Seishin 7th Annual Awards
A huge turnout of students, family, friends and special guests made Seishins 7th Annual Awards on Friday 30th April evening one to remember. Seishin continues to go from strength to strength and the club continues to attract more and more junior and senior members.
Traditional Judo and its traditional values continue at the forefront of the clubs ethos along with Iaido (the art of Japanese swordsmanship). The judo section has been very successful with a large number of medal wins in the last year including five Sussex champions.
The evening started with a traditional opening ceremony called Harai no Gi and was followed by demonstrations of a number of Martial Arts including basic and advanced Judo, Iaido, Kenjutsu, Ju Jitsu, Aikido, Karate and Self defence.
As always, a highlight of the evening was the presentation of Trophies for 2009.
Best Junior Newcomer – Lois Rice
Award for Enthusiasm – Daniel Barlow
Most Improved Judoka – Stefan Abram
Most Promising Junior – Myles Rice
Juniors of the Year – Girls under 9 – Phoebe Chellew
Juniors of the Year – Boys under 9 – Seth Renshaw
Juniors of the Year – Girls 10-12 – Sophie Chellew
Juniors of the Year – Boys 10-12 – Edmund Coke
Juniors of the Year – Girls 13-16 – Sophie Jones
Juniors of the Year – Boys 13-16 – Justin Macklin
Sportmanship Cup – Tom Chellew
Junior Fighter of the Year – Daniel Hutchinson
Players Player – Oliver Charlesworth
Senior Fighter of the Year – James Stringer
Best Senior Newcomer – Sue Young
Most Improved Senior Judoka – Nick Richardson
Iaidoka of the Year – Colin Hampton
Most Improved Iaidoka – David Barrington
Merit Award – Bryony Chellew
Bushido Award – San Battrum
Spirit of Judo – George Horne
The club also presented a Special Award to Chief Instructor Bruce Scrivens for his achievements this year.
Bruce Scrivens said “The evening was a great success and I would like to thank everyone who made it possible”. |
British Judo President 10th Dan
British Judo Association President George Kerr has been awarded the 10th Dan – making him only the seventh 10th Dan in the World and the fifth non-Japanese judoka ever to receive the honour.
Kerr, 72, was presented with the honour on Saturday by the International Judo Federation in front of 14,000 judo fans at the Bercy Stadium in Paris, which is this weekend staging the prestigious Paris Grand Slam.
Shortly after receiving the honour George said, “I am completely humbled to receive my 10th Dan and slightly overwhelmed by the whole thing.
“The moral code in judo is underpinned by honour and to have your peers and the sport honouring me with this is an amazing experience and is hard to get my head around. In the next 20 or 30 years they may only be another one or two others so I feel incredibly proud”, he added.
It is the Scots second honour in as many months. In January he was recognised by the Japanese Government for promoting understanding and friendship between Japan and the UK. He was awarded the Certificate of Commendation by the Japanese Government at a ceremony in the Japanese Consulate.
Kerr is only the second British person ever to receive a judo 10th Dan, the first being Charles Palmer OBE who died in 2001. Palmer was the first non-Japanese President of the International Judo Federation, Chairman and then President of the British Judo Association as well as a period as Chairman of the British Olympic Association.
The 10th Dan awarded to Kerr has recognised an illustrious judo career which has seen him reach the highest level as a coach, player, referee and administrator.
As a player he won the 1957 European Championships in Rotterdam before finishing runner up three times and with the bronze medal twice. He was a two-time winner of the British Open Championship both in 1966 and 1968.
Following his retirement as a judoka, George built his reputation as a World Class coach. As National Coach to Austrian team he coached Peter Seisenbracher to win Olympic gold medals in 1984 and 1988 – the only Brit to ever coach an Olympic gold medallist.
As a referee he is the only British person to have ever refereed an Olympic final, something he did twice in Munich and Montreal.
From 1991-1997 Kerr was Chairman of the British Judo Association, and then Vice President until Charles Palmer’s death in 2001 when he became President, a post he still holds today.
He was awarded an International Judo Federation Gold Medal in 2003 as recognition of his dedication to judo and was an inaugural member of the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame in 2002.
