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BC WINTER GAMES – ABERDEEN JUDO WINNERS!
The 2020 BC Winter Games held in Ft. ST. John on February 20 – 23 saw over 1000 participants in a variety of sports. In the judo competitions, Aberdeen Judo’s Zone 2 team competitors each brought home medals; Maggie Sinclair – Gold in her +70Kg. match. Graeme Hanks won bronze in his -60Kg. match! Both also fought in the Zone team competitions, achieving bronze medals for their Zone 2 winning 3rd place overall. Coaching Zone 2 competitors was Megan Hanks, presented with a separate COACH medal for her activities! Congratulations to all three of our judoka!
ABERDEEN JUDO MEDAL HAUL!
The Judo BC sponsored 2020 Youth Championships, U12 Festival & Petit Samurai at TCC started on Friday night and culminated in a Judo BC Team Workout Sunday morning, January 31 – February 2!
Aberdeen Judo medallists continued to show their mettle, winning gold, silver & bronze medals in their respective age & weigh divisions:
Nicholas Plumtree – gold – U18 -66Kg. division
Nicholas Plumtree – bronze – U21 -66Kg. division
Maggie Sinclair – gold – U16 +70Kg. division
Maggie Sinclair – silver – U18 +70 Kg. division
Graeme Hanks – bronze – U16 -60Kg. division
Megan Hanks – gold – Women’s Ne-Waza (grappling only) +70Kg.division
Also competing but out of the medals were Aaron Okano, Ben Sinclair, Payton Marchand & Findlay Patterson.
Coaching activities were handled by Sean Kidner, Joe Marchand & Bonnie Cleland. Supportive club parents were also busy assisting with weigh-in, positive self-talk and ensuring the competitors were at their assigned competition mat ready to go!
Aberdeen Judo Academy scores again!
A long day (8AM – 8PM) participating in the annual Steveston Judo Tournament on Saturday, December 3, 2019.
Tyler Campbell – 11 year old Tyler won a gold medal in the Under 14 novice division!
Graeme Hanks – a 14 year old perennial medallist; won a bronze medal in the U16 division!
Nicholas Plumtree – 15 year old Nicholas, competing in two divisions won a gold medal in the under 21 division won a silver medal in the U18 division!
Tony Plumtree – father of Nicholas - gold medal in his Senior Men’s ne-waza (grappling only) division competing against larger opponents at times!
Megan Hanks – our senior-ranked competitor, 2nd degree black belt, in addition to her refereeing & judging duties during the entire day, also donned her judo outfit and proceeded to win (gold medal) her Women’s ne-waza (grappling only) division, and also participated in a ‘stand-up judo’ exhibition match with a senior female competitor from Lake Country Judo Club (Winfield) who had no opponents to compete against. Another win for Megan!
Photo attachments: Nicholas Plumtree match & winners – missing Graeme Hanks.
FIRST ZONE 2 (OKANAGAN) REGIONAL TEAM TRAINING OF 2019 – 2020 SEASON!
Aberdeen Judo hosted the first Okanagan Team Training session of the judo season on Sunday, November 17 – a 2-hour morning session and a 2-hour afternoon session. Participants came from Kelowna, Penticton, Revelstoke, Vernon, Winfield and two Kamloops judo clubs – Westsyde Judo Club & Aberdeen Judo Academy. A number of participants only made the AM session due to other commitments with a little over half staying for the PM session & photo.
Fall startup Sept. 3rd, 2019!
ABERDEEN JUDO BLACK BELT PROMOTION(S) – June 9, 2019!
Promoted at the Judo BC grading board exams in Richmond on June 9 were Megan Hanks & Sean Kidner; both promoted to Kodokan nidan rank (2nd degree black belt).
Megan Hanks passed her Judo Canada nidan exam at the June 2018 grading exams and has now completed her full Kodokan Judo Institute requirements!
Sean performed the five sets of Nage-no-Kata to qualify for promotion to Judo Canada and Kodokan Judo Institute nidan.
Congratulations to both of our senior judoka, plus a thank you to Matthew Hanks who was uke (fall guy!) for both Sean and Megan!
ABERDEEN JUDO WINS GOLD AGAIN!
Four Aberdeen Judo competitors competed in the Pacific International Judo Championships held in the Richmond Olympic Stadium on Saturday & Sunday, March 16 &17. This tournament is the most prestigious tournament in Western Canada and had over 650 competitors from Canada, USA and Japan. Graeme Hanks and Nicholas Plumtree competed in two age-group divisions, Jessi Melenka competed in her individual age-division and U14 team event. Megan Hanks competed and won gold in her Senior Women’s +78Kg. division with 14 year old brother Graeme winning his gold medal in the U16 age division. Hard fought matches by all four of our competitors, . . .more medals, . . .. next time, . .! Congratulations to all for great effort!
Huntley sensei
ABERDEEN RECENT GRADING EXAMS
Formal grading time saw a number of judoka go through the formal grading process for deserving junior and senior judoka! Each candidate is evaluated by a pair of black belt examiners, and techniques (throws, grappling, neck-locks & arm-locks) are demonstrated & scored individually. This month’s exams saw judoka promoted to rokkyu A,B,C (white belt c/w stripes) to ikkyu (brown belt) ranks.
Special mention pertaining to Crag Basaraba and Bonnie Cleland; hard work and dedication to the junior and senior programs at Aberdeen Judo saw these two judoka promoted to ikkyu (1st kyu – brown belt). Next step for them is promotion to shodan (1st degree black belt)!
Congratulations to all!
Thanks a bunch!
