Sorry it’s been a while since I’ve had chance to update my blogg. It’s been a very bust time, too busy to bring everything up to date in a single session so I will try and do this in stages.

First off, the last time I wrote I said I would bring you the results from the Midland Area competition. Once again I used this as a settling-in competition, and once again unfortunately things didn’t go as good as I would have liked. The standard of judo player in this category is extremely high and for this particular competition some of the competitiors were not fighting because they had been called up for England duty. Nonetheless there was still some very good players on the day. To cut the story short I ended up winning the bronze medal.

Now it was time to concentrate on the Japan trip. I’ll start a seperate blog to tell you about the trip in little chunks!

What a fantastic experience!!

Japan was everything I thought it would be and sooo much more. Firstly I would like to thank everyone who made this trip possible and the whole team of players and coaches who made it so memorable.

The trip started well enough meeting everyone at Birmingham international airport ready for the long journey ahead. First stop would be Amsterdam a short but uncomfortable flight, thanks to the really strong winds we encountered. Safely on the ground at Amsterdam our next leg of the journey would take us just a little over 11 hours – can’t wait, and just for the record i couldn’t sleep either. We arrived at Narita airport at around 12:30 pm, 9 hours ahead of British time where we met by our driver who took us to Tsukuba University. Once at the university we were given the house rules, bedding and shown to our dormitary – our home for the next two weeks. We quickly settled in and then visited the shop opposite our accomodation to sample our first taste of Japanese cuisine. We opted for what we thought was a hotdog on a stick, all served with mustard and tomato ketchup – the bun however turned out to be a suguary doughnut with the sausage in the middle, a quite unexpected mix but surprisingly nice.

The original plan was to take the day nice and calm so we could climatise and try to get over our jet lag (trust me this is harder than you might think), unfortunately for us though, on the way back from our food we encountered two Japanese judo players carrying their kit. They explained to our coaches they were off to practice and before we knew it we were on the mat looking very much like complete novices scared of our own shadows. Judo Practice in Japan is of a different nature to the way we train at home, basically it is a two hour session or as I would rather refer to it FIGHT! Well the first session saw pretty well all of us being thrown for fun – not fun for us you will understand. Tonight we will surely sleep. That night we didn’t sleep and the next morning looked event worse than the day before! The plan for day 2 was to have a lie in until 9:00am and then have a gentle walk around the complex to get our bearings, then training would be in the late afternoon, we’ll see what happens.

After a restless night we got up and were ready to go out at 9:00am local time. We decided to catch the bus to Tsukuba centre and find our bearings. The first and main priority was to try and find somewhere with wi-fi. To call home on the telephone was far too expensive so the only way I would have contact with home was by internet. Alas despite a desperate search we could not find anywhere that could accommodate, something we had been warned about prior to leaving home. Oh well for the time being we have each other.

After a leisurely day we returned to the university for our evening session. On the mat tonight were about 50 Dan grades (black belts) and apart from us the youngest age was 20 years old. The session didn’t seem so daunting tonight and we were in a better state of mind, I actually managed to throw a couple of the local boys. This might not sound like much of an achievement but to put it into context the youngest player there, apart from us, was 20 years of age and the lightest players were around 66kilos upwards. That means not only am I much younger but also giving away a considerable amount of weight, plus fighting lads on their own terms and in their own backyard. So all in all I was really pleased with my performance. One of the lads with us though learnt the hard way that you don’t upset the local players and soon found himself in a strangle, the lad in question tapped immediately to submit but despite this the strangle was applied tighter and I saw a new shade of bl ue as his face changed colour – lesson learnt!!

Each night we have to be back in the dormitory by 10:00pm so we had lots of time to ourselves and to keep ourselves amused. Later on in the week I will post a video of some of the weird and wonderful ways we made our own entertainment.

Day three started quietly and our first session of the day was a technical session carried out by our own coaches. This gave us some time to discuss how the Japanese fight differently to us and what tactics and techniques we could use to counter balance. As I say the session was very low key but at the same time most useful.

Without going into too much depth the basic difference was in the way the Japanese judoka’s grip and perhaps more importantly the way they commit to throwing for an Ippon score every time they attack. These are lessons I need to learn also the Japanese fight at full blast every session, no taking it easy because the opponent is smaller, lighter or less experienced. They do tend to generate towards heavier and more experienced players however, for them to gain the experience and strength they wish to acquire themselves.

