Club News 2015

All the news that makes us look good!

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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:

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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.


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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.

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Tessa is Awarded Dan Grade at the Kodakan!
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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.
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and here is the proof:

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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.


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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:

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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

Full medal listing can be found by clicking here.




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:


Tamworth Playlist

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.


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As we can see, she is training with all her usual enthusiasm which is why we call her 'Brankette'.