BENG, the week after: Here are the pictures!

13.00 Venue open
14.00 Begin divisioning
14.45 Pause
15.00 Divisioning, continued
15.45 End of divisioning
16.00 Referee regulations with coaches on the tatami. Randori rules clinic by Arjen Noordzy and Jenny Koster
17.00 End

During the whole period judoka present can apply for the weigh-in, next to the main jury table.

Saturday April 15th

08:00 Venue open
08:00-08:30 Weight-in remaining judoka
09:00 Opening
09:02-11:30 SNWJG tournament
11:45 Medal Ceremony
Pause
12:45 Opening
12:47 SNWJG Kata Tournament
15:30-16:00 Medal Ceremony
16.30 End

Assumburg Castle

19:00-20:00 Dinner
20:00-22:00 Party with DJ Jurre!

Sunday April 16th

08:00 Venue open
08.45 Briefing referees
09:00-09:20 Warming up
09:20-09:30 Opening
09:30 Start BENG! Judoka below 16 jaar and LADIES 16 and older..
11:45 12.15 Medal ceremony
12:15 Lunch and music, Clubs can pick up lunch packs
12:45 Opening afternon by Mr. Ali Bal, Alderman Sports of the Beverwijk municipality + award ceremony for the Honours Trophy
13:00-13:30 Warming up
13:30 Start BENG! for 16+ GENTLEMEN
15:45 Medal Ceremony
16:30 End

Payments

All clubs: Please report to the main jury table on entrance. Payments can be done in cash or by credit card.

Photography

On Saturday, photography is allowed to take place from the tatami sides.
Photographers will not interfere with the matches.
On Sunday, the SNJF photography team is active on the tatami. Should you wish to make photos on the tatami too, please ask permission with Bob Lefevere (bob@specialneedsjudo.nl) but be aware that we do not allow too many photographers on the tatami.
Flash photography is NOT allowed.
Participation in the tournament is an implicit approval to appear in our media. If you do not agree with this, then you have the opportunity to correct this after publication.

Travel and pickups

Early departure on Sunday

This is a really important matter. Some clubs leave very early on Sunday, and should really be on their way to the airport no later than 16:15. In order to make all this run smoothly, we took the following measures:

The Medal Ceremony starts as early as possible on Sunday
The judoka of those clubs that need to leave early will me called out first during the ceremony.
In turn, we expect those clubs to be ready to leave by the time the bus departs
Please, follow the instructions from our drivers!
Note that SNJF will not take any responsibility for delays or missed flights.

Flights and shuttle service

On arrival, please go to the Burger King on Schiphol Plaza. This is the meeting point.
If your flight changes or delays, please inform Piet Vittali
When you are being dropped off at your hotel, you agree on a pickup time for the next morning with your driver. Please do not be late, as your shuttle may be gone.

SNJF and the BENG committee wish you a Happy New Year!

2022-12-31Written By admin

We hope the new year bring you all sorts of good things, and we wish you a safe and wonderful judo year!

This is an invitation for the twenty-third edition of our great tournament in Beverwijk. We are honoured and proud to be able to invite you, our guests, for this tournament that since its inception in 1998 has become the greatest in the world for judoka with a disability.

The Ben van der Eng Memorial does not select: We accept any handicap whether it is physical, mental or sensory. Our 5-grade divisioning system FCS is capable of handling anything from the most accomplished judoka to the most severely disabled ones in the safest way possible.

Indeed our Sunday’s BENG! tournament is, we can proudly say, the greatest Judo party in the world whereas the more “serious” Saturday hosts the Special Needs World Judo Games for Shiai and Kata.

Do you wish to participate? Then click HERE to download our outlines.

Considerations on the implementation of a separate ruleset for Level-1 Special Needs judoka

2022-12-19Written By admin

A bit of history

In 1998, Ben van der Eng†, Tomas Rundqvist and Tycho van der Werff developed the Functional Classification system and a complementary set of competition rules. Up to that moment, divisioning (as we will call it in this document) was haphazard, fragmented and unstandardised, as were the rules.

The new system, focused on safety, was adopted and tested by several organisations. Several national judo federations adopted it, and the first Special Olympics judo competitions in 2003 (Dublin) were successfully executed using the new system. SO, since then, have adopted these rules as their global standard.