After the session we went into town for a spot of shopping and exploring, one of the coaches neglected to bring a winter coat with him, I think he thought we were going to the Caribbean but it’s actually snowing at this moment!! The highlight of the day so far was watching Max Stewart, the doors over here are so low that Max has to duck to enter most of the shops. I know it’s silly but it amused us!
The rest of the day was quite leisurely until 4:45pm when it was time for our next lesson. Tonight there were at least 80+ Dan grades on the mat, the local high school visited and some female players from another university in Tokyo also came along. There wese that many people on the mat the head coach Mr Masuchi had to split it into 3 groups.

The structure tonight was, warm up, Uchi Komi, Speed Uchi Komi, Nage Komi and tonight’s special randori was 15 × 5 minute randori. We are really starting to get to grips now with the intensity of the randori and also managed to throw a few of the high school students. There is no need to travel to any other places for judo as they all come to Tsukuba so there is so much variation it’s unreal, left hander’s, right hander’s, tall, small, fat, thin, you name it there’s some on the mat.

I also noticed last night that the top players are trying to kill each other, there are no prisoners on the mat tonight, everyone is getting smashed and there is no sympathy if you are struggling, they just lift you back on your feet off the floor and throw you again. The top players also never hardly practice with the same weight category as themselves, they always train with bigger opponents, so the 73kg player was fighting 90kg players most of the night and really testing themselves.

There are a couple of players on the mat that are super special, Nishiyama, 19 year old 73kg player, Tanaka who I think is 66kg and Fukomi the 48kg female, they destroy people and never take a rest all night. There was also the +78 kg female world champion who was destroying the heavyweight males; she basically fights like a man.

They are also the only ones who get to do the Nage Komi, everyone else is there for them so they can throw you all round the mat, they do this for around 20 minutes and its throw, after throw, after throw and every throw is identical and perfectly performed. We now understand how hard you have to train if you want to make it to the top level in Judo, it’s an eye opener for sure. This such hard work but daft as it may seem it is so rewarding and enjoyable, we must be mad!!

That night we were left to our own devices as the coaches went for a traditional Japanese meal with Mr Masuchi. It was also the night I experienced my first exposure to an earthquake. In the early hours of the morning I heard the doors rattling, I got out of bed to look thinking that someone had missed the curfew and were locked out. When I went into the corridor to investigate I saw the external doors shaking and rattling. Not knowing what was going on I thought the building was haunted so being the fearless fighter that I am I quickly went back to bed!! It wasn’t until the next day someone mentioned that there had been an earthquake that night, what a relief.
Yesterday I mentioned about having to make our own entertainment, so how much fun can you have with a toilet roll? See the above picture.

Day 4 saw a different structure to the day, rather than training on our own in the morning and with the university in the afternoon, today the coaches have to attend a graduation ceremony in Tokyo so the session was bought forward to 9:30am. Again there was 80 plus “Dan Grades” on the mat and again all shapes and sizes, non seem to be my size though – not a complaint just an observation!

The session went really well and although I still get thrown regularly, each day I am having a little more success. One thing that this trip has highlighted is that no matter where your opponent is from he can be thrown. This is a great boost mentally and has taken a lot of the fear factor away, if I have learnt nothing else, the trip has been worth it for this bit of positive thinking. Needless to say though I feel I’ve learnt a tremendous amount so far on this trip and we’re still not half way into it.

It is amazing to see the calibre of Judo players on the same mat, Akimoto, Hiraoka, Kanamaru, Nishiyama to name just a few of the men and all watched at the side of that mat by Mr Okada. Mr Okada made reference to Tokai university, considered to be the top judo university in Japan – so therefore the world. He explained that when the two universities compete in an open weight competition then Tokai always wins because they have a large contingent of heavy weight players, however when the competition is weight banded, as we compete in Britain, then Tsukuba has the edge and wins more of the competition. This just shows the level of players we are training with – many of them with true heritage as world and Olympic champions!

Once the training session is over today we have some free time to look forward to and then our coaches have promised to take us out for Pizza tonight, some aren’t enjoying the Japanese food as much others, personally I think it is really nice especially the noodles.
Yesterday I explained that we have a lot of free time to ourselves but with no TV, internet, messages from home etc. We don’t really have a lot to occupy ourselves so we have to make our own entertainment. Fortunately it is a good group and we all get on well together, yesterday I posted a photo of how we had fun with a toilet roll!

Today’s picture shows a new hobby and money making opportunity for myself and good friend Max Stewart. Funnily enough our team mates offered us money not to perform – we couldn’t understand why!!

