News Archive

SEISHIN IS PRESENTED WITH SPORT ENGLAND CLUBMARK

On Monday 19th May Andrew Moshanov 6th Dan ex Olympic Coach for the Chinese National Team and the Russian Women's National team and Technical Director for the British Judo Association came to Seishin Judo in Burgess Hill to officially present them with the prestigious Sport England Clubmark and the Bronze level of the British Judo Association Club Recognition Scheme. And to teach the Junior and Senior sessions.

Sport England Clubmark is a cross-sport quality accreditation for clubs with junior sections. It is awarded by National Governing Bodies in the case of Seishin, the British Judo Association and County Sport Partnerships to recognise and reward examples of good practice within clubs that are promoting, delivering and coaching Judo. This means that a club that has been awarded Clubmark has high standards of Child Protection and Safety, Quality Coaching, Equal Opportunities and Good Management. Of course, those very same principles apply to the senior membership as well.

In addition to presenting the awards, Andrew also ran both the Senior and Junior Sessions that evening

This involved, varied and strenuous warms ups, varied practice drills and a range of techniques in both Newaza and Tachiwaza which was thoroughly enjoyed by all those present.

Chief Instructor Bruce Scrivens said “It was a great honour to receive this award from Andrew. He is a well respected coach in Judo and he has said that he will come down again in the future”.

Seishin travel to The Dai Nippon Butokukai 3rd World Butoku Sai and Commemorative Rensei Taikai

On Sunday 20th April, Bruce Scrivens and John Boulderstone travelled to Japan along with good friend Mike Selvey and his group to attend The Dai Nippon Butokukai 3rd World Butoku Sai and Commemorative Rensei Taikai.

First stop was Tokyo and whilst there we visited, amongst other sights, Sengaku-Ji, the legendary the Temple of the 47 Ronin, Mount Fuji and the Imperial Palace.

On 24th we moved down to Kyoto to take part in training and seminars with Honbu Instructors and to demonstrate at the 3rd World Butoku Sai and Commemorative Rensei Taikai along with well over 600 other International Members from over 40 Countries.

Details As follows:

Seishin were honoured to receive the following awards, Doryuko Sho for the Dojo, Doryuko Sho for Iaido at World Butoku Sai and Rensei Taikai and Leadership Award for Bruce Scrivens.

In addition Bruce Scrivens was awarded the grade of Godan (5th Dan) and title of Renshi in Iaido and John Bouldertstone the grade of Nidan (2nd Dan) in Iaido.

Under Dai Nippon Butoku Kai our dojo name is now SEISHIN BUDO DOJO.

The next few days were spent sightseeing in Kyoto including Nijo Castle, Heian Shrine, Ryoan Ji Temple and Kinkaku Ji Temple to name just some.

Back to the UK on 4th May.

IAIDO SEMINAR

February saw students from Seishin attend a multi style Iaido seminar. It has always been our belief that by taking part in such events a greater knowledge and understanding can be achieved. Not just by learning varied and applied techniques but perhaps, most importantly, the history and associated culture behind the martial arts of Iaido, Iaijutsu and Kenjutsu.

The styles represented were Muso Shinden Ryu, Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu, Toyama Ryu, Tenshin Ryu and Shinkage Ryu. There will be others in the future!

SEISHIN AWARDS FOR 2007

Family, friends and guests packed into Clair Hall in Haywards Heath on Friday 8th February as Seishin held its 5th Annual Awards Night. Since its beginning Seishin has grown in all aspects with an increasing membership in both Judo and Iaido (The art of the Japanese Sword)

Family, friends and guests packed into Clair Hall in Haywards Heath on Friday 8th February as Seishin held its 5th Annual Awards Night. Since its beginning Seishin has grown in all aspects with an increasing membership in both Judo and Iaido (The art of the Japanese Sword)

Those present were treated to a very full programme starting with a traditional opening ceremony known as Harai no Gi. This was followed by demonstrations of Judo, Iaido, Karate and Kendo.

Judo showed a range of basic and advanced techniques and a traditional kata called Nage no Kata. Iaido, saw a demonstration and explanation of techniques, including two man Iaido known as Tachi Uchi no Kurai and ending with Tamishigiri (actual cutting of prepared targets) Also demonstrated were Karate and Kendo by good friends of Seishin

As always, a highlight of the evening was the presentation of awards for 2007.

