Sunday, December 27, 2009

Happy New Year



hope everyone has a nice new year and good holidays. hope people achieve everything they want to achieve and more in the year 2010. Its going to be a big year for me in terms of judo, school and helping out at church with the youth as well as achieveing my goal of 27 muscle ups. (im up to 8)

But anyway have an awesome time over the holidays
Matt

Some technical vids in Samoa

Klinger teaching 2 ways to break the arm for juji gatame





and a few of my armlock attacks


Saturday, December 26, 2009

Pic of the week- Cadel Evans

The pic of the week this week is cadel Evans.

Put simply cadel is a dude. He has placed 2nd at the tour de france twice and this year won the World road race champs to become World Champion.
Cadel has come both 1st and 2nd at the commonwealth games and has won the tour of Austria twice as well as some other big races.

He is my pic of the week because any aussie that can become world champion is great for australia and it takes alot of sacrifice to get anywhere near the top in the world. If i placed top 10 at the worlds id be happy as larry, but to win it...woah thats just awesome.

Friday, December 25, 2009

Flying in the plane

Last week my friend Christian took me on a fly in a plane. It was so much fun, a little scary at times but i had a stacks awesome time and im keen to have another fly one day.
I made a video of the day, i thinks its pretty funny so have a watch if you want.

Video of the week

due to the new IJF rules many throws will be banned, like the Khaberelli in the videos below.
Because this technique is awesome its the video of the week

New Video of IJF Rules

Here are videos of techniques still legal and illegal under the new system. Techniques 1-18 are LEGAL and techniques 19-60 are all ILLEGAL and will receive a DISQUALIFICATION for the first offence.

http://www.youtube.com/user/livejudo#g/u

it wiil be an interesting next few years thats for sure



An Uchimata

Why judo is so good

1. They teach us how to fall so that when we get thrown all over the place, we can get up and act like nothing happened.

2. You don’t have to be buff. You just have to know a little math and a bit of physics.

3. If your sensei doesn’t mind, you get to spar with people twice your size and weight (i.e., you’re a women’s extra lightweight and your partner’s a men’s heavyweight).

4. You get to roll around on the floor and it’s actually fun. Even if you might look like an idiot.

5. You can grab people by the collar and it’s acceptable (granted you’re not the type who likes to beat up random people).

6. It’s fun to throw your friends around (in the dojo).

7. You’re less likely to get injured (if you listened to your sensei), even if it’s a contact sport.

8. “To me, Judo is like ballet, except there’s no music, no choreography, and the dancers knock each other down.” — Neil Ohlenkamp

9. You learn to respect people, not just fear them.

AND THE MOST AWESOME REASON EVER.

10. You can use judo in real life. Whether it’s a figurative or literal fall, you are trained to get right back up as if nothing happened.


taken from http://herecomesvanessa.tumblr.com/post/27...s-why-judo-pwns

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone
From Matt
And if you are bored and want to read the Christmas story you can read Luke Chapter 2
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+2&version=NIV



New IJF Rules

New rules for Judo






Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Tai Otoshi

Just a few videos of the beautiful technique of Tai Otoshi




My Instructional of Tai Otoshi

Monday, December 21, 2009

Video Pushup Variations

Here is a new video i made about pushup variations.
Hope you enjoy it


Pushup Variations

There are many different variations of pushups, these include scooping, narrow, wide, triangle, decline, incline, reverse, Medicine Ball, Swiss Ball, Clapping and Box.
This report is just going to give a brief description of how to do each of these pushups and what the benefits are.

Scooping
Scooping pushups are harder than normal pushups because they are more full body and concentrate more on the smaller muscles of the tricep rather than the big chest muscles.
The only bad thing is Scooping pushups attract a lot of weird looks and comments in the gym but they really are a great exercise.

Narrow
I classify anything ‘narrow’ as anything closer than shoulder width. Narrow pushups really nullify the use of the front deltoid and chest muscles and really focus on the Tricep muscles throughout most of the movement.
Great for building up the Triceps.

Wide
Wide pushups are the opposite of narrow pushups. They are performed with a wider than shoulder width hand position and really nullify the tricep involvement and concentrate more on the chest and shoulder part of the movement.
I believe that wide pushups are a waste of time and if you want to build chest and shoulders just do normal pushups.

Triangle
Simply put you hands next to each other and make a Triangle with your thumbs and index fingers. Once you have done this start your pushups. This exercise is taking the Narrow pushups to the extreme.
You might find when doing this exercise tat due to your hands being so narrow a lot of pressure is put onto your wrists and elbows and may result in sore elbows for a couple of days.
Great for tricep building but due to the amount of stress placed on the elbows I don’t recommend this type of Pushup.



Decline
Decline pushups are done when your feet are elevated on an object and you are doing your pushups. This exercise is great if you want to add some extra weight to your pushup because when doing a Decline pushup you arms are pressing more weight.

Incline
Incline pushups are simply the opposite of Decline pushups. Instead of your feet on something you put your feet on the ground and hands on an object that’s higher than your feet.
When completing an Incline pushup due to your weight being in your feet you are lifting less weight than normal pushups.

Reverse
Reverse pushups are a ridiculous variation to a pushup and have no benefit to them that a normal pushup doesn’t.
To do a reverse pushup you put your hands by your sides but instead of having your fingers pointing forward (like every other variation) with a reverse pushup your fingers face your toes.
To put yourself in this position already requires a significant amount of flexibility in the wrists and forearms and I advise you to give these pushups a go but don’t do them regularly or you will injure the ligaments in your wrists.

Medicine ball
Medicine ball pushups are a fantastic excise designed to not s much build up your muscles but to also work your upper body co-ordination.
To complete MB pushups one hand starts on top of the ball and one on the floor. Complete a pushup and then quickly swap to do a pushup on the other side of the ball. To do this you must at some stage quickly change hands atop the MB. This is where co-ordination comes in.
To make this exercise harder us a smaller ball, to make it easy use a bigger ball.

Swiss Ball
Swiss ball pushups are a fantastic exercise that requires strength and control. You simply put your feet on the floor and your hands on a Swiss ball and then complete a pushup. Due to the instability in the ball your muscles must contract and adjust very fast resulting in many trainers shaking very badly every rep.



Clapping
The famous ‘clapping pushup.’ As you perform an explosive pushup (getting airborne) clap before your hands touch the ground and begin then next rep.
This exercise is fantastic for upper body power, explosiveness and co-ordination. Some people can even get so high after their pushup that they can clap behind their back before the next repetition.

Box
Get 2 boxes of equal size and put them under each hand. Situate your body in between each box so that when you go down your body goes lower than it would with a normal pushup increasing the range of movement of the exercise.


