The Original Judo Podcast

This week I'm talking through some of the fun stuff from the world championships.

Delighted to welcome this weeks guest to the show. Eric Ham is current British Champion at -73kg, has competed through 2 Olympic cycles, and is currently rehab-ing from a horrific accident that caused him to break his back.We talk through the challenge and stress of Olympic qualification, his injury and what a return to Judo looks like, as well as picking up Eric’s thoughts on the -73 division at Paris Olympics.

This week, in the wake of the European Championships Fitz rejoins the show to discuss the state of the rules, refereeing and Olympic selection challenges.

This episode, following on from the news that Luka Maisuradze failed an anti-doping test, we delve into the murky subject of doping in Judo. I’m joined by double Paralympic medalist Sam Ingram, and we get into the incidence and impact of potential doping in judo.This is the second episode the podcast has done on doping in judo, and i’d love you to go back and listen to the original, episode 45 with Chris Milward.

Predicting the Olympic Champions Part 2 the women. With British Judo’s Chris Barry.

This week we welcome to the show British Judo's Performance Analyst Chris Barry to discuss who this years Olympic Champions are going to be. This week we go through our predictions for the mens categories

This week we welcome back to the show double paralympic medallist Sam Ingram.Sam is a return guest having graced the show way back in 2017 on episode 2, when he was still considering having a run at the Tokyo Paralympics. Long since making the decision to retire, we have a look back over his incredible career, competing at 3 paralympics, medaling at world and paralympic level, and becoming the first VI Judoka to medal in the national championships

This week Fitz joins the show to wrap up the year with a brief review of the recent British Championships.Get in touch on twitter and instagram @originaljudopod

This week on the pod we welcome back double Olympic medalist and former World Champion Kate Howey to talk about Canada's dilemma at -57kg.After a cycle where both athletes were consistently at the top of the world rankings Jessica Klimkait got the selection nod over Christa Deguchi for the Tokyo Olympics after winning her first world title. She justified the selection by winning Bronze at the Games. 3 years later with both athletes still at the top of the ranking Canadian selectors are facing the same decision, and Kate stepped in to give her thoughts on what will go into that decision

This week we're joined by British Judo's Performance Analyst and Technical Lead (and former host of the Final Block Podcast) Chris Barry, to talk about why Japan have selected so early, ASMR and obviously Germany's selection dilemma at -78kg, deciding between former world champion Anna-Maria Wagner and current European champion Alina Boehm.

This week we have a look at the dilemma the French are faced with at -73kg, as well as a brief look at the major results from the recent European Championships. We're joined by Caleb Drysdale, a fellow Hardy Spicer Judoka and talk through the two French athletes leading the chase for selection, Gaba and Axus, as well as the prospects for Ugo Legrand, the French legend who recently returned to competition after an 8 year hiatus.

In the run-up to Tokyo Olympics two nations ended up with very high profile domestic rivalries, that played out on the world stage. At -66kg Olympic hosts Japan held a fight off between their world champions Abe and Maruyama. At -57kg Canada let their judoka Klimkait and DeGuchi resolve the race to qualify at the Budapest World Championships.Over the next 14 weeks the podcast is going to run a mini-series, looking at some of the selection nightmares that nations are going to face and resolve in the run-up to the Paris Olympics.This week I’m on my own, so thought I’d delve into the Olympic selection nightmare thats already been resolved. In August Japanese Olympic Committee announced several athletes had already been selected for Paris Games next year, and one of the athletes selected was Tatsuru Saito at +100kg, over his rival Kokoro Kageura. Whilst Saito is ahead on the ranking list, Kageura has a world title to his name, as well as a victory over Teddy Riner in front of a Paris crowd, both accolades firsts for Japanese judoka since 2010.Let me know what you think, should Saito have been given the nod, or should selectors have waited, giving Kageura more time to find form this Olympic cycle.Get in touch on Instagram and Twitter @originaljudopod

In the run-up to Tokyo Olympics two nations ended up with very high profile domestic rivalries, that played out on the world stage. At -66kg Olympic hosts Japan held a fight off between their world champions Abe and Maruyama. At -57kg Canada let their judoka Klimkait and DeGuchi resolve the race to qualify at the Budapest World Championships.Over the next 14 weeks the podcast is going to run a mini-series, looking at some of the selection nightmares that nations are going to face and resolve in the run-up to the Paris Olympics.Our second episode in the series see Fitz join the show again to talk through the Croatian dilemma at -70kg, where the Olympic qualification is being fought out between former World Champion Barbara Matic, and current Masters champion Lara CvjetkoLet us know who you think will come out on top, and how they should make the selection, on Instagram and Twitter @originaljudopod.