In the Judo section Stefan Abram was named Best Junior Newcomer with Ritchie Pomfret and Joe Humphrey runners-up.

The Award for Enthusiasm went to Thomas Chellow with r/u Emma Viney and Harry Grimmett.

Most Improved Judoka was won by Matthew Waller, r/u Marcus Battrum and Sam Blake was awarded Most promising Junior with Joshua Alfredo r/u.

In the under 9’s Group, Jo Jo Bach was awarded Junior Girl of the Year, Elia Bach r/u; Alfie Coke was the Boy’s winner, with Ryan Pearce and Tom Chivers r/u.

In the 10-12 age group Bryony Chellow was Junior Girl of the Year with Ellie Powell and Matilda Coke r/u; Sam Battrum was the Boy’s winner, Edmund Coke and Luke Macklin r/u.

In the 13-16 age group Jazmin Rainger was Junior Girl of the Year with Dominic Young winning the Boys title, Dan Bolland and Charlie Jeyes r/u.

The Sportmanship Cup went to Joe Bolland, George Horn r/u; Junior Fighter of the Year went to Justin Macklin. Tom Ransom r/u.

Gareth Young won the Spirit of Judo Award and was voted the Player’s Player.

The Seishin Shield was won by Rob Lightfoot.

From the seniors, Darren Pacey was Best Newcomer, Alexander Walker r/u; Senior Fighter of the Year, Oliver Young and Danny Gregory r/u; Most Improved Senior went to James Stringer. Iaidoka of the Year was won by Philip Orchin and Most Improved Iaidoka went to Colin Hampton.

Chief Instructor Bruce Scrivens commented “On a personal level the past year has been difficult and the next few months will be somewhat testing. However, to be part of and share evenings like this is a rare treat. To see so many people gain well earned awards is a great thrill, well done all of you”.

Black Belt for James

James Stringer gained his 1st Dan Black Belt at a recent competitive grading held in Worthing.

At the age of 16, James is the youngest player from Seishin to attain this coveted grade which he did, in style, on the day. To do so he won two fights by an `ippon` (full point score) to qualify for a `line up` of three consecutive contests all of which he won by `ippon`.

Chief Instructor, Bruce Scrivens said “This is a great achievement for James. He is a popular young man and this will be an inspiration to the other young players”.

Seishin judoka selected to join the World Class Start Squad for 2007/08

Joe Bolland has been selected as a member of the World Class Start Squad which is a development Programme with the aim of identifying talented young players and nurturing those players (both physically and mentally) for future long term success at major Senior Championships, such as the World Championships and Olympics.

Seishin attend Tenshin Ryu Seminar

Saturday 21st April 2007 saw students from Seishin travel to Croydon to take part in a very well attended seminar on Tenshin Ryu Iaido.

Close friend and Chief Instructor Kyoshi Mike Selvey, gave instruction in Iai Jutsu, Sensei Glenn Coxon in Iaido and Sensei Geoff Murray in the philosophy and history of Tenshin Ryu.

The afternoon session was split into two sections, one area for Tenshin Ryu Kata using daito (katana) and area two using shoto (wakazashi).

Seishin have attended many seminars in Iaido/Iai Jutsu as is our belief that it strengthens our knowledge of the long history, techniques, philosophy and therefore understanding of the many different styles of Iaido.

Click to enlarge

MEMBERS OF SEISHIN FIGHT FOR SUSSEX COUNTY

Four members of Seishin Judo were selected to fight for their county at the South of England Team Championships in Portsmouth on Sunday 13th May. This Competition has five teams competing:- Sussex, Kent, Surrey, Hampshire and the Channel Islands. On the day, the boys teams which included Dominic Young, Justin Macklin and Gareth Young took Bronze and the Mens team which included Oiliver Young took Silver.

Gaining a third place bronze for Sussex were Dominic Young U34kg, Justin Macklin U46kg and Gareth Young U55kg. All three boys fought extremely well with Dominic winning all of his fights for the team while Justin and Gareth winning all but one. Justin was moved up to the under 46kg category and therefore had too fight against heavier and taller opponents.

Oliver Young, who is in his first year as a Senior Judoka won a silver medal in the men's team after pulling off a winning performance in the final fight, a hold down.