George who ran “The Edinburgh Club” for 40 years, still takes time to teach youngsters coming into the sport at his centre, Junior Judo in Edinburgh. “As throughout my career, I continue to teach the traditional Japanese judo values of honour, discipline, politeness”, he said recently.
Densign White BJA Chairman, “I am more than delighted and proud. This is a fantastic honour for George and British Judo. He has had an amazing career as a coach, referee, player and administrator. Today he continues to be an ambassador for Britain and judo around the World. He is influential at the very highest level whilst still making time to teach judo to those starting the sport, which is incredible”. |
Seishin player to train in Australia
Justin Macklin from Seishin has been invited to train at Budokan Judo Club in Sydney, Australia.
He will train at the club during August and what an experience it will be. The reputation, qualifications and experience of the clubs coaches are beyond compare, read on….
The two main coaches at Budokan are the husband and wife team of Rob and Kerrye Katz.
With over 60 years of Judo between them and promoted to 4th Dan during 2001, Rob and Kerrye Katz were competitors of some merit in their younger days. Rob medalled at most Senior Men’s Nationals between 1982 and 1992 with numerous international representations and has trained extensively in Europe and Japan, the longest period being 7 months in 1982.
Kerrye’s outstanding record includes 11 Senior National titles, and representation at 4 World Championships and the 1988 Olympic Games. Her best performances are 2nd in Pacific Rim and 7th in the Open at 1987 Worlds.
They both have extensive coaching backgrounds – between them, since 1984 they have coached clubs in 3 States and State teams in both NSW and Victoria; in all, 8 Junior teams, 4 Young Women’s teams, 4 Omens teams, and 3 Men’s teams. At National level, Kerrye coached Women’s teams to 1995 Pacific Rim, 1997 Worlds, 2001 East Asian Games, and Junior Women to 2002 Oceania. Similarly, Rob has coached the Women’s team to the 1987 Worlds, 1988 Oceania and 1988 Olympic Games, and the Men’s team to the 1997 and 2001 Worlds.
They declined invitations to be Shadow Coaches for the 2000 Olympics because they were both working for SOCOG and SPOC as Judo Competition management staff for the Olympics and Paralympics. Rob worked for SOCOG/SPOC for 13 months as the Judo Sport Services Manager, responsible for delivery of the Draw, the results systems, and the competition management systems. He was awarded the IJF Medal of merit in Bronze for his performance. In 2002 he was selected by the OJU to attend the IJF Organisational Seminar in Cairo, Egypt. He was approached to work for the organising committees for the running of the Commonwealth Games Judo competition in Manchester, England, and the 2004 Athens Olympics but declined preferring to concentrate on family and local Judo.
Rob is an engineer/procurement manager by profession, is currently National Coach, President of Budokan Judo Club, was Vice-President of the JFA NSW Board of Management heading the Sport & Technical Sub-Committee, and was on the JFA Inc/EventsCorp Bid Committee for the 2005 World Championships.
Kerrye worked for SOCOG/SPOC for 3 months as Field of Play Supervisor responsible for the flow of athletes (and all related checking processes) from the Warm-Up mat to the competition area (and back), is a Sport Science and PE/Outdoor Education graduate who runs her own fitness consultancy business, Progressive Fitness from their Gym at home, and is a teacher at Kingsdene.
She is a National Coach, National Junior Women’s Coach 2003, current NSW State Junior Team Coach, JFA NSW NCAS Co-ordinator, was a long-standing member of the JFA Inc. Sport Science Advisory Committee, and is Treasurer of Budokan. Rob and Kerrye share the role as Coaching Coordinators of Budokan Club. They have 2 boys, Nathan 14 (Blue Belt) who has won two National U/13 titles, and a Bronze at the 2008 U/16s Nationals, and Josh 11 (Blue Belt), who won a Silver medal in his first U/13 years Nationals in 2008.
Rob and Kerrye are ably assisted by Budokan Assistant Coaches, Dale Keogh, 6th Dan, Level 2 NCAS Coach, former NSW and National Women’s Coach, founding member and Life Vice-president of Budokan, and State Girls (U/16 years) Coach 2002, 2003, and Guido Scholtz, 1st Dan, Level 1 NCAS Coach, who is a long-standing member of Budokan and has also won competitions at State level. |