Jordan's Story

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I started judo at the age of 4 when I first joined infant school. By the age of 6 I joined Keynsham Judo School where I was basically participating for fun. At age 8 I got my BJA licence and started competing in mini-mons and other competitions under Keynsham.

I Stayed with Keynsham for 12 years and learned a lot there and had some success. Just over a year ago I came along to Bradley Stoke Judo Club and learnt a lot of new and interesting judo. The coaches helped me to develop a lot and opened my eyes to more than the sloppy seoi nage and weak kata gurma I had and also taught me some newaza. The club has a number of good players at junior level and senior level and I felt they could help improve me as a player. The club also told me of their plans to go on tour and plans for the French to come over. The club seemed like a good and friendly environment to be in and it was at that time where I decided to move on from my time at Keynsham and join Bradley Stoke.

Since joining Bradley Stoke things have only got better. I have participated in the area team’s event winning a silver medal and not long after fought in the British Schools winning a gold medal and the change to go along to the England training sessions. The next competition I performed in was the Kent open where I came 5th out of 15, I was very happy with this result as I got injured early on in my first fight but managed to carry on to come 5th. Next was the Nationals where I came 9th in the under 55kg. Despite coming 9th and getting 10 points for my first Dan, I was disappointed with this result however it was this competition that pushed me to work harder and keep working to improve my judo. Not long after the Nationals the French came over to Bradley Stoke. This was a great weekend and on the mat was a good boost to my confidence as I came away with 2 gold medals. The Plymouth open was then next event for me and as there was no under 55kg category for me to fight in I had to fight in the under 60kg despite only weighing in at 50.2kg. This competition was mainly for experience and I came away with a bronze medal and 7 points to my first Dan. Coming into 2010 I was hit by injury resulting in me missing the midlands and the North West open however, I was fortunate enough to be fit to travel to France for a hard training camp. This was a very good experience for me as I was able to have Randori sessions with people who fought in a different way and to try new things. Not long after coming back from France I competed in the under 20’s English Open coming away with a bronze medal and entry into the Great Britain junior squad.

This time last year I would never believe I would be in the situation I am in now. We have a very strong club which is like a family and I can only see things getting even better.

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