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News
We were delighted
to receive a visit from BJC 6th dan Simon Mazzullo at our Broughty Ferry Club in early June 2008. Simon is one of around just 20 people in the BJC entitled to wear the red and white belt and must be one of the youngest. Certainly his youthfulness was in evidence at Broughty Ferry as he took a lively class before partaking in the randori that followed the session.
Simon's visit will probably be the first time that a BJC red and white belt has been to Scotland since the 1960s, so the club is honoured that he came to our dojo.
For Sensei Dave it was the culmination of a very busy week in judo, having just returned from the national course in Cromer, where ironically he was coached by Simon's former championship winning kata partner Sampson Sampson, now a 6th dan himself.
Congratulations!
Once again Dundee Ippon took gold and silver at the Cumbria and Borders Area Championships this year. In a slightly different format, all the kyu grades were put into a single pool and it was Carl that came out on top with a scintillating display of Ippon judo. He opened his account with a sweep on Marcus and did not stop until he had wrapped up four Ippon victories. Marcus, who gained silver last year, repeated his success but going on to win the remainder of his fights, again all by Ippon. Most notable was his victory agianst a local heavyweight brown belt whom he held down for the 30 seconds. A sign of his progress the victory was against a judoka who last year managed to beat him. With the gold and silver secure, Khal picked up a bronze medal after a well deserved victory against another local of his own grade. Khal appeared to have won the fight several times, but the referee thought different and in the end he gained the result on a decision.
Marcus and Carl then joined Brechin's Mark Arbuthnott in the open grade category and again fought extremely well. Notably Carl scored an ippon with an uchimata against Mark, whilst Marcus appeared to have the better of a local first dan, before finally being strangled. Both held off and dominated a former national junior champion, only to conceed shidos.
The club will be shut for the last week of May 2008 as Sensei Dave once again attends the national course in Cromer. This year he will be promoting his book on judo, Ippon: the fight for judo's soul, as well as spending time on the mat.
Next major event to look forward in the area is the trip to Carlisle for Mr Mealing's kata course, which takes place on June 21/22nd. Ahead of that, perhaps keep an eye out for a joint event with Brechin as that club consolidate's it's membership with the British Judo Council.
Congratulations!
Go to Kal Al-Jasser and Bobby Moore on their promotion to 4th kyu (orange
belt). Both took their exams in front of Sensei Chris Neate, 4th Dan on
March 27th 2008. Sensei Neate has been training with us for the last two
weeks and it has been a delight to have our highest graded member of the
club on hand before he again returns to Libya for work. Sensei put both
pupils through a rigorous exam, making them perform their techniques on the
right and left. It will stand them in good stead as they prepare for the
Area Championships, which take place in May.
It
is with Regret that we will be saying goodbye to 1st Dan,
Patrick, who will be returning to his native Germany this month. He goes
with our good wishes and an open invitation to visit us again whenever he is
in Scotland.
Congratulations! More success for Dundee Ippon on the road was recorded on the weekend of
24/25th of November when Marcus Cross made the trip along with Dave Sensei
and Mark Arbuthnott, sensei from our friends at Brechin Judo Club, to
Newcastle for the President's Course.
Change of
Premises As part of it's expansion, Dundee Ippon is on the move in March 2008. Outgrowing it's Lochee Boys Club
base. With our new mats we are moving to St Margarets Chuch Hall on Ancrum Road,
where we will be training on Thursday nights. The format will also be
different, with the class running from 7:30 to 9:30 for all ages from the age of 12 up. The youngsters will
train for just the first hour, but the idea is that as they get bigger, they
will remain on the mat with the adults, allowing for a smoother transition
from junior to senior judo. As well as Ancrum Road,
the club will also open on Tuesdays from March onwards in a new location in
Broughty Ferry. We will be running another 7:30 to 9:30 club, using our old
canvas mats at the Forthill Leisure Centre, Forthill Road, Broughty Ferry.
March
is, as always a month where gradings take place, and this time those at
green belt and above will be travelling down to Carlisle on March 16th, where there will also be a one-day
kata course. it is intended that those below that grade will have an in-club
grading, also sometime in March.
Further on in the year, the Annual area Championships take place in May
(18th) in Washington, where it is hoped we will once again scoop a number of
trophies.
Congratulations!