Bruce Scrivens commented "A great result for Sussex and a great result for Seishin. As always, Seishin players fought extremely well, no wonder we are proud of all of them".

Seishin 4th Annual Awards

Almost 300 members, family and friends packed into Claire Hall, Haywards Heath as Seishin Judo held its 4th Annual Awards Night on Friday 9th February. Seishin has gone from strength to strength in the last year with an ever growing junior judo section and a steadily increasing number of Seniors.

Iaido, (The Art of Japanese Sword) has also become a key part of the clubs success. In the course of 2006 the Club won 55 medals at competition and two juniors were identified to train with the National Judo Squad – a remarkable achievement.

The audience were treated to a very full programme starting with a traditional opening ceremony called Harai no Gi. Judo demonstrations included basic and advanced training techniques followed by an impressive Iaido demonstration all performed with enthusiasm by Seishin students. A traditional Judo ‘kata’ called Goshin Jitsu (kata of Self Defence) was demonstrated by gold medal winners Oli and Gareth Young.

Special Guest David Ansell and his students from Shin Ichi Do gave a fun and lively display of Kendo, and finally, a display of Iaido by David Ansell 6th Dan and Bruce Scrivens 4th Dan included an exciting demonstration of Tameshigiri (actual cutting).

As always, a highlight of the evening was the presentation of Trophies for 2006.

Best Junior Newcomer - Harry Braid

Runner up - Jordan Murphy

Malcolms Award for Enthusiasm - Daniel Barlow

Runner-up - Connor Murphy

Most Improved Judoka - Edmund Coke

Runner-up - George Horne

Most Promising Junior - Jazmin Rainger

Runner-up – Matthew Waller

Juniors of the Year – Girls under 9 - Ellie Powell

Runner-up – Bryony Chellew

Juniors of the Year – Boys under 9 – George Harris

Juniors of the Year – Girls 10-12 – Matilda Coke

Juniors of the Year – Boys 10-12 - Justin Macklin

Runner-up – Alex Faria and Sam Battrum

Juniors of the Year – Boys 13-16 – Rob Lightfoot

Runner-up – Matt Lasis and George Tester

Sportmanship Cup – Dominic Young

Runner-up – Dan Bolland

Junior Fighter of the Year – Gareth Young

Runner-up – Joe Bolland

Players Player – Edmund Coke

Senior Fighter of the Year – Oliver Young

Best Senior Newcomer – Mike Maclean

Runner-up – Mark Michaels

Most Improved Senior Judoka – Danny Gregory

Iaidoka of the Year – John Boulderstone

Runner-up – Kelly Sole

Most Improved Iaidoka – Michael Shipman

Runner-up – Philip Orchin

Spirit of Judo – James Stringer

Runner-up – Charlie Searl

Chief Instructor - Bruce Scrivens said “This Awards Night was a great success and I would like to thank all the members, young and `old`, parents and friends who made it possible and who have supported us again this past year and for all those who helped on the night”

British and Commonwealth Judo Champion Simone Callender visits Seishin Judo

On Sunday 4th February Seishin Judo held a high performance judo training session at its Dojo in Burgess hill run by Simone Callender. Simone is the current Commonwealth Judo Champion at Over 78kg and recently retained her British title at the British Open Championships at K2 Leisure Centre in Crawley.

Three sessions were held, the first for lower grade juniors, followed by a session for intermediate grade juniors. The final session of the day was for Senior and youth players. The sessions contained strenuous warms ups, varied practice drills and a range of techniques. This proved to be a great success with over 70 players including some from Phoenix Star Judo Club enjoying instruction from one of Britains finest Judo players.

Due to the great success of this event Seishin intends to hold further sessions in the future with others stars from the world of judo world passing on their experience to Seishin, one of the most successful clubs in Sussex.

Seishin is Awarded Clubmark

Seishin gains the prestigious Clubmark Bronze Award, the first Judo Club to do so in Mid Sussex

Clubmark is a cross-sport quality accreditation for clubs with junior sections. Nearly half of all children and young people are members of sports clubs outside school (Young People and Sport National Survey 1999). It is vital that they serve young people well.

Sport England Clubmark is awarded by National Governing Bodies (NGB`s) in our case the British Judo Association and county sport partnerships (CSPs) in recognition of a quality club. The national scheme has been in place since 2002 and there are now over 1,250 accredited clubs. It is envisaged that by 2008 this will have increased significantly and that Clubmark will become the quality mark that everyone looks to see attached to a club.