Good luck doing pushups as they are a great form of strength especially to the younger generations who are a bit too young to start weight training.
Pushups are a great exercise and can be done anywhere so if you are away on travel and cant get to the gym start pushing out some pushups and you will have a great workout.

Matt D’Aquino
10/10/2007

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Im wrecked this weekend

G wizz it has been a very busy week. Ive been training at the gym, had friends over to late at night and have been flat out with broken down cars and everything.

This week i have been catching up with my mate steve and besides smashing me on boxing on the playstation he was also awarded his blue belt in Brazilian Jujitsu. Everyone who starts BJJ dreams of becoming a Blue belt. Steve has been training consistenyl over the past year and a half and entering his fair share of tournaments so its an awesome acheivement to have been graded to blue belt.

the next belt after blue is purple and they say that a purple belt is a blue belt that keep on attending training and keeps on trying to improve their skills. and i believe steve will be a purple belt in no time.

Sadly Renato (head coach at Phoneix BJJ) is returning to Brazil for just over a month to visit family and touch base with home before returning to australia to continue coaching at phoenix and competing in MMA comps as well. Renato is a wealth of knowledge on the ground and with my commitements with judo and training myself i have not been able to utilise renato's ground skills enough but if i want to one day compete in an abu dhabi (no gi submission grappling world champs) then i will definetly have to biff him more often in order to prepare for some pretty slick guys.

Anyway yesterday steve mentioned to me that he did tabata intervals with his new battle ropes and he said he was really hard. So i decided to do some tabatas this morning with the 15kg battle ropes. and boy was it tough as.

the tabatas i did were 20 seconds on with 10 seconds off for 10 rounds. I managed 10 rounds but the last 3 roundswere pretty pitiful. I then did 5 rounds of tabatas with the uchikomi rubbers and then 5 rounds of tabatas on th spin bike.

Lately i have ben gtting into stretching and its always something any athlete must improve on not just for strength but also more importantly for injury prevention. while i was stretching i decided to film another video focusing on the various styles of pushups someone can perform
i have
- normal pushups
- superman puushups
- scooping
close grip
med ball alternate
med ball close grip
box alternate
boxing explosive
box close
clap in front
chest hit
i think thats all i filmed.

Now im just at home cleaned the house and am now about to listen to some matchbox 20 and edit this new video i made. Ill put it up ASAP

If i dont write another blog, have an awesome christmas and new years. God bless
Matt

Judo guys in MMA

these are two highlight reels of 2 judo guys in the MMA at the moment. One is Lombard a crazy cuban that fought in the sydney 2000 olympics for judo the other is akiyama who represented Japan at the 2003 World championships.


Hector Lombard



Yoshihiro Akiyama

Friday, December 18, 2009

Video of the week

Pic of the week - Olympics

I decided that this weeks pic of the week would be me with these 2 huge shotputters from Cuba. Brownie and i were wandering the olympic village and came across these guys in the park throwing their shotputs.
So we said why not and grabbed a photo of them flexing. It was our first day in the village and we were very excited to get photos with stacks of famous people, but this is one of the best ones we got.
The great thing about these guys was they didnt need any special high tech equipment or anything , they were just in a bit of parkland and were throwing the shotputs around.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Speed training for Judo - Video

Something i made the other day - all good exercises for judo

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Inspiration

One of the most inspirational people i look up to in sport is Matt Hughes. He is the most successful Welterweight in UFC history defending his title 9 times. Matt is also a 4 time all american for freestyle wrestling before he got into cage fighting.
Matt is also a christian and became a christian when his twin brother Mark fasted for a while and prayed for it heaps.
This is an awesome photo of Matt wearing his Army of the One shirt, which is the shirt he wears immediatly after each fight.
So many people dont really rate Matt hughes and whenever you watch him fight the commentators are always commenting about he is only a wrestler and wins through only his amazing strength. but the fact of the matter is he knows how to grapple and knows how to strike in a way to utilise his grappling and he knows when and how to use his strength to win the fight.
Matts next fight is against Renzo Gracie at UFC 112 in dubai and i would love to maybe see him at UFC 110 in Sydney.
If i met Matt hughes one day id be so so happy.


One of my other favourite inspirational people is the 7 times tour de france winner Lance Armstrong. Lance is simply a machine. His mentality is off the scale and his knowledge in the sport of cycling and his training ethic is what makes him better than any other cyclist in the tour de france.
Lance is great due to being a student of the sport - meaning he knows everything about his bike, his team and the course. He is also very smart in choosing the right people in his team and makes sure everyone on his team will ridfe and ride and ride in order for him to win.
Many people say Lance is on the gear, but i believe that people think just because they cant ride that fast or jump that high then the guy that can is on banned substances. I think that Lances mentality and training ethic is what makes him that much better than everyone else in the sport of cycling. In saying that though Lances main focus was winning the tour de france, he has not won many events becauise his whole main focus is the tour de france. Although in saying that he did win the world road cycling champs in 93 and came 3rd at the Sydney Olympics for the time trial.
Seeing Lance ride is inspiring enough and he is another person i would love to meet one day.

Monday, December 14, 2009

UFC 107

Nikki Steve and i were lucky enough to watch the UFC up at Nikkis dads house on the weekend. Its one of the nicest houses i have ever been to and it was cool to relax with Steve and nikki and watch a UFC Live.
I must admit i was getting a bit bored of UFC fights lately but since watching the one this week im getting back into it.
The fight card was stacked with some good guys but the main event was between BJ Penn and Diego Sanchez.
I was a good fight but BJ Penn is just so so smart and so confident in his game plan. He just lures people in and counter punches them perfectly and because he is so flexible in the legs he has very difficult to take down.
BJ Penn ended up winning the fight with a brutal cut of Diego forehead that the Dr deemed to dangerous to continue. (photo below of the deep cut)
I think to beat BJ Penn you are going to have to let him attack and get out of his comfort zone because he seems so calm and he knows that others will get a bit frustrated and come forward and he will win.

Other good fights were frank mir did a very nice guillotine choke on Congo early in the 1st round. Another good fight of the night was Kenny florian tapping 'The carpenter' Clay guida with a nice rear naked choke.


Holidays

For a guy that's on school holidays you would not think so. I have been so out of control busy with catching up with people for coffee and church has had a function on so many nights a week plus scoring extra shifts at work. Its been crazy.
But anyway today i have decided I'm not going to do anything I'm just going to relax and clean the house.
Although this morning i went to the gym with Josh and Joel and did my program in between chatting and wrestling round a bit.

