http://youtu.be/rwADZSTWMbI

http://youtu.be/uAYowys_Z4Q

BJA accounts

I have been in busy for many years and I still do not understand the minds of accountants. During the year I manage my own accounts in a simple excel programme i.e. Income and expenditure at the end of the year I add them up if the income is bigger then the expenditure then I make a profit. Not that simple I take them to my accountant and he will include so many other factors that my profit becomes a loss even though I have more money in the bank, some years it can be the other way round.

So why do I bring this to the attention of you Combat Practitioners well I have just had the British Judo Associations Financial statement sent me, well two actually as the BJA have a BJA LTD and a BJA Competition & Events Ltd, most is beyond me if I was a keen member I would get my accountant to explain it to me but it would be a waste of money.

What I wanted to know was how many members do they have? How much is spent on wages, how much is spent on the Olympic team (this can be seen clearly on the accounts it was £1567, 024) and how much was spent on legal fees trying to prosecute a top Coach and failing?

If you a BJA member and say what it to do with me well a big bulk of their money come from Government sources i.e. us the Tax payer . Maybe some one out there can explain things to me.

If we send 14 players to the Olympics each player would have cost us £111930.28p and we told we might not even get a medal while a few years ago rumours were of a possible 8 is this good value for money? Has this investment seen a massive improvement in membership?  Should other people have  got the chop?

When I was training for the 1980 Olympics I recollect we only had one Tony Ray on the admin side being paid a salary and on the Coaching side it was Dave Strarbrook and Tony McConnell, and the BJA most successful International period was the 1970’s and 80’s. Oh yes the Coaches were British makes you think  

British judo chairman Densign White had to axe the Team GB elite coaching set-up in order to try and get an Olympic medal

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BRITISH Judo chairman Densign White maintains he had to take a gamble in the quest to land an Olympic medal and axe the Team GB elite coaching set-up less than a year from the London Games.

A fifth-place finish for European bronze medalist Colin Oates was the highlight of an otherwise disappointing showing from the British squad at the recent World Championships in Paris, where the likes of leading contender Euan Burton, ranked in the top six for the half-middleweight division, failed to make the latter stages.

Last month the British Judo Association took the unusual step of changing their key personnel mid-cycle with the departures of performance director Margaret Hicks, head coach Patrick Roux and senior women’s coach Jane Bridge.

German Daniel Lascau, who was world champion in 1991 and competed at the Barcelona Games, today officially started his new role overseeing the BJA’s High Performance Programme.

White admits it was a tough decision to dispatch with the services of staff he had worked with for some time, but felt it necessary under the spotlight of delivering targets on the biggest stage of all next summer.

“I haven’t seen any improvement in our performance in the last two years that shows we could win more than one medal at London 2012,” White said.

“The World Championships target was one to three medals, so not to get any at all was very disappointing.

“I am not sure what we can do that is going to make a dramatic difference, but we have to try something.

“It is never pleasant to tell someone they no longer have a job, but the bigger risk for me is to come out of the London Games with no medals.

“If there is any chance I can change that, I have to take the risk.”

Team GB’s last Olympic medal was silver for Kate Howey in Sydney in 2000.

Letters From The Past

When my Mother died in June 2004 we sold them her house to Pete Wise a 2^nd Dan in the YJC it seemed some what appropriate. Pete was recently clearing out the loft and found some old paper work.

The first piece which I have attached was a lesson plan from Nobby Clarke dated about 1963 although there is no date my father had not become a Professional Judo Coach at that time and it looks as though he scribbled a lesson plan on some works paper. The interesting point is that you could still use the lesson plan today but the most fascinating was that he used part of the lesson as a self defence session using throws as the basis of his techniques. I can not remember him doing this but in those days there was very little Jiu Jitsu about so it made sense that he utilised his knowledge of Judo to make in roads into Self Defence. My father was strange in a lot of ways he would bring new ideas into Judo once everybody was doing it he just forgot the idea, like self defence Judo another was Kata he was the first to introduce Kata into Kent, who would have believed that. He was very inventive in his outlook on Judo as was my mother she was doing Judo to music back in the 1960’s and laughed at. I learnt a lot from the two of them and when I found pieces of paper like this and look at what I teach and believe in I realise as youngster I must absorbed a lot of their knowledge.

Another piece was the programme on Terror Kampf dated 1968; this was a self defence system from Germany what I remember of it my mother gained her 1^st Dan in this art. What I remember, it h was just another form of Jiu Jitsu with one difference they would wear Black Gloves. Valerie remembered learning some of this art which she said was mainly using your hands to grab and twist ears, fingers, hair and other body parts to inflict pain. I have looked on You Tube it is still going but seems to have another name Anti Terror Kampf’.