In the run-up to Tokyo Olympics two nations ended up with very high profile domestic rivalries, that played out on the world stage. At -66kg Olympic hosts Japan held a fight off between their world champions Abe and Maruyama. At -57kg Canada let their judoka Klimkait and DeGuchi resolve the race to qualify at the Budapest World Championships.Over the next 14 weeks the podcast is going to run a mini-series, looking at some of the selection nightmares that nations are going to face and resolve in the run-up to the Paris Olympics.The series starts with the hottest pick at the moment Georgian -90kg. Stepping into the hotseat this week and taking on the role as Georgian selector is Fitz Davies.Let us know who you think will come out on top, and how they should make the selection, on Instagram and Twitter @originaljudopod.

Delighted to welcome this weeks guest to the show. Colton is a double Olympian for the USA, medaling 4 times in Pan-American Games and competing at both Rio and Tokyo Olympics.We talk through his start in judo, how living and training in Japan as a teenager became the launch point for his future achievements, and discuss as well both of the Olympic cycles he competed through. Since Tokyo Colton has moved into coaching working with Team USA and setting up the Colton Brown Training Centre in New Jersey. Instagram-@cbrown90kg_@coltonbrowntrainingcenter

This week we are joined by Dr Jagjit Singh Khera, founder of Lions Judo and one of the event organisers of the Craig Fallon Cup. We recorded this episode just a couple of days after this years Craig Fallon Cup. The event was set up in memory of Craig and we talk through the event and what they want it do as Craigs legacy, as well as the amazing support it received from the British Judo community. If you are struggling with your mental health please reach out to someone, and organisations like The Samaritans or Mind.https://www.samaritans.org/https://www.mind.org.uk/

This week we welcome back to the show Connah Anders who updates us on his journey towards Paris 2024 Paralympics and recent promotion to Dan grade. The show is also joined by Judo newcomer Josh Till, and we get into his experience of judo so far (poisoned by me!) as well as comparisons with BJJ.Towards the end of the show we dig into the sticks and sunglasses club in VI Judo (athletes who play the classification system) and sandbagging in BJJ.I coach both Connah and Josh, and it has been an absolute pleasure to have them on the mat. I do have to apologise though, as they both have to put up with my nonsense constantly, and this may come through in how excitable I am on this pod! Hopefully its only sweary and childish in parts, as i really enjoyed recording this one, and think we cover some really interesting stuff.

This week we welcome Tokyo Olympian Prisca Awiti Alcatraz to the show. We talk through her fantastic recent performance at the recent Doha Worlds, where she dethroned 2022 World Champion Horikawa en route to a 5th finish. We also discuss her confidence on the mat when she's facing up against the biggest names in the sport, coming up through Enfield JC, as well her Tokyo 2020ne experience with Team Mexico.Follow Prisca's journey toward Paris2024 on Instagram @priscaalcaraz1 and her YouTube channel @pvlogs6306Massive thanks to Prisca for giving up her time, and sticking with the interview through connection issues and interruptions from my daughter!

Regular co-host Fitz Davies joins the show and we get into 3 or 4 of the big controversies to come out of the recent Doha World Championships.We go through the no-score ride and roll in the Riner Tasoev final (and subsequent IJF statement and then apology), head-diving is back (and in a big way!), shido’s deciding fights, and Pinot’s cheeky leg grab ko-uchi in the Teams final. Finally, we chat through a couple of the stand out athletes who competed.

This week we're joined on the show by GB's -57kg Acelya Toprak. We talk about the challenges of managing full time judo alongside education, her commonwealth games experience as well as what its like being of a big group of GB talent at -57kg.Follow Acelya’s journey on Instagram @acelyatoprak