So nothing much is really going on in my world. I was asked to attend Melrose high Schools graduation Ceremony and i was the guest speaker. I did about a 15minute speech on my life and how i worked hard in order to make the Olympics. I gave them 5 points to succeed:
Dedication
Sacrifice
Get out of your comfort zone
Speed bumps (eye on goal)
All up to you

My main theme was my favorite quote "there are no shortcuts to any place worth going." Its such a great saying that can be applied to so much of life.

Anyway the other day i was looking at some face book photos and came across this photo of me at the Olympic Closing Ceremony



Chat soon
Matt

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Pics of Comps/ Dojos around the World

Swiss Open 2007


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BJJ Seminar in France (With a Random Brazilian guy who has fought in UFC i dont know his name but.


Olympic Training Centre in Prague (2007)


French Federation de judo in Paris (the hardest place on the planet) i didnt throw anyone for 3 hours...not even a koka or a small score nothing



world Championships in Brazil 2007 (I won 1st round against an African and then lost to Uzbekistan)



CREPS in Strasbourg France (awesome facility )


USK Cup Prague 2007 (I came third lost to a guy from Poland)


St Gallen Tournament in Switzerland (I came first won all 4 fights by ippon, and i had a good hard fight against a guy from Mexico in the final)



German Open 2008 (Lost 1st round to a guy from England, i had very bad prep and made weight really badly, fought terribly)



Beijing Olympics

Cardio For Judo - Article

Cardio training for Judo
Judo is such a dynamic sport that makes it very hard to train for just one certain component. We need a lot of different styles of fitness covering all energy systems. Some opponents are all about speed so the fight is based around aerobic fitness while others are slow and all strength so the fight then spills over into the anaerobic category.
To make it even worse in major competitions you may have to fight up to 5 times in 1 day or more. Jimmy Pedro in 2004 Olympics had 7 fights in 1 day. This requires a lot of physical fitness (especially in the repechage) but more so, recovery after intense exercise is the key.

So what type of Cardio training should judo players do?
Once again judo is so dynamic that it is hard to say. Training in Japan is 2 hours long so you must have a fairly good aerobic fitness but a competition is very intense with nerves and dehydration so it can sometimes become anaerobic as well.
In a competition you may be fighting for 30 seconds then have 8-10 seconds off while walking back to your mark, then back on for 20 seconds on and then 5 off. So the fighting can be very stop start with the work rest ratio being very spasmodic.
Therefore I believe the best form of cardio for judo players is High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT.)

What is interval training?

Interval training is instead of going for a run at the same pace for 40 minutes you change the intensity every now and then. For eg if you go for a run and you encounter a hill and run up it, your heart rate will increase, then once you reach the top and run on a flat surface your heart rate lowers. This simply put is interval training.

But HIIT is when you run at 100% effort for a certain amount of time (it varies) before you have a rest and then you go again for 100% effort. This is very intense and very hard on your body.
HIIT is proven to:
o Increase in maximum heart rate (resulting in a lower resting heart rate)
o Increase fitness
o Increases recovery in between bouts of work
o Increase in metabolism (after exercise)
o Increase fat burn (while maintaining muscle mass)
o Increase cardio output (lung capacity)
o Delay the onset of Lactic Acid
o Increase in bone density (especially when doing plyometrics)
o Increase in muscle tone
o Increase co-ordination, re action time and awareness.
The easiest place to do interval training is on a machine, bike, rower, treadmill or cross trainer. This is due to the fact that it is a closed environment where you don’t have to look out for traffic and roads etc.

I think the best machine to do it on is the rowing machine for 2 reasons.
- The rowing machine is a full body workout, not just your legs like a stationary bike
- The rowing machine is all about pulling, using your back muscles and arms, just like pulling someone off balance.

3 categories of interval training
Long intervals: 2-5 minutes targeting the aerobic (ATP) system, good for fitness, not recommended for competition tapering. Rest period can be the same length as work rate due to the fact that’s it’s not as intense as other work intervals.
Medium intervals: 30-120seconds targeting the anaerobic system, great for lactic acid buffering and great for competition tapering. Rest period must be long due to the high intensity when working.
Short intervals: 5-30 seconds targets the Phosphocreatine system (ATP-PC), great for immediate power and strength. Great for explosiveness and should be done 1 week prior to competition.

When I’m training I usually do 1 minute on of exercise and 1 minute off. I wear a Heart rate monitor to monitor how hard I am really working. On the 1 minute of work I try to get my heart rate as high as possible. I usually have it around 94%MHR at the end of the minute and then after the rest it’ll get back down to 78-82% MHR before I go again. I do this for 30-35 minutes on non judo days and 15 minutes on judo days.
But you don’t have to do the same as me you can do 2 minutes on 1 minute off or whatever you prefer. The main thing is you are working at 100% effort when you are on.

Do I do this year round even when tapering for competition?
There is nothing wrong with interval training year round. But you have to be smart when you begin tapering for a competition. Basic strength and conditioning principles state that you must do ‘shorter, sharper exercises but longer rest times’ leading up to a competition.
The reason you do this is because you want your muscles to be working at a fast, intense pace for a brief period of time and then let them recover before you go again.
Once I start tapering for a competition I jump on the rowing machine. I start by doing 500m sprints, 500m takes me around 1min 35seconds. So I do 1 500m sprint at maximal effort and then rest for 3 minutes before going again. I do 6-10 sets.
This type of interval training falls under the Medium interval category. You should be 3 days a week around 2 or 3 weeks before competition.

The last week or week and half leading up to competition you should be doing even shorter intervals. 30 seconds on and 2 minutes off. This is training your body to be explosive which is what you want before competition.

Sprinting

A quick note you can do all this interval training by sprinting as well. Please be aware that running uphill (although gets your HR through the roof) should not be used when tapering for competition. This is due to the fact that running uphill is a concentric movement (muscle building) and is slow a sluggish and trains your muscles to be slow, something we don’t want leading up to a competition.
If you are going to sprint as part of tapering you must either perform your sprits on a flat surface or even better, by running downhill. I’m not talking about running down a steep cliff but at a decline that lets you safely run faster than you usually do without the risk of falling over.
Downhill sprints are an eccentric movement and the theory is that if you are running faster than you normally are you are training your muscles to be explosive and fast.
Leading up to the 2000 Olympics Gold medallist Judo player David Douillett only ran downhill as part of his cardio regime.
This, along with other studies proves that down hill running increase speed, power and explosiveness above all other forms of running. The only problem with it is because it is eccentric the body takes a while to recover.

Judo exercises

Remember the principle “as competition gets closer, work gets shorter but sharper and rest gets longer.” Many older athletes don’t take this ‘rule of thumb’ onto the judo mat. How many times have you had an event on the next weekend and your coach says, “ok you all have a comp in 2 weeks lets do 2 hours of randori for preparation.” You may have noticed that doing 2 hours of randori is not exactly short and sharp work is it? It is slow and gruelling and goes against the principles of tapering.