NGB (National Governing Bodies), in our case the British Judo Association, accredit clubs that comply with minimum operating standards in four areas:

The Playing or Participation programme

Duty of Care and Child protection

Sports Equity and Ethics

Club Management

As a single, national standard, Clubmark provides clubs of all kinds with a structure and direction that will benefit them in several ways:

Increasing membership
Being able to demonstrate that a club has addressed issues such as equality and child protection gives confidence to parents choosing a club for their children.

Club development
The foundation for any club is its youth structure. So, by encouraging and attracting young members, it is building a strong future.

Developing coaches and volunteers
As part of the accreditation scheme, a club will be given help and advice to develop the skills of everyone involved.

Raising the profile
Once accredited, a club will be listed on the national database and in other sporting directories. This will help it to attract new members and to grow.

Clubmark – your questions answered

What is Clubmark?

Clubmark is an accreditation scheme run by Sport England which sets the standard for all quality sports clubs in England.

What does Clubmark stand for?

Clubmark stands for higher standards of safety, fairness, coaching and management. That way the nation’s sports club infrastructure will be safer, stronger and more successful.

This means that a club that has been awarded Clubmark has high standards of child protection and safety, quality coaching, equal opportunities and good management.

In essence a club which qualifies for Clubmark is a well run club.

More details to follow..

High Performance Training at Seishin

On Sunday 4th February Seishin will hold a high performance training day run by Simone Callender, British and Commonwealth Champion. This will be by invitation only.

Simone Callender has an impressive competitive record, just some of which are listed below:-

2006 British Closed - Gold

2006 GB World Cup - Bronze

2005 British Open - Gold

2004 Warsaw A Tournament - Bronze

2003 British Closed Championships - Gold

2003 Barcelona Open Tournament - Silver

2003 Senior Europeans (Open weight category) - 5th

2003 Dutch A Tournament - Silver

2003 Moscow Super A Tournament - Bronze

2002 Commonwealth Games - Gold

2002 Polish A Tournament - Silver

More details to follow

Second Seishin judoka selected to join the World Class Start Programme

Rob Lightfoot an Under 73 Kgs player has been selected to join the World Class Start Programme which is a development Programme with the aim of identifying talented young players and nurturing those players (both physically and mentally) for future long term success at major Senior Championships, World Championships.

Bruce once again to take part in Residential High Performance Coaching at Bath University

Some of our players will be taking part in this extremely intensive course under the instruction of the Team Bath coaching team which includes:

Roy Inman OBE 8th Dan, Technical Director, Roy was awarded the UK Coach of the Year in 1991, he has coached at 3 Olympic Games, and his players have won 6 Olympic medals and 13 World Championship titles. Roy is a Director of the British Judo Association.

Juergen Klinger 6th Dan, High Performance Judo Coach. His main role is to build a high performance group for the Olympics in 2012.

Darren Warner 4th Dan, BJA National High Performance Coach based at the University. Darren’s role is to work with the High Performance players to prepare them for international competition.

Kate Howey MBE 6th Dan, BJA National High Performance Coach based at the University A world champion and double Olympic medallist, Kate works with the National Development Squad.

Norito Katabuchi 3rd Dan is the Assistant Coach. Norito is a graduate of Tokai University in Japan where he studied a degree in Judo. Norito is also a support coach for the National Elite Performance Squad.

Hidemi Soda 3rd Dan, Japanese Visiting Coach. A former All Japan Champion, Hidemi is also a graduate of Tokai University.

Tom competes for Great Britain in Holland

Tom Ransom travelled to Holland to take part in his first International Judo Tournament for the Great Britain squad in Venray. Although he failed to get amongst the medals this time, he was able to get his first taste of competition against players from almost 20 countries.

