Judo School

To any judoka 9 years or older this a great opportunity don't miss it.
I have booked all 5 days but you are able to book one day or multiple days if you wish the booking link is here:-

https://pinewoodevents.fillout.com/htseminar2026

"We are incredibly excited to welcome Hidemasa Tanaka to Pinewood Judo Club this July for what promises to be one of the most valuable training opportunities offered this year.

This is far more than just a camp.

This is a rare opportunity for our players to experience authentic Japanese judo coaching, culture, movement, discipline, and detail from someone who has competed and coached at the very highest level of the sport.

Over the 5 days, sessions will now be structured as:

🥋 Two 90-minute technical training sessions per day
☕ 1-hour break between sessions for recovery, food, and reset
🕙 Training running daily between 10am–2pm

Players will benefit from:
• Japanese technical detail and movement
• High-level coaching methods and training culture
• Technical development for all grades and abilities
• Newaza and standing technical progression
• Competition mindset and habits
• Learning in a serious but supportive environment
• Exposure to a completely different style of coaching and delivery

For many judoka, opportunities like this can genuinely change their direction and motivation within the sport.

The biggest improvements in judo often come from consistent exposure over several days, not just one session, so please seriously consider attending as much as possible.

Spaces are limited so respond via the link ASAP.

We would welcome players from any club to join these sessions."

Bishops Stortford Judo Club
Under 8's 30th May

Daniel Romano
Rook Bateson
Masie Kavanagh
Emily Scott
Bennie Webb
Jax Robinson
Mark Molodcov

Dave Cole and myself had a lovely day out yesterday with our under 8's.
Bishops Stortford Judo provided their usual welcome, with an excellent warm up section that worked well in putting the young judoka at ease.
The format worked well with a number of 4 or 5 person pools.
7 of Judo School's under 8's were in action with Lillie Scott and Rook Bateson making their competition debuts.
They share a natural affinity for judo and put in a great effort, winning, losing and drawing contests, they both gained useful experience and looked comfortable in what can sometimes be an overwhelming situation!
Masie Kavanagh
has grown in confidence and capability winning 2 contests with good Ippon Seoinage and O Soto Otoshi and great transitions into ne waza.
She lost 1 contest against a powerful opponent with a strong and effective collar grip. When we lose we learn, work to be done!

Daniel Romano
This was his 3rd competition, he overcame his nerves and was able to deliver the judo he uses in training. He won 3 contests with great movement and a wide range of throws and holds.
His 'happy dances' in the pauses in the contests was a great clue to how he has managed to put competition in perspective.... a great game (they were also really funny)!

Rook Bateson
Won 2 with excellent kuzushi (balance breaking) throws and ne waza despite his inexperience. He got caught with an enormous hip throw in one contest but in seconds had recovered his composure and was smiling as he walked off the mat.
A great competition mindset!

Mark Molodcov
Won 2 lost 1
Mark has shown good improvement in his judo, he really wants to win and was not at all happy to lose his first contest, particularly as he had his opponent in a hold down that he lost. He learned from this mistake and beat his next 2 opponents with very tight hold downs!

Bennie Webb
Lost 2 Drew 1
Bennie is a solid and competitive character who takes his judo seriously. despite his inexperience he fought well losing one to a capable opponent, lost another because he 'ran on' to his opponent. His third contest which was drawn was a shame as I had thought he was winning and asked him to defend a lead that he didn't have (shoot the coach)!

Jax Robinson
Won 2 lost 1.
Jax is a very tough cookie who seems to thrive in competition. His movement and use of kuzushi leaves his opponents falling without any obvious technique using his hands to steer them onto their backs. This frustrated one of his opponents causing him to lose his temper and the contest by disqualification.

Emily Scott
Drew 1 lost 2
Another very natural judoka with great balance and movement. She is inexperienced but not at all out of place in competition. As she gains experience she will learn to deliver in contest what she uses in training.

A big thank you to the parents who made the trip in support of their children as well as Dave for his coaching support, Joe Nunn, Nicole Nunn and BSJK for a great comp.

