Next year, April 3-5, we will once again organise the greatest Special Needs Judo tournament on the planet: The Ben van der Eng Memorial. This is the trailer for this great event.
Please watch the website http://bengmemorial.com: Outlines will be made available first half of November!
Do you want to see what the tournament looked like in 2019? Here is the 2019 aftermovie!
On Sunday, October 6th Judo Aiseau – Presles organised the 10th edition of the International Hainaut Cup. And for the first time, the organisation decided to have a “handi-kata” tournament alongside the original tournament.
What can we say- the tournament was very successful! Special Needs judoka showed their art, judged by the same jury as their regular friends.
We applaud Aiseau-Presles for their effort, in line with the interest that EJU have shown into the Adapted Kata sport and we hope that there will be a follow-up in 2020, and of course that their initiative will also encourage other clubs and organisations to organise an Adapted Kata tournament!
If a club is looking for advice on how to do this, then of course SNJU are always at your service to help you with your effort.
Source: SNJU (Hainaut Cup 2019 features Adapted Judo Kata championships
Up to this year, the Hainaut Cup was one of the important kata tournaments in Europe, one you had to attend as a self-respecting kata team. So- Tycho van der Werff and David Lefevere indeed attended this tournament in 2017 as well as other members of the Dutch kata selection. And they will do so this year.
But, more important: The Hainaut Cup has, with great foresight, added a tournament for adapted judoka, the so-called “handi-kata”. SNJF/Katastrof have decided to support this tournament by sending no less than six kata teams, among which the heroes of Las Palmas: Thomas Sanne, Cees and Janienke but also four debutant teams, on their first international kata tournament!
This site will report on their adventures, and we wish the best of luck to all our judoka!
bengmemorial.com, the website containing all information about the great Beverwijk tournament, is down for maintenance to prepare for the new season. Beginning of October (and possibly earlier) we will publish all sorts of information on our great tournament, that will take place in 2020 on 3, 4 and 5 of April.
See you soon at bengmemorial.com!
The SNJU would like to congratulate
our technical director Tycho and his kata partner David on their fantastic
achievement of winning silver at the recent EJU European Kata Championships in
Gran Canaria. Their performance in katame no kata was just 5 points off the
gold medal spot.
This alone gives us great pride;
however the story doesn’t stop there. For the very first time in European Kata
Championship history, a very special demonstration was invited to take place.
With the progressive development of
adaptive kata practice within SN judo across Europe, it was fitting for two
teams from the Netherlands to demonstrate the possibilities of adaptive kata to
a packed audience at this year’s European Kata Championships.
First of the demonstrations came from
the pairing of Sanne Simons and Thomas Schepen. Sanne
and Thomas both have Down Syndrome and both share their passion
for Judo and in particular Judo Kata. They presented three adapted series of
the nage no kata to a packed arena who could not contain their appreciation and
excitement following the final rei. The standing ovation and applause lasted as
long as the demonstration itself.
When eventually the audience calmed
down, it was the turn of Cees Roest and his kata partner Janienke Roelfsema. Cees is paraplegic and his display of
brilliance was performed from a kneeling position. The various techniques were adapted to Cees’
condition, and they demonstrated a meticulously executed interpretation of
nage-nō-kata. Again following the final rei, the arena goes wild with a
well-deserved standing ovation and applause delivered by a stunned and appreciative
audience.
This is a major step forward for
adaptive judo in general and adapted kata in particular. It is fair to say that
the interest of the European judo community has been aroused and the
possibilities acknowledged.
SN Judo Kata has been developing
across Europe for some time now and is now included in a number of SN judo
tournaments, the biggest of which is at the SN World Judo Games in Beverwijk,
Netherland in April each year. We are confident moving forward that SN kata can
be included at more events both SN and mainstream and will promote positive
inclusion right across our sport.
We would like to thank the EJU for having the
vision and courage to understand and recognise the importance and possibilities
of adapted judo and for taking the historic step forward to include all ability
judoka in its future plans and visions.
Source: SNJU (Progress and Success at European Kata Champioships
The Centro Insular de Deportes in Las Palmas slowly falls silent. Normally, kata contests are quiet affairs already but this time you can hear a pin drop, because something special is happening. Two very special judoka are on the tatami.
Sanne Simons and Thomas Schepen both have Down’s Syndrome, and normally this is not associated with the purposeful and precise movements necessary to perform a successful kata, or the ability to remember the precise order of techniques.
