Of Northern Virginia
We have a mailing list for our members and interested judoka. It is a good way to stay in touch and to find out about upcoming competitions and other events. Unsolicited ads and spam are strictly prohibited.
Both the Junior and Senior competitors won the Outstanding Team Trophy for their divisions on Saturday. Click here to read more.
One of our judo guys, Nick, will be holding an introductory Krav Maga class after practice on Saturday from 1:00PM to 2:30PM in the Martial Arts Room. Class will cost $10 per person. Check it out!
The club Christmas party this passed Saturday was a great success. Thanks everyone for coming!
Krav Maga is also on at the Reston One Spirit 5 days a week. Call 703-796-5508 for times.
The club Christmas party will be held at SportJudo on Saturday, Dec. 12th. at 10AM. Click here for details.
One Spirit Martial Arts in Alexandria, VA is now holding Krav Maga, MMA and boxing classes in addition to Judo during the weeks. There is also a brand-new, full size boxing ring at the gym for use by gym members. Click here for details or call One Spirit at (703) 941-4848.
Ivan and Lela Veskov won two golds each this passed weekend in Norfolk, VA. Congratulations, guys!
Willie fought hard to a 5th place finish at the Junior PanAm Judo Championships in Brazil yesterday. On the way he faced 3 difficult opponents in matches that all went the distance. Pictures can be seen on the USA Judo web site. An article about the tournament can be found here.
We would like to wish Aaron Riley good luck in the upcoming UFC 105 event. He coaches MMA at One Spirit Martial Arts in Alexandria, VA and trains at SportJudo, also based in Alexandria. If you'd like to train with Aaron, give us a call at (703) 941-4848 or email us and ask about his class.
Congratulations to the Junior and Senior teams! Both the Juniors and the Seniors took their respective team trophies on Saturday at the Maryland Open Judo Championships in College Park, MD. In addition, Lela Veskov was named Outstanding Competitor in the Junior competition! Good job, everyone!
Willie and Giuseppe Inserra both won gold at the national trials. Michael Harrison won silver. This means the possibility of international berths for these young competitors. A great job all around. Results are still being posted. Right now, Willie's victory is on the U.S. Judo website.
Michael Harrison is overseas June 2009 competing in three tourneys:
As of 15 June, he won a bronze in the PanAm Games and 5th place in the Vereniging Tournament. Great Job! To find out more, click here.
Next, he travels to South Korea to represent the USA in the Jikji Cup. Best of luck!
UFC legend Royce Gracie will conduct a training seminar open to the public on 16 May 2009. The seminar will be held at our Olympus Gym Headquarters from 5-7pm. The cost is $60 per person. Space is limited. Pre-register by calling Lamonte Tyler at (434) 825-2734 or emailing him at lamonte.tyler@gmail.com. To learn more about Royce's MMA career, visit his website at www.roycegracie.tv.
Dr. Ann Maria DeMars visited Sport Judo on Monday, 23 March 2009, leading instruction of the evening adult class. Dr. DeMars won the world Judo Championships in 1984, the first and only American to do so. In addition to consulting, Dr. DeMars travels the country, coaching judo. Her daughter, Rhonda Rousey, won bronze in the Beijing Olympics. Dr. DeMars blogs about her judo experiences. Everyone from Sport Judo learned a lot from Dr. DeMars and appreciated the visit.
Congratulations to Joe for winning Silver in Colorado at the United States Association of Blind Athletes (USABA) Judo Camp. Joe trained for 2 weeks with fifteen other competitors. He competed in his first tournament on Saturday, February 28, coming in second place in the 220+ mens division. Click here for more info.
Sport Judo won at least 2 first place trophies in the juniors and multiple first place trophies in the adult divisions at the Virginia State Judo Championships held in Arlington, VA on February 21, 2009. We also won a large number of second and third place trophies. Our success is the result of a lot of hard work and great turn out. Congratulations to everyone that competed! We'll post the indivdual results as they come in.
Sport Judo won the team trophy and a number of first and second place victories at the 2008 Maryland State Championships. Great showing!
USA Judo issued its 2009 junior rankings. Willy Inserra rose to #1 for Male 13-14 YOA under 44kg division. Congratulations to Willy. Keep it up and good luck with the winter wrestling season!
SportJudo judoka, Joel Brutus, returned from the 2008 Beijing Olympics after a fierce, but disappointing bout with the player from South Korea. He led the Haiti delegation in the Olympic Opening Ceremony. After a trip to the Great Wall, he is back in Northern Virginia and training again. Welcome Back! More info here. Check out NBC, the official Olympic host, for 2008 Olympic Judo news.
Mike Harrison wins third at Junior Olympics
Congratulations to Sportjudo's Mike Harrison. He placed third in his black belt weight class at the Junior Olympics held 25-27 July at Disney's Cornonado Springs Resort Convention in Kissimmee, FL. For more information, click here.
Maurice represented the UK in freestyle wrestling at the 1976 Olympics and at numerous other world competitions in judo and wrestling. He began as a formidable competitor in the Scottish style of wrestling unique to his homeland and developed into a grappler of international stature. Maurice was the first Scot and first U.K. citizen to win gold in amateur world wrestling competiition since the 1908 London Olympic Games. In recognition of his competitive and coaching contributions to British wrestling, Queen Elizabeth appointed Maurice Allan to Most Excellent Order of the British Empire ("MBE") in 1975. His native Scotland picked him as the greatest Scottish wrestler of the 20th century.
Maurice has over two decades experience teaching defense and disarming techniques to Virginia state and county law enforcement, FBI, Secret Service, Dep't of State Diplomatic Security, military personnel (including special forces), and other civilian agencies with special personal defense needs. His curriculum uses techniques proven effective in competition, but adapted to the reality of street combat and the practice environment available to government officials.
Maurice teaches judo every night of the week at his affiliated clubs and personally oversees the judo classes taught at his Olympus Gym headquarters. Every student has ample opportunity to train in classes run by Maurice. Maurice's teaching successes date back to before he moved to the United States. While Maurice was head judo coach for Edinburgh Universit's Men's and Women's Judo Teams, the program developed to the point where the school administration adopted it as part of the school's official curriculum. Maurice brings both years of competitive experience and years of teaching experience to the class.
Today, Maurice enjoys teaching judo to youths of a variety of ages and skill levels. A number of his young students have won national rankings in judo competitions. We encourage parents to bring young kids to JudoKids and get them started. Judo is a great strength and confidence builder. Both of Maurice's children practice judo. Before taking a sabbatical in 2008 to marry her fiance, a world-class Brazilian Jiu-jitsu practitioner, Francisco Neto, Maurice's daughter, Kristen, was seeded first in the nation in 2007 for the under 63KG weight class. Click here for a Washington Post article on Maurice's daughter's career.
