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COMBAT AUSTRALIA (CombatAus) SPIRIT AWARD

The Combat Institute of Australia (CombatAUS) is a purely High-Performance focussed organisation, aiming to deliver sustained international success. There is a partnership approach between CombatAUS and its Member Sports (Judo, Boxing, Taekwondo, Wrestling, and Fencing) delivering enhanced international results by ensuring a dedicated High Performance (HP) focus, increased and more secure investment funding and access to a greater range of performance support services for athletes. The Judo National Performance Centre (NPC) is based in Melbourne. At the Annual CombatAUS Awards Gala held in Melbourne on 3rd December, Josh won the CombatAus Athlete Spirit Award, a wonderful tribute to his resilience and grit throughout 2024. Congratulations Josh.

ATHLETE CATEGORISATION & NATIONAL ATHLETE DEVELOPMENT SQUAD SELECTION

As prescribed by the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), athlete categorisation is a national framework to identify, track and prioritise athletes at each stage of the Performance Pathway. Josh Katz still remains the only Senior athlete in NSW and only male in Australia to be categorised at “Podium Potential”.

  •  I am also very proud to announce that a number of Budokan athletes have recently been selected or re-selected to National Development Squads for Cadets or Junior Men/Women. 

 Cadet Development Squad – comprising 16 athletes from around AustraliaCongratulations to 2 Budokan athletes:

  • Crosby Peake and Bilguundalai (Billy) Nyamdorj who have been selected to the Cadet Development Squad

 Junior Development Squad – 24 athletes from around AustraliaCongratulations to 5 Budokan athletes:

  • Clarissa Vumbaca who remains on the Junior Development Squad
  • Max Zollinger, Aaron Xu, Nikola Dobric and Bianca Tandean, who have all moved from the Cadet to the Junior Development Squad

 Because Budokan is a high-performance club, we incentivise and support athletes who have high goals and put in the hard work in a number of ways:

  • Support, guidance and provision of strength and conditioning programs
  • Additional competition strategy technical Judo sessions
  • If achieving AWE categorisation or membership to Cadet or Junior Development Squads, athletes do not pay club training fees. This assists them to be able to participate in overseas and domestic competitions and camps.

If selected to Nationals and overseas competitions, some individual financial support is provided. 

PRESIDENT/COACHING CO-ORDINATOR’S ANNUAL REPORT

I mentioned in the last Newsletter that the 2024 Budokan AGM was held on Monday 4th November at the club and that one of the main items presented was the President/Coaching Coordinator’s Report. As promised, this report has been included with this Newsletter as an attachment to the email which accompanies the Newsletter.  The report is deliberately comprehensive as it goes into quite a bit of history regarding the club’s competition performance both domestic and international. It should satisfy those of you who like statistics or who want to learn more about how far the club has come over a number of years.

  • I am still keen to talk to any club member or parent who wants to contribute to the club in any area of your expertise. We have a solid Committee involved in a number of activities but I would like to make some progress next year in a few areas which are yet to be exploited.  Please consider this opportunity to support your club.

Alternatively, if you don’t have much time but have some ideas on what you think we could do better or more of, feel free to approach me or Kerrye or any other Committee member or email us.

PDF icon president_coach_coord_report_-_agm_4nov24.pdf

2024 ANNUAL BUDOKAN AWARDS NIGHT THURSDAY 5TH DECEMBER

Budokan’s annual premier event was held last Thursday and celebrated the club’s achievements and those of our athletes and volunteers. Thank you to all those who attended. At this time of year, it is unfortunate that there are so many conflicting school and work activities so it was really gratifying that numbers were so high.  Kerrye, Nathan and I hosted the event and with the help of our Committee, coaches, Olympic representatives and special guests, presented awards against a vast array of criteria, from encouragement, improvement, beginner achievement, attendance, grading proficiency, competition runners-up and best-of by age category and gender, as well as volunteer, distinguished service, Judo spirit and the coveted Coaches Award. Special plaques were presented to Josh Katz on achieving his second Olympic Games representation and to Lubo Petr for officiating his third Games as an IJF referee. We then presented 53 awards to 66 recipients. We added a couple of nice touches this year with Josh presenting some Olympic memorabilia and Committee member Andras Koltai presenting the new Budokan key rings, bag tags and medal holders to some award winners. 

