Aylwin Judo Club News

On the second Sunday in January Roger Payne of the Mid Sussex Martial Arts School arranged a day of Judo to compare the traditional and the Olympic. Richard Raymond of the Aylwin Judo Club showed us the traditional and Karina Bryant (2012 Olympic Judo Medallist) showed us the Olympic.

After the warmup we continued with the Olympic style and then followed on with the more traditional style of Judo, switching between styles for the rest of the day. It was quite interesting to see how similar both styles are but also why there might be a difference. The Olympic style emphasis on absolutely making each attack count whilst at the same time not compromising your attacking position.

Thanks to Roger Payne and the Mid Sussex Martial Arts School for facilitating the event and making everyone so welcome at their dojo.

Jamie, Katie and Edwin at the Biggin Hill Competition last weekend (7^th July)

Many players won medals and a full tournament report and photos will be published on this website soon.

Over 30 British players travelled to Holland for the 20^th Houvast Tournament at the weekend from both the British Judo Association and the Amateur Judo Association. The competition is a very high level and the British players managed to win a total of 3 Bronze medals and a Silver medal in all the categories entered.

Peter Vincent, fighting in the over 90Kg weight group was faced with a number of Dutch National medallists and beat the number one seed, Michel Van Turk, in the quarter final by Ippon hold down. A bruising encounter with Jeffrey Havers of Holland in the semi-final saw a big ippon throw by Vincent take him into the final where he was beaten by Thomas Van Gestel who took Gold.

This competition is always a difficult one to win a medal as you also have to fight off for 3^rd and 4^th to win a Bronze if you fall into the repecharge so it was important to make the final to hit my medal target. I am sure I will get another chance to fight Van Gestel. It is all part of gaining international experience at this level before moving up to Senior European Cup level and beyond.

England Judoka Peter Vincent (far right) secured a Bronze medal in the under 100kg senior category at the Antwerp International in Belgium.

In a tough competition that saw favourite Mistral Janssen of the Netherlands fall at the final hurdle to fellow countryman Kevin Ten Hoeve, Peter completed a podium position finish after defeating Belgian Idrissi Alami Mounir by Ippon in golden score. Peter went down in his first fight against Tom Goermaat of the Netherlands in a close contest which saw a reversal of their previous meeting. However an ippon win against Jeffrey Havers from the Netherlands set up the Bronze final with Mounir.

I was pleased with my performance today as the whole group was filled with great players making all the fights difficult. Idrissi was fighting well and was unlucky not to win the competition after losing a very close fight with the eventual winner by a penalty in golden score. His gripping was excellent and although I did manage to keep attacking it took a big throw in golden score to get the win.

I need to get as much international experience as possible in order to progress to the senior European cup competitions and beyond and I am very happy with my performances so far this year.

Peter Vincent (Far left) picked up a well-earned Silver medal at the Tornooi van Ingelmunster in Belgium with some outstanding wins.

An unexpected loss against Karel De Splentere, a medallist at the Belgian senior nationals, put on early pressure. Peter came back with an ippon hold down win against Jan Aelbrecht to put him back in contention for the Gold medal. The next fight was against top Belgian Robin Monteyne who won under 21 European cup medals in Italy and Poland in 2014 and represented Belgium in the under 21 World Championships. Peter dominated the fight and beat the Belgian on penalties. This left Peter to fight Hungarian Sandor Molnar for the Silver medal. Peter scored wazari in 20 seconds and finished the fight with a massive ippon shortly after. A very impressive set of wins.

I am pleased to pick up a medal as the standard at the competition was excellent. I need to fight European cup medal winners as often as possible and get wins against them to get me to the next level. I only lost the Gold on count back which meant even though I beat the Gold medal winner I only took Silver.

Englands Peter Vincent started off the 2015 season with a Gold medal in the 31^st Royal Judo Club Nivelles Judo international in Belgium. Four wins in the over 90kg seniors saw him lift the Gold with a final win against Belgian Idrissi Alami Mounir. There were also wins against Jordan Modave and Didier Fontaine of Belgium and Micah Dahlem of Luxembourg.

Peter also celebrated his inclusion on the England Squad for the 8^th successive year. It was a great competition to start the year with four tough fights. I am pleased to make the England Squad again this year and receive the Talented Athlete Sports Scholarship funding as one of the top 20 England Judo Squad players. I am currently working with the Sports Science Department of Chichester University as part of the TASS initiative and it is really helping my Judo.

This will be a busy year for me developing my judo skills as a full England Senior having left under 21s as Great Britain number one in my weight.

In August 2013 the Dai Nippon Butoku Kai, International Division held a Butoku Sai in London. During the event Richard Raymond was promoted to 8^th Dan Hanshi by the head of the international division. A magnificent acheivement reflecting the many years of training and teaching judo. A remarkable acheivement!

Richard was presented with his certificate by Roger Payne who is the UK coordinator for the DNBK. Also, in the photo are the three instructors from the Aylwin Judo Club.

