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I probably should have posted this earlier, but I haven't been to this forum in quite some time. Friday evening, March 10th, my club is hosting a Freestyle Judo competition. I believe this is probably the first-ever FSJ tournament in Oklahoma. It is an AAU-sanctioned event. If you live in the area and would be interested in competing or coming as a spectator, the flyer for the event is on our web site at http://www.recreationaljudo.org.
I'm trying to make a new kind of tournament experience or, rather, blending the old and new. At the average tournament in the US, you pay $40 to go sit around for hours, spenda all day Saturday waiting for your turn to fight. If you're lucky, there might be two other guys in your division, sometimes one. You fight a couple of times and you're done. Far too often, there are uncontested weight classes because there just aren't enough judo players in the area. Juniors and senior divisions fight on the same day so it takes all day. Then you have to drive a long way home, tired, hungry, and quite often, frustrated.
I have envisioned a tournament series that will take place on Friday evenings. The format of the tournament is the classic kohaku/kuchinaki winner-stays-up. It will be a monthly or bi-monthly event. Seniors (in Freestyle Judo, this is ages 15-up) fight one month. Juniors on the alternating month. The whole affair will take around 3 hours from weigh-in to the awards.
The matches will be fought using AAU Freestyle Judo rules. This means you get to use leg grabs, pistol grips, cross grips, and have nearly-unlimited groundfighting time. The ref is there to ensure safety and keep the match moving. The FSJ scoring system makes judo understandable and exciting for spectators to watch. The rules allow judo players to face off with BJJ players, wrestlers, Sambo players, as well. We have sent invitations to these clubs as well.
We want to make the event fun. We'll crank up some testosterone-boosting rock music during warm-ups. There will be a food truck so you can feed the family or bring your date for a bite before or after your matches. Instead of the usual medals, we have unique certificates and the grand champion wins a special custom belt provided by Century Martial Arts. Century will be on hand with a table with some cool merchandise. You get to have a great Friday night doing something you love and you still have your Saturday to get other things done.
At the end of the year, we will host a "tournament of champions" where the grand champions from each meet will face off against each other in a kunchinaki lineup.
Again, if you live in the vicinity of Norman, Oklahoma (OKC metro area), please come out to play or to watch. It should be fun!
I'm trying to make a new kind of tournament experience or, rather, blending the old and new. At the average tournament in the US, you pay $40 to go sit around for hours, spenda all day Saturday waiting for your turn to fight. If you're lucky, there might be two other guys in your division, sometimes one. You fight a couple of times and you're done. Far too often, there are uncontested weight classes because there just aren't enough judo players in the area. Juniors and senior divisions fight on the same day so it takes all day. Then you have to drive a long way home, tired, hungry, and quite often, frustrated.
I have envisioned a tournament series that will take place on Friday evenings. The format of the tournament is the classic kohaku/kuchinaki winner-stays-up. It will be a monthly or bi-monthly event. Seniors (in Freestyle Judo, this is ages 15-up) fight one month. Juniors on the alternating month. The whole affair will take around 3 hours from weigh-in to the awards.
The matches will be fought using AAU Freestyle Judo rules. This means you get to use leg grabs, pistol grips, cross grips, and have nearly-unlimited groundfighting time. The ref is there to ensure safety and keep the match moving. The FSJ scoring system makes judo understandable and exciting for spectators to watch. The rules allow judo players to face off with BJJ players, wrestlers, Sambo players, as well. We have sent invitations to these clubs as well.
We want to make the event fun. We'll crank up some testosterone-boosting rock music during warm-ups. There will be a food truck so you can feed the family or bring your date for a bite before or after your matches. Instead of the usual medals, we have unique certificates and the grand champion wins a special custom belt provided by Century Martial Arts. Century will be on hand with a table with some cool merchandise. You get to have a great Friday night doing something you love and you still have your Saturday to get other things done.
At the end of the year, we will host a "tournament of champions" where the grand champions from each meet will face off against each other in a kunchinaki lineup.
Again, if you live in the vicinity of Norman, Oklahoma (OKC metro area), please come out to play or to watch. It should be fun!
