Team North Jersey Judo Pompton Plains, NJ Travels 2 1/2 Hrs To Compete @ JMJC Open | Judo Pompton Plains NJ

A Premier Martial Arts School Pompton Plains, NJ

Saturday Feb 19, 2012 three members of Team North Jersey Judo Pompton Plains,NJ travel 2 ½ hours to Glenville,NY to compete in the JMJC Open.  Great event for kids to get in a lot of matches and get much needed work in.  Jason Morris provided a great tournament environment with plenty of matches for the kids.

All The Competitors

Team North Jersey Judo Prepares For Pedro’s Challenge Next Week in Boston, MA 

Ramon Hernandez Jr. had a total of 9 matches

Lauren Calderoni had a total of 8 matches

Kevin Hur had a total of 6 matches

Kevin Hur, Ramon Hernandez Jr. & Lauren Calderoni

Here is a video of Junior winning by a full point throw.

Jason Morris is a 4X Olympian, 2008 US Olympic Head Coach and coach to many of today’s champions.  He runs a very competitive training center in Up-State New York and is a frequent clinician to Team North Jersey Judo in Pompton Plains, NJ.

98 Year Old Women Earns 10th Degree Judo Black Belt ** Check It Out!

What’s up sports fans….Got an early start today and hit the dojo at 6:30am to get it mopped up and all ready for classes tonight.  All was quiet in Pompton Plains, NJ
at that hour.

Check this out.  98 year old woman earns her self a 10th degree black belt.  She the first woman to do it.  Get this, she is also the sole surviving
student of Jigaro Kano.

Here is the link to the article: http://shine.yahoo.com/event/vitality/98-year-old-woman-becomes-first-woman-ever-to-earn-judos-highest-degree-black-belt-2523297/

I think she’s awesome and I know you will think that she is awesome so share it on your face book.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=XHdPh3CEfGM

Team North Jersey Judo Competes At Keystone Games In PA

What’s up Sports Fans?  No Breaks for Team North Jersey Judo.  Our members traveled away from Pompton Plains, NJ to Harrisburg, PA to compete at the Keystone Games.  Five competed and five came home with medals.  Coming home with hardware makes the trip easier.

Greg Hernandez               Gold

William Kui                       Gold

Brandon Kui                     Gold

Ramon Hernandez Jr.   Gold

Aaron Seymour               Bronze.

Video to come.

2008 US Judo Olympic Head Coach Visits Team North Jersey Judo

What’s up Judo Sports Fans?  The North Jersey Judo Spy Cam took a break after the USJF Jr. Nationals but was back on the scene when America’s own 1992 Olympic Silver Medalist and 2008 US Judo Olympic Head Coach Jason Morris came to town.  Jason came with international competitor Nick Kossor and showed Team North Jersey Judo and other Judokas from other clubs Osoto Gari, Tai-otoshi and Jason’s Sticky Leg techniques.

The clinic was great especially for those who haven’t experienced a clinic with Jason before.  The most important point I came away with was you must continue to work on core fundamentals of Judo throws before you can advance to fancy gripping or other tactics in your own Judo game.  Core Fundamentals has to come first.

In his competition days Jason was well know for his Uchimata but his Osoto Gari was the technique and driving force that opened everything up for him.  He holds a very traditional grips (lapel & sleeve) and doesn’t rely on any fancy gripping in order to pull off the throw.  I’m sure he’s got some fancy grips he hasn’t showed off yet.  He has mastered the pull in order to make his Osoto and all other Judo throws effective.  It’s a must see.

We had 26 Judokas from Team North Jersey Judo and other clubs come to enjoy the clinic.  It was fun and well worth it.  A big thanks to Jason & Nick for coming down.  Another big thanks to Jim Kinder who was on hand with his camera.

Talk to you guys soon.  Remember if you enjoy what you read and you are a regular on face book, please hit the f icon below and share it with your friends.

Final Day At USJF Jr. Nationals | Will Kui Wins Silver Medal

What’s up Judo Sports Fans?  Team North Jersey Judo is back in North Jersey and ready to celebrate the 4th Of July weekend!  We made some pit stops along they way through Ohio to purchase some items so we could have some fun on the 4th but going to keep that to my self.

