Monday 22 December 2014

Big Judo End of Year Grading

Sorry it has take a little while to get pictures of the grading up unfortunately a power outage at our house killed my computer so was offline for a couple of days.  Sorry for the delay.

The grading went really well. In summary:

  •  The grading was run in a traditional format bringing a large group of our team together for the event;
  • We graded 41 kids.;
  • At the top end we now have 5 kids well on their way to Orange belts and 10 new Yellow belts;
  • The kids were well behaved and we were able to get through the process pretty quickly;
  • We also had lots of parents and grandparents there supporting the kids ;
  • Finally, we were very well supported with assessors and visitors and the following people helped us out:


o   David Mair – A Fourth Dan Black belt who spent nearly a decade in Japan, is a very experienced coach and a key technical sounding board for me
o   Rob Levy – A Fifth Dan Black Belt and the current National Coach
o   Brent Cooper – A Seventh Dan Black belt, New Zealand’s most successful Judo Olympian, Commonwealth Games Gold medalist and the current National Technical Director

The bottom line though is that Tracey, Jordan, Geoff and Henry have worked hard all year and their efforts paid off with a really good result. One of the best things about being involved in Big Judo is seeing the instructors grow and develop- Well done team. 
The team getting ready to start.



Another view this time showing the instructors and assessors lined up and ready to go.
Rob Levy ran the warm up and you can see Dave warming up with the kids.


Dave running the Yellow Belts through their paces. 

Henry Wu helping Dave discuss some technical points with the Yellow Belts. 


The White Belts lined up and getting their results 1 or 2 Yellow Tags. The kids going for full Yellow Belts and Orange Tags are sitting along the back wall



My new favourite photo of me doing Judo! It is enormously satisfying to see such a nice group of kids (and adults) enjoying Judo together. 

Tuesday 4 November 2014

Information for Contest this Weekend


Competition time this Sunday so thought it might be good to put up some information for our parents and supporters.  So you know whats going on and can follow the action.  

First of all the 'mat'. The mat is the contest area and the picture shows its key features.  The action takes place inside a square 8-10 metres wide called the contest area.  Around the contest area is a row of different coloured mats (normally red) that indicate the boundary of the contest area. This in turn is surrounded by a wide safety area,  


Players (under 16) win by:

  • Throwing their opponent with force and control onto their back; or
  • By throwing their opponent to the ground and holding them on their back.
Above the age of 16 players can also force their opponent to submit using 'submission' techniques such as arm bars, strangles and chokes.


The contest is supervised by a referee and in larger contests the referee is assisted by corner judges. The referee scores the player's throws and signals their score using hand signals as outlined below.  
 Hope this is helpful.





Sunday 26 October 2014

Big Judo - Howick Judo Fun Day




Big Judo is mobilizing for the Howick Academy of Judo Fun Day on 9 November 2014.  We are all looking forward to putting together a strong team of kids ready and willing to compete.  We'll keep you all posted on the results but here are some pictures from our last outing.

Big Judo dominating on the ground


Another Big Judo player muscling the competition on the ground.  This is a great photo look at the strong body position.

Sorry couldn't resist putting in another picture of one of our kids holding someone down.

When all is said and done though this is actually what it is all about. Kids having fun and being part of the team.

Me and Jordan.  Feeling good. We love watching the kids at work! 

Wednesday 24 September 2014

Big Judo Star Visits Pukekohe Too

Tim Slyfield Commonwealth Games Judo medalist visited Big Judo Pukekohe on Tuesday night. We had a great time the kids really enjoyed the opportunity to meet him and I think Tim enjoyed the opportunity to spend some time with the kids.  Awesome night.


Nice photo of the Puke crew.  Tim in front and Tracey and Ben at the back.

Sunday 21 September 2014

Big Judo Star Visits Big Judo Sandringham

Big Judo star Tim Slyfield visited the kids at Big Judo Sandringham this weekend. Tim is an Olympian and won a bronze medal at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

Tim had a nice talk with the kids and all the kids had a chance to hold his medal and some of the kids even had a chance have a wrestle with the big guy.

Most important though is that as well as being a Judo champion Tim is a family man, well educated, articulated, gives back to Judo and is successful in business. Put simply a good role model and we were very happy to have him visit.



Tim talking to the kids about his Judo experiences.


Tim with the kids and instructors around him.

Wednesday 10 September 2014

Big Judo Competition Success

Congratulations to Jordan and Trevor.  Jordan got a Bronze in the -81 kg category at the North Island Champs and Trevor got Silver in the -90 kg Masters category. Awesome effort!

Jordan looking after the kids one Saturday. Cool photo eh!

Trevor (in blue) with Big Tony at the Police Club.  Both club Dads and staunch supporters.

Monday 25 August 2014

Big Master at Big Judo

Seventh Dan Brent Cooper cam and ran a session at the Police today. Nice class. Brent is New Zealand's most successful international Judo player and National Technical Director. It was great to have him on the mat and team had a good time and learned heaps.


Brent in the middle teaching a bit turnovers.

Monday 18 August 2014

Big - Big Judo Beginners Class

Post Commonwealth Games success we are getting lots of new kids wanting to do Judo. Check out these photos from the beginners class in town,
Lots of kids learning about breaking balance and throwing.

Lots of new kids lined up ready to learn (and plenty of parents in the background)

Sunday 17 August 2014

Big Judo Police Update

Been having some good sessions with the guys in Central over the last few weeks. Numbers are OK and we are developing a nice relaxed technical session - with a little bit of fighting thrown.  Social Judo for grown ups - nice!
The team training. Notice the generally relaxed attitude!