What judo exercises should we do then?
Good question, but easy to answer. Anything that’s short and sharp.
- Grip fighting (45 secs on 90 seconds off)
- Nage Komi
- Throw for throw
- Shark bait
- Randori (1 minute intense 2-5 minutes off)
- Speed uchi komi
- Power exercises (eg Thomastown ones we do)
- Crash mat throws
Another aspect of tapering for a competition is that you don’t have to do a full 2 hour session leading up to a judo comp you may only what to do 60 or 90 mins work. It’s your competition so it’s all up to you how much training you are comfortable with.

I hope that that this article has increased your knowledge and understanding of the cardio involved in judo and the proper way to taper for judo competitions.
Please keep in mind that this is just what I believe tapering for judo should be done. I am still young and have plenty of years to learn and experiment with different apects of tapering.
With this article I just wanted to open your mind to see how other people do it, but in the end do what you feel comfortable with. Because in the end you’re the one competing not me.
Talk to your coaches and the older athletes at your dojo and see how they tapered for competition and you may well take on board some of their suggestions.


Matt D’Aquino
30/12/2007


http://www.mattdaquino.com/cardio_training_for_judo.html#cardio

Friday, December 11, 2009

New Workout videos

I filmed some workouts recently and have posted them up on youtube they each go for around 2 minutes and are great as part of interval training. Ill do 1 circut and get the heart rate to around 93-96% and then restart when my heart rate hits around 77-80% then ill go again.

Hope they give people some ideas












Some judo Videos


Solo drill for controlling the top game


Enjoy
Matt

Pic of the week - Explosiveness of Judo

This photo is a great depiction of the explosiveness needed to throw people in Judo.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

My fish tank

Below is a photo of my fish tank, i really enjoy waking up in the morning and then having a coffee and eat my just right and watch the fish swim around.
but the other day i was cleaning the tank and as i was putting the tank back i bumped the edge against a bit of metal and chipped the corner of the tank. And it started leaking water.
I was like o man your kidding i cant believe it. Because we got the tank from the salvos for about $30 but its worth heaps and we cant afford to buy another one. So i went to bunnings and my friend helped me grab some sealant and i sealed it all up.
And for people that know me they will no that im not much of a handy man but i did the job pretty well.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

My new Promo Vid

I made a new promo vid that comes with a heaps better song. It's a Switchfoot song and they are my favourite band.

Monday, December 7, 2009

4 New videos - done last night

Last night i filmed a few turnovers for the class. They were when you are attacking a turtle.
Option 1


Option 2 with a ude garami (fig 4)


Wrestler turnover when your opponent is only defending


Kesa Gatame basics


Enjoy

Funny Judo Cartoon

RICE - After an injury

R. I. C. E. (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation)

The acronym RICE, is an easy way to remember the four basic methods used to speed minor injury recovery (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation).

REST
Less severe injuries as well as some over use injuries, may be rested by merely avoiding any activities, which use the affected body part. In order for a musculoskeletal injury to heal, it needs to be immobilized for 2-3 days following the injury. Using the injured "part" too early can increase haemorrhage, cause further damage to the area, and prolong recovery. Wraps, tape, splints, casts, canes and crutches can all help keep an injury immobilized.

ICE

The best line of defence in most acute, soft tissue injuries is the application of ICE. Ice decreases swelling, bleeding, spasm, pain and inflammation and should be applied within the first 24-72 hours after injury. Here's a brief review of the how, why and when of ICE therapy:
WHY ICE? Swelling causes a lack of oxygen to local tissues which creates cellular damage. Ice decreases swelling and bleeding by causing a constriction of blood vessels; thereby, minimizing the damage. Pain is relieved directly by its effect on pain receptors and indirectly by a decrease in swelling.

HOW LONG TO ICE? The amount of fat between the skin and the injured area and the depth of the injury determines how long you apply ice. Little fat? A minimum of 10 minutes will do. More fat? 20-30 minutes max. Brief applications until numbness is achieved are effective for conditions such as tendinitis, bursitis or ligament sprains. Longer durations are necessary for muscle strains. But be careful. Icing an area for too long can cause tissue damage.

HOW OFTEN
?
Two to three daily treatments for tendinitis-type conditions or superficial muscle-strains; however, the greater the amount of pain and/or muscle spasm, the more frequent the applications. Depending on the severity of the injury, ice can be applied every 1-1 1/2 hrs.

WHEN TO USE?
Immediately after an injury, up to 72 hours, and for relief of pain and swelling associated with exercise.
Once the bleeding and swelling has subsided (usually within 72 hours), "heat", in the form of hot packs, hot towels, whirlpool baths, and ultrasound, can play an important part in injury rehabilitation. Heat increases blood flow and the "stretch ability" of tissues, decreases pain, muscle spasm, and joint stiffness, as well as promotes soft tissue repair.

COMPRESSION

For an acute injury, immediate compression is important. Direct external pressure applied to the injured area will help decrease haemorrhage and bleeding.
Compression can be applied during icing as well. An elastic wrap can be wrapped around the affected limb, securing the ice pack. Alternately, the wrap can be soaked in water and frozen.

Compression should be continued throughout the day. For difficult areas, such as around the bony areas of the ankle, pads can be cut and held in place with athletic tape and/or an elastic wrap. Compression should be removed at night and the affected area elevated above the heart.

ELEVATION
Elevation also helps reduce internal bleeding and swelling. The injured area should be elevated above the level of the heart. This will decrease the bleeding, facilitate venous return, and prevent the pooling of fluids in the injured area. This is especially important at night when the body processes slow down.


Copied from judoforum.com

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Top 10 signs you've joined the wrong Judo class

Top 10 Signs You've Joined the Wrong Judo Class
By Neil Ohlenkamp

10) Your club patch is a bulls-eye target.
9) First technique consists of falling to the floor, curling into the fetal position, and whimpering pitifully.
8) The "gis" are used hospital gowns.
7) The homework is always to watch another Jackie Chan movie.
6) The techniques are only effective if your attacker is one of the Three Stooges.
5) The club motto is "If you fall down eight times, get up seven".
4) Ranks are issued on scrolls in Japanese.
3) Students take themselves to the mat 2 or 3 times simply trying to tie their belts.
2) Sensei's hands are registered with the local police as a deadly weapon.

and the number 1 sign you've joined the wrong Judo club...

1) Did Jigoro Kano ever really say he was going to "open up a can of whoop-ass" on someone?

http://judoinfo.com/humor16.htm

Me getting thrown at the Junior worlds by the Korean

A Cauliflower Ear - Some photos

Someone asked me the other day what a cauliflower ear is. Many people get a cauliflower ear from the constant hitting and rubbing on the ear from doing judo, bjj, wrestling or sticking your head in a rugby scrum.