Wrong. The two show three adapted series of nage-nō-kata, and after the final rei the applause explodes. It continues for minutes, not in the least because the two judoka arouse the audience for more and more applause.. and the audience obliges. People are cheering, whistling and clapping and it takes some time before the hall quiets down and the other couple enters the tatami:
Cees Roest is praplegic from the chest down, after an accident. Standing is almost impossible. How then is it possible to perform a nage-nō-kata?
They show the audience how. The various techniques are adapted to Cees’ condition, and they demonstrate a meticulously executed interpretation of nage-nō-kata, assisted by uke Janienke Roelfsema. Again the audience goes wild, and again an ovational applause is theirs.
Earlier this year, EJU expressed interest in Special Needs Kata, and was referred to SNJF. A plan was formed to invite SN-judoka from several countries to set up a small SN-Kata tournament alongside the main European Championship. For various reasons, the other countries were unable to attend so the Dutch judoka were left and it was decided to do a dmonstration.
The interest of the European Judo community has been aroused. SNJF hopes that this initiative will have a follow-up, and is of course ready to give technical and organisatorial advice.
SNJF believes that the best way to attain inclusion for handicapped people is to take part in mainstream events, just like everyone. SNJF believe that if Judo is adapted when necessary, the handicap of these people will diminish or even become irrelevant.
The fact that an international organisation like EJU have the vision to understand this and the courage to take this historic step is a great leap forward, and SNJF are greatly honoured to be able to support this process. We thank EJU for this fantastic opportunity and are looking forward to future cooperation.
Last
weekend (20-23/6) the SNJU proudly supported the Swiss International SN Judo
festival in conjunction with Special Olympics Switzerland and the hosts, Uster
Judo club.
Thursday 20/6
It was an
incredible 4 days of inclusion, play, fun, sightseeing and competition. The
event started on Thursday with the arrival of international teams from Romania,
Ireland, Sweden, Netherlands, Germany and France. Two international inclusive
training sessions were arranged by the hosts Judo club Uster and were run by
SNJU directors James Mulroy and Cilia Evenblj. Fun and games was the topic of
the day and a great session was enjoyed by all.
Friday 21/6
Friday
morning it was time to see of the wonders Switzerland has to offer. With
volunteer guides everyone boarded the train to see the magnificent Rhine fall,
waterfalls. What an amazing trip with incredible views, great company and a
soaking boat trip to the base of the waterfall.
In the
afternoon it was off to the venue for check-in and the now infamous mixed,
mixed international team event. This
event mixes countries, players, coaches, weights and levels to create mixed
mixed team who all compete together in a fun and friendly contest.
Dinner was
served for all at Scout House where most of the visitors made their home for
the duration of their stay. As the very tired athletes headed off to get some
sleep, the coaches, referees and guests gathered for our seminars and
workshops. In our quest to deliver new
and interesting education seminars, James introduced a seminar on autism
assistance dogs and their benefits and roles. He then handed over to parent
Eamon who presented George the dog and informed every one of his and his
children’s experience using a service dog.
The seminar was certainly interesting and attracted a lot of questions.
Next up was the topic of divisioning and the importance of the involvement of
coaches and referees. This was expertly delivered by Cilia. Last on the list
was the contest and play safety rules seminar delivered by James.
Saturday 22/6
And on to
the main event… Saturday morning saw
the arrival of the Swiss teams and the check-in and divisioning. The
divisioning was led by Cilia and assisted by all the coaches as discussed the
previous evening. The result of the divisioning was 24 beautifully created
pools that were even and fair for the athletes. Competition started at 1.30 and
was a beautiful display of friendship, skill, determination and judo spirit.
The divisioning proved its worth with fair yet competitive pools in all
categories.
After the
medal presentation it was back to the scout house for an evening food, drink,
fun and laughter, a great end to a great event. Congratulations to Cilia for a
great run event and to everyone involved in the preparation and execution of a
wonderful festival of judo.
Source: SNJU (Swiss International SN Judo Festival
We agreed earlier on the dates of November 2 and 3, but we have negotiated a much better deal.. so much better even that we decided to move the tournament one week.
The tournament will therefore move to November 9th and 10th.
Texel is a small island just North of North-Holland. It is accessible by ferry. Vacation resort De Krim on Texel have built a brand new event venue and so we can make this a wonderful weekend where our guest and judoka can sleep, eat and do the Judo tournament on the resort itself.
You cannot apply just yet, as details are still being negotiated. Later this year we will come up with an offer, and then it is also possible to book for both the tournament and the resort.
But, as we said: Put that date on your calendar!