Please add any photos in the comment section thanks.

A lovely visit by Charlie Cole to the intermediate class last night and a cracking session led by Dave and Charlie (with me cheering from the sidelines)!

The sun has got his hat on, hip hip hooray

A busy day for Judo School coaches Olly and Mark at the IAPS competition yesterday.
It was hosted at Bishopsgate School in Egham.
The organisers Core Judo worked very hard all day to make it happen and it ran to schedule (no mean feat)!
Our schools included, Sunningdale, Ludgrove, Holme Grange, Yateley Manor and St. Neots.
Olly was good enough to help me with matside coaching as my sizeable group of 25 children were competing across 4 mats. Even with Olly's help I missed a few contests!

I was very pleased with our performance as a group and particularly proud that Sunningdale School managed to get within 4 points of the top school trophy.
So many moments that make up a day, one was a memorable comment from a pupil of Ludgrove School. With only half a term of judo experience he is a really natural judoka. I explained that he had won all of his contests and won a Gold medal..."I dont want the Gold yet can I carry on fighting?" Fantastic character watch that space.
The icing on the cake was for a Sunningdale pupil Sam who received the Spirit of Judo Award.
This was given in recognition of his decency in dealing carefully with a less capable opponent.
The competition scoring was carefully arranged in such a way that it was only judoka coached rated 4 or 5 that had their results counted against the school total. This precluded any temptation to look for an easy win.
Consequently even a term of judo was enough to qualify as a coach rated 4 with some of our more robust judoka!
Next year we will endeavour to change some of those bronzes into silvers and those silvers into golds.

Alchemy!

Medals were as follows:-
3 Golds
8 Silvers
10 Bronze

A big thank you to our judoka their parents and our schools for their support.

Also a big thank you to Core Judo Coaching for a memorable day out!

This is a great opportunity to learn from from a great coach. Please contact me directly if you sould like to book a place. I'll be there and already looking forwards to it!

3 Judo School judoka attended the BSJK Red and yellow belt event today and put themselves on the line.
Competition remains a really great and objective test of our judo beyond the weekly training sessions.
Being prepared to take to a mat and face someone who has only one plan for you (the same plan you have for them) already counts as a win for me so well done to each of you.

Layton Cole is already establishing himself as a regular in competition and despite his relative inexperience he put in another great performance making only one mistake to take an excellent silver medal to add to his bronze (gold next?)

This was first competition outing for Sam Pinkney who has a great attitude, a beaming smile when he hears his name called for the next contest, a beaming smile when he wins and the same smile when he loses (that's the tricky one).
He got very close to a Silver but had to settle for a bronze, great effort Sam keep it coming.

Ray Gibbons had a tough day but took his losses with his usual calm and sanguine attitude taking a hard earned bronze.
Ray can produce really solid flowing judo but bringing this judo to competition is the tough bit.

In all I was proud of each of these boys for being there today. The hard reality is that getting better at competition is only possible by entering them regularly.

I would like to thank BSJK for another great and well run competition. It was good to catch up with Jason and the Pinewood judoka today.

Finally a big thank you to the parents who gave their beautiful sunny Sunday to support their children today.

If any of you would like to add any photos please use the comments section below.

Ares Development Event High Wycombe Judo Centre

Yesterday a number of our under 8's together with some of our red belts attended the Ares Development Competition at High Wycombe Judo Centre.

The organisers provided a very welcoming atmosphere that included a group warm up and a chance for the children parade before being divided into their respective groups.

Under 8's

Jax Robinson 🥇
Jax was impressive in his competition debut winning all of his contests with a good variety of throws and strong ne waza.
Some of his contests were very hard fought despite which he never lost his composure.
A moment that will stay with me was when shouting some encouragement "keep it coming Jax" he looked across flicked a thumbs up at me and returned to the fray like a seasoned pro 😂 well done Jax!

