Latest News

Seishin wins 5 medals

Seishin wins 5 medals at the South Coast Open Junior Green Belt & Under Competition held at Worthing Leisure Centre on Sunday 29th January.

Fighting in the Under 60Kg group, Marcus Battrum fought back from a first fight defeat to beat the remaining opponents to take silver. In the Boys U73 Kg group Tom Chellew and Stefan Abram fought superbly well to take gold and silver respectively.

Not to be outdone, the girls did equally well with Sophie Jones taking Gold in the Under 63 Kgs and Bryony Chellew silver in the Under 70 Kgs .

Well done to all of them

James takes 2 medals

James Stringer takes 2 medals at the National Police Championships held at the University of Surrey in Guildford on 17th and 18th September 2011. Firstly, fighting in the U81 Kgs he won 3 fights by Ippon throws to earn a place in the final. His fight in the final went to full time with the decision going to his 4th dan opponent with James taking the silver medal. Having decided to fight in the Open weight category James fought superbly well to take the Bronze medal. These results earned him a place of the Police Judo Squad

Seishin at Bath University

Seishin players at Bath University again under the superb coaching of Juergen Klinger - Performance Coach 6th Dan.

The inspirational setting of their martial arts dojo at the Sports Training Village is the hub of Team Bath's judo activities and is a world class venue.

Based on a traditional Japanese style, the dojo has been a training base for some of Britain's top judo players, including double Olympic medallist Kate Howey.

Team Bath's judo offers outstanding facilities and coaching. And provides:

• A world-class judo dojo
• Top-class coaching for performance athletes
• Use of other facilities, including the gym and hydrotherapy pool
• Renowned sports science and medicine support

Juergen Klinger – Head Coach 6th Dan

Biography
Juergen is the Head Coach and he provides leadership and experience to the coaching team. Formerly the Assistant National Coach of Germany he has worked with many world and Olympic medalists. Juergen is a 6th Dan. His role is to build a system to challenge on a global level.

He was the regional coach for Lower Saxonie from 1982 – 2004; he was a coach at the Olympic Training Centre in Hannover from 1990 – 2004 and was Assistant coach for the German Judo Federation from 1990 – 2005.

Charity Ride

The "Ride To The Wall" (a registered Charity) is a unique motorcycling fundraising ride with a dedicated service of remembrance that provides an opportunity for all motorcyclists to ride as an organised group to the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire to pay their respects and recognise the sacrifice made by the 16,000+ Service Men and women whose names are engraved on The Wall of the Armed Forces Memorial.

The Armed Forces Memorial (The Wall) is a 43 metre diameter stone structure with two curved walls and two straight walls constructed of 200,000 bricks faced with Portland stone panels. The panels contain the names of those honoured by the Memorial providing recognition and thanks for those who have given their lives in the service of the country since the end of the Second World War.

Invitations

Seishin invited to demonstrate at two National events later this year - details will follow ...

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”.

Clubmark Renewal

Seishin renews Clubmark for a further three years. As part of the requirement to renew Clubmark we now have Dojo links to several schools in addition to the other aspects that needed to be fulfilled.

Training selection

Junior and Senior players have been selected to take part in a private specialised training programme aimed at player development.

Award for Oliver

Oliver Young from Seishin Judo was presented with the Young Coach of the Year award at the 2009 Sussex Sports Awards held at the Hilton Metropole Hotel in Brighton on Friday 13th November

The prestigious Sussex Sports Awards is an annual event to reward outstanding achievements to individuals and groups within Sussex sport. The event, which attracted over 550 guests and over 200 nominations, was hosted by Derek Redmond, World Gold and Silver medallist.

The Young Coach of the Year award was sponsored by the University of Brighton and is awarded to those showing great passion aptitude and talent for coaching.

Silver for Justin

Justin Macklin travelled to Wiltshire to take Silver at the The Devizes Budo Club 34th Annual Open Tournament. Fighting in the Under 55 Kgs he found himself again in a very competitive group but did superbly well to fight through the final where he took second place.

