An unpublished post from 20th Feb 2015. Wonder what was going through my head………………….
Last week, the EJU (European Judo Federation) withdrew the license for the British Judo Association (BJA) to host the European Judo Championships. After two years planning, the EJU gave the BJA two weeks notice. This is bad on so many levels.
This decision seems to be based around the choice of main sponsor, that the BJA chose. And when the BJA dropped the sponsor, the EUJ decided that the contest license fee had not been paid in time, and therefore the BJA were not seen and fit and proper hosts for the EJU flagship event.
The BJA decided to couple up with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). The UFC don’t like being referred to as cage fighters. But they do fight in an octagon shaped cage. This cage is not to create a spectacle. We are led to believe that it is for the fighters safety. If that was the case, they could have a safety area. However, if you watch a UFC fight, this “safety” precaution can be where another fighter is trapped.
Judo has come under pressure in the past few years. In the UK, there has been a big push for Olympic success. With success comes funding. Failure to win Olympic medals will result in funding being taken away. There is another big problem too – Judo almost lost its Olympic status after London 2012. The fighting was a bit dull. Possibly as a result of pre 2012 competition rule changes.
The rule changes were introduced to showcase the big throws, and showcase the sport. This was a massive failure. The sport also needed to differentiate itself from wrestling which was going through similar problems.
To the administrators and great minds, there was only one solution – more rule changes! These are worldwide competition changes, and not the fault of the BJA, but it does compound changes that the BJA have made.
For example, there was a competitive component to judo grading from the age of around seven. This was removed around eight years ago. Now, only people looking for a competitive grade of 1st Dan black belt and above can fight for their grade.
The thinking behind this was that a successful judo nation like France doesn’t have competitive gradings, and they do well. If the BJA do that, we can be successful. But they have so much more structure and culture in place than we do. And it was clear to many experience, and old school returning judoka (judo players) that the standard of brown belts and 1st Dan black belts had dropped.
All sports need a strong foundation, and under pressure from other sports, the BJA has made a mess they will have problems digging themselves out of.
Another example of bad thinking is aiming for a target of qualified coaches. Yes, other countries may have more qualified countries, so getting people qualified as coaches make everything better…..No, you can’t play a numbers game and expect everything to work out. Great, a technical director may have hit his target, but so what?
Where can the new qualified coaches go? Then there’s the expense of qualification, the time taken for child safety, first aid, re-validation courses.
Finally, where is all the money from membership, Sport England, and the National Lottery going? Not to mention a lack of transparency of deals between companies associated with the BJA.
Oh! missed another thing. The BJA signed a deal with the BJJ (Brazilian Ju-jitsu). But not with the UKABJJ (this is confusing, and I may be wrong), but with the BJJUKA (which only has two members from the BJA – and that’s it).
And another thing. 80% of the BJA membership is children, and adults are leaving at a rate of around 80 each month.
This is a mess, and I’m glad I didn’t renew my membership before the recent mess happened.
Judo invest time, energy, and put their bodies on the line, just to be treat as sheep who will always follow, or football supporters that will never change their team.
I think there is a change in the air………………
Words of Nonsense 