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25th January 2007 - The British Open turns 40 on Saturday
While most people tremble at the prospect of reaching middle age this year's British Open will take on new youthful vitality with a move to the K2 at Crawley and the prospect of some exciting judo, especially in the women's 63kgs and mens 90kgs middleweight categories.

Reigning  European champion Sarah Clark (left) is expected to meet 2006 Birmingham World Cup and 2004 World 63kgs Junior Champion, Ronda Rousey, in the final as both will be seeded in opposing tables. Interestingly, Ronda's mother AnnMarie Burns won a British Open 52kgs bronze (BUY PHOTO NOW) medal in 1983 at Crystal Palace on the right. That was the year before she became the first American world (BUY PHOTO NOW) champion at  Vienna. With the Rio de Janeiro Worlds in September and the Beijing Olympics the following year both Clark and Rousey will be determined to start this preparatory year with a title. Which one will it be?

2005's enthralling men's middleweight final between Budokwai club mates Winston Gordon, left, and 2005 USA champion Robby Rich, below right, saw Rich steal the contest in the closing seconds with a kata-guruma for yuko after Gordon had led the match with three kokas. Gordon went on to win bronze at the 2006 Europeans but since then both players have not had a good year with Gordon being injured for a lot of the time and Rich having some disappointing results at home and abroad.

Now, to add to their potential problems, kata-guruma and drop-seoi-nage specialist Peter Cousins, below left, the surprise  2006 European 100 kgs bronze medallist, will again be fighting at 90 kgs. With no one else in the British team capable of a similar result at the light heavyweights, Cousins is assured of the place but will try to prove his worth at his natural weight and sneak a chance of fighting in the February Paris and Hamburg World Cups at 90kgs, pushing either Gordon or Rich out of the reckoning. All this will be with the ultimate aim of later selection for the Belgrade Europeans in April when only one of the three will be eligible. Sunday will be very interesting!

Another competitor preparing for the Beijing Olympics is the rarely beaten 17 year old Jean-Rene Badrick, a recipient of a 2012 Scholarship and gold medallist at the senior US Open last year along with European Cadet champion at 66kgs. Last October, fighting at 73kgs, "J R" as he is commonly known, won his eighth National Age Band Championship, and comfortably holds the record. His progress into the senior divisions can only be compared with the same period in the career of Neil Adams OBE. Often shorter than his opponents, Badrick competitively spent less than 5 minutes on the mat at December's Senior British Closed eliminating all his older opponents by ippon.

The competition on Saturday may not be quite so easy with fortysix under 23 fighters over from the USA, led by double Olympic medallist Jimmy Pedro Jnr, along with Canada for the annual European tour that starts with the British Open. They include Taylor Takata USA, who won a bronze at the last British Open in December 2005. Also present at 66kgs will be Jeremy Liggett (pronounced Ligit) who won the 66kgs title at November's Toronto Hatashita International with a combination of leg sweeps, tai-otoshi, uchimata and armlocks. His strengths come from the personal tuition of USA coach and world silver medallist Jason Morris. Michal Popiel from Canada, who reached fifth at the recent World University championships, will also be looking for a medal in this category, while the reigning champion, Colin Oates, will try hard to retain his title. Justin Flores, who lost to Badrick at the 2006 US Open final, will also be there looking for revenge.

After Sunday the USA and Canadian teams, along with others, will be taking part in the BJA's training sessions at the Dartford Judo Club's impressive £4.5m premises, left, at Cotton Lane, Dartford under the guidance of Alan Roberts 7th dan. The sessions are Monday (29th) 14:00 to 16:30pm, Tuesday 10:00 to 12:00 and 14:00 to 16:30pm, Wednesday 10:00 to 12:00 and 14:00 to 16:30pm. Foreign judoka will be able to train without charge. See also the BJA website for the K2 address and other information concerning this weekend. go to News. Source David Finch

11th December 2006 - Second day of the Hatashita Toronto International added with every gold medallist winning 500 dollars. The male and female Grand Champions doubled their money and won 1000 dollars each. In the case of both Grand Champions Nick Tritton QC and Marylise Levesque QC they also won their divisions of 73kgs and under 78kgs  respectively on the same day increasing their total winnings to 1500 dollars each. Marylise Levesque is on the left receiving her check from Judo Ontario President, Charlie Formosa. Sixty kilograms champion, Sergio Cavellini Pessoa also from Quebec, is on the right.

