Recent news articles

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Hi Budokanis,We hope that you are all still keeping safe and well and coping with the lockdown. We hope also that you enjoyed all the amazing sport of the Olympic Games.  It was sooo good and the coverage was fantastic. A couple of weeks to wait for the Paralympics which is also very exciting.  It’s absolutely crazy that we have already been off the mat for 6 weeks and that the club has run 10 zoom sessions so far after 3 weeks off the mat.

  • Please don’t forget that the club training fees are on hold for the full duration of the club’s closure so anniversary dates for your renewal of club training fees will be extended. Note also that Judo NSW is also extending renewal dates for annual Judo NSW membership so if your registration falls due during the lockdown, please renew it – you will not lose anything and at the same time, you will be ready (with your financial currency) once the club reopens.
  • I have received special Budokan medallions which the club traditionally sources each year from the Perth Mint for presentation after the Nationals. Presentation of these medallions to our 2021 National Champions and also special medallions for our 2021 Olympian and Olympic Referee can be planned only after we return to the club. Our second MONS and Junior Boys and Girls competition is due to be held in less than 3 weeks time and of course will now need to be cancelled.
  • So we have to make the necessary adjustments, and do what we can to keep our club members engaged and of course plan for our return to the club which we are really looking forward to. An important part of this engagement is our Zoom sessions. Whilst learning and practicing Judo via Zoom is far from ideal, it keeps the brain juices flowing in a sport-related way, it keeps some structure to the weekly routine, it keeps our athletes and parents in touch with Judo, with us as their coaches and with each other, and these things are very important.

The links for Budokan Zoom training from now on will be different from past weeks in that we’ve now set up recurring sessions. 

BUDOKAN COVID ZOOM CLASSES BEGIN THIS WEEK & MONDAY NEXT WEEK

We held off making a decision regarding Zoom classes until the duration of the restrictions was better defined. As we are likely to be off the mat for a little while longer, Zoom classes will commence with the Mons group tomorrow (Wednesday night 21st July) followed by Juniors and Seniors on Thursday and the Senior Beginner/Kyu class next Monday. Details and links have been provided to club members via email.  We will update the schedule week by week via the “Budokan Zoomers” Facebook messenger system which I used 12 months ago. There are 50 Budokanis in the messenger group from last year. Please message or text me if you want to be added to this group. It will be much easier to provide updates on the Zoom sessions using this facility as opposed to emails. If you’re not on Facebook, and want updates, let me know and we’ll communicate another way.

NATHAN KATZ LATE SELECTION TO TOKYO 2020 OLYMPIC GAMES

In the last Newsletter, I advised that although Nathan and Josh “fought for a medal in the Asia-Oceania Continental Championships and also fought at probably their highest level at the Senior World Championships winning one match each and having very close matches with much higher ranked opponents in their next round, their Olympic Qualification points were just below what was required to make the cut-off for their respective divisions.”  

  • They spent their third two-week quarantine period this year contemplating their future starting with a well-earned rest and rehabilitation of various body parts which had been band-aided through their training and competition cycles. With significant improvements in their competition performance through this Olympic cycle, planning for 2022 Commonwealth Games and 2024 Olympic Games preparations was also discussed. 

 

  • A series of unusual events then resulted in the Australian Olympic Quota position for the Judo team being vacated and the IJF subsequently reallocating it to the male with the next highest qualification points which was Nathan. This was completely unexpected and Nathan commenced a serious and rapid ramp up to training at competition tempo over a short period before departing for Tokyo on Sunday night 18th July.  Notably, Josh is only 3 points behind him on qualification points in over 1500 points so you can see how close the positions are. Both were deserving of a guernsey but it was a real bonus for Nathan to receive the invitation.

 

  • Many of you have already reached out to Nathan (and also Josh) and I know that they (and Kerrye and I) have appreciated this greatly. I am sure that together with our family you all wish that Nathan and the other 2 Australian Judokas Aoife Coughlan and Katharina Haecker are able to muster their best efforts and deliver great performances on the largest world sporting stage in 5 years, and of course we also wish them and National Coach Daniel Kelly a safe and happy Olympic experience. 

 Nathan competes this Sunday 25th July at 1100 local (Japan) time (1200 Australian time).Athletes in Nathan’s division can be found at https://judobase.ijf.org/#/competition/profile/2035/competitors/2 

  • Judo Australia has released some messages including this one:

 “Rio Olympians Katharina Haecker - Judo Athlete and Nathan Katz will make their second Olympic appearances, while Aoife Coughlan will make her Olympic debut.

  • How to watch ?!

- Nathan (-66kg) competition starts 11am (local time) Sunday 25 July - Nippon Budokan Mat 1- Katharina (-63kg) competition starts 11am (local time) Tuesday 27 July - Nippon Budokan Mat 2- Aoife (-70kg) competition starts 11am (local time) Wednesday 28 July - Nippon Budokan Mat 2

  • Official draw will be 2pm local time - Thursday 22nd July

Channel 7 is the official Olympic broadcaster and you can watch live on 7plus, or you can watch at live sites around the country (check for COVID-19 restrictions).