More success for Dundee Ippon on the road was recorded on the weekend of
24/25th of November when Marcus Cross made the trip along with Dave Sensei
and Mark Arbuthnott, sensei from our friends at Brechin Judo Club, to
Newcastle for the President's Course.
Marcus attended the event with the purpose of laying his hands on a blue
belt and at the end of proceedings that is precisely what he did. After
being put through his kata under the expert eyes of World Champions Angela
Brown and Dave Reveley (both 4th Dans) and Dale Fenwick (2nd Dan), Marcus
then had to produce his syllabus theory to John Chrisp, Area Assistant
Technical Officer for the Newcastle Area and 5th Dan. With that out of the
way he then went on to the contest stage of his examination, where, in front
of President Otani, he recorded three wins and a draw from four contests.
The event was an overall huge success with Marcus, Dave and Mark all enjoy
the event. "President's Courses are always good, but this was particularly
good with national squad coach Neil Rhode, also on the mat giving tuition",
said Dave.
The only disappointment for
Dundee Ippon was the non-presence of Val Duke, who was also intending to
make the event, and grade alongside Marcus. Sadly Val damaged his knee
ligaments the previous week and was rendered unable to contest. We all wish
Val a speedy recovery and return to training.
Congratulations! go to Kevin Noble and Frank Arnot on their promotions on November 11th. Visiting Dan Grade Steve George from Washington, Tyne-and-Wear put the two Ippon Club members through there paces and was pleased with what he saw, awarding Frank his orange belt and Kevin his yellow. Sensei Steve was impressed with the overall standard of the club and it is encouraging that we had a visitor prepared to make his way to our dojo to grade some our students.
Presidents Course: On 24/15th of November, Khal, Marcus and Val will be making their way along with Sensei Dave to the President's Course in Newcastle where they too are hoping to gain new grades. It will be the first time that fighting for results will be necessary for Val and Marcus, so we wish them all well at at course that should be of benefit to all who attend.
Happy
Birthday!: We celebrated our two years of existence in August
2007 with a barbeque in Sensei Dave’s garden. (see photos below). The
weather stayed bright and warm and a good time was had by all. Special
thanks must go to Roofing Contractor Willie Irvine, one of the founder
members of the club. Willie no longer trains with us, but remains in touch
and was kind enough to donate the meat for the BBQ. Others donated raffle
prizes, so thanks go to Frank, Val and Ian for those. The special cooking
talents of Khal and Kevin were utilised to stop sensei from handing out food
poisoning to all.
The event
raised more funds for the club that will, hopefully go towards us acquiring
new mats. We are continuing to pursue an 'Awards for All' grant for this
also.
Annual Summer School: Sensei Dave Hammond and Chris Neate both
attended the 6th Annual Summer School in Innerleithen at the
beginning of August. The event was another big success, with Dave taking the
instruction on the first of the four days the event ran. Painfully (for
others) he concentrated on armlocks this year, following on from his session
on strangles the previous year.
A good time
was had, with some excellent tuition being received from BJC Vice President
Jim Mealing (7th Dan). Dundee was further represented by Aikido
instuctor Alex Miller, who presented an hour and half session on
transferable skills.
Presentation: Dundee Ippon presented a poster to Lochee
Primary School in August, depicting the kanji for ‘Mutual Welfare and
Benefit,’ one of the principle ethos of Judo. The schools head, Mr. Cannon,
was impressed with our taster session and we are currently working on a
return to the school for a six week stint, something that will hopefully
bring in new junior members.
Junior
Section: Dave Sensei
and Val Duke will be visiting three local primary schools in the area over
the next few weeks to encourage more young people to come along and train at
Ippon Judo.
This will be
followed by an open evening in the club on Tuesday 26th June. The idea is
that juniors can come along for a free session, watched by their parents.
With good publicity we can use this to greatly expand our junior section.
New adults are invited to attend on that night also.
New
Friends: Dundee Ippon
are gaining friends rapidly. In early May four members of the club traveled
to Brechin to train at the Mudanshakwai club. We discovered that we have
much in common in the way we approach Judo and the intention is to continue
our links by visiting them from time to time. The club coach has already
declared his intention to join the BJC. We naturally extended an open
invitation to their members to come and visit us in Dundee and look forward
to meeting with them again.
This follows
on from the links that have already been established with Milton in Glasgow.
Dave Sensei is a regular visitor to the club, where 4th Dan B.J.C. and
international competitor David McSkimming gives tuition.
