This weekend, Marham Judo Club, were joined by members from Kumo Judo Club, Royston Judo Club and Wymondham Judo Club at the 7^th International Judo Tournament at Judo Tori in Belgium.  This competition is distinguished by the high level of skill of the players who attend this competition and it attracts players from the not only Belgium but also from France, Germany, Israel, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland, Russia, the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom. This was a very well attended event and the competition was fierce.

Saturday saw the older judoka, the 12’s and over, competing.  Out of the eight club members who competed, four won medals. A gold medal was won by commonwealth champion, Thomas Turner, as he easily dominated his opponents. Gemma Moore, from Kumo Judo Club, won a silver medal. Emma Reid, from Royston Judo Club, and Martin Munn, from Marham Judo Club, won a bronze medal. This was Martin’s first international experience and he took the experience totally in his stride.

On Sunday the younger judoka, the under 12s, competed and all succeeded in winning medals.  Matthew Parrott demonstrated great confidence in his fights and he won a well deserved gold medal. Silver medals were won by Henry Andrewartha and Chris Parrott. A bronze medal was won by Alex from Wymondham Judo Club a great accomplishment for his first international competition.

In the evenings, all club members stayed together, camping in an old school, but even sleeping on hard floors did not put anyone off having a very enjoyable time. In their free time the children had fun playing cricket and playing cards. On the Saturday evening all the clubs came together for a big barbecue. 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their help and support , as always you were all great and Tug Wilson for all his great organisation on this trip. It was a great help.

In the evening, all club members stayed together in Monchengladbach in Germany, enjoying a game of football and dining in the local restaurants.

Saturday saw the younger judoka, the under 12’s, competing. A silver medal was won by Chris Parrott, and bronze medals were won by Neith Charlesworth, Henry Andrewartha and Matthew Parrott, all members of Marham Judo Club.

Sunday saw Gemma Moore, David Oates, Jonno Drane and Thomas Turner competing for Kumo Judo Club, Jenna-Jaye Nicholson competing for Marham Judo Club and Emma Reid competing for Royston Judo Club. The atmosphere at the competition was exciting, with great demonstrations of techniques by highly skilled players and the notable camaraderie shown by all countries.

Bronze medals were won by Jenna-Jaye Nicholson and Thomas Turner. The competition between the Commonwealth Champion, Thomas Turner and his dutch opponent, Michel Nijenhuis was one of the highlights of the competition. Thomas Turner was caught by surprise, when the dutch player despatched him for an ippon with an exceptional standing seoi-nage. This is no easy accomplishment in the O100kg category, but the skilled dutch player made it look as if he was lifting a featherweight.

A fantastic weekend was had by all and the clubs look forward to their next international competition.

On 28th March Marham Judo Club travelled down to Epping Judo Club for a competition. This event was well attended with lots of competition.  The children gave their all and succeeded in gaining many medals.

	Gold medals were won by Morgan Davies, Matthew Parrott, Adora Storton and Jenna-Jaye Nicholson.
	Silver medals were won by Chris Parrott, Danielle Wilson, Megan Davies, Rune Charlesworth, Neith Charlesworth and Morgan Lee.
	Bronze medals were won by Nathan Lock, Georgia Tower,  Michael   Brown, Terry Andrewartha and Henry Andrewartha.

Terry Andrewartha executed a great throw  but it was just out of time so his opponent gained the win. Georgia found herself up against some bigger opponents but this did not deter her and she showed great determination in her judo. Adora was in top form and she won all her fights successfully gaining her gold medal. Also competing for the seniors was Martin Munn, and although he did not win a medal he did have a win and he demonstrated some good judo techniques.

The Royal Air Force Judo came to visit  Marham from 10th – 14th March 2010.  This visit gave them lots of opportunities for training with a judo session at Kumo Judo Club, core stability training held at the gym run by Ian Brown,  circuit training held at the gym, coaching session run by David Oates at Marham, coaching session run by Sam Smithson at Marham and a coaching session run by Paul Nicholson. The squad came to the presentation of Marham Judo Club’s  bronze club mark award, then supported the training sessions with the juniors and seniors. The squad ended their visit by competing in the Ipswich Judo Competition. This visit gave Marham members the opportunity to gain training and develop their techniques with judo players who have a wide range of skills.

Many children from Marham Judo Club took the opportunity to attend the training event at Black Dog Judo Club.  This event was organised by Black dog, Kumo and Marham Judo Club. It was an opportunity for all clubs from the Norfolk area to train together.

The training was attended by 62 children of all abilities, novices through to blue belt,  supported by ten coaches. The event was run from 10am to 2:30pm. The training consisted of looking at technical techniques, some games followed by randori. The children were split into groups and each group was supported by two coaches.

The children had a great day and look forward to future events.

The next training session will be held by Marham Judo Club on 24 April 2010 at Narborough Leisure Centre.

On competition day, all performed extremely well, a product of their hard training which made their club and coaches very proud. The results have put the club on a great start for the season, showing promise of great things to come for the year.

 Gold Medals were won by Jenna-Jaye Nicholson, Garry Paterson, Adora Storton and Matthew Parrott. Players Chris Parrott, Henry Andrewartha, Georgia Tower all took well deserved silver medals. Neith Charlesworth and Jack Webb won bronze. Terry Andrewartha was unlucky and missed out on a medal after working hard in a big group. This was the first time some of the club members had competed in an international competition, an experience they thoroughly enjoyed.

Coach, Paul Nicholson said, “Everyone has had a great weekend, the results were fantastic and the children greatly enjoyed this cultural experience.”

	Gold medals were won by: Chris Parrott, Adora Storton, Morgan Davies, Jenna-Jaye Nicholson and Paul Nicholson.
	Silver medals were won by: Elinor Glynn, Megan Davies, Georgia Tower, Henry Andrewartha, Rune Charlesworth, Aaron Bishop, Wendy Hulley, Katie Waddilove  and Alec Hunt.
	Bronze medals were won by Nathan Lock, Georgia Tower,  Michael   Brown, Terry Andrewartha and Henry Andrewartha.

Although not everyone won medals, the judo demonstated was superb and it is always great to see how supportive the team is of all its members.  It was fabulous to have Sophie Buller back with the club.

Well done to Ben Nicholson who had a big day with his refereeing, competing in the individual senior event, the Norfolk Junior Teams and the Norfolk Senior Teams. Well done to Katie Waddilove who fought against some strong opponents. Well done to William Lloyd entering his first judo competition at such a big event. Well done to Andy Carruthers, who although a novice bravely fought against some very experienced players. Well done to Henry Andrewartha who was on good form and demonstrated some great judo.

A big well done to Chris Parrott who was awarded, for the second year, a trophy for his outstanding ippons, this trophy was jointly awarded to Jack Purlant from Black Dog Judo Club.  Matthew Parrott also demonstrated some expertly executed throws, one to watch out in the future!

Many members of Marham Judo Club supported the Norfolk Teams with the Girls and Boys Junior teams both taking gold and the Senior Mens team taking silver.

It was a great event to the end of a very enjoyable and successful year of judo. Paul Nicholson would like to take this opportunity to thank his club members for the fantastic effort they put in throughout the year. I eagerly look forward to next years training and events.