A Cauliflower ear is simply a bruise (or hematoma) that doesn't heal. Your ear is made up of cartilage and when you get a hit or knock to the ear blood enters you ear and becomes stuck in between the cartilage. If the blood cannot drain and get out of the ear then it will set and go hard.

As the blood in the ear starts going hard the cartilage will start to shrivel and fold a little bit which is why the ear looks similar to a cauliflower. The pic below is before i got my ear drained by a syringe.

The doctor will put a local anesthetic on your ear and then stick a syringe in and suck out all the blood that's stuck in there. If you do this straight away before the cartilage is damaged then your ear will remain the same. If you don't drain is straight away the blood will go hard, once this happens you are unable to drain the blood out and the only way to fix it is to get an operation.

Many people believe that you get a cauliflower from 1 hit, but that is very rare. M,ost players get their caulis from training 6 days a week and the ears are constantly getting hit and bumped, hence why the more experienced and serious judo players get caulis while the recreational stay happy as larry.

You can wear some headgear called cauli stoppers to prevent a cauli ear (but who wants to wear headgear forever?)
http://www.grapplingstore.com/contents/en-uk/d273.html

The headgear is great but in the end if you train all the time at a high intensity you will probably get a cauli somewhere on your ear.



Here is my ear after it was drained a few times but because i kept on training my ear kept refilling with blood and was getting semi hard. The Dr said that he couldn't pierce my ear with the syringe so you can see where he cut it with a knife to remove the blood.



If you look at the above picture and then the picture below you can see how the ear has kind of shrivelled a little bit and has a weird shape about it. That's what happens when the cartilage dies.



So my ears are a little strange and mostly i they don't really get noticed by people very often which is ok but if i go into primary schools or do a few tours at the AIS kids notice straight away because if they don't know you they study everything about you and pick up on it pretty quick.

Article- Bones in the Body

Bones have so many different roles within the human body. So what are their roles and are they really that important?

Structure:
The bones in our body provide us with structure determining our body shape. Some people have narrow shoulders, others wide. All of this depends on the structure and shape of our bones. This is very important for sportsman (weightlifting, rugby etc) that need to cater certain techniques or movements to how they are built. For eg if you have a long neck you don’t play hooker in case the scrum collapses and you injure your neck.
The structure of a male body and female body is similar but the main difference is in the size and strength of the pelvis. The pelvis is structured differently because they need a larger, stronger pelvis for child bearing.

Support:
Bones support the human body by allowing muscles, ligaments and tendons attach to them. For eg the biceps muscles attach to the lateral epicondyle of the humorous. Ligaments attach bones to bones and tendons attach muscles to bones. Without bones our ligaments, muscles and tendons would have nowhere to connect.
Where muscles attach in bodybuilding is very important. For example if the biceps attach higher up the humerus then this will result in a rather small but high bicep apposed to a lower attachment resulting in a longer but smaller peak on the bicep.
Steroids as well as some conditions like Osteo-arthritis actually weaken the ligaments and tendons that attach to the bones. Resulting in muscles being easily torn off the bone.

Protection:
One of the many important roles bones play in the human body is protection. For example the ribcage protects all the important organs underneath like the heart and lungs or the skull, which protects the brain, then we wouldn’t be able to participate in any contact sports. Protection is very important to our vital organs that is why it is very important to have efficient calcium in your diet to keep your protective bones strong.
Conditions like Osteo-porosis is the result of a calcium deficiency and affects the bones by making them very brittle and prone breakage. Osteo porosis mainly affects the elderly because their diet is usually not nutritionally sound. Osteo-porosis also affects individuals with a very sedentary lifestyle.

Production:
When growing up children run around jump and twist and actually weaken their bones. Bones do something very similar to how muscles repair micro tears with protein. When a bone is weakened from continuos running and jumping it produces small molecules called Osteo-blasts. These Osteo-blasts travel to where the bone is weak and strengthens it.
Studies now show that children, at an early age, that don’t participate in regular exercise have slightly weaker bones when they are older due to the fact that they didn’t receive consistent Osteo blasts in the weakened part of the bone.
If you see your children running around be glad to know that there are so many benefits to them exercising and strong bones is one of them. Also remember that strong bones means a lot more than ‘I’ll never break a leg.’ It means that you will hopefully delay the onset of Osteo-porosis.

Bone is also where you can find the very important Bone Marrow. Bone marrow is one of the most important aspects of bone; this is where white blood cells are made. White blood cells are used to fight off the bad bacteria within the body.
You may have heard of people needing bone marrow transplants that is because either their bone marrow doesn’t produce enough white blood cells to help the immune system fights bad bacteria or their marrow doesn’t produce white blood cells at all. This is very fatal because if the body has no defences to disease then death is imminent.

The good thing is calcium can be found in many every day foods, Milk, cheese and all dairy products. Combine exercise with the right amount of calcium and you are doing all the right steps to have good, strong healthy bones.


Matt D’Aquino
8/11/2006

Friday, December 4, 2009

New program = new motivation

Since being back from Samoa i have enjoyed a good rest and indulgence of food. Ive been spending the last few weeks hanging out with family and friends and have been busy nearly every night of the week since being back. It almost got to the point where i just want to have a day at home in my lounge room so i can just sit and do nothing.

I recently went out to the ACT academy of Sport and Dean down there has written me another gym program leading up to the bash for cash and the ACT Open next year. Im already looking forward to competing again and training really hard. My new gym program is pretty sweet and involves everything i need for judo but it includes sand bags, cleans and chins as well as a few power band exercises that are pretty good fun. Now all i need to do is start doing some ropes again.

Everyday this week i have been up early and ready to just attack the day. I'm keen as to train and train people and just enjoy the summer holidays.

I love Christmas its so much fun to hang out in the afternoon sun and relax and listen to music and chat to Sam or whoever else is around at the time. Its also awesome to go for a drive and check out the Christmas lights.

This week i went back to Judo and had a pretty good session. In was keen on just getting a sweat up and not doing too much but i ended up fighting Callaway and Tom which was good because they push me (in other words bash me) and throw me around so that's pretty good.

After watching my fights a few times I'm keen to correct the stuff that needs correcting and especially after seeing the Chinese guy who beat me win the Chinese Grand Prix last weekend makes me once again realise that I'm so close to matching it with these guys that its so frustrating.