Since then, the system has gone through several iterations and refinements, the last one in 2018 when the JBN, the Dutch Judo Federation, allowed a pilot on the latest version. The main objective of the system is to always, and without compromise, ensure the safety of Special Needs judoka participating in competitions.

Since a few years, EJU have adopted these same SN judo rules for the below-12 category.

What is our problem?

Fact: we see little to no major injuries in the levels 2-5. The larger part of major injuries occur in the level 1 division, where often judoka are severely injured by techniques, forbidden under SN rules but still allowed by referees who are either uneducated or deliberately unwilling to execute these rules. There is a list with numerous examples of preventable injuries.

As can be seen in the above table, some Level 1 judoka can compete in mainstream judo and indeed a small percentage can even compete on national and international level. This document and our considerations focus on those Level-1 judoka.

SN judo is all about safety

SN judo should be safe for all levels. As long as there is a slight chance that the wrong levels are combined (and sadly this happens far too often) we cannot let level 1 players have a different set of rules.

Level 1 players have an option that the rest of the SN judoka’s do not have: They are able to compete safely in mainstream judo. Less successful, most likely, since they won’t have the medal guarantee they have when they compete in SN. But at the same time, and this is the main thing, they have this option and it could give them the opportunity to grow into a better judoka.

So in reality, judoka and trainers of the level 1 players have the best of both worlds. They can compete both mainstream and SN. With all the benefits: for example being able to become World Champion in II1, II2 or II3 in Adapted Judo. Participate in Special Olympic world games whilst, by the way, at the same time oreventing others much more in need of the experience from participating.

Or you can face the facts and recognise that Special Needs judo is not for you anymore, and find new challenges so you can grow as a judoka, instead of pursuing cheap victories.

A perfect example of this is a judoka from The Netherlands, who started in SN judo, was the best of the best, decided he wanted to pursue a career in mainstream and is now a real mainstream World Champion. He pursued jita-kioey, a well-known adagium of Kano Shihan, where you learn and grow together for the benefit of all.

He left SN judo so others could have a winning chance and he himself went on growing in the mainstream realm. His reasoning was: why perform under your ability for easy medals and not show others the respect and allow them to achieve their full potential?

Exclusion

Some people say: “By depriving level-1 judoka of the mainstream rules and techniques, we damage the inclusive judo and we discriminate them“

Is this true? That is like saying: judoka under 12 years, competing under a rule set very similar to the SN rules are excluded from judo? Judoka competing under safe rules are excluded?

Exclusion is defined as: “the act of preventing somebody/something from entering a place or taking part in something“.

We now have championships only for people with an IQ <75. We have championships only for people with ASD. All these judoka are free to train and compete with others, with or without a disability, yet these championships are only for them.

Where is the inclusion here?

Inclusion

SN judo is created for all judoka. Every participant will have the opportunity to enjoy and compete in judo together, at their own level, in the safest way possible. And this can be done because we made sure that the rules promote safety.

Does this sound like inclusion or exclusion?

Where is the “discrimination” here?

Options

If judoka also want a different kind of judo then there is no problem. There are other branches of judo-like activities: Of course there is mainstream judo, but also kata, sambo, BJJ, to name a few. And, there are the noninclusive championships for II1, II2 and II3.

Let’s make a comparison with another martial art: Under general kickboxing rules, elbow punches and clinching are not allowed. If a kickboxer does not agree with that, there is always the option to compete in Muay Thai.

The same goes for SN-judo. If a level-1 judoka does not agree with the fact that kansetsu- shime- and sutemi-waza are forbidden under SN rules, there are always mainstream competitions to compete in. On the other hand, if that same judoka insists on competing in SN-judo that is fine too, there is no exclusion. But, the judoka will have to abide by the rules.

Different rules for level-1?

As discussed earlier, level-1 players have a world of options to compete if they do not like the limits put on them by the SN rules.

Second, the risk of misdivisioning is too large and an unsuspecting level-2 (or worse, an even lower level judoka) might very well end up in the poule of a superior and therefore dangerous opponent.

So our view is:
No, we will not have separate rules for level-1 under SN judo.