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ABERDEEN JUDO/KAMLOOPS POLICE JUDO/VANCOUVER POLICE DEPARTMENT TRAINING ACTIVITIES
Aberdeen Judo Academy played host to combined practice/training sessions at Aberdeen Judo Academy dojo, starting with traditional Kodokan Judo for the first hour, followed by Police Judo for the second hour. A group of VPD Force Options personnel were in Kamloops for a 3-day Force Options Development Camp, and took the opportunity to partake of a regular practice session with Aberdeen Judo judoka. A presentation on chokes/strangle & arm-locks by Dr. Cleland highlighted the combined practice session! Another ‘extra’ after an all-day classroom Force Options session included taking part in an ‘on-mat’ resistance circuit-training activity! Future combined events are in the works!
ZONE 2 REGIONAL TEAM TRAINING
In preparation for the upcoming shiai season, Aberdeen Judo hosted one of the first sessions of the 2018 - 2019 tournament season on Sunday, December 1st. Two sessions were held - 10AM - 12Noon and 1PM - 3PM. Regional Team Training judoka earn points towards selection to the Judo BC Team. Sessions assist team hopefuls with their individual development.
Quebec Open Judo Championships
Aberdeen Judo Academy’s Megan Hanks, 2nd dan, won the silver medal today, competing in the Quebec Open Judo Championships being held in the Claude-Robillard Sports Complex Centre in Montreal, Quebec!
The Quebec Open Judo Championships is one of the premiere competitions on the Canadian National tournament circuit, and competitors earn points to compete in the Canadian Judo Championships in Edmonton, Alberta May 16 – 19, 2019.
Megan was coached at this event by Sandra Hewson, a dojo instructor from Montreal, Quebec.
Congratulations, Megan!
ABERDEEN JUDO ATHLETES, SCORE AGAIN!
Four Aberdeen Judo competitors travelled to the USA to take part in the 2018 Rainier Cup Judo Championships held in Tacoma, Washington on Saturday, October 20. When the mat dust had settled, our four competitors had each won a medal! Graeme Hanks – gold, Megan Hanks – silver, Matthew Hanks – bronze and Nicholas Plumtree – bronze. This is the first ‘out of country’ competition for Graeme, Matthew & Nicholas, resulting in receiving very distinctive, heavyweight medals!
Second degree black belt Megan had some very strong competition, losing only to a USA black belt female judoka who weighed in at 270 lbs.! Next on the agenda for our competitors is the ‘first of the season’ Zone 2 Regional Team Training workout in Vernon, a Judo BC Team Selection requirement to earn points to compete in the Canadian Judo Championships in Edmonton in May, 2019.
Congratulations to our Aberdeen Judo competitors!
First Two Judoka to be Crowned Champions of the Giant Ford Canadian Circuit
Montreal – For the first time in Judo Canada history, two judoka have been awarded a bursary as champions of the Giant Ford Canadian Circuit. Megan Hanks and Shady El Nahas were given a check for $2,500 after their performance on the brand new national-level competition circuit. “On behalf of our staff and management, Sherwood Ford is very pleased to be able to provide funding to two very deserving Canadian athletes. By their success, Shady El Nahas (NTC – Montreal) and Megan Hanks (Aberdeen Judo Academy – Kamloops) have enjoyed the benefit of participating in the Giant Canadian Circuit Ranking Sponsorship,” said Marc Hicks, the owner of Sherwood Ford.
The bursaries offered by Sherwood Ford will help the athletes to reach their dreams. “It feels amazing receiving this bursary, I am very honoured. My season has been pretty good this year as I’ve been on a good winning streak, and also because I just took my first big steps into the big leagues and trying to qualify for the Olympic Games in 2020, held in Tokyo,” said Shady El Nahas. “It’s nice to have support from others. It gives me the feeling that my efforts have paid off, and all my hard work is being noticed.” The 2018 Giant National Ranking was generated using points from Elite National until Canada Cup.
“One of our goals in the last strategic plan was to stimulate growth of our national circuit, and that’s why the Canadian Circuit was created. The sponsorship offered by Sherwood Ford was a key element to increase its visibility,” commented Nicolas Gill, CEO and High Performance Director for Judo Canada.
Indeed, there were over 350,000 views on the national federation streaming platform (judocanada.tv). The mission will continue next year, with the addition of another tournament, the Saskatchewan Open, that will be webcast in October. “We’re happy to announce that Sherwood Ford will be our sponsor again next year,” added Nicolas Gill. “We’re also adding a new tournament that will be webcast live.”
“Participation in the Canadian circuit events exposes all competitors to a high quality of judo, a high-level competition and something to aspire to. No matter your generation, someone you watched motivated you to strive for success in our sport. Sherwood Ford looks forward to continuing support of deserving Canadian athletes and to help motivate participation by all in the lifelong, skill building, sport of judo,” concluded Mr. Hicks.
GOLD FOR MEGAN HANKS!
Competing in the Coupe Canada (Canada Cup), Megan won her matches with full point wins on Sunday, July 1! Over 600 competitors from 20 countries were in action over three days of the tournament, held in the Claude-Robillard Stadium in Montreal, Quebec. This is the first time in 25 years that the resurrected Coupe Canada has been held and a number of competitors who are vying for a spot to compete in the 2020 Olympic Games to be held in Tokyo, Japan were in action. Coaching Megan at the tournament was Sandra Hewson 3 dan, a Judo Quebec coach from Montreal who assists sensei Huntley with coaching functions at national and international shiai. Congratulations, Megan!
JUDO BC AWARDS GALA EVENT – RICHMOND, B.C.
