BJC Closed National Championships
We had a great day on the 23rd November at this annual event in Kettering. Jonah took his 11th consecutive Gold with all wins in less than 30 seconds. Laura fought in both her category and the Open taking medals in both and Jonathon proved that he is able to mix it with the Seniors in a fairly large group.
Name |
Category |
Result |
Jonah |
Junior under 42Kg |
Gold |
Laura Day |
Dan Grade under 78Kg |
Gold |
Laura Day |
Ladies Dan Grade Open |
Bronze |
Jonathon Day |
Senior 4th-3rd Kyu under 80Kg |
Bronze |
Well done to all and not forgetting Annelise who fought bravely but missed out on a medal.
Videos of most of the contests can be seen here:
Den Helder International Holland
On the 13th November a large squad from TeamBJC traveled out to Holland by coach. Jonah and Sensei joined the team at Luton at some unknown time in the morning and quickly fell back to sleep whilst the driver took the strain. By lunchtime however we were in Belgium and all had perked up a bit. We arrived at the hotel in the early evening to find possibly the weirdest place that we had ever stayed in. Nevertheless, the rooms were clean and comfy and we sorted ourselves out before walking to the event venue to weigh-in. After that we strode off into town to find somewhere to eat and got a bit lost. Ending up in a Falafel bar we enjoyed some food and then somehow managed to get back to the hotel again. The Saturday was most spent supporting the team whilst Sensei referred.
But it was on the Sunday that the action started for Jonah. In the pools, he made quick work out of each contestant with most of the contests over in less than a minute and the hardest taking him only a little longer. But into the knockout rounds he Jonah made a tactical error with a pull down which resulted in a Shido. This was a shame as neither contestant had scored and it was clear that Jonah was in better physical condition to continue into Golden score. Never mind, a lesson was learned and Jonah came away with a credible fifth place.
Bucks Area Grading - 11th October 2015
The second grading of the year was held at Kitsune Gari in Milton Keynes. There was a strong attendance from the DCHS club but unfortunatly, the numbers were more subdued from Chalfont & Evreham. Specific congratulations go to Aileen, Anya and Liam for outperforming Sensei expectations.
Name |
New Grade |
Aileen (DCHS) |
4th Kyu 1 Green |
Annelise |
4th Kyu |
Audrey (DCHS) |
4th Kyu |
Liam |
5th Kyu 2 Orange |
Laura (DCHS) |
5th Kyu 2 Orange |
Nikki (DCHS) |
5th Kyu 2 Orange |
Anya (DCHS) |
5th Kyu 1 Orange |
Ivy (DCHS) |
5th Kyu |
Luke |
5th Kyu |
Susannah Lee (DCHS) |
5th Kyu (Senior grade) |
Zoe |
6th Kyu 3 Yellow |
Nage no Kata - World First Demonstration
Once again, Chalfont set the benchmark for taking Judo into new directions and environments. In this a world first presentation, David Sensei and Jonah demonstrate Nage no Kata as a realistic 'real world' combat setting. This took considerable planning and practice in order to achieve this level of technical excellence.
Tessa is Awarded Dan Grade at the Kodakan!
A geninune Kodakan Dan Grade Certificate!
Shona Goes East...
In July, Shona flew to Japan to stay with the family Eftimiades for three weeks which included training at the Kodakan during the Summer Intensive course. After as much Judo in two weeks as most people manage in a year, we expect her to come back and show off her new skills! But for the moment, we can see her enjoying the sights and clearly not having a clue as to the correct manner in which to hold a sword.
and here is the proof:
She doesn't look very happy. Maybe it is because she bought her Grand Parents 'death sticks' as a present (they were actually Japanese wooden sticks about a foot long with funeral prayers on them, but Shona for some reason, probably because Tessa told her, thought that they were sticks for measuring vegtables - because one always has to know how long a carrot is before one chops it).
Southend International
Jay entered this event as our sole contestant and he picked up a Silver - so we are all quite delighted!
BREAKING NEWS: Laura Day 1st Dan
At Cromer, on the 29th May, the final day of this week long course, Laura entered the grading along with the other senior ladies and was victorious, overcoming all obstacles to gain her Dan grade at her first attempt. What better way for Sensei to celebrate his birthday?
Your Sensei is very delighted as this marks the first person he has trained to gain the coverted Black belt. Sensei is rather hoping that there will be a few more Dan grade promotions for Chalfont members in the next year.
Ippon Trophy Antwerp
Jonah and Sensei traveled to Antwerp on the coast of Belgium for this annual event on Friday the 19th May with Jonah's category taking place on Sunday the 21st. Last year Jonah came fifth. Jonah progressed quickly through the pool coming second with two wins and one loss. He was therefore bought forward on the reprecharge where he fought again and lost. But this was to the eventual silver medalist with the one that Jonah lost to in the pool being the gold medalist. Jonah was therefore bought forward again on the double reprecharge where in his fifth contest he won thereby securing for him the upper Bronze. A fine achievement. However, Jonah also learned a lot from this event and is now confident that he can do better next time.
BJC Open National Championships
It was a very hard day, on this occasion, Jonah won by the slimmest of margins and for those of the club who unfortunately did not medal, we will look at the videos and work out what needs to be addressed. For certain though, it is not a lack of dedication.
Name |
Category |
Result |
Annelise |
Junior 10-12 under 29Kg |
Silver |
Jonah |
Junior 13-15 under 42Kg |
Gold |
Laura Day |
Senior 2nd-1st Kyu under 70Kg |
Gold |
On this occasion, Jay who was clearly under-par did not make the medals. However, this was just a blip and we are certain that he will be back next time.