Tony and Trev show off their new Judo suits.

Sunday 27 July 2014

Commonwealth Games Big Judo Success

The team at Big Judo wanted to say congratulations to the New Zealand Commonwealth Games Judo team.
Awesome effort!!  It is fantastic to see such a successful team.  At Big Judo we love Judo and when Kiwi Judoka win and get fantastic publicity for our sport it is wonderful - Thanks heaps

Judo in the Herald - Fantastic

Another great picture from the Herald.  James's Dad, Tim, in action.  Awesome 


Monday 21 July 2014

Big Judo Term Three Starts

Term Three starts this week. Ben, Geoff, Tracey and Jordan are all ready and raring to go.


Saturday 12 July 2014

A Quick Community Notice

Poster for a fundraiser for one of the schools that some our kids come from - nothing to do with Judo - but Big Judo is about more than just Judo and supporting local school is a good thing to do!

Monday 30 June 2014

Big Judo Contest Photos - Epic

Its been a week since we competed and I have finally worked out how to use Drop Box and downloaded the photos.  Thanks heaps Jonny we got some really good photos and here is a small selection. 

Photo of the day! Thanks Jonny this is a great shot. 

Coaching on the sideline. 

Where every fight starts - standing up.

But they normally end up down on the ground and when they do an aggressive application of the principles of  Kosen Judo is a great recipe for success.  

A nice kesa gatame (scarf hold).
Another nice example of ground control.

Jordan and Ben feeling happy!

More important our kids having a great time doing Judo!

Thursday 26 June 2014

Big Judo Hoodies



Ben and Tracey modelling the new Big Judo hoodies.  Very fashionable in either pink or blue. Warm too.

Want one? Then talk to Ben, Tracey or Jordan or drop Lucy and email.

Wednesday 25 June 2014

Big Judo Contest

Big Judo team for the Judokwai kid's competition did team very well last weekend.  We took eighteen kids to the contest and a huge group of very supporting parents, coaches and helpers.  The contest was very exciting and Big Judo took home a nice stash of medals (four golds, three silvers and seven bronzes).  We are slowly gathering up photos and will be putting them up on the blog.


Angus and Jami 'going hard' in the Under 24 kg category.

Jamie winning by hold down with kesa gatame.  All the coaches were really pleased that we are dominating the ground fighting. Our kids were transitioning from stand up to ground fighting really and escaping from ground holds.  Teaching Rick's style of Kosen Judo this made us really proud. 


Although contest like this are mostly about providing a 'safe' and controlled environment for kids to test their Judo skills and learn some great lessons about themselves such as  being courageous and sportsmanlike we still love it when they win. The two boys on the left are Zac and Jamie from Big - with their medals.

Monday 9 June 2014

Big Judo Fighting Badge


Traditionally, Judo teams have often worn badges in contest. In old Japan foot soldier's wore their lord's mon (a logo similar to a European coat of arms) into battle and the tradition continues with Japanese Judo teams using a variety of badges.

This year we started our own Big Judo tradition with our 'Team Big' patch. The 'Team Big' competition badge is only given to students that demonstrate Big's three core values (working hard at their Judo, being brave and looking after their classmates) and who are ready to represent us in competition.

All traditions start somewhere and hopefully in 100 years people will be able to look at this post and see where the 'Team Big' badge started.

Saturday 10 May 2014

Big Judo Back to Work in City


Big Judo's city kids started work again this week. We are now in our new venue in St Martin's Church at the corner of Sandringham and Taumata Road.  We have a nice big mat area and plenty of space. It is a great venue.

Jordan, Geoff and Ben moved the mats over the holidays and even Sensai - Rick Littlewood came down and helped out.

Here is a picture of Jordan gluing non-slip onto the mats.  Rick is the older gentleman holding the paint brush. Rick taught Jordan's Dad, Ben and Jordan their Judo and it was great that he came down.

Another photo of Rick and his dog. Nothing to do with Judo I just like the fact that Rick has a funny little dog. 

Beginners Class 1-2pm

The one o'clock beginners class went well. We had a good turnout and the class was a nice opportunity to get used to the new venue. We are really pleased with the size of the new venue and with how light and airy it is. And there is even plenty of space for parents. 



Junior Class 2-3pm

The junior class also went well. We had plenty of kids and worked hard getting them ready for the competition in June.


Ben and Jordan demonstrating and discussing technique. 


Kids lined up ready to fight.



And they're off.  We teach Kosen Judo and place a big emphasis on ground fighting.  Rick trained for nearly a decade in Kyoto during the 1960s and he trained his students in this distinctive style of Judo. Ben and Jordan are proud to carry on this tradition.


Another key aspect of the Kosen style is transitioning from standing to ground fighting or vice-versa.

Even at this age we work hard to teach the kids how to follow through from a standing position against someone that is on the ground.

In this drill a standing player races to turnover and hold down a player on all fours. This simulates a situation in which a throw or take-down has failed but one person has fallen on their hands and knees.

Tough place to be but the person standing needs to be quick to capitalise on the advantage and the person on  the ground needs to learn get out of this position. 


In the first photo we were working from the rear of the 'disadvantaged'  player. In this drill we work the other way i.e. over the prone player's head and shoulders.

Drilling transitions like this has worked very well for our kids in competition.