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.

Sussex Trials

This year Seishin will not field any senior players and only a small number of juniors in protest to the unsportmanlike behaviour of certain others at this event.

5 out of 5!

Five Judo players from Seishin Judo took five medals at the Sussex Open Masters and Senior-Grade Banded Open Championships. This competition was held in Worthing on Sunday 15th March.

Darren Pacey, fighting his first ever competition took Bronze in the Mens 2nd Kyu (Blue Belt) Under 90kgs. Leah Potter, a 3rd Kyu (Green Belt) won all her fights with an Ippon score to take Gold in the Under 63kgs. Next up was Gareth Young fighting at Under 66kgs in the Mens 1st kyu (Brown Belt) section taking Silver in a hard fought group, losing only in the final and gaining 20 points towards his Black Belt.

Moving onto the 1st Dan (Black Belt) groups: There was a Gold medal for Oliver Young in the Under 66kgs and he also achieved more points towards his 2nd Dan. Finally, James Stringer won Bronze in the Under 81kgs and more points towards his 2nd Dan.

Chief Instructor, Bruce Scrivens commented "A great performance from all five. Four of these players were fighting people much older than themselves and rose to the occasion superbly".

Seishin donates to good causes

Seishin has just made substantial donations to two worthy causes: The Badger and Wild life Protection Group in Burgess Hill who care for all kinds of injured wild animals in the area and The Shoebox Appeal which sends `shoebox` parcels of clothes, toiletries and other basic needs people in to Sierra Leone.

Chief Instructor said "It is always pleasing to be able to give to worthy causes and this year is no exception. Both of these groups carry out splendid work and perhaps our donations can be be of some help".

6TH ANNUAL SEISHIN AWARDS

Seishin Judo and Iaido held its 6th Annual Awards on Friday 6th February at Clair Hall in Haywards Heath which was packed with family, friends and guests. Seishin's junior and senior membership continues to grow year on year. And what a year 2008 was! over 100 medals won in judo competitions, a player selected for the England squad, 5 Sussex Champions and a continuance of traditional judo with all that it entails eg kata, etiquette etc. Iaido (The art of the Japanese Sword) is as strong as ever with practitioners keeping alive this ancient and difficult art.

The evening commenced with the traditional opening ceremony known as Harai no Gi performed by Renshi Bruce Scrivens 5th Dan. This was followed by demonstrations of Judo, Iaido, Kendo, Tai Chi, Kobudo and Cane performed by Seishin Instructors and students and good friends of Seishin, Kyoshi Mike Selvey 6th Dan and David Ansell 7th Dan.

Judo showed a range of basic and advanced techniques and included its use in a variety of self-defence situations. Iaido culminated in the ever popular Tamishigiri (actual cutting of prepared targets)

As always, the highlight of the evening was the presentation of awards for 2008:-

Chief Instructor Bruce Scrivens commented “Seishin continues to grow, not only in numbers but also in character. We have proved ourselves in competition both locally and nationally many times over and this year Seishin Judo will concentrate on judo as a martial art first and foremost. Iaido has a strength of ability second to none. I am so very proud of everyone in Seishin"

TEAM SUCCESS

Seishin 3 take 3 medals at the Sussex Closed Teams Championships on Sunday 23rd November at Worthing. Three teams from the club took part in this event which is a combination of competition and fun. The competition attracted a very good turnout from nearly every club in Sussex. A great atmosphere and sportsmanship made it a very enjoyable event for all those taking part

The Seishin Teams were a real family affair, as intended, and the results were as follows:

8 to 12 years -- GOLD
Marcus Battrum
Sophie Chellew
Luke Macklin
Phoebe Chellew
Tom Chellew

13 to 15 years -- SILVER
Dominic Young
Emma Viney
Sam Battrum
Bryony Chellew
Justin Macklin

Senior Dan Grades -- SILVER
Gareth Young
Oliver Young
James Stringer
Godsmark Godsmark

Well done...