On-going
discussions are taking place with a number of other Scottish clubs regarding
their affiliation to the B.J.C., with the aim of establishing a Scotland Area
of the B.J.C. Anybody wishing to join these discussions can contact us via
this website or B.J.C. H.Q in London.
Congratulatons:
to Chris Neate who, along with Sensei Dave, attended the National Whitsun
Course in Cromer. Chris revalidated his F.P.J. 1 coaching award and also gained
his 4th Dan. A very enjoyable week was had by both Dundee Ippon members.
Dave also came away with his Shadosha Dia Ichi award, a long and
complicated coaching award, which he took a year to complete (most take
two). He is also now a qualified club referee (Aaaaaaaaaaarrrrgh).
A BIG well-done:
to Val, Marcus and Khal, who attended the Cumbria and The Borders inaugural area closed championship on Sunday 20 May. The intrepid trio left Dundee at 8 o'clock in the morning and by the time they returned they were
laden with five trophies. Defeating Marcus in his first fight, Val went on to win gold in a category that saw all three Ippon students fighting together. Val edged gold by virtue of gaining an extra waza-ari before losing to Khal, whose win tally gave him a joint silver along with Marcus. Marcus and Val then entered the open category where they competed against three experienced heavyweight 1st kyu. Marcus picked up silver by virtue of two straight Ippon wins. He also scored two waza-ari in the other contests before
succumbing to strangles in ground work. A big well done to all.
No Judo Tuesday, 28th May:
The club will be closed on Tuesday 28th due to the fact that Dave Sensei will be attending the Annual B.J.C. Whitsun course at Cromer.
ClubDundee:
We have been accepted into the ClubDundee scheme run by Dundee City Sports Council, which will help us develop the club over the next few years. This is an extra bonus because we were turned down by the Lottery people for a grant for mats. Securing monies for mats is now a priority for the club that is continuing to expand.
Congratualtions:
to Blair Robertson, who went down to Galashiels for a 2** JudoScotland event on
Sunday 13 May and came away with a silver medal. Blair was made to wait all
afternoon as his weight category was the last to be competed, yet he held his
nerve to win his first ever competitive fight with an Ippon, using his
left-handed taiotoshi counter.
Blair goes down in history as the first junior member of Dundee Ippon to take part in
a contest and can be proud that he brought back a silver medal; the first of which
we are sure will be many. This completed a good week for Blair, who only last Tuesday gained his first orange tab to be
added to his yellow belt.
A Big Thank You! A big Thank you to Ricky Cahill who did the Speyside Way Walk, sponsored in aid
of our funds for new mats. Ricky's walk took two days and he has raised around
£200 for the club. An impressive fete and a massive gesture of good will on his
part. Thanks, again Ricky!
Congratulations! Congratulations
to Val, Marcus, Frank and Khal, who all gained new grades on Sunday, April 1st
when they attended the one day course on armlocks at Innerleithen. Both Marcus
and Val had to fight on three occasions, facing at one point a former junior
national champion. It was a tough test for both, but they came through; Marcus
coming within fifteen seconds of a draw against the experienced brown belt.All
four members benefited from the course, which put a number of armlocks into
contest before facing their grading in the afternoon. The grading was taken by
club coach Dave Hammond and assisted by Cramlington coach
and Dan grade Mike Douglass, who is a close friend of the club. (See
Gallery
for group photo and picture of Khal and Frank trying to sort out seniority, now
they are both 5th Kyu).
Web Presence: As well as being able to keep
up to date on national events via the B.J.C.'s national website and area
activity via our areas site, we now have our own Dundee Ippon dedicated website,
in its early stages. The idea is that the site will allow us to have a
profile outside of the club, but the intention is to use it as an internal tool.
So please feel free to make any comments you think will make a positive impact.
The area site and the B.J.C. site are available on the
Links Page. The B.J.C. site now also contains an open forum.
Scottish Clubs: The British Judo Council is
receiving increased interest in our activity in Scotland. It is to be
hoped that in the not too distant future we will be able to establish an area in
Scotland, based around clubs in Glasgow, Dundee and the Borders. This
could expand further depending on enquiries. obviously this would
make for more activity closer to home. This matter will be discussed at
our Area A.G.M. (See diary).
Kit/Merchandise: The club logo can be
embroidered on almost any piece of clothing you want. See Jacqui for
details. Other B.J.C. merchandise; booklets available. Currently we
have in stock lapel badges, key-rings, and a tie.
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