I attended the Hampshire Split Grade Open in the capacity as referee at the weekend. The venue will always hold a special place in my heart for various reasons: I got the final points for my Dan grade there, I have medaled there before, and I think I got my first referee qualification there as well.
There were plenty of people I knew there, including representatives from my own clubs (Which made me miss them terribly given my current Achilles sprain which stops me training AT ALL which is horrible).
It was a scrappy day for me to begin with. Our mat was delayed starting as the mats themselves had not been correctly laid out and this took time to fix. Then our team was in a state of flux anyway so no sooner was I on, then off again, and then having lunch! It worked out in the end as I stayed on to referee the Open and got some of the Finals to do as well.
Lance from the upcoming Hampshire Judo Academy was present to advertise and that is an exciting project in itself. The emphasis is on all the Good Things, and not just three days of Western-style Randori resulting in bits falling off the judoka who are present. Check it out.
Despite this being a low-level event in the big scheme of things, it was great to see judoka from Willesden and Camberley judo clubs. This meant that there was some great judo to watch, especially when they fought each other!
It was not my best day of refereeing. I didn’t get anything wrong or anything like that, but I did not feel in the zone either. I have had the opportunity to study some of my work on video. Essentially I look too ‘rushed’ so I just need to calm it down and take my time. Some IJF-level feedback I received was that I am ‘over-gesticulating’ which is a habit I’ve picked up from the football refereeing where you NEED such strong body language to sell decisions! Looks totally wrong on the judo mat though.
Essentially, I need to be serene and controlled, rather than somewhat fierce and controlled. Which sounds like good advice for judo in general, if you ask me…