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It was a big week at Big Judo this week. We had plenty of good strong classes and even better old friends visited and trained with us.
Shaun Walton, a friend for about thirty years visited both Pukekohe and Sandringham and had a couple of good sessions with the team. In the early 90s Shaun and I used to travel down regularly from University Judo Club to support training at Pukekohe Judo Club.
So it brought back many, many fond memories, It was great see Shaun again and we shared a toast to absent friends Rick and Daniel.
Katsuyoshi Saegusa was our second visitor. It is always awesome to have Yoshi on the mat. In his youth he was a top competitor in Japan then moved to New Zealand. In his day he was probably the best tachi waza (stand up fighting) fighter in New Zealand. He has the classical Japanese style of tachi waza that we try to teach at Big Judo. So we were pleased to host him and let him coach the team on Saturday. Thanks Yoshi you also brought back many fond Judo memories.
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| Scott learning about being Yoshis demo partner. I remember being in the same position myself about 30 years ago! |
It was really nice to have Yoshi and Shaun at training. We have known each other for more than 30 years and it was wonderful to reminisce, catch and and share Judo with the next generation. And of course, afterwards we went out together for dinner and drinks.
Reminded us of what Judo is about... people, especially training the next generation.
Speaking of which here are some photos of the next generation in action both in town and in Pukekohe. The best bit of course is the old and young instructors helping out. Awesome!!