At the AWARDS GALA EVENT following the Judo BC Annual Conference, Megan Hanks & Huntley sensei both received awards. Megan was presented with the Senior Female Athlete of the Year and Huntley sensei presented with a 20+ Years of Service to the Referee Development Committee certificate. Next morning at the Judo BC Grading Board examinations, Megan passed her nidan (2nd degree black belt) exam with her brother Geoffrey as partner. Congratulations to our hard-working judoka!
ABERDEEN JUDO ACHIEVEMENTS
Concluding another positive season is the announcement of the following awards to two Aberdeen Judo Yudansha. Because of her recent achievements in winning national competitions - Quebec Open, Elite 8 Invitational Nationals, Edmonton International, Pacific International and Canadian Championships, Judo BC will be presenting Megan Hanks with the Senior Female Athlete of the Year Award at the June 9 Judo BC Gala Awards banquet.
At the same time, Huntley sensei will be presented with a 20 Year Service Award for his ongoing commitment to the Judo BC referee program!
Congratulations to both for their achievements and ongoing commitment to training and instruction in Aberdeen Judo!!
ABERDEEN JUDO TEAM - OFF TO THE NATIONALS!
Five members of Aberdeen Judo Academy - Kiara Endean, Nicholas Plumtree and three members of the Hanks family (Megan, Matthew & Graeme) will be competing in the Canadian Judo Championships in the Calgary Olympic Oval on May 19 & 20. As a result of their tournament accomplishments, each will represent Judo BC in their respective age & weight divisions. Coaching will be Brad Endean and sensei John Huntley. Congratulations to each of you!
VPD FORCE OPTIONS & KAMLOOPS POLICE JUDO ACTIVITIES
On Thursday April 5 we had 43 participants (VPD/Kamloops Police Judo/TRU Police & Justice Studies students) on the mat working on aspects of Practical Training and Fitness for Law Enforcement and the Public. The TRU Police & Justice Studies students took a very active part in the afternoon sessions followed by a VPD recruitment session Thursday night at TRU.
On Friday morning, April 6 we had 15 Vancouver Police Department Force Options/Kamloops Police Judo participants working on further advanced applications. This is the first time we have ever had VPD officers (visiting) wearing full duty-gear in the dojo!
Congratulations to Brad Endean for arranging the varied events!
ZONE 2 REGIONAL TEAM TRAINING SESSIONS
Aberdeen Judo hosted two very successful Zone 2 (Thompson/Okanagan) Regional Team Training sessions on Saturday, January 20. Competitors vying for a spot on the Judo BC team must attend 8 regional team training sessions, plus noted performances at provincial and inter-provincial selection tournaments. Good effort was the order of the day, and many excellent techniques were observed!
Junior Program Grading
Aberdeen Judo junior program promotion exams took place on December 12, and certificates handed out on Thursday, December 14. A great showing of demonstrated learning and everyone looking forward to the second half of our 2017 – 2018 judo season! Congratulations to our junior judoka! Huntley sensei
ABERDEEN WINS AGAIN!
Aberdeen Judo had four junior judoka entries in the Steveston Judo Club Tournament, held in Richmond, BC on November 18 and came away with three medals!
Coached by Brad Endean, a silver medal was won by Kiara Endean, bronze medals were won by Matthew & Graeme Hanks in their respective age & weight divisions. Competing in his first-ever judo tournament, Matteo Rawlings won his first math in 14 seconds but unfortunately lost his next two matches. Next time, Matteo!
Refereeing for the first time was Megan Hanks, 1st degree black belt, two-time Canadian Champion and US Open Champion. Megan feels that learning the finer points of officiating will allow her to hone her competition skills to produce the winning style that the officials are looking for. Go get ‘em, Megan!
Megan Hanks – gold medal – Quebec Open!
Megan Hanks took the gold medal in her U-21 weight division at the Quebec Open on Sunday, October 4! Competing as a member of the Judo BC team, Megan flew to Montreal on Friday, made weight at the official weigh-in on Saturday, competed/won on Sunday, flew back to Kamloops early (4AM flight out of Montreal) Monday, , .and was out for circuit weight training at Aberdeen Judo Monday afternoon! Way to go, Megan – dedication to training!
Megan was coached at the shiai by Sandra Hewson, 3-dan, who has co-coached Megan with Sensei Huntley at various national shiai in Canada.
XploreSportz demo/practice held at Parkcrest Elementary School on August 30
Aberdeen Judo participants were Geoffrey Hanks, Megan Hanks, Valerie Prociuk, Nicholas Plumtree and John Huntley.
PACIFIC SPORT/XPLORESPORTZ SUMMER CAMP
Aberdeen Judo again participated in the 2017 XploreSportz summer camp hosted by Pacific Sport. The activity was held in the McGowan Park Elementary School, and in the one-hour presentation & practice, the participants started with a dynamic partner-assisted warmup, basic break-falling drills and then did some randori (free-play) activities with each other and the final, much anticipated ‘challenge-matches’ against our judoka! Thanks to Megan Hanks, Bonnie Cleland, Matthew Hanks, Nicholas Plumtree and Graeme Hanks for again taking part in making the sessions a success!
ABERDEEN JUDO - NEWEST BLACK BELT PROMOTION!
Aberdeen Judo has just promoted it's 23rd black belt since opening in 1995! Latest recipient is Brad Endean, an active assistant coach within the junior program. After achieving black belt status in various other martial arts, Brad joined Aberdeen Judo in 2012 and with dedicated effort, did his formal grading exam before the Judo BC Grading Board on December 4 in Steveston, B.C.. Brad's exam partner was 18 year old Jarek Masson who did an excellent performance for Brad in the kata (forms) examination! Congratulations Brad!