Bruce commented “This is invaluable competition experience for Tom will help in his forthcoming competitions”

Seishin invited to demonstrate Judo at the ever popular Cuckfield Country Fair

Monday 29th May saw players from Seishin demonstrating Judo at the fair held at Haywards Heath Rugby grounds at Cuckfield, Haywards Heath. Despite the wind and rain, which appeared a few times, the crowds enjoyed some fun and enthusiastic demonstrations

My thanks to all of those who turned up to help...... Bruce

Seishin 3rd Annual Awards Evening 2006

Seishin held its 3rd Annual Awards Night at the Martletts Hall on Friday 24th February to an audience of nearly 300 people. The Club, which trains at Oakmeeds School in Burgess Hill and the Wallis Centre in East Grinstead, has grown to a Junior Section of over a 100 and a steadily increasing number of Seniors. In the Club's second full year some 30% of the Juniors entering competition were medal winners with twice as many medals won as in the first year. Iaido, (The Art of Japanese Sword) is also becoming an increasingly important part of Seishin with a steadily increasing number of students

The evening commenced with a traditional opening ceremony called Harai no Gi. Judo displays included a variety of basic and advanced training techniques including Ukemi (Breakfalls) and Nagewaza Throwing techniques. followed by a demonstration of Judo 'Katas'.

A demonstration of Iaido concluded with an exciting display of Tameshigiri (actual cutting) by Bruce Scrivens and David Ansell . This was followed by a fun and lively presentation of Kendo given by David Ansell.

In addition, as in previous years there was also a fun demonstration mini competition by the younger Judo players with our young referees officiating.

The evening concluded with the awards presentations:-

Best Boys Newcomer 2005 - Luke Constable with Runner-up Luke Macklin
Best Girl Newcomer 2005 - Francesca Allen
The Award for Enthusiasm 2005 went to Harry Grimmett Runner up Lee Frisby
Most Improved Judoka 2005 - Tom Ransom, runner up Jared Leighton

Juniors of the Year 2005 were:

Under 9`s
Girls - Zoe Boulderstone, runner up Georgina Simmonds
Boys - Mackenzie Simpson, runners up Maxime Oulton and Edmund Coke

10 to 12 Years
Girls - Jessica Plumtree, runner up Sophie Cummings
Boys - Joe Bolland, runners up Sam Battrum and Justin Macklin

13 to 16 years
Girls - Lindsay Haggart
Boys - James Draper, runner up Luke O'Boyle

Sportsmanship Cup - Toine Hodgkiss
Junior Fighter of the Year - Oliver Young
Senior Fighter of the Year - Chris Godsmark
Iaidoka of the Year - James Stringer

Player's Player Awards, voted by the players themselves, went to:

Oliver Young at Oakmeeds
James Draper at the Wallis Centre

Spirit of Judo Shield 2005 went to Rob Lightfoot

Closing ceremony of Osame no Gi performed by Bruce Scrivens

Chief Instructor Bruce Scrivens said 'We would like to give our thanks to all the players, young and old, parents and friends who have made this Award Night possible and who have supported us again this past year'.

Seishin help out at the European Masters Judo Championships

The European Masters Judo Championships took place at the Triangle Leisure Centre in Burgess Hill over the 5th and 6th of November.

Seishin was invited to help at the Opening Ceremony and the Medal Presentations by the British Judo Association and the European Judo Union.

Twelve of our young judoka took part at this prestigious event and they were a credit to themselves and Seishin.

Their help was acknowledged by a personal `thank you` from Densign White 7th Dan, Chairman of the BJA.

The photograph below shows our youngsters after a long day at the event.

Click on the picture to enlarge

Seishin Player joins the BJA World Class Start Programme

Tom Ransom officially becomes a member of the BJA World Class Start Programme..

The World Class Start Programme is development Programme with the aim of identifying talented young players and nurturing those players (both physically and mentally) for future long term success at major Senior Championships, namely the Olympic Games and World Championships

Young Novice players achieve medal success

Young players from Seishin Judo took part in the Sussex Junior Red Belt Invitation Competition at Worthing on Sunday 31st July.

BOYS

Also on the same day was the Sussex Blue Belt and under, again at Worthing where our single entry, Sophie Kinnear, gained a Bronze medal in her first senior competition since becoming a senior at the age of 16.

Chief Instructor, Bruce Scrivens commented "This was the first time that any of these young players have competed at any event and to achieve such great results is superb. Not only did they fight well they also demonstrated great sportsmanship and attitude. These novice players are the future!. We at Seishin believe that Judo is not just a sport but also a martial art and as such we teach both traditional and competitive Judo. Competition is just one aspect"

Medal Success at Hampshire Open 3rd July 2005

A small team travelled to the Mountbatten Centre in Portsmouth to represent Seishin Judo at the Hampshire Open Judo Competition on Sunday 3rd July.