  • For award winners who were unable to attend the evening, we will attempt to present these at the club at the next opportunity. Congratulations to all of you who stepped up this year, who trained hard and enjoyed your Judo and made improvements or who set goals and worked hard to achieve them. The pride in everyone receiving acknowledgement, awards and those presenting was absolutely palpable.

 

  • An attachment to the email accompanying this Newsletter contains a summary of the club’s achievement as described during the Awards Night, as well as all the awards presented and the recipients.

 

  • Thank you so much to Carlo Barbarulo and https://www.pizzaalfresco.com.au/ who provided the sumptuous delights of his wood-fired pizzas, arguably the best pizzas in the world. Thank you also to Carlo for his generous sponsorship.

 Finally, on behalf of Kerrye and the club coaches and Committee, I want to thank all Budokan club members for your generosity in contributing to the lovely gifts we received during the Awards Night. This was greatly appreciated.

PDF icon 2024_awards_night_-_summary.pdf

PRESIDENT’S END OF YEAR MESSAGE

Hi to all Budokanis, So, this is our second Newsletter for December, the one which I said in the last Newsletter would be the last one for the year, and so here it is! 

  • I have enjoyed writing all of the Newsletters and in this one, there has been just so much to reflect upon over the year. The year peaked gradually to a crescendo, to an explosion of positive energy and enthusiasm which was our 22nd Annual Budokan Awards Night. What a super evening of reflection, acknowledgement of effort and achievement, and a tribute to the work of all the athletes, coaches and volunteers.

 

  • What a great year we’ve had!  Some years are quieter than others, but this one was an absolute boomer, in every respect. We are so proud of the achievements of our members, whether they are athletes on the mat challenging themselves to an amazing sport, or the dedicated and expert coaches developing the skills and moulding the characters of the athletes, or the behind-the-scenes volunteers bolstering up the Budokan framework within which we can all work and perform to our best.

 

  • As Judoka, we know that the challenges to achieve big goals are considerable and often frightening, the road can be long, often paved with what seems like insurmountable obstacles. We know that the sport is complex and difficult. And so it takes determination and grit to persevere, and the more we persevere, the stronger we get.

 

  • For some, there may tangible rewards coming in the future, and for others, there may have already been such rewards, but the key here is that it’s not just about the tangible reward like a medal, it’s about the satisfaction of the effort, and achieving the next milestone. As is the case for everything worthwhile in life, the recipe is training consistently hard, believing unfailingly in the process, taking every opportunity to improve and move forward, and being focussed and driven with grit and heart. Putting everything into a sport as challenging as Judo, builds resilience and discipline, skills which transfer to everyday life, and this is irrespective of the level achieved. Such is the value of Judo.

 

  • Despite the challenges, from my (of course) unbiassed viewpoint, Judo is the greatest sport in the world, whether you’re a serious competitor, a recreation player, a Kata exponent, or a parent just trying to understand what their kids are doing on the mat.    

 

  • I’ll leave this end-of-year message with a little piece of philosophy which reflects the above. I’d love to take credit for it, but alas I cannot; the credit for the full version goes to former US President and Nobel Prize winner Theodore Roosevelt. I can only say that it embodies the core values of goal-setting and effort, and it has been my mantra as a Judo coach for as long as I can recall.

 The short version is this:Far Better It IsTo Dare Mighty ThingsThan To Rank With Those Poor Timid SoulsWho Know Neither Victory Nor Defeat. Roosevelt’s full version is this: 

  • “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

 Thank you to you all for your efforts this year, for being a part of the great family that is Budokan, for giving us the privilege of helping you through your Judo journey and for letting us into your lives in this way. We hope that the journey has and continues to be fulfilling for you and we look forward to seeing you grow both on and off the mat, as we try to do. 

  • Wishing you all the very best over the festive season and whichever way you choose to spend it, please come back to us in the new year, safe and happy with a renewed vigour and purpose.

 Enjoy this Newsletter and  “see you on the mat” for just a few more sessions in 2024.                                                                                                                                                                    Rob K

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