ON THE TOURNAMENT TRAIL – CANADA WEST OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS
Aberdeen Judo had just four entries in the Canada West shiai, and came home with 5 medals!
Graeme Hanks – (11 years old) - bronze in U14 boys (-38Kg.)
Nicholas Plumtree – (12 years old) – 4th place – U14 boys (-42Kg.)
Matthew Hanks – (14 years old) - silver in U16 juvenile males (-60Kg.)
Matthew Hanks – (14 years old) - bronze in U18 cadet men (-60Kg.)
Geoffrey Hanks – (17 years old) - gold in U21 junior men (-73Kg.)
Geoffrey Hanks – (17 years old) - bronze in Senior men (-73Kg.) - brown & black belts
First up was Graeme in a tough division; no sleepers here! With his performance, Graeme placed 3rd.
Nicholas put out good effort, but with the strong competition in his division, just missed medalling and wound up in 4th
Matthew & Geoffrey, as well as competing in their regular age/weight category, also competed in the next higher divisions, with good performance in every match! No easy matches for any of our competitors this day!
Being the first tournament of the 2016 – 2017 competition season, our competitors now know what they have to work on for future event participation!
Coaching functions were handled by Brad Endean, Geoffrey Hanks and Huntley sensei.
ABERDEEN JUNIOR PROGRAM 2016 FALL STARTUP!
Our fall junior program got off to a great start on September 6 with a good mix of returning judoka and new beginners signing up. As noted in the photo, everyone in judogi and paying attention to the demonstration by instructor Sean Kidner and assistant instructor Joe Marchand. We look forward to another successful season, technical-wise and competition-wise!
AND IN ANOTHER SPORT!
Geoffrey Hanks (Aberdeen judoka) scored the lone goal in the 88th minute of the game on McArthur Island for the Under-18 Kamloops Blaze Selects in their 3-1 loss against the Moreton School Soccer Academy of Wolverhampton, England. The English soccer club has won all six games played in BC! Congratulations, Geoffrey!
PACIFIC SPORT – XPLORESPORTZ
Once again our Aberdeen Judo members took part in the XploreSportz summer camp hosted by Pacific Sport! Held in McGowan Park Elementary School, the session for the participants was for 1 ½ hours, and covered a short background on various martial arts, then into moving warmup exercises, basic break-falling drills and concluded with low-level throwing & grappling activities. Highlight of the sessions is when they camp participants get to work out with our ranked judoka, especially the black belts! Thanks to Val Prociuk, Megan, Matthew & Graeme Hanks, Bonnie Cleland and Colby Basaraba for their excellent interaction with the ‘camp kids’!
ABERDEEN JUDO OFF TO THE NATIONAL JUDO CHAMPIONSHIPS!
Aberdeen Judo had 5 judoka qualify as members of the Judo BC Team to the Canadian Judo Championships to be held in the Calgary Olympic Oval on May 13 & 14, 2016. The sister & brothers trio of Megan, Geoffrey & Matthew Hanks, along with sisters Morgan & Kiara Endean will join other members of the Judo BC team in this high-level event. In addition to weekly judo practice, our national level competitors take part in three-times-a-week circuit weight-training activities.
Coaching our competitors will be John Huntley, sensei of Aberdeen Judo.
ABERDEEN JUDO – OUT OF THE MEDALS
Five Aberdeen Judo competitors were members of the 110-strong Judo BC Team competing at the national Judo Championships on the May 14 weekend in the Calgary Olympic Oval. Although all fought well, they came up against very strong competitors and finished just out of the medals.
Aberdeen competitors were the Hanks siblings Megan, Geoffrey & Matthew, and the Endean sisters Morgan & Kiara; Aberdeen instructor John Huntley coached our group.
ABERDEEN JUDOKA SHINE IN SCHOLASTIC ACTIVITIES ALSO!
Two of our junior judoka, Aaron Okano (judo display) & Graeme Hanks (sonar display) had artistic talent on display at the Henry Grube Centre recently, showcasing abilities in their respective topics. Congratulations on your presentations!
ABERDEEN JUNIOR PROGRAM GRADING RESULTS
Grading exams ending the 2015 - 2016 junior program season were held Tuesday and promotional certificates were presented to the successful candidates on Thursday. Those not present for the first set of exams (soccer practice/games, etc.) will be examined this coming week. Our junior program winds up on Thursday, April 28. Congratulations to all; see you in September!
ABERDEEN JUDO MEDALS ONCE AGAIN!
The BC Open Judo Tournament was held on April 15 (kata competition) & April 16 (individual completion) in Vernon. Friday night kata (forms) competition saw Aberdeen Judo’s Brad Endean & Jarek Masson repeat their recent silver medal performance earned at the Edmonton International Judo Championships with same placing in Vernon! In individual competition on Saturday, our two junior entrants, Graeme Hanks & Aaron Okano managed first place medals in their respective divisions. Coaching the kata team was sensei John Huntley and coaching the junior individual competitors was junior program assistant instructor Brad Endean. Congratulations to all!
ABERDEEN STRIKES SILVER - EDMONTON INTERNATIONAL
Brad Endean & Jarek Masson, representing Aberdeen Judo in the Kata (forms) competition at the Edmonton International Judo Championships came home with a silver medal performance in their respective divisions and Jens Krause bringing home the silver medal in the IJF Masters Black belt division. There were six couples competing in the 5-set Nage-no-Kata competition, with competitors from BC, Alberta & Manitoba. They were competing against black belt teams and still managed a silver medal placing! Congratulations to Brad & Jarek! Coaching the kata team and Masters division was sensei John Huntley.