This was a tough competition and the players fought extremely well in their respective weight categories and gained the following;

Juniors

U38 Kgs James Draper - Bronze

U57 Kgs Lindsay Haggart - Bronze

U60 Kgs Rob Lightfoot - Bronze

Seniors

U63 Kgs Lenka Yascurova - Bronze

U81 Kgs Chris Godsmark - Bronze

U90 Kgs Rob Braint - Bronze

Chief Instructor Bruce Scrivens said "As usual, all our players fought with determination and tenacity. Well done to all of them."

Kent International 2005

Seishin recently returned from the Kent International with another new medallist. Under 66kg player, Tom Williams came away from his first ever tournament with a well earned bronze medal. Another notable performance was that of Jessica Plumtree, who again competing in her first ever competition achieved a very good fifth place. Along with eleven other team-mates Tom and Jessica were competing at one of the premier International events in the calendar. Seishin coach Tim Draper praised the whole squad's performance, many of which were competing for the first time at this level of competition. The complete squad list was as follows:-

Richard Bartlett, James Draper, Ben Fletcher, Brad Hunt, Chanelle O'Dwyer, Lindsay Haggart, Tom Williams, Jessica Plumtree, Emily Hunter, Sam Loome, Toine Hodgkiss, Ashley Howells and Justin Macklin.

Chris gains his Black Belt

Chris Godsmark gained his Shodan (1st Dan Black Belt) at the competitive Judo Grading on 12th June at Worthing. Special congratultions must go to Chris who gained his Black Belt winning 5 fights by Ippon throws on the day! and all at the age of just 16 years.

Bruce Scrivens, Chief Instructor at Seishin said "This is a great result for Chris. The dedication that Chris gives to his Judo is absolute and he has worked very hard to gain this very special grade. Well done."

Members of Seishin's Iaido group achieve grading success

On 14th and 15th May four members of Seishin's Iaido group took part in the Open Iaido Rensei Taikai held at Bewbush Leisure Centre in Sussex.

Over 100 people attended this event conducted by Mano Noburo Sensei 8th Dan Iaido and 7th Dan Kendo who was making a return visit to the UK. Several different styles of Iaido were represented by those attending.

Bruce Scrivens, Chief Instructor at Seishin was honoured to have been selected by Mano Sensei to give an Embu (Demonstration) alongside high ranking instructors from a number of Iaido schools.

The highlight of the weekend was a grading conducted by Mano Sensei. Two students from Seishin took part in the grading and as a result, John Mackintosh gained his Shodan (1st Dan) and James Stringer his Ikkyu (1st Kyu) a great result, well done.

Click on the photo to enlarge.

Success for Seishin players at the British Schools Judo Association Nationals

On Saturday 23rd April seven players from Seishin travelled to The University of Wolverhampton in Walsall to represent their school at the British Schools Judo Association National Individual Championships. This competition attracts the very best young Judo players from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The standard of Judo was extremely good and they all gave their best

Medal winners were:-

Rob Lightfoot - Gold in the Under 60Kgs category

Lindsay Haggart - Bronze in the Under 57 Kgs

Oliver Young - Bronze in the Under 50 Kgs, and

The other four players were Gareth Young (who gained a fifth place) Matthew Lasis, Tom Ransom and James Stringer

Chief Instructor Bruce Scrivens commented "This is a very tough National competition and these young people were a credit to their school, Seishin and themselves. They all fought extremely well".

Medal success for Seishin at the Sussex County Judo Trials
20th March 2005, Durrinton Leisure Centre, Worthing

On Sunday 20th March, players from Seishin travelled to Worthing to take part in the annual Sussex Trials. This competition is open to Junior and Senior players from Judo clubs in Sussex with medallists forming part of the Sussex Judo Squad. Those gaining Gold medals also become Sussex Champions for 2005.

Seishin ended the day on a high by winning the Meeksan Trophy, awarded to the club gaining the most medal points from the junior trials and making Seishin officially the most successful club in Sussex. The top award was secured by no less than 18 individual junior medals picked up by Seishin players.

Bruce Scrivens said "Our players gave a superb performance with determination and sportsmanship. The effort they put in, not only at the Trials, but in preparation at their weekly training sessions helped Seishin to win The Meeksan Trophy".

