Ichiro farewell get together event on June 22,2017

    Ichiro, one of our instructor, is leaving for Japan in August.  So the Club had a get together to wish him and his family a bon voyage and to thank him for the contribution that he made as an Instructor and as a Coach.

    Ichiro came to Vancouver in 2002 to improve on his English as an ESL student. During his studies, he joined our club. After a year he returned to Japan. He came back to Vancouver 3 years later to
continue with his ESL study and eventually married his ESL instructor, Tania.
Shortly after their marriage, they moved to Japan where they stayed for another 5years. They returned to Vancouver , settled here and had a daughter.  Ichiro came back to the Dojo when Sofie their daughter was 3 years old.  Ichiro has been active instructing and coaching our members since Sofie was 3years old.  Hard to believe that Sofie is now 11 years old and very active in Judo. We will miss them while they are away and will welcome them back upon their return.

 Photos of the Get Together Event was taken by Sandi Wong and Peter Chow. An entertaining evening with a good turnout from members and friends.

 Group Picture with Seniors

 Ichiro wearing the Jacket presented to him from the Club

 Ichiro poses with the Junior Group

 Jacket has our new Nakashima Dojo Crest

 Juniors enjoying Pizza, Chips and drinks

 Juniors expressing their fond farewell to  Ichiro

 Lawren and Logan being out muscled by Djuro

 Sofie and Jenna displaying their Judo power

OVERVIEW OF THE 2016-2017 TOURNAMENT SEASON

The 2016-2017 tournament season for our members has come to an end.  Compared to other years, this year has been very busy. In all, we participated in 10 tournaments starting with the Abbotsford Tournament in October ,2016 and ending in the last week of April in Abbotsford.

Highlight for the year was the vast improvement in our Junior Team. Many had started  with less than a year's experience, some starting in September. Participating in these tournament greatly improved their technical skills and fighting skills. Logan and Loren started in September and by the time March had rolled in, they were placing first and second. We had 4 members participate in the B.C. Trials in March. Their experience will certainly carry them forward and prepare them for the upcoming season.

For the Senior Team, we didn't get many of our members  participate in very many tournaments which was a big disappointment because we have a number of Brown Belts going for their Black Belts .  Djuro and Cameron Hong Tai were consistent in entering 4 and  6 tournaments respectively.

Dante St Pierre has been working out at the Dojo this past year. With the heavy workload in his second year in the Engineering Faculty at UBC, his tournament participation was limited. He won the B.C. Trials in Abbotsford and placed second at the Richmond Oval. He scored Ippon in all of the matches that he won. Practicing at the Dojo has certainly improved both Djuro and Alan's fighting skills.

Lastly, the highlight of the year has to be the Nanaimo tournament where we missed the 6:30AM  boat because of the fierce storm the previous night which cancelled 2 sailings . Despite the misadventure, we managed to come home with a bunch of Metals and enjoyed the company of our members and parents.

 VIDEOS FROM ABBOTSFORD TOURNAMENT

 View album

VIDEOS & PHOTOS FROM THE NANAIMO TOURNAMENT

https://goo.gl/photos/RXWtzFpLocNoBjq18

NAKASHIMA DOJO ANNUAL CHRISTMAS PARTY 2016

Nakashima Dojo Annual Christmas Party on December 11, 2016 was held at the Renfrew Park Community. The party was well attended with our Judokas, their family members and friends. This year we had  38 people turn out for our Annual Christmas Party. 

The food donated by the family and the Judo Club was overflowing and the quality and the variety of food brought to the Table was impressive.  Romain Chappez, who was one of our long time Instructor moved to Logan Lake at the end of September was unable to join us so he was  missed by the Junior Class Members.  Romain's tradition at this event was to bring a Cake to the Party baked by one of his former colleague in the Pastry Department at the Oakridge Safeway Store. Even though he wasn't present in body,  his spirit and tradition carried on.  He donated the Cake which I picked up at the Safeway Oakridge Store.

As always,  everyone enjoyed themselves not only by the food but also by the good company  of friends and  colleagues.

Christmas Cake donated by Romain

Judo Class  members who came to the Party

PHOTOS TAKEN FROM THE ABBOTSFORD TOURNAMENT ON OCTOBER 22,2016

COMPETITORS LINING UP AT START OF TOURNAMENT

HIDING UNDER A TABLE

LOGAN PRESENTED WITH SILVER METAL

ALL WON GOLD IN SOFIE, JENNA DIVISION

HELENA'S  DIVISION ACCEPTING THEIR METALS

TAKING A SNACK BREAK

JAMIE'S DIVISION WHERE HE WON A SILVER METAL

WARMUP PRIOR TO TOURNAMENT

HAILEY & MANDY RECEIVING THEIR METALS

NIKOLAI 'S DIVISION

ANDREA'S GROUP AT METAL PODIUM

KAMERON AND HIS COMPETITOR AT METAL AWARD

JAMIE, LAWREN AND HELENA

RESULTS FROM ABBOTSFORD TOURNAMENT ON OCTOBER 22, 2016

The Abbotsford Tournament started on time around 9:30AM and ended by 2:00 PM. I believe that there were 150 competitors from all the Dojos in the Lower Mainland.