BUDO SEMINAR IN WALES

Instructors and Students from Burgess Hill based Seishin Judo & Iaido attended a Budo (Japanese Martial Arts) Seminar in Wales over the weekend of 15th and 16th November.

This seminar, held by the Yodokan Budo Association of which Seishin is a member, took place at Honbu (Headquarters) Dojo in Abercarn, Wales. The Traditional martial arts of Japan are varied and with many styles.

The weekend began on the Saturday with training in Iaido, Judo, Karate and Ju Jitsu..

The Instructors were Hanshi Wayne Taylor 8th Dan - Shotokai Karate and Kyoshi Mike Selvey 6th Dan – Tenshin Ryu Iaido both good friends of Seishins Chief Instructor Renshi Bruce Scrivens 5th Dan who taught Kodokan Judo and Muso Shinden Ryu Iaido.

The atmosphere was superb as you would expect from true martial artists exchanging knowledge with those only to eager to share and learn from each other.

The following day saw some students including all those from Seishin travel to a mountain waterfall to take part in a very traditional Japanese Ritual of mental and spiritual purification known as Misogi. The ceremony commences with spitting three mouthfuls of Sake into the freezing water followed by two hand claps and a bow before entering the waterfall. For ten minutes the mind becomes one with nature, and exhilarating experience.

A weekend of learning and honour.

Justin selected for England Squad

Justin Macklin aged 13, has been selected to be a member of the England Squad for 2008 – 2009. The squad programme is designed to compliment players home based training, in order to prepare them for progression up the British Judo Associations World Class Start Programme with the ultimate goal of winning medals at the Senior World Championships and Olympic Games.

Bruce Scrivens commented "Justin is the fourth player from Seishin to be selected in the past five years and we are very proud of him. With his focus and determination his judo can only continue to improve."

Budo Course

To commemorate the 2nd Anniversary of The Yodokan Budo Association a Budo Course will be held on 25th October 2008 in Croydon.

Winter Budo Course

15th November 2008 - Winter Budo Course will be held at Honbu Dojo on Abercarn, Wales.
16th November 2008 - Waterfall Training

Seishin Judo have been invited to take part in the London 2012 Handover

Flying the Flag & Picnic/ Sports in the Park Event being held in Sussex on Sunday 24th August 2008

Black Belt for Oliver

Oliver Young aged 17 has just earned his Black Belt This makes him the fourth Judoka from the club to gain this coveted grade in six months.

Unlike most Martial Arts, to obtain a black belt in Judo requires the completion of two elements. Firstly, the candidate has to prove his technical ability by demonstrating a wide variety of techniques which are selected by an accredited examiner. The second part requires them to win contests, as a 1st Kyu Brown Belt, against others of the same or higher grade, this can be done at organised grading sessions or at various `Point Scoring` Championships.

Oliver gained his final ten points at a competition at Crawley.

Chief Instructor, Bruce Scrivens said “This was a great result for Oli and for the club. It just goes to prove that determination and commitment will get results, well done”.

Seishin students to attend Tenshin Ryu Seminar

Students and Instructors from Seishin will attend a Tenshin Ryu Seminar on Iaido and Kobudo on Saturday 12th July at West Wickham. Chief Instructor at this event will be good friend Kyoshi - Mike Selvey 6th Dan.

Recently, Bruce Scrivens taught at a Yodokan Budo Seminar in Wales with Mike and once again he will attend this event.

SEISHIN MAKES DONATION TO THE SUSSEX CANCER CENTRE

As a result of an idea from some of our junior members and the generosity of so many people in our club, Seishin has donated £580.00 to The Sussex Cancer Centre. Cancer is a disease which affects so many people and is close the hearts of all of us at Seishin.

Thank you, everyone.