Click here to see the results

Ben Wins His Black Belt
6th March 2005, Durrington Leisure Centre, Worthing

Earlier this month senior Seishin judo player, Ben Sanderson was celebrating the achievement of a long held ambition. After an outstanding performance at the Sussex BJA Grading he won promotion to 1st dan black belt. Ben was typically modest about his achievement and stated that he now plans to continue his judo development and qualify as a coach.

Seishin coaches Bruce Scrivens and Tim Draper were with Ben when he received his promotion and Coach Bruce stated that "This continues to demonstrate that we have a strong senior section to compliment our successful junior squad". Tim added "Everyone at Seishin congratulates Ben and we are all delighted for him".

LONDON INTERNATIONAL
12 - 13 February 2005, Excel Centre, London

Seishin players rubbed shoulders with competitors from all over the UK and Europe at the London International Judo Competition. The event attracted a total entry of some 1,390 competitors and is one of the most important dates in the UK calendar.

Seishin medal winners were as follows:-
Juniors
Gold Medal
Rob Lightfoot Under 60 kgs (aged 12 to 13 yrs)

Silver Medal
Matthew Lasis Under 49 kgs (aged 10 to 11 yrs)

Bronze Medal
Joe Bolland Under 43 kgs (aged 10 to 11 yrs)
James Lasis Over 40 kgs (aged 8 to 9 yrs)

Fifth places were also taken by Dominic Young, Dan Bolland and James Stringer in their respective groups.

Seniors
Gold Medal
Ben Sanderson Under 90 kgs

The London International is also well known for the very high standards of competition in its kata contest. This year was no exception and our junior pairing of Oliver and Gareth Young acquitted themselves exceptionally well in the nage-no-kata section where they competed on equal terms against adult teams. This group was eventually won by the current Dutch National champions.

Commenting on the event Bruce Scrivens said "This was a tremendous result for our young players at a very tough tournament. As always we are extremely proud of them all"

2nd Annual Seishin Award Night
4th February 2005, Burgess Hill

A packed audience at the Martletts Hall in Burgess hill attended the second Seishin Judo Club Awards Night on Friday 4th February, to celebrate the remarkable success the club has enjoyed in the year. The evening started with a traditional Japanese opening ceremony called 'Harai no Gi'. This was followed by a display of Iaido (the art of Japanese Sword) by David Ansell 6th Dan and Bruce Scrivens 3rd Dan including an impressive display of tameshigiri (actual cutting). A first this year was a kendo display also by david Ansell. There were a number of displays by Senior and junior judo players including an impressive judo kata and some real competition from the juniors.

Coach Tim Draper introduced the various events throughout the evening, which concluded with the awards presentations.

Click here to see the results

NEW 10th July 2004
Sport Relief Donation
Sport Relief was set up by Comic Relief and BBC SPORT to tackle poverty and disadvantage, both in the UK and internationally. Its debut in 2002 raised more than £14 million and in 2004 Sport Relief is aiming to do even better. The vision is to harness the power, passion and goodness of sport to help change the world. Seishin Judo joined thousands of other sports clubs and individuals across the country on July 10th by making a donation of £100 to the Sports Relief fund.

Sunday 13th June 2004
Sussex Gradings
Seishin judo players attended the Sussex County Gradings this weekend. This month, we put forward a smaller number of entries than usual as we have a number of players entering competitions, and it is vital that they remain in their selected grade categories. In today's contest everyone did their best and that is all anyone can ask for.Those who were not so succesful this time will have their day! Full details of results can be found on the results page.

Sunday 21st March 2004
Sussex Trials
Seishin junior and senior teams excelled this weekend with a thrilling debut at the Sussex Closed Trials in Worthing. Seishin were competing in this tournament for the very first time, and have certainly now claimed their place amongst the elite clubs in Sussex.

The junior squad ended the day with a haul of 13 medals, including golds from Dominic Young, James Draper and Gareth Rann. Five of the junior medallists were also competing at this level for the very first time, collecting four silvers and a bronze between them.