20th November 2006 LINK TO: Toronto Sun Story about Hatashita International Judo Open
18th November 2006 -Tourney honours family's efforts in Ontario judo Waterloo Region's first family of judo is putting its stamp on one of Ontario's top tournaments.  The old Ontario Open has been renamed the Hatashita International Judo Tournament in honour of the local family's dedication to the sport. The event runs Nov. 24-26 at Mississauga's Hershey Centre and attracts about 700 amateur athletes from across Canada. The Hatashita clan is known for its success on and off the mat. Kitchener's Roman Hatashita is a former Olympian and was a member of Canada's national team for a decade. He currently owns and operates Hatashita Enterprises, a wholesaler and online retailer of judo uniforms and accessories. His father John, a former president of Judo Ontario and an instructor with a fifth degree black belt, will be inducted into the Ontario Judo Hall of Fame on the opening day of the tournament. John's late brother Frank was the former president of Judo Canada and vice-president of the International Judo Federation.  The final day of the tourney will see judokas of all ages and weights compete for $1,000 and a Mizuno sponsorship in the Ultimate Champions Division. (Brochure and tee shirt photos by David Finch)

Audrey La Rizza FRA 52kgs
 

September 2006 German Open - See Athens Olympic Champion, Yvonne Boenisch, at her best form
repeatedly throwing with uchi-mata for ippon at this link

26th October - Paradise Warrior Retreat Features Mike Swain

Four-time Olympian and 1987 World Judo Champion Mike Swain (Left at San Jose University in 1994 and right in the final of the 1985 Seoul Worlds where he won silver) will be instructing at the Paradise Warrior Retreat in beautiful Malibu, Calif. from Dec. 1-3.  This event also will be attended by mixed martial arts legend Bas Rutten and current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Chuck Liddell.

 

The purpose of this seminar is to instil the feeling of confidence in one’s mixed martial arts skills. Special guests will be holding several seminars on a wide variety of fighting styles, self defense exercises, self discipline, combat strategies and submission techniques, with the underlining goal to create a better, well rounded mixed martial artist. 

If you are interested in signing up for this spectacular mixed martial arts event please visit www.swainsportsintl.com.
 

22nd October 2006 - Badrick takes gold at U.S Open on second day. According to USJudo Justin Flores (USA) dominated the start of his 66kgs finals match against Jean-Rene Badrick (GBR), throwing Badrick in the opening minute.  The throw was ruled out of bounds, but the Referee Education Commission over ruled the decision and called the throw for a yuko instead for the American.  Less than a minute later, Badrick threw Flores for an ippon and the gold medal. Badrick's win comes just a week after winning the 73kgs Band D (16 to 17 yr old) British Judo Association's National Age Band Championships for a record eighth time in succession. His club is the Willesden Judo Club.
The U.S Open Men’s 66kg results:
1. Jean-Rene Badrick (GBR)                        2. Justin Flores (Palo Alto, Calif. / San Shi)
3. Kenny Hashimoto (Thornton, Colo. / Northglenn Judo)
3. Taraje Williams-Murray (Brooklyn, N.Y. / NYAC / Starrett Judo)
5. Taylor Takata (Harlingen, Texas / Harlingen USA Judo National Training Site)
                                   5. Daniel Santos (BRA)
 

22nd October 2006 - Miresmaeili sought by two German Bundesliga teams
Iranian Student News Agency - Tehran Service: Sport

TEHRAN, Oct.22 (ISNA)-An Iranian judo champion stated that he was offered a chance by two German teams to participate in the rich German judo Bundesliga.

The Iranian Judo champion and double World Champion in 2001 (right) and 2003 (left) , Arash Miresmaeili, stated that the two German teams had offered him a chance to participate in the German League which is independent from the European League. "These two leagues are different from each other and I can participate in both," he asserted. "I've not yet replied to their offers, I must think about them," he added.
 

21st August 2006 - details kindly received from Rusty Kanokogi

Memorial for Radomir Kovacevic

A memorial service for Radomir Kovacevic, a 1980 Olympic medalist, will be held at 6 p.m. Oct. 3 at the Crenshaw Christian Center East at 1 West 96^th St. Manhattan. 

A reception will follow at the Dwight School gym at 18 W. 89^th St.