Videos of most of the contests can be seen here:
Hi-Performance Training
This course was once again led by Branko Andjelkovich 6th Dan on the 11th April. It was a great day of technically and physically demanding Judo were we all learned a lot and went home and enjoyed a solid sleep. The next day ones bones ached a little, but as the saying goes, no pain, no gain!
Bucks Area Grading - 8th March 2015
The first grading of the year was at DCHS in Little Chalfont and was well attended by the Chalfont group clubs. Specific congratulations go to Richard, Shona and Molly for all gaining their Blue belts and for Jay who grabbed his 3rd Black tab.
Name |
New Grade |
Richard Russell |
2nd Kyu |
Shona Alfert |
2nd Kyu |
Molly Jackson |
2nd Kyu |
Jay Pickford |
3rd Kyu 3 Black |
Emma Cleary |
3rd Kyu |
Amara |
3rd Kyu 2 Blue |
Fatimah Nazir |
3rd Kyu 3 Red |
Hazel |
4th Kyu 1 Green |
Bethany Naylor-Smith |
4th Kyu |
Aileen |
5th Kyu 3 Orange |
Annelise |
5th Kyu 2 Orange |
Audrey |
5th Kyu 2 Orange |
Sarah |
5th Kyu |
EE Kay Niki |
5th Kyu |
Laura |
5th Kyu |
Liam |
5th Kyu |
George |
5th Kyu |
Simon Cook |
5th Kyu |
Carla |
6th Kyu 3 Yellow |
Rachel |
6th Kyu 3 Yellow |
Ivy |
6th Kyu 3 Yellow |
Oliver |
6th Kyu 3 Yellow |
Yash |
6th Kyu 3 Yellow |
Asha |
6th Kyu 2 Yellow |
Francesca |
Primary 6th Kyu 2 Green |
Ramon |
Primary 6th Kyu 1 Orange |
Ronnie |
Primary 6th Kyu 1 Orange |
Chalfont Championship - 7th March 2015
A superb day of Judo contest with this event reaching record numbers. 170 contests turned up to compete in the Chalfont Championship and for the organisers, it was exhausting but exhilarating at the same time. We finished around 4:40pm and managed to pack everything away so that the mats could be delivered to Dr. Challoners High School the next day in time for the grading.
Name |
Category |
Result |
Jay |
Junior (under 60Kg) |
Gold |
Jay |
Junior (under 70Kg) |
Gold |
Jay |
Senior (under 60Kg) |
Gold |
Jonathon |
Senior (under 70Kg) |
Gold |
Shona Alfert |
Senior (under 55Kg) |
Gold |
Laura Day |
Senior (under 65Kg) |
Gold |
Ramon |
Primary (under 28Kg) |
Bronze |
Ronnie |
Primary (under 28Kg) |
Bronze |
Luke |
Primary (under 34Kg) |
Bronze |
Jamie |
Junior (under 42Kg) |
Bronze |
George |
Junior (under 35Kg) |
Bronze |
Rachel |
Junior (under 55Kg) |
Bronze |
Carla |
Junior (under 50Kg) |
Bronze |
Paige |
Junior (under 50Kg) |
Bronze |
Emma Cleary |
Senior (under 55Kg) |
Bronze |
Molly Jackson |
Senior (under 65Kg) |
Bronze |
BJC Tamworth Course & Grading 15-16th February 2014
Chalfont this year had a smaller team going to this annual course. Laura & Jessica Day came up from their respective universities to join us along with Jay, Jonah and Jonathon. Unfortunately, we got stuck in the traffic jam caused by a multiple pileup on the M40 and by the time we arrived at the course, it was lunch. Nevertheless the afternoon proved to be interesting.
Jay, Jonah and Jonathon were asked to take part in a grading contest. Jay and Jonathon fought each other and early on Jay was ahead with a Wazari. However, Jonathon caught Jay out with an unexpected throw to win for Ippon.
Meanwhile, Jonah found himself at 36Kg, contesting with boys of 44Kg, 57Kg and 63Kg. He managed one draw and two wins (both against the heavier opponents). On the next day, he contested two more and beat them both thus earning a promotion of two tabs.
Jay and Jonathon found themselves in line ups with two boys aiming for their third Black tab. Unfortunately, Jay was concussed with a large throw and had to sit the rest of the course out. But both Jay and Jonathon earned their respective grades. Laura unfortunately was unable to grade to Black belt as there were no other Brown belts in the grading. Next time Laura.
Name |
New Grade |
Jonah |
3rd Kyu 1 Brown |
Jay |
3rd Kyu 2 Black |
Jonathon |
3rd Kyu 2 Black |
All of the grading contests can be viewed below. It is a playlist so if you click on the top left corner, you can go straight to a specific contest:
Southfields - First Competition of 2015
A small team of just two traveled up to Leicester on the 7th February to compete in this annual competition. The surprise here was that Jonah who must have been the favorite, got the Bronze. On the other hand, one of the boys he contested with in the first pool only won by a decision whereas the last time they met, Jonah ended up in hospital. So with that progress, on the next meeting Sensei doesn't fancy that opponents chances.
Name |
Category |
Result |
Jay |
Junior (under 60Kg) |
Silver |
Jonah |
Junior (under 38Kg) |
Bronze |
Whilst we were sleeping...
Over in Tokyo, Japan, Tessa was taking part in the Kodakan Kan-Geiko (winter training) which involves getting up at 5:30am each day to be on the mat by 6am and she doesn't finish until the mid-afternoon. For this experience, Tessa moved into the dormitory's at the Kodakan as otherwise, she would have to get up an hour earlier in order to travel there.
As we can see, she is training with all her usual enthusiasm which is why we call her 'Brankette'.
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