage, No drop Knee Seoi, No leg grabs I have always resisted implementing them in the IBF UK as I felt this was a coaching issue i.e. badly taught technique but I have to admit Dutch IBF Players do have a better rate of Ippons with throws and they have a lot more members, at last years IBF Nationals the Senior were staged before the Juniors who had to watch and the standard of Junior matches was the best I have seen for many years!, for over 10 years we have run the occasional Judo tournament where the only way you can go into Ne-Waza is for one of the players to make a scoring throw this produced some good Judo but was not popular with coaches who felt interfering with rules was not a good thing? On April 22nd at Sittingbourne the Young Judo Club will be holding there 50th anniversary Judo Championship entitled the “Old and the New” Seniors will compete under old rules dating back to the early 60’s and Juniors will compete under new rules i.e. score with a throw before entering Ne-Waza, a demonstration of Nage No Kata will demonstrated in honour of YJC co-founder Nobby Clarke 6th Dan 1927-1990 who was the first person to bring Kata to Kent, Ju No Kata will be demonstrated to honour Margret Clarke 4th Dan who performed this Kata at the Royal Albert Hall in 1964 and was considered at the time to be one of the leading exponents of that period. All associations are welcome. For more info go to http://www.youngjudoclub.co.uk/, youngjudoclub@yahoo.co.uk or Swale Martial Arts Club, 127 East Street, Sittingbourne, Kent. ME10 4BL