On return from Samoa i had a few msgs on my voice mail regarding doing a speech at the Year 10 Graduation at Melrose high school. Its an honour that people regard me as someone who can inspire others especially the younger generations when I'm just me.even though i guess i have a pretty unique story to me its just who i am but to others it may be interesting in gues. But anyway, I'm at the moment writing a speech that is going to be funny, yet inspirational with a hint of 'life wisdom' (from a 24 year old.) But the main message i will be conveying to the students is my favourite saying that i saw long ago, "There is no shortcut to any place worth going." I love that quote. it applies to absolutely everything in life.

so anyway i may get someone to film it and then i will chuck it up here so people can have a listen. I will be doing my speech in the Beijing Opening ceremony jacket which is a such a unique and nice jacket. Samantha and i always joke that if they house was burning down the only thing we will grab is the opening ceremony jacket.

Anyway that's it for me i have attached footage of Oren and i doing a judo demo at a local high school at Asian Week, its a bit theatrical but still as long as the kids liked it thats the main thing.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Video promoting judo before Beijing

http://www.abc.net.au/news/btn/story/s2316663.htm

Here is a great video done by behind the news on judo.

Pic of the week - Halil Mutlu

Halili Mutlu from Turkey is one of the greatest Olympians of all time.
He has won 3 Olympic Gold medals at the -56kg weight division. He won gold in Atlanta 96 Sydney 2000 and Athens 04, he has also won 5 world championships and 9 European Championships.
His biggest lift in the -56kg weight division for the Snatch (and still current world record) is 138.5kg and his power clean and jerk is 305kg and is also the current world record.
Many people in Australia don't fathom the significance of winning 3 gold medals in 3 consecutive games. In weightlifting you can only win 1 medal per Olympics, therefore Halil dominated for the span of around 12 years. Compare that to many swimmers won win 4 medals in 1 games, that's potentially only 1 or 2 years of good form, this guy dominated for 12 years.
Its awesome and very inspirational.

More Aussies are top 30

An increased number of Australian Judo players have improved their
International Judo Federation (IJF) World rankings following the team's success
at the recent Oceania Judo Union World Cup in Samoa. Australia now has a
record number of 28 competitors in the World Ranking List.

NSW competitor Kylie Koenig's ranking at 22 (up 17 places from 39) in the U/63Kg
division caps off a very successful year in international competition and continues
her position as Australia's highest internationally ranked competitor. Kylie's key
international achievements in 2009 have been; 2nd at the World Cup in Samoa,
top 16 at the World Championships, 3rd at PAC RIM in Taiwan and 1st in the
International Tournament Glaspalast in Germany.

Mark Anthony (VIC) has moved up 16 places to be ranked 24 in the U/90Kg
consolidating his status as a rising star. This follows winning Gold at Samoa, a
top 16 finish at the World Championships in Rotterdam in September 2009 and a
Silver medal at the Pacific RIM Championships in Taiwan.

Highlights among the new entrants to break into top 30 positions following their
Gold medals at Samoa are Tasmanian, Stephanie Grant ranked 27 in the U/78Kg
division, Janelle Shepherd from NSW in the women’s over 78kg category, ranked
28, and Jake Andrewartha from SA ranked 29 in the Over 100+ division. The other
World Cup Gold medalist, Emily Bensted (VIC) ranked 31 narrowly missed the top
30.

World ranking points are currently used to seed the top players in the draws, so a
number of Australians are now better placed for their next international
competitions as a result of their performances here. From May 2010 WRL points
will be used for Olympic Selection for London 2012.

Further Enquiries
Phil McDermott 0412 440 499
John Buckley 0411 484 527

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Some more photos and videos

Opening Ceremony in Samoa


Beau at the Junior worlds This year


My Semi Final fight agaisnt the chinese Guy at Oceania World Cup 09


-66kg Final Gadanov vs the Chinese guy.


Highlight Reel of the 2009 Cadet World Championships

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Pics of the week

These 2 Pics are 2 of my favourites.

One is of Rocky training in rocky 4, Awesome training montage and such an inspiring movie when u go off to war against the japanese while in a training camp.
The other is of Vazagashvilli, a judo guy from Georgia, He won world medals in -60 -66 and -73kg as well as olympic medals in -60 and -66kgs. His main technqiues was kata guruma (firemans carry) and he was i believe a very succesful freestyle wrestler as well.


Samoa Report - by aussie manager

2009 OJU World Cup
By Fiona Iredale
Australia has finished the 2009 OJU World Cup in Samoa on top of the medals table with 5 gold medals, 2 silvers and 10 bronzes. This was the first world ranking points scoring tournament to be held in the Oceania region.

World ranking points are used to separate the top players in the draws and a number of
Australians are now in stronger positions to go forward to their next international competitions as a result of their performances here. In the 2 years leading up to the London Olympics, the world ranking list will be the basis for Olympic selection, so this tournament will be even more critical in terms of points next year.
Gold medals for Australia came from Mark Anthony (-90kg), Jake Andrewartha (+100kg), Emily Bensted (-57kg), Stephanie Grant (-78kg) and Janelle Shepherd (+78kg).
Mark dominated the -90kg division, convincingly defeating 2 New Zealanders and local
favourite, the Samoan Nataeliga. In the +100kg division which was heavily loaded with Australians, youngster Jake Andrewartha took full advantage of his first round bye and then proceeded to quickly despatch all his other opponents. Australia also picked up a silver and a bronze in this division. Jason Phillips won through to the final after 2 gruelling battles with huge Pacific islanders – including a notable win over popular Fijian Olympian Nacanieli Takayawa. Terry Frankcombe also secured bronze in this division.

In the -57kg division, Emily Bensted and club mate Carli Renzi were drawn against each other in the first round, with Emily emerging the victor after a hard battle. Emily went on to quickly defeat the Kiwi, Ana Moceyawa in the final to take the gold medal while Carli went on to take the bronze.
Stephanie Grant convincingly won the -78kg division with wins over PNG and New Zealand while Janelle Shepherd, in her first major competition after a post-Olympic break, took out the gold in the +78kg division.
In the -63kg division, Kylie Koenig defeated a strong Kiwi to proceed to the final against
China. Kylie almost scored with a strong yoko tomoenage but was eventually thrown for ippon and takes home the silver.

In the womens divisions, Hannah Trotter (-48kg), Sonya Chervonsky (-52g), Carli Renzi (-57kg) and Margi Corfios (-63kg) won bronze. For the men, bronze medals were won by Matt D’Aquino and Arnie Dickins in the -60kg division; Steven Brown in -66s; Brent Iverson in - 81s; Josh Dahl in -100s; and Terry Franckcombe in +100s.

Coaches Gavin Kelly and Daniel Kelly, while pleased with the overall results, agree that there is still plenty of work to be done in the 4 day training camp being held after the competition and will be taking advantage of that opportunity.
The organisation of the whole competition by the local organising committee and the OJU executive has been fantastic and as a result this tournament has been awarded to Samoa for the next 3 years.