USJF Jr. Nationals Championship final update:

 Brandon Kui won 2 matches and lost 2.  His first match went into over time and could have gone either way.  During on of his wins he scored a full point throw getting a should throw on a much taller player.  He competed very well and for the first time experienced a division which allowed choking.  He did a good job of applying a few during his 4 matches.

Will Kui lost his first match but won his next five matches to get him into the final gold medal match.  The final match went the full 3 mins and ended with Will’s opponent throwing Will for a full point throw with 4 seconds left in the match.  William showed great mat awareness, displayed intelligent decision making playing a conservative game when ahead in his matches and finally showed that he wasn’t out of the tournament after losing his first match.  In the face adversity William showed perseverance.  William can now add Jr. National Finalist & Jr. National Silver Medalist to an already full resume. 

I’m very proud of all three members of North Jersey Judo.  When you see them at the dojo please don’t forget to congratulate all of them.  If you guys like what you’ve read please hit the Face book icon below and share it with your friends.

Our friend Matt Koch also took 1st place in the IJF div.  He was very composed and knew what to do.  Congratulations to Matt Koch and everyone who has supported him in his efforts to be the champion he is today.  Way to go Matt!!

 See you all on the Judo mat!

First Day Of Competition At USJF Jr. Nationals

What’s up sports fans.  First off I want to thank everyone for their well wishes today for Team North Jersey Judo.  I wasn’t able to reply back to everyone but thank you. 

Before the matches started the day started out with an opening ceremony using an honor guard for the flag salute.  I tapped but having trouble downloading it to youtube so I’ll do so when I get back home.

Long, tough but a good day over all.  Jr. had a total of 3 matches.  He won one and lost 2.  Physically he hung in there with all his matches especially the last one which was a lost.  Jr. fought of Sankakyu three times and the kids didn’t give up on it and it came through in the end.  All-in-all a good day and great learning experience for Jr.  We had a talk about what to improve on at the end of the day on the couch as I was beating him with my own shoe.  All in good fund.

Matt Koch did well winning all of his matches today.  As Mr. Kui said Matt is a man amongst boys.  Matt played 90 kg. (198 lbs.) in the Juvenile A div.  He will enter the IJF Div. tomorrow and will have seven other guys to worry about.  He should do well.

After today we went to the Toledo Zoo which was fun.  Saw a baby elephant. 

Here is the baby elephant.

OK…Will report more tomorrow when we get home from the Nationals.  As soon as the boys are done we will be hitting it back east hard and fast.  Maybe I’ll make a pit stop for some fireworks.

Registration & Weigh-Ins At The USJF Jr. Nationals

What’s up Judo Sports Fans?  Want all the Pequannock Wrestling Fans to know that I’m out here in Ohio sporting Pequannock Blue & Gold.  Don’t worry because no one is giving me any lip about it.  First off very much like wrestling I saw a lot of kids today running the parking lot with sweat shirts and sweat pants, running on the treadmill or hitting the sauna at the hotel.  Its the same scene that you see at the Judo Senior National Championships.  It’s a nice sunny 90 degree day here in Ohio.

Today was a full day and I’m excited to see what tomorrow brings.  The day started with Ramon Jr. (aka Junior), Brandon & William Kui getting their paper work from pre-registration and weighing-in. 

Take a look at what these guys have in store for them tomorrow and Sunday.

Name              Division           Weight                        Size Of Division

Junior              Intermediate 2   42 kg.              10

William           Juvenile A           44 kg.              7

Brandon          Juvenile A           48 kg.              15

Junior and Brandon didn’t have to cut much weight but Will Kui wasn’t able to eat the whole ride to Ohio this morning.  He was right on weight so no running for him in the parking lot.  As soon as he got here we went straight to weigh-ins and he was able to eat a good lunch.

From there I waited around to see when the coaches meeting was going to start so we could plan our dinner time so I could be back with enough time to attend the meeting and see how many kids were in each division.

Dinner was fun and so was the coaches meeting.  I’m also helping out Matt Koch from Camal Judo where I spent a lot of years learning all the coaching experience that I have.  He’s in the IJF Division.  He has 8 other Judokas and should do well.  

Here is Jr. Div. 

Here is William’s div.

Here is Brandon’s div.  He’s going to have the longest day.

Time to see if I can scout Jr. competition for tomorrow on Youtube.  Sometimes you can catch matches of them on there.  Will and Brandon compete on Sunday.  Team North Jersey Judo Spy Cam will report more news tomorrow.  If you like what you see please share with your friends on facebook by hitting the F icon below to share with your friends.