Peter Vincent moved into the IJF World Under 21 Judo Rankings with an outstanding Bronze medal at the Spanish Under 21 European Cup In La Coruna, Spain.

This will take Peter just outside the world top 20 when the new rankings come out in the next few days. An added bonus is that it gives him 200 ranking points for the GB under 21 rankings and takes him back to number one after missing a number of ranking competitions last year due to hip surgery.

Come and join us any Tuesday or Thursday evening for a great Judo session.
Our club has a friendly atmosphere and we welcome players of all abilities. We have several instructors and can work with you on your contest technique be that counters, multiple attacks.
We can also work with you on Kata for your gradings or just for the improvement to you technique that is learnt from kata practice.
Take a look at the "New To Aylwin" menu within the "New to AJC" menu to the left at the top of the page.
We look forward to welcoming you to our club and hope to see you soon.

On Saturday 13^th October the Aylwin Judo Club organised a celebration to recognise the contribution of Richard Raymond to the community of Southwark and the Aylwin Judo Club over the past 50 years.

Richard is a Sixth Dan with the British Judo Council and started Judo whilst on national service in the British Army. He is a man of great integrity and the name Richard Raymond is synonymous with the Aylwin Judo Club.

Richard has taught and travelled for Judo across Europe and as far afield as Japan where he demonstrated Judo in the Butokuden in Kyoto, Japan, on two occasions. Friends from Europe attended and many who couldn't be at the event sent messages of congratulations.

..You are a true gentleman both on and off the mat. Your coaching has been invaluable to so many people over the years, many off whom you have guided to a better path of life. We have never known anybody with such a vast amount of expertise in the field of judo...

Many of the messages talked about how Richard is highly respected for his integrity, technical knowledge, expertise and professionalism and thanked him for him giving freely of himself over such a long time.

One surprise message which recognised Richard's achievement was sent from The Dai Nippon Butoku Kai (DNBK) Honbu in Japan. (Honbu means Main Dojo) For which Richard holds international membership.

.....Thus, based on the great leadership, teaching, and service for many years, on behalf of DNBK ID and Honbu, I wish to acknowledge and bestow you the title of SHIHAN in Judo, master teacher of Judo.....

Tesshin Hamada, Chair, DNBK ID, VP Honbu DNBK, Kyoto, Japan

Richard's final surprise of the evening was the arrival of the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Commons, our MP for Bermondsey and Old Southwark for almost 30 years, Right Honourable Simon Hughes. Simon presented Richard with a commemorative plaque recognising his contribution to Southwark and the Aylwin Judo Club over the past 50 years and spoke highly of Richard's contribution.

Some of the highlights of Richard's achievements over the past 50 years include the coaching of a number of national champions and national medallists both male and female. Scores of black belts many of whom have gone on to become high ranking Dan grades and club instructors. He headed up 2 highly successful international tournaments at Crystal Palace and a number of national tournaments. Running a club twice a week and for much of that time the South London Area which routinely runs 3 weekends a year for courses and gradings, a further 2 weekends for European trips and around 3 club competitions, is a big commitment. In 1993 Richards was awarded a Scroll of Honour, for high achievement and long service, from Southwark Council.

The organisers of the event were very pleased that Richards's wife and family came to join in the celebrations.

Aylwin Judo Club still thrives Tuesday and Thursday evenings at Scallywags' Nursery which is in St Crispins Church Hall Southwark Park Road.

So, how long is 50 years? When Richard started Judo the domestic microwave oven, TV remote control and the Jet Airliner didn't exist! That's how long 50 years is.

Congratulations Richard!

At the end of the trainig session Aylwin Judo Club Primaries and a few Juniors wave a flag before the long Diamond Jubilee weekend.

A fantastic turnout with many Aylwin Judo Club players in addition to some 40 players representing 15 clubs from several organisations, coming from all over the South of England from as far as Bristol. This event was hosted at the Biggin Hill Judo Club. In addition to practising and learning Nage No Kata and Katame No Kata, some students went on to work on Gonosen No Kata. Come along and join us in March for the next course.

Aylwin Judo Club took a squad of players to the Ishin Ryu, Open Championships in Cambridge on 1^st March 2009. For some of the younger members it was their first competition. The squad coaches were Richard Raymond, Laurie Dalton and John Baseley and the party included a number of enthusiastic parents.

The competition itself was a very good standard with about 200 competitors from a number of organisations. All the players worked hard in their contests and produced some excellent Judo. The team proudly display their medals with the members from the primary class at the club. Aylwin Judo Club would like to thank the Time and Talents organisation for the use of their mini bus which enabled the team to travel to Cambridge for the day.

On 8^th and 9^th of March the South London Area arranged a day of Kata on Saturday followed by day of Gradings on the Sunday. The picture shows the primaries and some of the juniors who attended and took part in the grading. Thanks to all those who attended.