Fiona Iredale
Team Manager

Alex Chew wins Abu Dhabi Pro



Congratulations to Zenbu Judo Clubs Alex Chew on winning the Australian Abu Dhabi Pro BJJ Tournanment Last weekend. Alex is a 1st Dan in Judo and is a regular at judo training as well as AIS Camps down in Canberra.
He had a very big win against the famous bjj black belt Anthony Perosh, Alex possesses a tremdous standup game but was uinable to utilise it in the bjj setting. Although managed to pass Peroshs guard on 2 occasions scoring 3 points each time and managing to keep Perosh pinned with his back to the mat for most of the fight winning 6 points to zero.

Alex now has the opportunity to travel to Dubai and compete in the World Championships and the opportunity to fight against the worlds best.
We wish him luck

Here is a preview of the tournament.

Oceania World Cup Videos

Here are my Oceania World Cup fights
Prelim Fight



Semi Final (is uploading now)


And my fight for 3rd

Presidents Cup

After the training camp we held the presidents cup,
Here are my 2 fights i had in the comp, The first was a guy from Samoa, The second was a fighter from the Solomon Islands.




Thursday, November 19, 2009

Wednesday

Today we held the presidents cup. It is a competition that consists of all the gold medallists from each weight division choosing a team and then all the teams fighting. The only problem is many of the teams and players may have gone home and so what happens is there are many gaps and spaces in weight divisions.
So we decided to have 3 teams. An Aussie team, a Samoan team and a team of islanders with some Aussies in it.

Due to the fact that there was only 2 other teams I had 2 fights. My first was against tony lomo from Solomon Islands. He’s a pretty strong fella, I have fought him before. I took him backwards with a tani otoshi after around 30 seconds of fighting so I won the first fight.
All of the other Aussies won their fights as well, all by ippon.

My second fight was against a local from Samoa; I threw him with sumi gaeshi for yuko and then held him down to win the fight. Once again all the Aussies won their fights so we were crowned president’s cup champions. We got some gold medals and a big cup that I don’t know is going to fit in my suitcase. Maybe I should have packed it first.

After training we went on a quick tour of Samoa. There is really not much to see. We went to a reef place for around 15 minutes and then we went to a rock pool cave which was a cave full of water that you could swim to the end of. It was pretty cold in there but we could see heaps of fish and stuff like that. When we were leaving some of the all blacks rugby team came so we saw some of them as well.
When we got home everyone just hangout at the pool and had a few beers. Tonight we are going to the Samoan Prime minister’s house for a BBQ so that should be pretty fun.

Matt

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Tuesday in Samoa

Tuesday in Samoa, (not long to go)
Today was another busy day of training, quick rest and train again. I am so getting over the breakfast here. Cold toast or cornflakes with a coffee or a breakfast juice of some sort. I’m looking forward to some normal food like yoghurt, just right and some oats. Not to mention some sort of meat that’s not in a hamburger, maybe a chicken schnitzel.

This morning’s training session was stand up ground work and then some more standing. I found that I was so exhausted even though I wasn’t doing much and my heart rate wasn’t raised very much. I found that my body just didn’t react and be as alert as it usually is...in saying that though I still had some good fights with some guys from New Zealand and New Caledonia.

Afterwards the German head coach taught some nifty ground work techniques when someone is in your guard and stopping you hip movement. We also got some instruction from the 2001 world champion and Athens Olympics bronze medallist Vitaly Makarov. He beat the Japanese Guy Kanamaru at the 2001 worlds and he lost at the Olympics to the guy that beat jimmy Pedro. He taught us a good foot sweep from when you and your opponent are both right on right and left on left and are bending over.

I got a photo with him so that’s pretty cool. I also read tonight that the guy that won -100kg was Leo leite from Brazil. He is 2 x BJJ world champion and black belt and I didn’t even get a photo with him. Dang would have been good to get a photo with him and Canto.

In between sessions (because you are so full of water) you aren’t really very hungry, so I ordered some garlic bread from a cafe oh and I also had a choc banana smoothie. Smoothie and bread were both good.

The arvo session was a ground and stand-up session again and I had the privilege of fighting Graeme Spinks (1996 Olympian for NZL) the guy is a weapon on the ground and I think he held me down about 10 times in 4 minutes, His ground control was so strong and he arm locked me about 5 times (after he held me down.) Graeme is an animal, simple as that.

Tonight we just watched a movie and had dinner downstairs, alot of the guys just sat by the pool and chatted it was a relaxing arvo.

Tomorrow I think we may be having a competition at training so we will see what happens. I am very keen to come home and see everyone and enjoy a relaxing holiday. Like I said before it has been a long year and I’m looking forward to resting and enjoying time with Sam and my family.

Matt

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Some photos




Some photos





2 very sweaty tired old guys
A nice snset i took a photo of while kyaking
and callaway bronwie and i upon arrival at the airport

Matt

Monday in Samoa

Monday was a pretty tough day at judo. It is so hot here that you sweat your butt off. We had 2 training sessions 10-1230 and then 3-350. In the first session we did only stand up fighting 16 rounds of 5 minutes but there are 2 groups so you can usually do 8 9 or 10 fights a session. After this the head coach from Germany taught some technical and so did one of the Oceania coaches.

The only problem is after the sessions you have a stretch and you finally get back to your hotel at 1pm and the next sessions is at 3 so we didn’t really get any time to relax and have a snooze or anything. By the time you order some food from the bar you quickly eat and get going. Because we sweat so much in our sessions we are starting our second sessions still dehydrated from the first session. But you can’t help it because with only 2 hours in between sessions you just get completely full of water and can’t drink any more.

The arvo sessions were ground stand up and groundwork again for 2.5 hours. One of the kiwi coaches is an animal on the ground and completely owned me big time. Then after the session the German coach did some more technical coaching and so did the Aussie head coach Gavin Kelly. Gavin taught a fantastic version of a sode tsuri komi goshi.

After training because Brownie is going home tomorrow we decided to take a kayak out to this shipwreck about half a kilometre out from shire. So Nik brownie duke and I paddled out and had a look at the ship wreck. It was really good fun even though we were wrecked from training it is good to see a bit more of Samoa besides sitting in our rooms watching DVDs. The shipwreck was pretty cool we don’t know how it got there but in Australia I’m pretty sure it would not be allowed. We got home around dark and had to walk back to our hotel but some locals gave us a lift in the back of their Ute.

