Once again, our Western Area judoka have been able to meet and train together, as we continue to drive innovative opportunities to enable our judoka to bounce back into judo.

Following on from our previous successful first bounce back session in April, we held part two of these sessions on Sunday. We had hoped it would also allow our over 18’s an opportunity to join in, however the Government Covid guidelines meant this age group will have to wait a little longer.

Nevertheless, we still welcomed 51 judoka from Cornwall, Devon, Bristol, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, and Gloucester. Therefore, this time around, we were able to add an extra rotation and offer four training blocks to the days camp. While our team of coaches were also super excited and very enthusiastic about being back coaching.

It was wonderful seeing our judoka, coaches and their families start to re-connect once they arrived today, for most it has been 14 months since they have all been together at the British Schools Championships back in 2020.

Today’s training was performed in a respectful and relaxed atmosphere, we organised judoka into 4 groups which included an outdoor strength and conditioning session, a technical tachiwaza block, a newaza skills program and a randori session.

Overall, the training was led by our excellent coaching team, who worked hard making each block meaningful with a practice to target each age group of judokas on the tatami.

Drake judoka Callum and Maddox both agreed: “It was great to be back on the mat for the first time this year. We found the training well organised offering something for everyone.”

Kingsley judoka Henry and Freddie said it was “fun”, but they “didn’t enjoy the rain while doing the outdoor fitness session!”

A massive thank you to everyone today especially our judoka, it’s terrific to see more people returning to training once again with the Western Area Program.

We are intending to stage part 3 of these sessions in June or July, so keep an eye out for announcements.

Simon Ward