On Sunday, October 6th Judo Aiseau – Presles organised the 10th edition of the International Hainaut Cup. And for the first time, the organisation decided to have a “handi-kata” tournament alongside the original tournament.

What can we say- the tournament was very successful! Special Needs judoka showed their art, judged by the same jury as their regular friends.

We applaud Aiseau-Presles for their effort, in line with the interest that EJU have shown into the Adapted Kata sport and we hope that there will be a follow-up in 2020, and of course that their initiative will also encourage other clubs and organisations to organise an Adapted Kata tournament!

If a club is looking for advice on how to do this, then of course SNJU are always at your service to help you with your effort.

Progress and Success

The SNJU would like to congratulate our technical director Tycho and his kata partner David on their fantastic achievement of winning silver at the recent EJU European Kata Championships in Gran Canaria. Their performance in katame no kata was just 5 points off the gold medal spot.

This alone gives us great pride; however the story doesn’t stop there. For the very first time in European Kata Championship history, a very special demonstration was invited to take place.

With the progressive development of adaptive kata practice within SN judo across Europe, it was fitting for two teams from the Netherlands to demonstrate the possibilities of adaptive kata to a packed audience at this year’s European Kata Championships.

First of the demonstrations came from the pairing of Sanne Simons and Thomas Schepen. Sanne and  Thomas both have Down Syndrome and both share their passion for Judo and in particular Judo Kata. They presented three adapted series of the nage no kata to a packed arena who could not contain their appreciation and excitement following the final rei. The standing ovation and applause lasted as long as the demonstration itself.

When eventually the audience calmed down, it was the turn of Cees Roest and his kata partner Janienke Roelfsema.  Cees is paraplegic and his display of brilliance was performed from a kneeling position.  The various techniques were adapted to Cees’ condition, and they demonstrated a meticulously executed interpretation of nage-nō-kata. Again following the final rei, the arena goes wild with a well-deserved standing ovation and applause delivered by a stunned and appreciative audience.

This is a major step forward for adaptive judo in general and adapted kata in particular. It is fair to say that the interest of the European judo community has been aroused and the possibilities acknowledged.

SN Judo Kata has been developing across Europe for some time now and is now included in a number of SN judo tournaments, the biggest of which is at the SN World Judo Games in Beverwijk, Netherland in April each year. We are confident moving forward that SN kata can be included at more events both SN and mainstream and will promote positive inclusion right across our sport.  We would like to thank the EJU for having the vision and courage to understand and recognise the importance and possibilities of adapted judo and for taking the historic step forward to include all ability judoka in its future plans and visions.

Last weekend (20-23/6) the SNJU proudly supported the Swiss International SN Judo festival in conjunction with Special Olympics Switzerland and the hosts, Uster Judo club.

Thursday 20/6

It was an incredible 4 days of inclusion, play, fun, sightseeing and competition. The event started on Thursday with the arrival of international teams from Romania, Ireland, Sweden, Netherlands, Germany and France. Two international inclusive training sessions were arranged by the hosts Judo club Uster and were run by SNJU directors James Mulroy and Cilia Evenblj. Fun and games was the topic of the day and a great session was enjoyed by all.

Friday 21/6

Friday morning it was time to see of the wonders Switzerland has to offer. With volunteer guides everyone boarded the train to see the magnificent Rhine fall, waterfalls. What an amazing trip with incredible views, great company and a soaking boat trip to the base of the waterfall.

In the afternoon it was off to the venue for check-in and the now infamous mixed, mixed international team event.  This event mixes countries, players, coaches, weights and levels to create mixed mixed team who all compete together in a fun and friendly contest.

Dinner was served for all at Scout House where most of the visitors made their home for the duration of their stay. As the very tired athletes headed off to get some sleep, the coaches, referees and guests gathered for our seminars and workshops.  In our quest to deliver new and interesting education seminars, James introduced a seminar on autism assistance dogs and their benefits and roles. He then handed over to parent Eamon who presented George the dog and informed every one of his and his children’s experience using a service dog.   The seminar was certainly interesting and attracted a lot of questions. Next up was the topic of divisioning and the importance of the involvement of coaches and referees. This was expertly delivered by Cilia. Last on the list was the contest and play safety rules seminar delivered by James.

Saturday 22/6

And on to the main event…   Saturday morning saw the arrival of the Swiss teams and the check-in and divisioning. The divisioning was led by Cilia and assisted by all the coaches as discussed the previous evening. The result of the divisioning was 24 beautifully created pools that were even and fair for the athletes. Competition started at 1.30 and was a beautiful display of friendship, skill, determination and judo spirit. The divisioning proved its worth with fair yet competitive pools in all categories.

After the medal presentation it was back to the scout house for an evening food, drink, fun and laughter, a great end to a great event. Congratulations to Cilia for a great run event and to everyone involved in the preparation and execution of a wonderful festival of judo.

Earlier this week, on the EJU Special Needs Judo Festival in Poreč, Croata, SNJU officials performed a comprehensive seminar on how to teach Judo to people with a disability. We are proud that SNJU played a major role in this event.

The Board of the SNJU wishes to express its great appreciation for Frövi Judo’s skillful execution of the OESN tournament, last weekend in Lindesberg. Our sincere compliments for the tireless efforts of Johan Orrbo and his enthusiastic team for a wonderful weekend of tournaments, seminars and fun.

Details will be forthcoming soon for the next OESN, which will take place in 2020, in Ireland ☘️

SNJU will issue a full review about the event to its members soon.

A special mention for the young Finnish referee Joona Nakki, who competed on Saturday morning, but was a referee in the afternoon- the first Special Needs referee for an SNJU event ever!

Finally: to view the photos of this amazing event, click HERE.