June Membership fees due!
I hope to send individualized notices this month, but in case that does not work, here is a general reminder.
Practice Promotional Testing
This Saturday, May 30, will be the first practice promotional testing day. Please be sure to be at your regular class a few minutes early and ready to go on time.
Schedule Change for Saturday, June 6th
There will be no class on the 6th.
AM-CAN Report
SSJ Judo sent three competitors to the AM-CAN Challenge this past weekend, Sachi Ragosta, Kai Shin, and Max Weiner. All three competed in both junior and senior divisions.
Sachi Ragosta placed third in the 53kg junior division, fighting X matches and winning X. Although she placed, Sachi was clearly struggling a bit in this division, and did not start off the day as strongly as she usually does. Her first match against Amanda Roberts showed some hesitancy as she missed several opportunities to attack solidly. Never one to take defeat lightly, the early loss seemed to wake Sachi up and she fought the next two matches with a good deal more energy and determination.
Sachi fought again in the women’s 52 kg division on the second day, and faced Katelyn Bouyssou, who, is also 14 years old, and is currently the top ranked female in the country, and the youngest player in US history to make the senior world championship team. Katelyn is also the one who broke Sachi’s collarbone a year ago at the ’08 Ocean State International. In spite of this daunting history, Sachi went into the match ready to play, and fought hard to throw. However, Katelyn was again able to force Sachi into a good tai otoshi for the ippon. Despite this loss, the fact that Sachi came back so strong against the opponent who had given her the worst injury of her life, made this a the match an achievement. Great job, Sachi!
Kai Shin placed second in the Junior 81kg division, going 4 and 1. He won his four matches by ippon, with solid throws and pins despite the fact that he has devoted most of his time to varsity soccer for the last month or so. The nicest throw was a one-handed soto makikomi that skillfully redirected his opponent’s attack into a resounding ippon. His only loss was to a very strong player who, even though Kai’s uchi mata attack had him elevated, was able to successfully turn it into a counter for an ippon.
Kai also played in the men’s 81 kg brown belt division on the second day, starting off with a loss in a tough match against a strong player from Canada, After several good exchanges with nether able to nail the advantage, the Canadian attacked with deep drop seioi nage that Kai could have blocked, but instead rolled to his back trying to bridge, which equates to an immediate ippon. After reflecting on his lapse in judgment, Kai fought each match after that with a much tighter focus and won each of the next four matches by ippon against players 5-14 years his senior. One of the nicest moments came in a strong exchange with one player who attacked with a strong ko uchi makikomi, which Kai countered very smoothly into a clean tani otoshi for a solid ippon. In his last match, Kai was attacking with very solid ashi waza that took his opponent down very quickly several times, only to twist out at the last split second, until Kai finally caught him clean. With five ippons in the consolation bracket, Kai earned a tough second to the Canadian who had caught him in the first round.
Max Weiner played in the junior 81 kg division, fighting for the first time in a major judo tournament. Max started out with a strong tomoe nage attack which his opponent was able to turn out of, but Max then followed up with a ushiro kata te jime, (rear one handed choke) but was not able to secure the tap before the referee called mate. In the second exchange, Max attempted to secure a wrestling tightwaist, but his opponent countered with a koshi makikomi throw for the ippon. Afterwards, his opponent congratulated Max on his strong shime waza and confessed that he was just about to tap when the referee called mate. Both his matches were with young men who had many years of experience, and even though Max showed that he was stronger and in better shape, experience and judo skill won out over physical talent.
Max also played the second day in the men’s 81 kg novice division, and even though the division was smaller, Max demonstrated that he has learned enough to play with the big boys. In fact, Max won his first senior match with a strong pin for ippon that utilized several different techiniques. This was needed, too, because the pin clock malfunctioned, and Max was forced to hold the pin for ten extra seconds, which is a long time against a player who is fighting back as hard as he can. However Max nailed the pin and then never looked back, winning the next match and sealing his first place position.
Congratulations to our competitors!