However, we do recognise the work done by the Virtus organisation and their strive to make championships. But in order to agree upon the ruleset for that, we all need to agree on a common ruleset for all levels before we can adjust for any deviations from it.
That is why we will not, at this point, make any adjustments specific for Level 1 judoka.

The BENG weekend in pictures

Medal Ceremonies

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Saturday April 15

Sunday April 16

Do you wish to change anything?

This is (usually) possible. But.. please let us know in which poule you would like your judoka to be placed. Contact Tycho van der Werff via tycho@specialneedsjudo.nl and keep in mind: We do not compromise when it comes to safety.

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Address

Timetable

Friday April 14th

Saturday April 15th

Assumburg Castle

Sunday April 16th

Payments

Photography

Travel and pickups

Early departure on Sunday

Flights and shuttle service

Share this:

Like this:

This is an invitation for the twenty-third edition of our great tournament in Beverwijk. We are honoured and proud to be able to invite you, our guests, for this tournament that since its inception in 1998 has become the greatest in the world for judoka with a disability.

The Ben van der Eng Memorial does not select: We accept any handicap whether it is physical, mental or sensory. Our 5-grade divisioning system FCS is capable of handling anything from the most accomplished judoka to the most severely disabled ones in the safest way possible.

Indeed our Sunday’s BENG! tournament is, we can proudly say, the greatest Judo party in the world whereas the more “serious” Saturday hosts the Special Needs World Judo Games for Shiai and Kata.

Do you wish to participate? Then click HERE to download our outlines.

Share this:

Like this:

A bit of history

In 1998, Ben van der Eng†, Tomas Rundqvist and Tycho van der Werff developed the Functional Classification system and a complementary set of competition rules. Up to that moment, divisioning (as we will call it in this document) was haphazard, fragmented and unstandardised, as were the rules.

Since a few years, EJU have adopted these same SN judo rules for the below-12 category.

What is our problem?

As can be seen in the above table, some Level 1 judoka can compete in mainstream judo and indeed a small percentage can even compete on national and international level. This document and our considerations focus on those Level-1 judoka.

SN judo is all about safety

SN judo should be safe for all levels. As long as there is a slight chance that the wrong levels are combined (and sadly this happens far too often) we cannot let level 1 players have a different set of rules.

Or you can face the facts and recognise that Special Needs judo is not for you anymore, and find new challenges so you can grow as a judoka, instead of pursuing cheap victories.

He left SN judo so others could have a winning chance and he himself went on growing in the mainstream realm. His reasoning was: why perform under your ability for easy medals and not show others the respect and allow them to achieve their full potential?

Exclusion

Some people say: “By depriving level-1 judoka of the mainstream rules and techniques, we damage the inclusive judo and we discriminate them“

Is this true? That is like saying: judoka under 12 years, competing under a rule set very similar to the SN rules are excluded from judo? Judoka competing under safe rules are excluded?

Exclusion is defined as: “the act of preventing somebody/something from entering a place or taking part in something“.

We now have championships only for people with an IQ <75. We have championships only for people with ASD. All these judoka are free to train and compete with others, with or without a disability, yet these championships are only for them.

Where is the inclusion here?

Inclusion

SN judo is created for all judoka. Every participant will have the opportunity to enjoy and compete in judo together, at their own level, in the safest way possible. And this can be done because we made sure that the rules promote safety.

Does this sound like inclusion or exclusion?

Where is the “discrimination” here?

Options

If judoka also want a different kind of judo then there is no problem. There are other branches of judo-like activities: Of course there is mainstream judo, but also kata, sambo, BJJ, to name a few. And, there are the noninclusive championships for II1, II2 and II3.

Let’s make a comparison with another martial art: Under general kickboxing rules, elbow punches and clinching are not allowed. If a kickboxer does not agree with that, there is always the option to compete in Muay Thai.

Different rules for level-1?

As discussed earlier, level-1 players have a world of options to compete if they do not like the limits put on them by the SN rules.

Second, the risk of misdivisioning is too large and an unsuspecting level-2 (or worse, an even lower level judoka) might very well end up in the poule of a superior and therefore dangerous opponent.

So our view is: No, we will not have separate rules for level-1 under SN judo.

Share this:

Like this:

So our view is:
No, we will not have separate rules for level-1 under SN judo.