Day 5 and the trip just keeps getting better, we didn’t have training this morning so we had some free time to travel into Tokyo, how amazing. We caught the 9:30 am Tsukuba Express train and arrived an hour later at the Akihabara electrical city. We had been told about this place, a giant store with 11 floors all dedicated to electrical goods, one floor of the building was totally full of PSP’s, xbox etc. Amazing! Anyway we spent about an hour or so around the store then it was time to get back on the train, this time we travelled along the JR line to visit the world famous Kodokan, the birth place of judo. It’s strange but you imagine what a place will be like and for me I pictured the Kodokan as a traditional Japanese style building as you would see in the Jackie Chan films. You will understand my surprise then when it dawned on me that the Kodokan was on a high street in an office block type building. We went inside and stopped at the shop where the group bought judo suits, belts and mementos. I bought myself a judo belt and several others for fellow players back home who asked for a belt to be taken back. Next stop the 4th floor, where we tried to enter one of the judo halls but the man on reception desk would not let us in as they were doing some Kata. We then went up to the 8th floor which was the only one the public were allowed in and there was a junior session due to start at 4.00pm but we didn’t want to sit around for 3 hours so we decided to leave.

The whole Kodokan experience was a bit disappointing, you thought they may have let us have a bit more of a look around bearing in mind we had travelled half way round the world to get there. Next to the Kodokan was a huge fun fair with rollercoaster’s etc which again was a bit strange. It was then a short stay in an English pub type restaurant for some fish and chips. Last stop was back on the train to Ueno station to have a final look around the department stores and shops. It has been snowing and raining all day and we are getting a bit tired so we decided to go back. Catching the trains is an experience in itself and for a less experienced traveller it would be a bit of a nightmare as there are not many people at all that speak English, even when I talk very slowwwlllly and shout a bit louder!!! Strange that!

Training tonight went well, I’m still being thrown but again I am managing to throw some of my opponents a little more each day. I’ve been working on a few different stances and grips which have been giving me a little extra success. It will be interesting to see how these techniques work back home I suppose time will tell. Ground work has also improved and some of the instructions my personal coach, Bill Kelly, has been giving me has been most useful. As I keep stating because I am much smaller than the majority of players on the mat, it was always going to be a challenge for me, personally though I feel I have performed well and learnt an enormous amount. Obviously I now need to practice hard to be able to use this new knowledge effectively.

The month of March has been a bit of a roller coaster ride, from a personal point of view it has been a good time for my training, competitions and myself. However, at the moment I can’t help thinking about the friends we made in Japan and what they are going throught there. Reading back through my recent blogs I mention that on Day 3 I experienced my first earthquake. At the time it seemed insignificant and we joked it off, little did we know the devastion that was going to follow. First and foremost my thoughts are with the people of Japan, especially the friends we made a Tsukuba. I will continue to post blogs about my trip to Japan in few days time but for now I will bring you up to date with events that have taken place since my return.

On a more cheerful note my first competition on returning from Japan was the North West Senior competiton. This was my first ever senior competition and I really didn’t know what to expect. Although non of the very top ranking players entered this particular event, the ones who did are very experienced and quite formidable. On the day of the event I was talking to former world champion Craig Fallon and my dad phoned me. I had a quick chat with my dad then put Craig on the phone to say hello. My dad asked Criag if he was fighting – to which Craig gave a classic reply I will remember for ever “No I was going to fight today but when I saw Josh had entered I decided to withdraw” LOL. This made dads day for sure! The day went from stregnth to stregnth and I won all of my fights to win Gold position. This was also the first ranking event of the year so currently I am ranked senior number 1. Read this quickly because I know it won’t be case for much longer!!

The following weekend (13/03/2011) was the under 20 British Open at Crystal palace. Another good day which saw me have 5 fights. Unfortunately I lost my second fight, during the fight I also broke two of my little toes, so the best I could then achieve on the day was Bronze. This meant I would need to win the remaining 3 fights to do so. My third fight saw me on the ground and on top of my opponent, as I applied the strangle his head shot towards me and hit me full in the face. Not a pleaseant experience, especially when wearing a brace, needless to say I now had two broken toes and a mouth full of blood with a sizable split lip. A good day so far! Despite this I won the fight and also my remaining fights so I won my Bronze medal.