To cap a perfect day, the Seishin Junior team also came within one point of claiming the coveted Meeksan Trophy for the most successful junior team, finishing in second place. Head coach Bruce Scrivens commented, "This was our first Sussex County Trials since our formation in late September 2003 and the junior squad have exceeded our very best expectations. Those players who have chosen to join us were well represented here and what a result! They have worked very hard in preparing for this tournament, and through the guidance of the coaches and more experienced players, have been well rewarded for their efforts." Bruce added "We are a new club, and expect to improve further on these results. With many new players still to come through the ranks it all bodes very well for the future."

The Seishin senior squad also did not disappoint with a total of four medals including two golds. A special mention should go to both Robbie Braint and Ben Sanderson, both of whom have recently moved from the junior ranks straight into the under 90kg mens catagory. Both of these players acquitted themselves extremely well and were not phased by the event.

Sunday 29th February 2004
Sussex Gradings
Seishin junior and senior players enjoyed a very successful day at the Sussex gradings this weekend. In all, seven junior and five senior players were successful in improving their grade. Bruce Scrivens, head coach commented ...

"Seishin continues to improve with both junior and senior players achieving success. These are competitive gradings and advancement is never easy. It is important to remember that everyone at the club plays a part in the success of others"

Monday 16th February 2004
London International Judo Tournament
Seishin Judo had a very good medal return from the London International Judo Tournament held at the ExCel Centre in Docklands this weekend. This tournament is one of the premier events on the UK judo calendar and was attended by judoka from all over Europe. As a result competition was tough and everyone from Seishin Judo distinguished themselves well.

In all, ten Seishin players were fighting over the weekend :-

• Dominic Young - Group B3, boys aged 8 & 9 under 28kg

• Joe Bolland - Group B7, boys aged 8 & 9 under 40kg

• James Lasis - Group B8, boys aged 8 & 9 over 40kg

• James Draper - Group C2, boys aged 11 & 12 under 31kg (representing Sussex County)

• Oliver Young - Group D4, boys aged 12 & 13 under 40kg

• Jack Tottman - Group D9, boys aged 12 & 13 under 55kg

• Lindsay Haggart - Group D20, girls aged 12 & 13 under 55kg (representing Sussex County)

• Rob Braint - Group F5, men 16 to 18 under 81kg

• Paola Gallelli - Group F9, women 16 to 18 under 57kg

• Nicole Berry - Group H12, womens open under 78kg

Everybody fought extremely well in groups where there were no easy fights.

Dominic Young having moved up a weight category put in a very worthy performance by reaching the latter stages of a very large group. James Lasis narrowly missed out on bronze in his last fight, and was also responsible for the throw of the afternoon with a superb harai goshi.

Lindsay Haggart and James Draper, both selected to represent the Sussex County Team at this event did not let down their club, or county, by winning 3rd place bronze in their groups. James Draper achieving his bronze win in a very tough "golden score" final, testing the nerves of the club and county coaches by winning in the dying seconds with a seoinage throw.

Nicole Berry succeeding in winning a silver medal in the women's open category. A very commendable achievement underlined by a brief visit to casualty for a sore neck. Nicole thankfully suffered no lasting effects.

The gold medal victory from Joe Bolland came as no surprise to coaches Bruce Scrivens and Tim Draper. Joe has emerged this year as a real competition contender, and disposed of his opponents very efficiently, putting on a very strong demonstration of contest groundwork on the way.

Head coach Bruce Scrivens commented that to get four medals from ten entries was an exceptional performance in such a high level competition. He added that every single Seishin player put in very strong and determined performance and that the medal winners deserve special praise for their achievements.

To see the full results of the tournament, visit the tournament website over the next week where the full results will be posted.

Click here for the tournament page

Sunday 1st February 2004
Seishin Annual Award Night
Was a great success, attended by over 200 people. This was our first
and inaugural presentation evening.
The evening was attended by our sponsors BOC Ltd.
David Ansell (Shinichido Iaido) conducted the opening cleansing ceremony, and together with Bruce Scrivens gave an enthralling display of sword work
Full details and pictures to follow.

Click here for photos

Still Current
Kingsmill Bread Sports Equipment Promotion
Kingsmill bread are running a "Kingsmill Free Kits For Clubs" promotion. We are asking everyone to collect the tokens from this promotion. There are tokens on bread and rolls and we can exchange them for various sports goods. There will be collection envelops for the tokens at both the Park Centre and The Wallis Centre. See the Kingsmill Kit For Clubs website for more details. Contact Jo Draper if you have any queries.