 Kovacevic was a senior instructor at the New York Athletic Club who passed away on June 15 in Belgrade after a long illness.  A graduate of Tokai and roommate of Yamashita, Kovacevic is survived by his wife Savka and three children. On the left he is shown at the 1979 Paris Worlds where he won an Open weight bronze medal. On the right he is attacking Vitaly Kuznetsov of the Soviet Union at the 1980 Moscow Olympics where he defeated the Russian for an Olympic bronze o95kgs. Kovacevic died at 52 after battling cancer for 18 months. More details for the service.&  Dwight School link.
 

19th July Lowell puts chokehold on 2008 judo event  by DAVID PERRY, Lowell Sun Staff                      The three-day competition is slated for July 11-13, 2008,"We're psyched to host this event," said Jimmy Pedro, 35, yesterday by phone from Florida. "I've competed in this sport forever and this is the first time since I've been involved that we've been able to bring judo on this scale to Massachusetts."

"This is great," said Deb Belanger, director of the Greater Merrimack Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau, who helped Pedro craft the bid on short notice. "Another championship event coming to the city of Lowell." Read the full story
 

24th May - Ze'evi eyes Tampere European Championship podium again
By Rami Hipsh  Haaretz.com
The European Championship has been a happy hunting ground for judoka Arik Ze'evi over the past five years. With three gold medals and a silver during that time, Israel's senior judoka again is a candidate for a medal at this year's event in Tampere, Finland, which begins Friday.
But this time around, Ze'evi could find a place on the podium a lot harder to come by.

Ze'evi has had a tough year. After taking the bronze at the Athens Olympics in 2004, Ze'evi took off some time before winning the silver at last year's European Championship in the Netherlands. He lost to Christophe Lamber of France in the finals. THE FULL STORY
 

8th May China shines at international judo tournament in Vietnam

At this weekend's two day international event in Hanoi, China won six gold medals followed by South Korea with four golds. Jang Sung Ho from South Korea (left at Athens) won the 100kgs title. Jang was a silver medallist at the Athens Olympics in 2004 losing to Ihar Makarau BLR in the final.

After two days of competition with the participation of 11 teams from seven countries of China, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, Laos and host Vietnam, the judokas from China's selected teams bagged home six golds, three silvers and three bronzes. They were followed by South Korea, Vietnam I, Guangxi, Japan, Laos, Vietnam's Hanoi, Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City, Thailand, Vietnam II, and Indonesia.
 

3rd May BRITAIN'S CRAIG FALLON NUMBER ONE IN SLOVENIA
Craig Fallon has taken gold in the Slovenia B Tournament (Dax Cup), which took place on the 29th - 30th April. This was the first gold for Fallon since the World Championships last year and proves he is in good form ahead of the European Championships in Tampere in Finland on 26th - 28th May. Other European hopefuls Sarah Clark (-63kg) and Matthew Purssey (-81kg), both won bronze medals. Clark has continued her form from the GB World Cup by gaining another bronze medal. Strong performances also came from Faith Pitman and Peter Lomax.
Britain wins Sixteen medals in Estonia

On Saturday 22nd April British talent shone through at Junior A Tournament in Estonia, with the squad managing to pick up a total of 16 medals. Charlotte Farbon, Kimberly Renicks, Gemma Gibbons, Abbie Cunningham and David Groom all won gold medals. The gold is the second for Groom in as many months, having won his first international gold in March at the Junior A Tournament in Portugal.

29th April - Teenager Ishii takes Yamashita's 29 year record   At the age of 19 years and 4 months, Satoshi Ishii (left at the 2005 Tourni de Paris) became the youngest winner of the Japanese Open weight title,  when he threw Olympic and double world champion Keijii Suzuki with o-uchi-gari, beating Yamashita's record by six months that he set in 1977.

Ishii , the 2004 world junior champion in the 100-kg class, also became the first in 47 years to win in his first appearance in the national championship held at the Nippon Budokan. Isao Inokuma last achieved the feat in 1959.

In the final, Ishii was largely kept defensive and blocked every attempt by Suzuki to execute effective manoeuvres before capitalizing on a momentary lapse of concentration by the two-time defending champion for an all-important "yuko" point. Read the full Japan Economic Newswire story
 

26th April - EXPERIENCED TEAM NAMED BY BRITISH JUDO FOR TAMPERE EUROPEANS British Judo has announced an experienced team for the 2006 European Championships, which will take place in Tampere, Finland from 26th – 28th May 2006. A European title will be in the sights of Craig Fallon who won the –60kg World title in September last year. The 23-year-old has not competed in a European Championships since he clinched silver at Dusseldorf in 2003.  Four times European Champion, Karina Bryant (right at Rotterdam Europeans in 2005) will be looking to hold on to her current European +78kg title.  FULL STORY AND PICTURES AT THIS LINK
 