The following day was my 18th Birthday and also the Asda workshop at the Coventry football ground. This was a most enjoyable day I met and spoke to Derek Redmond, who was the sports personality on the day. He is a very good speaker and gave us a lot of inspiration. It really is nice to listen to someone who has competed at the very highest level. Finally on the day just as we were about to leave it was pointed out that there was a birthday in the room and everyone sang happy birthday to me. I really didn’t know what to do and felt myself go a bright shade of red, none-the-less it was a really nice thought and then from behind me a birthday cake was produced. I had a really good day at the workshop and the surprise at the end was the perfect end to the day. Thank you to everyone involved at Asda and the workshop I look forward to the next event.

On the way home my dad took me for my first legal pint, just the one though becasue I am a finely tuned athlete!!! after our quick pint it was back home and when you think things can’t get better I was completley shocked to see my family friends and girlfriend at home waiting for me to celebrate my birthday. I had a great night and really enjoyed getting up first thing Tuesday morning to train.

So as you can see I have had a good March and there is still plenty to come. This weekend I travel to Germany to compete in Bremen and also take part in the training camp. Then in a fortnight I will be off to Ireland to compete there. I will bring you up to date when I return.

As explained in my last blog, the build up to the Bremen competition has been hindered because I broke the two little toes on my left foot last weekend at Crystal Palace. This meant that although I tried, I was unable to train properly Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I then woke up Friday morning with a bad cold. Sometimes things just don’t seem to drop into place for a competition!

Anyway, I met Dennis Stewart at the University of Wolverhampton, Walsall campus. Dennis is one of the Midlands area coaches and is also my lift to and from Stansted airport. (As a side note Dennis won Bronze at the Seoul Olympics 1988, and is the father of my great friend Max). So Me, Dennis, Max and Jordan Ivory Birtles all set off to catch our flight to Bremen. Once there we met up with the rest of the Midlands area squad.

Competition day is here and time to get serious, last year was a good year for me on the domestic scene but internationally I didn’t win a fight in competition, combine this with the lack of real preparation and I have considerable pressure on me, but I’m thinking things can only get better. My first fight I am drawn against the No. 1 UZB player (I think it’s spelt Uzbakistan!). The fight was very tough and went the full distance, at the end of full time we went to the golden score. In golden score I managed to get into position and threw my opponent with “sumi gash”, this scored a wazari and I won my first fight at a junior international.

My second fight I was drawn against a Dutch player. This time I went a yuko down early in the fight, I kept my head and carried on battling. The Dutch player was now trying to defend his lead and because of his passivity he earned himself a penalty (shido). This put the fight on an even footing I then went on to score with sumi gash once again, just in time to win the fight.

Fight no.3 was against a French opponent. This fight I lost, so now I need the French lad to win through to the quarter finals to pull back into the competition via the repecharge. It’s a strange experience supporting the lad who has just beaten you, but if I was to be in with a chance to compete for Bronze I need his help! Good news for the French lad, he won through to the final, so that means I’m back in the comp.

Fight No.4 I win, Fight No.5 I lose – so I’m out of the competition and out of the medals, however on a positive note I finished in 9th place and was the highest finishing GB player in the under 60 kg category, on the day.

Other good news Max won Bronze, so at least I got to see a medal even if I didn’t win one! Seriously though, this has given me the confidence to know that I can win abroad and I will start medalling soon.

Finally I would like to thank everyone who made this trip possible and all the coaches from Midlands Area, especially Dennis for the lift and Bill Kelly my personal coach who is always an inspiration.

As promised earlier I’ll update news of my Japanese training trip. Obviously my thoughts are still with the people of Japan and especially the friends we made whilst visiting.

Day 6:

Good news today is Sunday so we had a day of rest, this may sound lazy but to be honest the combination of recovering from jet lag and constant early mornings have taken its toll. So the quiet day today was most welcome.

We decided to have a walk around the university, we had been told of a shop that sells Tsukuba University T-shirts, tracksuits and other merchandise on campus. When we found the shop I bought myself some tracksuit bottoms. Once everyone had finished at the shop we continued our walk around the university campus, in total we walked for 5 hours and never left the campus once – that demonstrates the sheer size of the area. After looking at the map, we can see there are 8 lakes, 7 gymnasiums or sports centers, an energy plant, a hospital, indoor and outdoor pools (both with diving boards) and a waste disposal plant.

So at 6pm we returned to our dormitory, after a quiet day, tomorrow we are back on full speed with an early morning training session – we have to be up for 6am so that we can join the Japanese judo players for a running session on the track. After the morning session we will have a rest until the afternoon randori.