Masie Kavanah 🥈
This was Masie's second competition and she showed real progress both in her judo and her level of confidence. Strong Tachi Waza and good pressure on the floor gave her 3 wins and one loss to another strong judoka. Well done Masie.

Marks Molodcov 🥉
Marks took to each of his contests with enthusiasm, he explained with a knowing smile that he had developed a 'secret weapon' I was not quite sure what this might be but he managed a good win by hold down losing his other 3, but still smiling!
Well done Marks.

Bennie Webb 🥉
A great start to his competition career whilst he was lacking experience he wasn't lacking competitive spirit and 'got stuck in' (as they say in Japan 😂) well done Bennie!

Daniel Romero 🥉
Daniel has a wide and natural range of attacks which he uses in randori every week at the club, he is one of the most natural judoka I have come across. Yesterday he seemed more passive than usual, I suspect that his lack of competition experience and the situation was the reason for this. Despite which he seemed happy to have been there and happier yet to take his turn on the podium! Well done Daniel.

Zach Richardson 🥉
A good start for Zach in competition, he lost a battle with his Judo School teammate Jax but did not seem unhappy. Dave was matside for most of his contests and explained that he had given a good account of himself his mum quoted him afterwards "I didn't win but I had fun" and that's all it takes at this point keep entering and watch those medals change colour. Well done Zach.

Over 8's

Arlo Phillips 🥈
Arlo is beginning to look like a seasoned competitor, his maturity and contest awareness was very evident as he beat a number of capable opponents. His understanding of grips and the awareness of his opponents strengths and weaknesses, were very evident as his contests began to look like chess games (unusual at this level) he won 3 contests losing only 1 to take an excellent silver. Well done Arlo.

Lilly Capoul - Kieta 🥈
Lilly has limited competition experience but a very good understanding of what it takes to win. She is calm under pressure and her strategic approach was good enough to take her to a silver medal losing only to one very capable opponent (Lan)!
I think that's Lilly's regular and committed attitude to training will see her continue in her improvement. Well done Lilly

Eva Brownie 🥉
Since joining our club from her school judo classes I have consistently under estimated Eva I was unsure she would be able to enjoy the step up from school to club judo (wrong)!
Her reserved character belies a seriously competitive and resilient nature. I was unsure that she would be able to handle the pressure of competition (wrong again)! She was in some fierce battles and took 2 good wins and a loss to claim her bronze. Note to self...stop underestimating Eva!
Well done Eva.

Isaac Raynham 🥉
Isaac arrived at the competition with some serious nerves, this is a perfectly reasonable and normal response to a competition, if anyone tells you they are not nervous (they are lying)! After stepping out of the frantic and noisy atmosphere of the competition he impressed Dave and me with a decision to take on his first opponent (the strongest in a strong group). He fought well but lost, he decided with no pressure to take on his next opponent and after a great battle took a draw. Shaking off the vestiges of his nerves he managed a win in his 3rd and decided to take on a very capable opponent in his last contest which he lost. So 1 win 1 draw and 2 losses?
Not for me, 4 wins......had he avoided these contests he would have lost but meeting his fears head on in each contest made him already the winner in the more important battle that we all face in job interviews, exams etc.
Judo offers so much more than we can measure in medals.

Dave and I were very proud of this bunch, days like yesterday are what makes this such a great sport.
Thank you to all of the Judo School parents who supported their children and us yesterday.

This was the first time that Ares have run an event aimed at younger less experienced judoka they are breaking with some of the more usual arrangements and innovating I would like to thank Joe Chrianuk and Aaron Turner along with their army of officials and referees for putting together a great day out!

We are looking forward to a great day of judo tomorrow at the Ares development event being held at High Wycombe Judo Centre.
With a number of our under 8's and red belts having their first competition outing.
Dave Cole and myself are looking forward to seeing you all there tomorrow!

Good luck to:-

Jax Robinson
Zak Richards
Daniel Romano
Masie Kavanah
Bennie Webb
Marks Molodcov
Lily Capoul Kieta
Arlo Phillips
Layton Cole
Isaac Raynham
Eva Brownie