Travel Day Complete...The Dodge Grand Caravan Rocks-It Hard

Travel day is complete.  We left NJ around 9am and we arrived Ohio at 6pm.  The kids did great in the mini van.  The Dodge Grand Caravan is the bomb.  The 2 DVD screens kept my kids occupied all day and helped me out big time.  My boys watch movies for 9 hours straight.  Let’s hear it for Dodge!!  Take a look!

Registration for all of us tomorrow (athletes & coaches).  We will also run into a lot of people we know in the Judo community that have come from all over the country.  Although it’s only registration and weigh-ins tomorrow should be exciting. 

 Team North Jersey Judo Spy Cam will report more tomorrow.

Getting Ready To Leave For The USJF Jr. Nationals // Here We Go

What’s up Judo sports fans??  It’s June 30th and we are getting ready to leave for Ohio for the USJF Jr. Nationals and we aren’t looking forward to the long drive.  Here is a video of the Kuis getting ready this week at practice. 

Tomorrow will be registration and weigh-ins for all 3 of our competitors. I will also need to register as coach with my credentials. What’s gets me a little nuts is that they expect all coaches to wear slacks and a polo.  I’m not opposed to looking professional but they don’t even make coaches dress like this at the Senior Nationals.  This is only a Jr. National tournament.  OK time to get off my soap box.

On Saturday my son Jr. competes in the Intermediate division.  On Sunday William and Brandon Kui will compete in the Juvenile A division.  Lets hear it for Team North Jersey Judo!  We are on the way! 

Team North Jersey Judo Youtube Page Ready For USJF Jr. Nationals

What’s up Judo Sports Fans????

Team North Jersey Judo getting ready to head to exciting Toledo, OH.  I’m sure that city is going to be hopping with Judo action and I say that with as much excitement and sarcasm as I can muster.  What’s wrong with putting on a Jr. Judo Nationals in lets say Las Vegas….Viva Las Vegas I say.  William Kui, Brandon Kui and my son Ramon Hernandez Jr. will be entering the competition.  I’m excited to report back good news and will try my hardest to keep everyone updated as we go.  Wish us all luck.  This will be the biggest tournament Team North Jersey Judo has seen on the Jr. side.  I’m excited to see how they do and what we need to work on as a whole.  Here’s a picture of William & Brandon after winning the New Jersey Judo State Championship.

Here’s Jr. after placing at a Tech Judo Inter-dojo-tournament in North Bergen.

Yesterday I spent all day working on our Youtube page for our Youtubers on my list.  Here is our official Team North Jersey Judo Youtube Page.   

http://www.youtube.com/user/northjerseyjudo

It’s connected to our home page of our web site: www.northjerseyjudo.com and I always put competition videos of what’s happening on the tournament mat on our Spy Cam Blog www.judotakedowns.com.  Would love to hear your comments about the blog if you care to share.  I so dig web technology…It’s a big problem.  I’m sure there is a support group that can help me out.

During our trip to the Jr. Nationals I’ll try and keep the blog and our youtube page updated with fun and exciting facts going on.  I’m calling it: What’s Going On Over My Shoulder.  It’s going to be work-in-progress.  I’m sure I’ll be up late at night while I’m there trying to keep everyone up to speed like the Mad Judo Scientist!!

Also a shout out to friend Chris Skelley who’s down in sunny Miami, FL at the USA Judo World Cup and US Open.  Chris Skelley is the USA Judo Elite Team Manager and travels around the world with Team Judo USA to make sure they are getting all the support they need while they travel abroad.  Last week he was in Brazil with our countries elite players at an A level Elite tournament and then traveled to Mexico to represent USA Judo for meetings with the Pan American Judo Union for the Pan American Games coming up soon.  Maybe sometime this summer I’ll get a sit down interview with Chris so he can share his experience on what’s happen on his end as USA Judo prepares for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.  Chris is also the driving force behind getting our Judo Gis embroidered.  Here’s a picture of Chris and I at the 2011 Senior Nationals in Orlando, FL

Stay tuned this weekend to your e-mails as I report back on the Judo action as it’s happening.  And don’t forget share this on your facebook by hitting the F icon below to share with your friends…Shameless I know!!!