Well done to all those that took part in the recent East Midlands Area Mash Up Teams Event, hosted at Cedars Judo Club, Earl Shilton. A great turnout and some excellent Judo all backed up with excellent sportsmanship. A special thanks to the officials and referees who worked hard throughout the day to keep the event running smoothly.

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Another great trip to the International Houvast Judo Tournament in Mierlo, Holland. The standard of judo was higher than ever, with a spectacular display of judo across all ages and weights.
The weekend of Judo saw forty players from the AJA taking part in the event. This year the squad comprised of a lot of players who had not taking part of events at this level before, so was a great development opportunity for most.
Day 1 one saw some great Judo, grit and determination from our palyers, with a good number just missing out on the 3rd place bronze positions.
We then had to wait until day two for a trophy win with Amie Coupland winning a very hard fought for silver medal in the Ladies under 52Kg, only losing to the eventual winner, who was a very impressive dan grade fighter.
All players and coaches can use this event as a great learning experience for their future development in the sport.
A well done to other members who had made their own way to the event with Ollie Penlington and Craig Robbins both winning bronze medals in their events.

What an amazing training session!!

Big well done everyone & massive Thank you to Kelly Petersen Pollard.

Bring on Holland

Congratulations to all those that competed at the National Closed Championships held at the National Events Center in Erdington. All medals winners will form part of the AJA National squad for the coming year, with the gold medalist being eligible to represent the AJA at the 25th Houvast Tournament to be held in Holland from the 19th to 21st May 2023.

A great turnout at the EMA Closed Championship held at Cedars Judo Club, Earl Shilton, Leicester. All Area clubs sent good numbers of judoka resulting in the biggest Area Close event for many years. The standard of judo and the sportsmanship shown was excellent. Well done to all those that competed. A big thank you to all of the officials who gave up their time to make the event possible.

The results were as follows:

A great turnout for the first event of the year held at Castle judo club and under the Instruction of Area Coach Richard Fowkes.

The course was designed for both those fairly new to coaching and for those that wanted to start their coaching journey. More experience coaches were there to pass on their experience, it also gave them a great opportunity to work together sharing, tips, techniques and ideas.

Well done to all those that took parts in the recent area grading held in Earl Shilton.

Results as follows:

A good workout and some fun for all those that attended the Area Training Course held at The Priory City of Lincoln Academy.

The day consisted of 2 hours of techniques and Randori, followed by a 2 hour fun swim.

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A fabulous turnout, a great atmosphere and some excellent Kata’s on display at the Area Kata Course held at Star Judo Club in Burton Upon Trent.

Area Coach, Richard Fowkes delivered a brilliant course covering Naga No Kata, Katame No Kata and Go No Sen No Kata.

A special well done to a couple of much younger members, Maisy and Eva, who demonstrated that you are never too young to start learning your katas.

Congratulations to all those that took part at the AJA National Championships, held at the National Events Centre, Erdington, Birmingham. Results below:

Nice to see another great turnout at the East Midlands Open Championship held at held at Cedars Judo Club, Earl Shilton, Leicester. A great atmosphere and some excellent Judo on display. Thanks you to all of the clubs and mix of associations that attended.

It was great to see the Area Clubs getting together to have a great ‘Fun Day’ doing something a bit different to Judo. Well done to all kids and parents who joined in the fun.

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It was great to see the numbers back for the AJA East Midlands Area Low Grade and Open Grade Championship, held at Cedars Judo Club, Earl Shilton, Leicester.

The following clubs were in attendance: Acorn, ACR, Ashby, Bushi, Castle, Cedars, Droitwich Spa, Hinckley, Kano, Leicester Judo Academy, Lincoln Judo Academy, Panthers, Ruston Marconi, Saltley, Shudan, Skegby, SR Judo, Tanigawa, Worcester JC and Yenton.

Well done to all those that took part in the East Midlands Area Grading held in Digby, Lincolnshire

Well done to all those that took part in the East Midlands Area Age Competition held at Ruston Marconi Judo Club, Lincoln.

A great event at a new venue for the area produced some excellent fights from all age groups.

Results:

Light Weight Teams

Middle Weight Teams

Heavy Weight Teams

Another great trip to Holland, this year it was the 25th International Houvast Judo Tournament in Mierlo. The standard of judo was higher than ever, with a spectacular display of judo across all ages and weights.
The weekend of Judo started great for the Association with Kayla Blunden taking the Bronze in impressive style in girls under 40kg event. We then had to wait until day 2 for the second trophy of the event, which was won Megan Skillen in the Ladies under 78kg class.