2006 USA JUDO INTERNATIONAL MASTERS TOURNAMENT - Results only
 

2006 USA Judo National Championships (April 24th) - Report and results for both days. 
The first day of the USA Judo Senior National Championships, held Friday in Houston, Texas, featured several key upsets as up-and-coming players took their first National Titles and others returned from retirement to make comebacks. Nikki Kubes (Fort Worth, Texas/Fort Worth Judo/78kg) is best known for being the second youngest judo player at the 2004 Olympic Games.  At 17, Kubes was considered to be one of the prodigies of the sport and finished ninth in her Olympic debut.  MORE............
 

14th April - ROUSEY AND LEE TAKE GOLD AT PAN AM JUNIORS - Ronda Rousey (Buffalo Grove, Ill./63kg) and Bobby Lee (Lauderhill, Fla./North Miami USA Judo National Training Site/73kg) each added another title to their judo resumes with gold medal wins at the Pan American Junior Championships, held Friday at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. Just as when she last won this event in 2004, Rousey also received the Female Junior Outstanding Competitor Award. Bobby Lee, who was voted Most Inspirational Male Athlete, afterwards said “I’m happy with how I fought today. Last year I finished fifth and so this kind of erases things.  I think this time I had a better day and just fought better.” Full story at this LINK    
Pictures: Rousey with gold at Birmingham World Cup and Lee at December British Open.
 

13th April 2006 - Jimmy Pedro Video testimonial from Bob Berland, USA 1984 Olympic silver medallist
Jimbo, Your DVD is awesome! What an absolutely phenomenal career you have had...I hope you are satisfied with what you have accomplished. You are by far the most decorated Judo Player this country has ever seen and you earned it! Thank you for letting me share in your experiences it was truly my honor. Good luck with your new life it will be full of new challenges which you will no doubt face with the same grace, skill and intensity that you have demonstrated as an Olympic and World Class Athlete. This will undoubtedly lead you down yet a another path filled with new successes!
All my best to you and your entire family!
With much admiration! Bob                Order your copy at 46.99 USD from this link
 

7th April - Britain win four medals at the spectacular 2006 Birmingham  World Cup. Great Britain won four medals at the inaugural GB World Cup for women in Birmingham at the weekend. On Sunday, Camberley’s Karina Bryant was disappointed to narrowly miss out on gold after being thrown for ippon by Olympic bronze medallist Tea Donguzasvili of Russia, in the final seconds of the +78kg weight category final.   Bryant appeared to have the top spot secured after leading on scores throughout the contest, but with two seconds left, the Russian denied the British spectators a perfect end to the weekend.  Britain took a second medal in the +78kg weight category with Simone Callender winning bronze in match that could appear uneventful on paper.  After no score in either regulation or golden score time the winner was decided by the judges.  Read Emma Reed's full story
 

2nd April 2006 - Rousey takes Gold at Birmingham World Cup - Ronda Rousey (Buffalo, Grove, Ill./NYAC/Cohen’s Judo/63kg) became the first U.S. woman to win a European A-Level tournament in nearly a decade when she won gold at the Birmingham World Cup in Great Britain on Saturday. Rousey (right against Marzok GER) went undefeated in five matches to claim her second senior European gold medal, following a win at the B-Level Belgian Open in Arlon in February. The 19-year-old ousted her first two opponents by ippon (instant win, similar to a knockout in boxing). In the quarter-finals, Rousey had another meeting with Christina Marzok, the German she defeated in the semi-finals in Belgium.  Rousey scored throughout the match with two kokas (smallest points) and a yuko (quarter-point) before ultimately winning by waza-ari (half-point). Next up for the Athens Olympian was Sara Alvarez (ESP), a three-time World Championship medalist who won her first senior European event when Rousey was just 7-years-old and has claimed nine A-Level titles since then.   Rousey defeated Alvarez in two and a half minutes with her third ippon of the day to advance to gold medal match. In the final, Rousey threw Fanny Riaboff (FRA), a 2005 World Cup Champion at 57kg, for ippon with o uchi gari (major inner reaping, circling leg throw) to become the first U.S. woman to win an A-Level event since three-time Olympian Sandra Bacher won the Budapest Bank Cup in 1997. Rousey’s win also makes her one of only two U.S. athletes to achieve A-Level status in 2006 and is expected to move up to a top-six World Ranking next week.  Nicole Jomantas.