In the last Newsletter I covered the results of the Cadet and Junior Asian Cups in Hong Kong and Macau, in which we had 4 of our Cadets participate, along with National Cadet Coach (and Head Club Junior Coach) Kerrye. Our athletes achieved Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals plus 4 x 5th places. Upcoming Events: Cadet World Championships (Zagreb Croatia) 23-27Aug23
- Congratulations to Budokan Cadet Bianca Tandean on your selection to the 2023 Cadet World Championships.
Cadet Pan-American-Oceania Continental Championships (Calgary Canada) 7-13Sep23
- Congratulations to Budokan Cadets Bianca Tandean and Max Zollinger (unable to compete due to injury) on your selection to the Pan-American-Oceania Continental Championships, and also to Budokan Head Junior Coach Kerrye as National Cadet Coach for this team.
Senior Pan-American Oceania Continental Championships (Calgary Canada) 15-17Sep23
- Congratulations to Team Budokan's #TeamKatz Nathan Katz and Josh Katz on your selection to the Senior Pan-American Oceania Continental Championships in Calgary Canada 15-17Sep23. This competition will be preceded by a National Training Camp in Melbourne 30August to 6 September. Following the Continental Championships, the boys will compete in the Baku (Azerbaijan) Grand Slam 22-24 Sep followed by some training in Baku. Wishing them all the best on their road to Paris.
Senior Kata World Championships (Abu Dhabi UAE) 28-29Oct23
- Congratulations Bernhard and Bjorn Tandean on your selection to the Senior Kata World Championships to be held in the UAE in October. They will be contesting the Katame-No-Kata (Ne-Waza or ground work Kata).
Events Since May23 Senior World Championships (7-13 May2023) Doha Qatar - Nathan Katz
- After his R32 win against USA and Golden Score (GS) loss to World ranked (WRL) top 20 ISR in the Turkey Grand Slam in March, Nathan’s first match at the Worlds was with the tough Spaniard (WRL16) Gaitero-Martin. 2 Shidos down going into Golden Score (GS) (the second somewhat harsh), the match was close with both athletes threatening, Nathan with Seois and Uchi-Mata. Nathan did all he could taking opportunities that he created but ESP constantly pressured him on grips and the edge. 1 minute in GS, ESP snapped off a grip and Nathan snapped off the other and a third Shido was given – somewhat frustrating but the level shown was high and encouraging.
Upper Austria (Linz) Grand Prix (25May2023) – Nathan Katz
- A week after the Senior WC, Nathan was back on the stage in Austria and a close first match against 2016 Olympic Champion Basile (ITA). 1m15s into the match after feeling out his opponent’s movement, Nathan committed a lovely spinning Tai-Otoshi scoring Waza-Ari. Keeping up attacks but slowing down the pace a little, Nathan matched Basile’s Kata-Guruma and Ashi-Waza attacks with his own Seoi, Sumi-Gaeshi and more threatening spinner attacks. In the closing minute, Basile skipped in for a nice Kata-Guruma scoring Waza-Ari evening up the match. 2m into Golden Score, Nathan attacked with Uchi-Mata but Basile skipped around it and countered with Ashi-Waza – a real shame because this match was Nathan’s to win. Another solid performance with just a bit more confidence needed to break through this level.
Dushanbe (Tajikistan) Grand Prix (2 June2023) – Nathan Katz
- The third competition in this block for Nathan saw him up against Agammedov (TKM). Some hard grip fighting and quite even on threatening attacks, the match was level at 2 Shidos a piece with 30 seconds remaining. More aggressive gripping and Nathan released his lapel grip during a gripping exchange whilst trying to pressure TKM. This saw the third unexpected Shido and a disappointed Nathan leaving the mat. TKM went on to fight for Bronze.
Astana (Kazakhstan) Grand Slam (16 June2023) – Josh Katz
- Off the back of a fantastic performance at the Tel Aviv (Israel) Grand Slam in February where Josh fought for a Bronze medal, and then a massive 12 weeks of committed and accelerated rehab following shoulder surgery, Josh made a comeback to the international Judo stage at the Astana (Kazakhstan) Grand Slam. Amazing effort to be fight ready at that stage, Josh fought in the Round of 16 (R16) against Sufiev (TJK). A very close fought match with Josh ahead by Shido at 3 minutes at which time TJK caught him off the grip with Osoto-Gari for Waza-Ari. An escape from hold down by Josh, injury time for TJK, more huge pressure from Josh and another Shido to TJK and that’s how it ended. Great come back and great effort.
Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia) Grand Slam (23June 2023) – Josh Katz
- A week following Astana, Josh fought in the Mongolia Grand Slam where he faced Mendes (POR) in the R32. At 2.5 minutes Josh was 2 Shidos to 1 ahead and still pressuring with Kouchi and Seoi attacks. In Golden Score Josh secured Osae-Komi for the win. In a close-fought R16 match against World top 20 Enkhtaivan (MGL), the match was level at 1 Shido each going into Golden Score. 2 minutes later with strong attacks by Josh saw another Shido to MGL. 3.5min of GS saw Josh’s drop Seoi countered by MGL with Sumi-Gaeshi. The gap to medal matches starts to get close again. Another strong performance.