POLICE JUDO CLINIC - ABERDEEN JUDO
A Police Judo clinic was recently hosted by Kamloops Police Judo group in Aberdeen Judo Academy. Instructors for the clinic were Toby Hinton of the Vancouver-based Police Judo Association & Brad Endean, instructor of Kamloops Police Judo. Twenty-one participants took part, including some students of the Vancouver Police Group and activities covered included control, take-down and handcuffing techniques. It was interesting to see smaller-bodied participants easily taking their larger partner down in short order!
SENIOR PROGRAM PROMOTIONAL GRADING EXAMS
Successful candidates passing their grading exams saw the father & son team of Craig & Colby Basaraba advancing to gokyu (5th kyu), Bonnie Cleland advancing to gokyu (5th kyu) and Nicholas Plumtree moving to advanced sankyu (3rd kyu – level B). All candidates did well on their exams, with Nicholas doing a mature performance and aced his exam at the age of 11 years old! Congratulations to our newest promotees!
POLICE JUDO - ABERDEEN JUDO
Kamloops Police Judo, operating out of Aberdeen Judo Academy has been appointed a satellite organization of the Vancouver-based Law Enforcement Judo Association. Instructor is Brad Endean, Police Judo black belt and local law enforcement officer. As noted on the flyer, sessions are conducted on Wednesday nights, 7 - 9PM. Membership is not restricted to law enforcement personnel and the general public is invited to join.
CANADA WEST INVITATIONAL JUDO CHAMPIONSHIPS
Aberdeen Judo competitors did well at the Canada West Invitational Judo Championships in Burnaby on the weekend; 5 competitors; 7 medals won!
Geoffrey Hanks (16 years old) – gold in U18 and silver in U21
Morgan Endean – (16 years old) – silver in U18 and Silver in U21
Kiara Endean – (13 years old) – silver in U16
Matthew Hanks – (13 years old) – bronze in U16
Graeme Hanks – (10 years old) – silver in U12
Coaching our competitors were Geoffrey Hanks, Brad Endean and sensei Huntley.
A very good effort, showing good spirit and application of winning techniques, both standing and grappling!
INSTRUCTOR SEMINAR – TACTICAL TRAINING CENTRE – VANCOUVER, B.C.
On August 13 & 14, Aberdeen Judo Academy & Police Judo Association of Vancouver, co-hosted a two-day Instructor Seminar featuring top instructor Hiroshi Katanishi, 8th dan, from Lausanne, Switzerland. Attendees came from BC. Alberta & USA, and were shown & practiced aspects of teaching judo to all levels of judo players. Additional demos were put on by Police Judo participants, and covered takedown, control & handcuffing techniques, plus a very interesting demonstration of the use of a Conducted Energy Weapon (Taser gun)! Positive comments from all judoka indicated a well-received seminar!
XPLORESPORTZ SUMMER CAMP – JUDO DEMNSTRATIONS
At the request of Pacific Sport, members of Aberdeen Judo Academy conducted three judo activities for youngsters in the XploreSportz summer camps in three different locations in July & August. Started with a short talk on judo and other martial arts, did some moving warm-up activities and then right into bean bag foot sweeps, kneeling falling practice/throws and concluded with grappling activities and had a lot of happy squealing coming from everyone! This is the second summer we have participated in XploreSportz and already have parents looking at getting their child into our junior program!
DREW RAMSAY PROMOTED TO BLACK BELT!
A follow-up to our five judoka promoted in rank at the Judo BC December 2014 grading exams, Drew Ramsay, another one of our teen-aged judoka (17 years old) passed the Judo BC Grading Board provincial exams with flying colours on June 14! Drew’s partner for the formal examination was Sean Kidner, our junior program instructor. Starting his judo activities in the Abbotsford Judo Club, upon his family moving to Kamloops, Drew joined Aberdeen Judo in the fall of 2007. Active in both provincial & national competition activities, Drew has competed in USA shiai also. Congratulations, Drew!
POLICE JUDO!
On May 23, Aberdeen Judo was host for a Takedown, Physical Control and Handcuffing Clinic sponsored by the Law Enforcement Judo Association! Instructors were Vancouver Police Department’s Sergeant Tony Hinton, Sergeant Mark Steinkampf and retired constable Al Arsenault, all police judo black belts. Assisting with the instruction was Aberdeen Judo’s Brad Endean, a local Deputy Sheriff. Participants in the day-long activities practiced ‘police judo’ - covering effective and ethical arrest, control and handcuffing techniques. In addition to law enforcement personnel, Aberdeen Judo judoka taking part included John Cleland, Mark Saunders, Valerie Prociuk, Brad Endean, Jarek Masson and sensei John Huntley.
On Sunday, City of Kamloops bylaw officers took part in a half day training session covering National Use of Force Framework, police judo techniques for law enforcement and self-defence activities.
ABERDEEN JUDO IN THE MEDALS AGAIN
Aberdeen Judo competitors took part in the final western Canada inter-provincial tournament of the judo season, the BC Open Judo Championships in Vernon.
With eleven competitors entered, we had a 100% medal count with all competitors placing. In addition to our senior judoka placings, junior program instructor Sean Kidner continues to produce a strong group of competitors! Coaching duties were handled by Megan Hanks, Brad Endean, Drew Ramsay, Jarek Masson & sensei John Huntley.