  • Further details on our website

https://www.ausjudo.com.au/single-post/tokyo-2020-how-to-watch-our-aussie-judokas?fbclid=IwAR101pYF4v0K5qCxW3Q_z0xQnw8cX7XxC6NXrLHAJImdlg4DzW0L8tViDYs 

 

  • See also:

https://www.olympics.com.au/news/tokyo-2020-preview-judo/https://www.facebook.com/judoaus/https://www.olympics.com.au/games/tokyo-2020/team/https://www.olympics.com.au/olympics-live/

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Yet again, the club, community, state and country are being tested in the most dire way.  We hope that all our Budokan members and families and those of our sister clubs are staying safe and well. This is indeed a trying time and, with a cooperating and compliant community, one which we will get through as we did last year.  Below are three pieces of good news which will hopefully make you smile: 

  • Nathan’s surprise late call up to compete at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games as an Australian Judo Team member.
  • As was the case last year, club members will not be financially disadvantaged with the closedown. A credit covering the full period of the club’s closure from 21st June, will be provided regarding training fees.  This will be implemented by extending each member’s training fee renewal date by the full closure period. We hope that this will assist our members with what must already be a stressful financial time.
  • Budokan Zoom classes recommencing this week

 Until we see you all again face-to-face on the mat at the club (hopefully very soon), please stay safe and well and reach out if there is something we can do to help you.

2021 JUDO NATIONALS SUMMARY

The 2021 Judo Nationals were held at the Gold Coast Sport & Leisure Centre in Carrara, from 11 - 14 June 2021. The competition was renamed from the Australian National Judo Championships because Judo VIC athletes were unable to participate. Numbers were a little down in some divisions and Victorian athletes were missed but the show had to go on. Despite significant setbacks and a very inexperienced and young team from Budokan representing NSW, the club was still able to make a significant contribution to the NSW team and to Australian Judo. 

  • The youth and inexperience of our club’s State Team members across all weight divisions is demonstrated by the fact that 40% of our athletes were first timers at Nationals. Clearly, this augers well for our competitive future. 

 Congratulations to the 22 athletes who contested 32 divisions in all 5 age categories, winning:21 medals: 7 Gold, 6 Silver and 8 Bronze. Notably Nathan and Josh Katz could not defend their 2019 National Titles as they were at the Senior World Championships.Additionally, we had 5 athletes contest 9 divisions in Kyu Grades, Masters and No Limits, winning:5 medals: 4 Gold and 1 Silver medal. In total the club’s 27 athletes won:11 Gold, 7 Silver and 8 Bronze medals. Finally 8 Budokan athletes also competed in 7 Kata divisions, winning:2 Gold, 1 Silver and 2 Bronze medals. 

  • Congratulations to all our athletes on your commitment and strong effort in preparing for and competing at this event. Thanks also to our club coaches: Kerrye (Juniors), Rob (Juniors and Seniors), and Dale (Kata) and our fantastic Budokan travelling circus families.

 Budokan was also acknowledged by Judo Australia in being awarded a plaque for the Best 4-Star Club in the 2020 National Recognition Awards Scheme. This is for the largest Australian club with between 200 and 300 members. 

  • Individual results for all our athletes at the Nationals follow:

 

  • Tamsin Black (Gold Junior Girls Open, Bronze Junior Girls)
  • Crosby Peake and Max Zollinger (Gold Senior Boys)
  • Bianca Tandean (Gold Senior Girls, Gold Ju-No-Kata, Silver Nage-No-Kata)
  • Will Zollinger (Gold Cadet Men, Silver Junior Men)
  • Clarissa Vumbaca (Gold Cadet Women and Junior Women, Silver Senior Women)
  • Daniel Kennedy (Gold Masters Men, Silver Kyu Grade Masters, 4th Nage-No-Kata)
  • Scott Young (Gold Kyu Grade Masters, Unplaced Masters Men, 4th Nage-No-Kata)
  • Lynne McCredden (Gold No Limits)
  • Bernhard Tandean (Gold No Limits, Gold Ju-No-Kata, Silver Nage-No-Kata, 4th Katame-No-Kata)
  • Lilly Zollinger (Silver Junior Girls, Bronze Junior Girls Open)
  • Dasha Platonov (Silver Junior Girls)
  • Nicholas Platonov (Silver Senior Boys)
  • Jaeda Liao (Silver Senior Girls)
  • Isaac Murkins (Bronze Junior Boys)
  • Marcus Liao (Bronze Junior Boys)
  • Flynn Mogilin (Bronze Senior Boys)
  • Isabella Vumbaca (Bronze Junior Women, Unplaced Senior Women)
  • Phoenix Edwards (Bronze Senior Men, 5th Cadet Men, Unplaced Junior Men)
  • Montanna Poulsen (Bronze Senior Women, Unplaced Junior Women)
  • David Willison (Bronze Nage-No-Kata, Bronze Goshin-Jitsu)
  • Demin Cai (Gold Junior Nage-No-Kata, Unplaced Senior Boys)
  • Aaron Xu (Gold Junior Nage-No-Kata)
  • Ethan Zhang (5th Junior Boys)
  • Eva Murkins (5th Junior Girls, Unplaced Junior Girls Open)
  • Elisha Mistry (4th Cadet Women, Unplaced Kyu Grade Women)
  • Bjorn Tandean (4th Katame-No-Kata)
  • Callum Dick, Shanning Mak, Conrad van Dort (Unplaced)
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