A lot of the Aussies are going home in the morning so we all went out to this Italian pizza restaurant that duke brownie and I went to last night. It was good fun and everyone ate so much food and there was plenty left over. Then we went to a pub next door to the restaurant for about 20 minutes because it’s the law that all clubs’ close at 10pm. The Police even came in and told us we had to leave. So we walked home and most of us had a beer walking along back home. We thought it was strange that we can walk the streets with beer and that’s ok but clubs must close at 10pm.

Once we came home I gave Samantha a quick call and then went to sleep. I was dang tired and slept until 630 when brownie woke up packing his bags.

I’m very keen to come on home now. It’s been a long year and I really hope next year they bring this comp closer in the year because if you train all through January for ACT open its just a long year of travel and dieting and training hard. I’m so keen to come home and see Sam and my family. When I get home we are going to the Britney spears concert and then hanging out in Sydney on Saturday and Samantha and I are going to eat our faces off at a small Japanese restaurant we found. Then we are starting to save for next year and rent.

Matt

Monday, November 16, 2009

Sunday

Today we didn’t really get up top too much; Nikola Brownie and I got up pretty early and went to a place called sliding rocks. It’s a place where you can slide down the rock face into a pool. It was a great little place to visit and I took some good photos of brownie and Nikola jumping off the rock into the pool at the bottom.
We had maccas for lunch and it wasn’t too good. This arvo was our first training session. We did a quick 5 minute warm up then 5 minutes technical before 16 rounds of 5 minutes each. The group is split so each group does 8 rounds each. It was so so hot training and no amount of water could keep you hydrated as judo suits are so heavy and really do make you sweat.
Afterwards we did 20 minutes of technical work where one of the Oceania coaches taught 2 variations of a crocodile roll strangle and the other coach taught a good uchimata from an over hook grip.
Most people wanted to see how Flavio Canto does his strangle. Canto is 2007 World champ (or maybe 2nd?) and 3rd at Athens Olympics -81kg. He has weapon groundwork that even Brazilian bjjers say he’s good. (Although he has never fought a bjj comp I think.) I actually fought him 2nd round today. He didn’t have a partner and I was having the one off so I asked if I could fight him and he said yes. Although he was 81s and could bash me easy his judo was very smooth and technical (like most of the Brazilians.)
Canto is famous for his strong ground work and in the competition on Friday I didn’t get a chance to tape all his fights. He won the first by arm lock, 2 and 3rd fights by an awesome strangle something I have been meaning to know how to do forever and he actually lost the final by penalties. So I missed 3 of his fights which sucked big time.
Anyway watching him do his strangle I think I now know how to do it.
Tonight duke, brownie and i found a good Italian restaurant and for only 8 bucks each we ate our heads off, the pizza was so good. Then we just sat around and relaxed before training tomorrow, we have 2 sessions of similar structure as before.


Matt

Some photos of World cup

For all the results of the comp click on this link
http://www.judoinside.com/uk/?factfile/tournament/5497/world_cup_apia

here are a few photos of me fighting
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4022571&l=7e88ff4e74&id=731281095
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4022277&l=f019448a5e&id=731281095
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4022576&l=5ad3c83f69&id=731281095

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Comp day (I Came 3rd)

Competition day.

I had a pretty horrible sleep the night before the comp. We had a live band downstairs in the bar and on top of that our bedroom is above the kitchen so I heard the clunking and clanking of the employees cleaning up downstairs.
Whenever you sleep 2 or 3 kilos dehydrated you never really sleep to well and you are always wondering whether you have sweated just enough while lying there so you start thinking you could afford just a sip of water.

Trial weigh in was at 6am so we were up at 545am and ready to go I weighed in at 60kg on the dot so no water for me before weigh in. Brownie and I the night before made ourselves some pasta for breakfast and we had that along with a stack of powerade with a dang lot of salt in it to help hydration.

My warm up was pretty good besides the fact the warm up areas were inside a squash court, it was very steamy in there that’s for sure.

My first fight was against a guy from New Zealand and I beat him by a hold-down. He turned in for a drop seoi nage after about 1 minute of feeling each other out. I stepped to the side and threw him over with a sumi gaeshi and ended up in a half guard. Then I wrapped up his head and shoulder with his gi and got my leg out and held him down in side control (yoko shiho) to win the fight.

My second fight was against a guy from China, he was chiselled to the bone, young probably only no older than 20. I started off playing him quite well but started getting very tired in my arms after around 2 minutes. He was a lefty and so so fast with his lapel snapping but I just kept breaking grips and working for a sumi gaeshi but wasn’t committing enough with my attacks, especially on the ground.
He ended up throwing me for a drop seoi about 20 seconds in and although the referee said matte because we were off the mat, about 40 seconds later the referee’s commission looked at the video and gave him a waza ari. After about 3 minutes of so I followed him right onto a seoi nage for ippon.

My fight for 3rd was against a local guy from Samoa. He had some alright attacks on my but I dominated grips and ended up throwing him with a right drop seoi for ippon.
Then I had to get drug tested. Because I was so dehydrated it took me about an hour and a half to wee. And even then it was still very very yellow and dehydrated. Drug testing is so so annoying, but It needs to be done.

Finally after drug testing we had the official function where all the teams got together and there is speeches and everything and then a buffet with a stack of food. I was so hungry because I hadn’t eaten a proper meal for days and the dinner for me was a bit of a letdown.

We got home around midnight and I was absolutely stuffed, getting up at 545am with a crappy sleep to begin with plus warming up and fighting for 3 fights really does take it out of you.

Today we didn’t really get up to too much. It is a Sunday here so all the Samoans are at church and don’t work on Sundays. So we luckily enough found a taxi who took us to a place called sliding rocks, it’s just a place where there is a waterfall and its nice scenery. Then we went to MacDonald’s no we are having a rest before training this afternoon.

Regarding the new judo rules the competition was very good but many penalties were given due to leg grabs and direct attacks. The positive out of this tournament in particular was no fight went to golden score. Not one fight. On Saturday ALL fights were won with ippons. No fight went the full distance. So the rules are definitely here to stay.

I think I really struggled with the new rules. This is the first tournament we had with the new rules and I did feel a little hesitant with some attacks but after a few more months of training and competing that should be fine.

As always after every competition you always have heaps to learn from and practice in order to get better. In Australian tournaments you don’t notice as much because you can make mistakes and not get beaten. In international comps 1 mistake is 1 mistake too many. So I have had a talk with Gavin and Daniel Kelly regarding what I need to work on and now I feel like I have a new goal in working on new techniques.

Today the training camp starts we are doing 2 sessions a day and its going to be so so hot. One of the coach’s from Bath university will be running the sessions so I think there will also be some technical sessions as well. I’m keen to fight alot of people and develop my strategies alot more.
Well I’m off to have a snooze
Catch ya
Matt