Aaron Okano – 1st place & Tiago Maurice – 2nd place - boys under 12 years (group A)
Graeme Hanks – 1st place – novice boys under 12 years (group B) / Nicholas Plumtree – 2nd place – novice boys under 12 years (group C)
Matthew Hanks – 1st place – boys under 14 years / Kiara Endean – 1st place – girls under 14 years
Morgan Endean – 1st place – exhibition match & 2nd place – under 18 Cadet Women / Drew Ramsay – 1st place – under 18 Cadet Men
Tony Plumtree – 1st place – Masters 35+ - blue belt & under / Julian Keresztesi – 2nd place – novice senior men – yellow & orange belts / Jarek Masson – 3rd place – Senior men – brown & black belts - U21 years
Next national event for three Aberdeen Judo competitors selected as members of the Judo BC Team (Megan & Geoffrey Hanks, Morgan Endean) are the Canadian Championships in Saint-Jean-sur Richelieu, Quebec on the May 16 weekend, followed by the Western Canada Summer Games (Judo BC team selection selection - Geoffrey Hanks & Morgan Endean) in Wood Buffalo, Alberta on the August 8 weekend.
ABERDEEN JUDO JUNIOR PROGRAM WINDUP
As is traditional, we held our junior program season end promotional grading exams for our younger members. While our junior program is recreational overall, we saw a number of successes in provincial competition from these judoka!
Congratulations to all of our juniors for their enthusiasm & involvement, and a big thank you to our junior program instructor, Sean Kidner and his assistants Brad Endean, Valerie Prociuk, Megan & Geoffrey Hanks! See you all in September again!
MEGAN HANKS – EUROPEAN JUDO TOUR
Megan Hanks is off to Europe with the Judo Canada national judo team to take part in two major events, the IJF Junior European Judo Cup, in Lisbon, Portugal on March 14 & 15, followed by a 4-day training camp March 16 - 19, then on to Bad Blankenburg, Germany to compete in the 24th International Thuringia Judo Cup March 21. This tournament is for cadets (U18) and juniors (U21) only – a very important one on the European shiai calendar and is limited to 600 female competitors! Again, a follow-up international training camp for three days. Based on her tournament record, 17 year old black belt Megan was invited by Judo Canada to take part in these two prestigious events and is looking forward to the experience of competing against the best in the world.
The photo of our senior program judoka was taken last night prior to her leaving for Portugal, Wednesday, March 11 for the first leg of her adventure.
ABERDEEN JUDO MONTHLY TOURNAMENT
Our regular monthly junior ‘in-house’ tournament was held on Thursday, January 22 with 16 participants. During the one-hour event, we have the judoka do traditional ‘standing start’ matches, SUMO matches, sitting ‘back to back’ starting matches, and ‘take on the instructors’ matches! The tournament gets the juniors used to the Japanese terminology used at competitions, and learn how to bow, compete and learn all aspects of competitions. Officiating duties and time/score functions are handled by the senior program judoka.
Congratulations to all the competitors for their good sportsmanship and giving ‘best effort’!
SASKATCHEWAN OPEN JUDO CHAMPIONSHIPS – REGINA – JANUARY 24
Aberdeen Judo had three competitors entered in the 2015 Saskatchewan Open Judo Championships as members of the Judo BC Team. This is a designated Judo Canada Regional Ranking (National A) Tournament. Our competitors did very well, with the following results:
Megan Hanks – 17 years old (competing in Under 21 Female division -78Kg. – gold medal!) and (Senior Women’s division -78Kg.- gold medal)!
Kiara Endean – 12 years old (competing in Under 14 female division -44Kg.) – silver medal!
Morgan Endean – 14 years old (competing in Under 18 female division -63Kg.) – bronze medal!
Coaching the Judo BC Team were Bruce Kamstra (Judo BC Team Coach) and Aline Strasdin.
Congratulations to our three medallists, and a big thank you to our judoka and instructors for coaching, practicing & training with them to prepare for this major shiai!
JUNIOR PROGRAM GRADING RESULTS
To wind up our 2014 junior program activities prior to the Xmas break, we recently conducted promotional grading exams for those who had practiced and achieved the requirements for their next rank. We look forward to seeing you all back in January, preparing for the local shiai to be held in Kelowna in January, and in Vernon in April for the lower-ranked judoka, and additional shiai in BC and Alberta for the older, higher-ranked judoka! Congratulations to all of you, with a special thanks to Sean Kidner - Junior Program Instructor, Brad Endean, Valerie Prociuk, Megan and Geoffrey Hanks - Assistant Junior Program Instructors.
Judo BC promotional grading exams – Steveston Martial Arts Centre – December 7
Left to right: Sean Kidner - 1st dan, Megan Hanks - 1st dan (17 years old), Valerie Prociuk -1st dan, Sensei Huntley - 7 dan, Geoffrey Hanks - 1st dan (15 years old), Dr. John Cleland - 3rd dan, Bill Lee – 3rd dan
Kneeling in the front row: Jarek Masson – 1st kyu & Brad Endean – 1st kyu
Congratulations on your successful passing, and to Bill, Brad & Jarek for all their pre-exam practice time with you!
Canada West Judo Championships – December 6 - Bonsor Recreation Complex – Burnaby
Graeme Hanks (9 years old) - U12 division – gold medal
Matthew Hanks ( 12 years old) – U14 division– gold medal (missing form photo)
Kiara (12 years old) U14 – silver / U16 division– gold medal
Morgan (14 years old) U18 – silver / U21 division– silver medal
Jarek Masson (16 years old)- U21 division – placed 4th
All fought well, with some very tough matches with American and Canadian competitors, . .and a learning experience all around! Coaching duties were handled by Megan & Geoffrey Hanks, Brad Endean and sensei Huntley.