We had 10 Competitors They  should be commended in their performance today.

I was pleased with the confidence that they displayed on the Mat, showing their determination and fighting spirit.

Logan placed second and Lawren received a bronze.

Logan had 2 wins while Lawren won 1 match.  Both of them were constantly attacking their Opponents with their Seionage and Osotogari scoring points.

Laya placed first in his division. Laya had an easier Opponent and scored with winning both of her matches with Ippons.

There were 3 in Sofie and Jenna division with all 3 receiving the Gold.  They all won 1 and lost 1.

Sofie beat Jenna, Sofie lost her next match and Jenna beat the Girl who beat Sofie. Each won their matches with Ippon.

Helena received a bronze metal.  She had 3 fights which she lost.  Her Opponents were bigger and more experience.

Considering that it was her first tournament, She put in her best effort and from this , she gained valuable experience which will prepare her for the upcoming tournaments.

Jaimie won Silver.  In his Gold Metal Match, he made a TACTICAL mistake.  He charged his Opponent which is okay but you must be in control when you do it .  HIS OPPONENT REACTED WITH A FOOTSWEEP (SASAE TSURI KOMI ASHIBARAI )TO SCORE AN IPPON .

Jaimie’s mistake was running at him from the beginning which gave his Opponent plenty of time to react.  Jamie should have approached him normally until he was about an arm length away. At that point he should rush him and hit him with an OUCHIGARI.

His Opponent would be caught off guard and be unable to Counter because Jamie is too close for him to maneuver Jamie’s attack.

In Jamie’s first match, he scored with 2 Wazari  (1/2 point) .

Hailey received a Silver for her efforts.  She fought Mandy from Abbotsford twice.  Mandy is Hailey’s NEMESIS.

She got Hailey with a Ouchigari for a YUKO because Hailey was looking down at her feet instead of looking at her Shoulders . From there, She moved  into Kesagatame (Holddown)  for an Ippon    

Her second match with Mandy was much better.  Hailey came in with Seionage 3 times but was out just as quickly.  Moved in and out because she didn’t have the confident to throw Mandy with her Shoulder Throw.

Lesson to learn – Once you are have succeeded  in getting under your Opponent and have her on your back, follow through by continuing to pull harder on their Sleeve at the same time turning your Hips.

This is how you throw your Opponent.  Never back out of a throw. You can be Countered.  See your little brother and Sister video matches as an example of following through on your Throw.

Nikolai placed second with a Silver with 3 wins and a lost. Nikolai Gold Metal Match was very close. His Opponent has more experience but if Nikolai was a bit more sharper with his Taiotoshi move or did an Ouchigari Osotogari Combination, he could easily have won the Match.

Even though Nikolai won his other matches with Ippon and Wazari, I thought his timing was off.  He put in a lot of effort to score these Points. If his execution or movement was smoother, his Opponents would have been flying threw the air.

Andrey Ponomarev who moved to Coquitlam in September won Gold in both of his Matches. Even though, Andrea is now a member of the Poco Judo Club in Coquitlam in his heart he will always be a member of our Dojo.

In his first match, Andrey threw his Green Belt Opponent with his Taiotoshi . It was so fast that when his Opponent crashed to the Mat, he held onto Andrey so that they both banged their heads.  Andrey got a fair size bump on his head besides being concussed.

He told the Medical Examiner that he was Okay to continue in the tournament.

He won his final match quickly with another Ippon executing a Taiotoshi.

Kameron had 2 fights with the same Opponent who is a Blue Belt.  In his first match, Kameron was thrown with a Drop Seionage within 10 seconds of the Match.

For his second match, he made  adjustment in his defensive strategy to counter his Opponent’s Seionage .  This time, Kameron  blocked his attempts but he finally got Kameron on a Taiotoshi on the Left Side.  Kameron had an opportunity to counter this Throw which he did not take.

His Opponent succeed in throwing Kameron because he kept pulling and following through on his throw.

Next tournament is in Steveston on November  19.    

Frank Nakashima

Head Instructor

Hailey's matches at Pacific International March 6,2016

In both of her matches, Hailey was countered because she did not follow through in her Seionage attempts.  Instead of completing her throw by continuously pulling on her Opponent's sleeve, turning her shoulder and spinning her hips, Hailey either stopped or backed out of her Seionage which allowed her Opponent to execute her counter attack.

In the second video, Hailey is moving into her Opponent off balance and her movement into Seionage is too high. In any forward throw, Your hips  makes contact below your Opponents' waist ( which is a normal person's center of gravity) .

Faouzi wins at the French Open

Faouzi Zerrouck, one of our Instructors recently won an International Tournament in Nice, France.

It had over 2,000 competitors.

In Faouzi’s category,  which is the Master Division under 90 kg, there were 25 competitors.

There was great satisfaction at this tournament for Faouzi because he threw the Competitor who beat him at the last European Championship in December,2015 for an Ippon in his semi finals match.

Congratulations