The Young Judo club Philosophy when it started was:

This Yong Judo Club is open to all free from strife, animosity or petty jealousy and functions in the true spirit of Judo

Members are told to

To Brag Little to Lose Well

To Crow Gently if in Luck

To Pay Up To Own Up

To Shut Up If Beaten

Are the Virtues of a Sporting Man?

Author: Arthur Wendell Holmes

Also found was a letter from a school in Edenbridge asking for details of Felt from Bowater’s? Dry felt was used in the making of making paper and my father realised that this heavy Felt would make the ideal covering for his old feathered mattresses he had when he started the Young Judo Club in 1957 and when schools started doing judo they would use their old gym mats but these would slide all over the place but covering them with felt would keep then together. In those days the old Straw filled Tatami came from Japan and was expensive. I believe it was Milom who mad e the first reasonably priced Form Judo Mat with canvas and frame

Mother Margret Clarke started teaching Judo in Schools about 1961 Father Nobby started in 1965

British Sombo 25 years

The British Sombo Federation was started 25 years ago at my club in Sittingbourne, The founder members were myself Martin Clarke, Valerie Clarke, Brenda Jones, Alan Kontozi and Dave Boulding

In that period we have run countless competitions in England and Scotland, we run the European Championships in 1989 and Worlds in 1992 at Herne Bay. The BSF is accepted as the Governing body for Sambo/Sombo by UKSport. It has taken teams to World Championships practically every year since its formation.

To celebrate our Birthday the BSF will be running 25th anniversary championships in conjunction with the English Open on December 4^th at the home of British Sambo/Sombo Sittingbourne.

When we started 25 years ago only a few had Sambo uniforms and when we organised the first comp we had to allow Judo Jackets that is no longer the case all Competition competitors are now expected to wear the proper equipment.

I hope as many as possible turn up for this event details are on the web

http://www.grapplinguk.co.uk/Silver%20Anniversary.htm

Bedford Judo

Bedford Open Judo Championships

Saturday October 1^st 2011

IBF Black belt Russell Dodds recently started a new Judo club and to give this new club a boost he organised a Judo event in the Town of Bedford. His new club has been a run away success and operates on a Saturday morning; it has been a few years since Bedford has held a competition.

I am not going to write a report on the tournament I shall this leave to Russell to write one for the IBF site and Drew for the Young Judo Club but I would like to make a couple of observation

First it was very well attended and organised even though the venue was a bit on the small size but this due to the success of the competition. When Russell first approached me about running an event we both expect about 40 Judoka, this was about the norm for comps lately in Kent, and we did not expect 80 Judoka. Most importantly there were different players competing from as far field as Scotland. This made the competition interesting to watch as regular medal winners were being eliminated or being pushed down the medal table, this was a good thing as some of my own Clubs Judoka was becoming stale and complacent.

It was also good to see all the IBF Bedford getting together to make the competition a success, this particular section of the IBF is a very young group and have plenty of enthusiasm but there one old timer who I was glad to see that was Steve Jacob who has had some problems recently but has now returned minus his pony tail.

IBF Bedford has supported Kent Judo for over thirty years now it is time for Kent to support them especially as most Kent Judoka does not want competition. Plus Bedford is better positioned being in the middle of the country and travelling any where today is no longer cheap, so if we all help bear the cost Judo Competitions may not collapse altogether

I think the rule changes to Judo have had a detrimental effect  especially the down grading of Ippon to what 10 years ago would have been Yuko, this has made the competitions quicker but will deter novices in competing. Those in power, who administer these rules, administer for World Class athletes not for the ordinary Judoka. This weekend I saw many novices and beginners competing who were on the mat for just under a minute some had travelled from Kent and Scotland to give up a day, travel for about 5 hours and pay petrol for a couple of fights which in total lasted 1 minute 30 seconds will not encourage people. If the Judo hierarchy, will not do anything then the ordinary Judoka must, because these people sit in their ivory towers pontificating and earning good money from Judo, reminds me of Nero playing the fiddle while Rome burns

Here are two ideas  which will encourage new Judoka 1) make obtaining an Ippon harder this will lengthen the matches or leave Ippon as it is but have three to win the bout 2) Stop oseakomi being an outright win, I have seen literally thousand of youngsters enter there first competition only to be pushed over held down match finished in 35 seconds and they paid up to £20 for that.

If you want to try something different come to my Junior Points scoring competition in December. To finish well done Russell and Bedford you are helping to keep Judo alive