Two Weeks, Two Competitions, Two Incredible Results for Warwick Judo

On 21 November at the Rod Lane Kyu Grade Competition, Warwick University Judo’s Matt Barker (brown belt) and Louisa Lai (Orange belt) both secured incredible results in their respective weight categories.

Matt managed to score a Bronze medal and Louisa brought home the Gold and a runner-up prize to boot.  Louisa triumphed in the under 68Kg category after performing a hold-down in one fight and throwing an opponent for an ippon (when the player lands on their back) in the second.

The aim is to teach you to use your opponents’ weight against them. Louisa has truly managed to embrace this value, making her bronze in the under 73Kg category even more spectacular.

Unfortunately, judo as a sport has always struggled to appeal to girls. While this fact is slowly starting to change (Warwick Judo boasts a rather large, active women’s team), weight categories are often merged in competition. This is exactly why judo is such a great form of self-defence; it was specifically designed with the idea of maximum efficiency in mind, the aim is to teach you to use your opponents’ weight against them. Louisa has truly managed to embrace this value, making her bronze in the under 73Kg category even more spectacular.

This, on the back of Lukasz Maliczenko’s Silver medal and graduate Nathan Coles’ Bronze in the London Area Championships the week before is truly incredible news. Lukasz won his medal with a pin; a hold-down lasting 25 seconds, while Nathan’s victories were also attributed to pins and arm-locks.

Lukasz (left) with an opponent

Considering he only started judo last year, Lukasz has come an extremely long way in a very short space of time. “I joined judo to keep my mental health in the right order.” He says, and indeed Judo is an amazing martial art for precisely this reason. Not only does it teach you self-defence, but you also learn great life-skills, including respect, self-discipline and team-work both on and off the mat.

Louisa picked up judo whilst a youngster, but took a break in her teenage years to focus on her studies. Having reacquainted herself with the sport at Warwick, she quickly established herself as a regular member, and her fantastic victory at Rod Lane is a testament to her skills. “We have a really great team and I’m learning much more while improving on old techniques with the club. Rod Lane was a fantastic opportunity to start competing in Judo competitions. In fact, the whole club has been really supportive and I really learnt a lot!”

The support and camaraderie combined with some courageous performances, have led to Judo closing out the year in style.

At these past two tournaments Warwick’s competitors have all competed as individuals. However, Judo is all about teamwork, and club members were out in force to support them through group practices at the University on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, as well as a select group of dedicated members making the journey down to London to watch the fights. The support and camaraderie combined with some courageous performances have led to Judo closing out the year in style. A handful of medals to make the festive period that much sweeter.