POLICE JUDO: HANDCUFFING & TAKEDOWN CLINIC
Brad Endean and I participated in an 8-hour Police Judo Association clinic at the VPD Tactical Training Session on Sunday, November 9. Overall, there were almost 40 participants from various law enforcement agencies in British Columbia, including RCMP, Vancouver Police Department, Sheriffs, Prison Guards, etc. practicing their skills, as well as Justice Institute program students. .and learning new and very efficient methods of controlling their opponent. Included in the clinic were classroom sessions with excellent PowerPoint presentations, as well as personal glimpses into areas of activity that the VPD based Police Judo Association members are involved in, including introducing Police Judo in other parts of the world, and more closer to home, in Whitehorse, Nunavut and locations in British Columbia.
ABERDEEN JUDOKA COMPETE ACROSS NORTH AMERICA!
Three members of Aberdeen Judo were in winning action across North America the weekends of November 1 & 8; Megan & Geoffrey Hanks in Quebec & Ontario and Drew Ramsay in Seattle, Washington!
Megan & Geoffrey, competing in Montreal as members of the Judo BC Team, took part in the Quebec Open, followed by a National Team Training Camp at the new National Training Centre in Montreal followed by competition in the Ontario Open Judo Championships. In the Quebec Open, Megan won silver in the Under 21 year old division and a bronze in the Senior Women’s division. Geoffrey earned a bronze medal on the same day.
In the Ontario Open, Megan won silver in the Senior Women’s division.
Drew Ramsay, being the lone Aberdeen Judo competitor in the Continental Crown tournament in Seattle, won gold in his Juvenile B division and a silver in his IJF (International Judo Federation) Junior division!
Congratulations to our athletes!
ABERDEEN JUDOKA SCORE GOLD IN HAWAII!
Two of our Aberdeen Judo 2014 Canadian Judo Champions taking part in the US National Judo Championships in Honolulu, Hawaii last weekend came away with 4 medals!
Geoffrey Hanks - gold in Juvenile B (-73Kg.) competition (Friday) and bronze in IJF Junior Open (-73Kg.) division (Saturday)!
Megan Hanks - silver in Juvenile B (+70Kg.) competition (Friday) and gold in IJF Junior Open (-78Kg.) division (Saturday)!
There were almost 1100 competitors competing on six competition areas going all two days; 10AM - 9PM!
We flew to Honolulu on Wednesday, July 2, had a light BC Team practice and official weigh-in on Thursday, competitions on Friday & Saturday, free days on Sunday & Monday, flew out of Honolulu Monday night at 10PM, arrived in Vancouver Tuesday morning at 7AM, dashed over to the Greyhound Bus Depot for the 9AM express bus to Kamloops and arrived back in Kamloops Tuesday afternoon, in time to make senior practice!
The photo of Geoffrey, Megan & myself shows Geoffrey with his Honolulu first place medal & plaque, wearing the Mizuno judogi donated by Hatashita enterprises as his award as ‘under 16 Outstanding Junior’ at the Canadian Judo Championships in Saguenay, Quebec on the May 17 weekend. Megan placed 2nd in her Juvenile ‘B’ division this day.
The second photo was taken at Aberdeen Judo - they brought their ‘bling’ and as is our usual practice, we had an open discussion on the whole event; these are most of the ‘training partners’ that assisted in their preparation for the US Nationals trip! As we have always said at Aberdeen Judo, “It takes a dojo to produce a champion”! Side note; Thursday nights are ‘blue-judogi’ night at Aberdeen judo.
Aberdeen Judo Scores Big - Again!
A repeat of last year's judo nationals saw the brother/sister duo of Megan & Geoffrey Hanks successfully defend their titles as they dominated their respective age/weight divisions in Saguenay, Quebec May 15 - 18! Sixteen year old Megan won her U18 year old, +70Kg. division and fourteen year old Geoffrey won his U16 year old -73KG. division. Both won all of their matches with full point wins, using throws, hold-downs and arm-lock techniques.
Both were entered in older age divisions also, Megan in the U21 age division and Geoffrey in the U18 age division. Megan won a silver medal and Geoffrey placed 4th.
Jim Karas, our last year’s national champion in the Masters 40-45 year olds -90KG. had to settle for a silver medal this time; very tough competition, and his performance came up just short of the gold medal!
Our two remaining competitors (Morgan Endean & Jarek Masson) came up against stiff competition and did not place. With every match at every tournament considered a learning experience, they both have some goals to work towards for next year’s nationals to be held in Montreal, Quebec!
When the finally tally was in, Aberdeen Judo with five competitors entered and winning two gold and two silver medals placed in the 'top 10' ranking of all the clubs entered!
At the celebration banquet following the tournament, Geoffrey was announced as the 'outstanding U16 aged competitor' of the 4-day meet! (Note: There were 117 male competitors in the U16 divisions).
Coaching our competitors was Aberdeen Judo head instructor John Huntley, assisted by Sandra Hewson, an instructor with the Kensington Judo Club in Vancouver.
ABERDEEN JUDO SCORES BIG TIME AT THE BC JUDO CHAMPIONSHIPS!
The last provincial tournament of the 2013 – 2014 season took place in Vernon on Saturday, April 5 with every Aberdeen Judo competitor entered winning a medal! Credit to our junior program instructor Sean Kidner and his assistants/coaches Brad & Morgan Endean!