From the other players we saw some great Judo, grit and determination, with a good number just missing out on the 3rd place Bronze positions.

All players and coaches can use this event as a great learning experience for their future development in the sport.

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What a fantastic event with a great turnout, everyone appreciating what an honour it was to learn something from such a great player. Not just the current Olympic Bronze medallist, but only 2 weeks ago becoming the European Champion and Ranked #2 in the world.

Chelsie was an amazing coach and was supported by South African International Jasmine Martin and her Strength and conditioning Coach Wayne Lakin.

The event was attended by over 70 Judoka from the AJA, who all enjoyed a great day of Judo.

It was a great turnout for the first of this years Pre-Mierlo National Squad Session, despite it being a bank holiday weekend.
All players worked hard and hopefully took something back to their clubs that they could continue to work on.
The squad are really looking forward to session 2 on the 8th May, under the instruction of Chelsie Giles, Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist and current European Champion.

Congratulations to all those that competed at the National Closed Championships held in Birmingham. Despite the lower numbers than normal due to Covid, the standard of Competition still remained exceptionally high. All medals winners will form part of the AJA National squad for the coming year, with the gold medallist being eligible to represent the AJA at the 25th Houvast Tournament to be held in Holland from the 13th to 15th May 2022.

Congratulations to all those that received well deserved Grade promotions from the National body NEC, for their contributions to the sport of Judo.

A great day at Digby, Lincolnshire.

The day started with a training session for new and existing referees and timekeepers. It was very well attended with everyone getting involved in the theory session and a Q&A’s. This was later followed by a Mini Championship where the new officials had chance to put the theory into practice.

Some great events at the mini championships, well done to all.

A great turnout at the EMA grading with an impressive display of fighting across all the grades.

Results East Midland Area Closed held at Earl Shilton.

It was nice to see a good turnout from the Area clubs at the first of the Championships of 2022.

Clubs in attendance:

Results were as follows:

Area Coach, Rich Fowkes (Centre) with players from EMA clubs at the first event of 2022

It was nice to see a good turnout for the Coaching course at a new venue for the Area, ‘Star Judo Club’, Burton on Trent. We had a good mix of current coaches and the next generation of higher grade Juniors keen to start on the coaching path. A big thank you to the lower grades who came along to help out.

It was great for the Area Clubs to be back on the mat for the first competition since lockdown.

The Judo was exceptional with great techniques and sportsmanship being displayed by the Novices through to the Dan grades.

The first mixed club training session since lockdown was a great success. This East Midlands Area organised event was hosted by Cedars Judo Club at their training venue in Earl Shilton, LE9 7PD.

We had a great turn out with players from both the East Midlands and West Midlands Areas attending.

The players where of all ages and abilities. From the very youngest (3 years old) to the very oldest (pensioner) everyone gave 100%.

A very special thanks to the Coaches, officials and helpers, without whom such event would not be possible.

The world number 1 has done it! Christopher Skelley from Hull has won Gold in the men’s -100kg judo final 

A stunning performance sees Birmingham’s Elliot Stewart take home silver in the men’s -90kg judo!

Following the publication of Sport England’s FAQs , we are delighted that all current restrictions on our sport are set to expire on Monday 19th July!

This will allow members of all ages to return to their dojos and participate in contact judo sessions with no restrictions on numbers.

While this is excellent news for our sport, the danger of Covid is still prevalent in our communities. With rising numbers across the country, we would like to express caution when returning to the sport – we are sure that everyone can’t wait to feel the tatami under their feet once again!

Here is a brief overview of the Government’s recent announcement:

• Full contact judo allowed for adults and under 18’s.
• No legal restrictions indoors or outdoors for participants or spectator numbers
• No capacity caps for club sessions or events
• No travel restrictions
• Facemasks no longer legal requirements, however, consider face masks in confined spaces

Remembrance Day

On Sunday 8th November 2020, Sensi Neil Bourn and 2 of the youngest members of the senior class from Kodokan Judo Club laid a wreath at the war memorial in Droitwich on behalf of the AJA.

PAUSE ~ REFLECT ~ REMEMBER