Tiago – gold – division 1 (middleweight)
Aaron Okano – gold – division 1 (lightweight)
Graeme Hanks – gold – division 1 (heavyweight)
Nicholas Plumtree – gold – division 5
Kiara Endean – gold – division 10
Matthew Virdee – silver – division 40 & silver (exhibition matches)
Morgan Endean – bronze – division 51, silver – division 77 & silver (exhibition matches)
Drew Ramsay – gold – division 82
Jarek Masson – bronze – division 84 & silver (exhibition matches)
Judo BC Youth Provincial Championships, CWG Test Event & Training Camp – April 5 & 6, 2014
Well, that was the weekend that was, . . ! A long drive to Prince George this past weekend for the tournament Saturday morning, followed by a 2-hour training camp Saturday afternoon, followed by a team competition Sunday morning, . .followed by another 2-hour training camp, . . ending at noon on Sunday!
Aberdeen Judo tournament results are:
Geoffrey Hanks – 1st place – U16 Juvenile men / 3rd place – U18 Cadet men
Drew Ramsay – 2nd place – U18 Cadet Men
Morgan Endean – 3rd place – U16 Juvenile Women
Matthew Hanks – 2nd place – U14 boys (development division)
Kiara Endean – 2nd place – U14 girls (development division)
Coaching duties were handled by instructor John Huntley assisted by Megan Hanks (injury recovery). This was the final selection event to make the Judo BC Team competing at the National Judo Championships in Saguenay, Quebec on May 15 – 18.
‘It takes a dojo to raise good judoka’; we must give credit to our senior program judoka shown as this is where our competitors get the physical & mental training needed to succeed.
THE EDMONTON INTERNATIONAL JUDO CHAMPIONSHIPS
Held in the West Edmonton Mall 'Ice Palace', over 700 competitors from every province & territory in Canada, the USA and overseas came to prove their worth against top level opponents of all ages (under 10 years of age to Master/Veteran class competitors) and skill level (yellow belts to 5th degree black belts).
Aberdeen Judo competitors showed good spirit in every match and achieved very good overall results:
Graeme Hanks - gold - U10 year old boys / Kiara Endean - bronze - U14 year old girls / Matthew Hanks - 4th - U14 year old boys / Geoffrey Hanks - silver - U16 Juvenile Boys / Morgan - injury withdrawal - U16 Juvenile Girls / Megan Hanks - gold - U18 Cadet Women / Jarek Masson - 4th - U18 Cadet Men / Jim Karas - gold - Veteran Men / Val Prociuk - gold - Veteran Women / Brad Endean - 4th - Veteran Men / Chris Maurer - 4th - Veteran Men
Coaching duties were capably handled by Aberdeen Judo coaches John Huntley, Jim Karas and Brad Endean and guest coach Sandra Hewson of the Kensington Judo Club - Vancouver! There were four mats going full time, and even with 4 coaches, we were kept hopping!
IJF 5TH WORLD VETERANS JUDO CHAMPIONSHIPS – ABU DHABI, U.A.E.
The flight from Kamloops, to Vancouver to Frankfurt to Abu Dhabi was 23 hours going, . .and 32 hours returning! The extra hours on the flight over was because as we were passing over Greenland, we had a ‘medical emergency’ onboard and had to land in Reykjavik, Iceland, to off-load the patient into a waiting ambulance c/w a medical team and the return trip extension was due to having to de-ice the plane(s) in Frankfurt and in Calgary, . .!
The day prior to Kathy & myself competing, I went camel riding in the desert with my buddy Faouzi Zerrouk for an hour – an interesting activity and a first for me! I was walking somewhat bow-legged afterwards!
The accreditation & weigh-in was a real endurance event for everyone; Kathy was in line from 7AM – 2PM – not having breakfast as she was close to the upper weight limit, so very hungry by the afternoon, and then my waiting in line from 2PM – 6:30PM!
As Kathy and I were competing on the same day/same time somewhat, I was not able to coach her (I was accredited as a competitor/ coach; coaches had to be in street clothes) so Faouzi worked with her. Kathy had four matches, winning her first three all by ippon in less than one minute each, and her fourth match by ippon in Golden Score overtime! A great performance by Kathy and an excellent first place performance against the European Veteran Champion!! Some of the ‘teams’ were quite large, and came with massage therapists, physiotherapists, etc. – especially the Russian, German and French teams!
My opponents were from Japan, Moldova, Germany and Russia. For the most part they compete on a monthly basis in various countries as opposed to our system here in North America wherein we instruct at clubs/coach, etc. on a weekly basis; my final match was against the first place winner, Masanori Shimizu, 8th dan. In any event, I lost three matches and won one match (against the Russian) , putting me in 4th place; no easy wins with these guys!
I coached our two Aberdeen Judo students Jim Karas (competing for Canada) and Jens Krause (competing for Germany) the second day and then coached Faouzi (competing for Great Britain) the last day of the competition!
The one photo above shows my damaged lip/chin and damaged hand, requiring medical intervention during a match – you should see my arms & legs!
Left Abu Dhabi at 3AM in the morning, necessitating being at the airport at midnight; into Frankfurt and changing planes (taking off after de-icing), into Calgary (late – missed connecting flight) and reassigned to a flight into Vancouver as opposed to directly to Kamloops (again taking off after de-icing) and then final leg from Vancouver to Kamloops – arriving 4 hours late!
Am still fighting jet-lag, getting over scrapes, damaged lip & hand, etc.. . hey, a great trip all round!
Next year we go at it again in Spain!
John Huntley, sensei
Aberdeen Judo Academy
