Embrace the wrinkles

Birthday, Christmas, New Year.... All come one after the other for me. I decided I should sit down and write this final blog of the year, and then start afresh in the new year.  A few family days should keep me entertained over the next week and then it's back into training with a couple of days at the infamous Kendal Winter Camp. I've been struggling with a sore throat these last couple of weeks and haven't been able to enjoy my training as much as usual but at least it hasn't been that vomi bug thing that's going around. That's one thing I'm counting my blessings about, as well as many others. In fact I was having a good old sentimental think the other day and lots of things came to mind. I've had a topsy turvey kind of couple of months and embarked on a few different ventures. I've also picked up a few old  strands that I'd left dangling and done plenty of reconnecting. I've enjoyed reconnecting with the people 'up north' and going back to my roots in some ways.  Being back at Bacup, the club I started at as a kid, and taking some of the sessions as well as doing some of my own stuff, has brought back some good memories. It's definitely inspired me to get more involved in teaching and coaching. I've also been taking a class for adults at a gym in Manchester and it's refreshing to have people so keen to learn.  In the new year I'll be running two female only beginners courses as well as hopefully a few seminars and continue coaching at both Bacup and Kendal Judo Club.  Other work I'll be doing will be as an athlete mentor for the Youth Sports Trust on various projects and continuing as an ambassador for UsGirls/ StreetGames. All in all it's going to be busy, and I've got to fit a bit of training and some comps in there as well!
I'm still enjoying lots of support to do with the judo and especially after competing for Team GB in the Games. People still ask me what it was like and I still find it difficult to describe. They also often ask how did I do it? How did I manage to train so hard and compete and get to that level? And that's hard to answer as well. Because I look around me and often ask myself "how do they do it? I couldn't do that." And most of the time this is looking at the people closest to me. I look at my older sister who has worked her way into a great position at work despite having epilepsy and having to cope with the medication. They also have a young boy who was only conceived after invasive IVF treatment, and struggle, as many do, with the day to day grind of our economy. Could I do that? I look at my younger sister, who went with her boyfriend around the world for 2 years after completing a physio degree. They lived on a shoestring just so they could experience the highs and lows and daringness that it takes to do something like that. Now the job situation means they have to live 200 miles apart. Could I do that? My other sister worked and worked and took out loan after loan so she could become a doctor, and genuinely cares for each and everyone of her patients. There might be a decent wage packet at the end of it but there is also tens tons of stress and a whole lot more to deal with. Could I do that? And I look at my mum, who has worked tirelessly in the same job for over 40 years and provided us all with more than enough. She works hard to look after her mum and to keep the family a central part of her life. I think I had focus and drive when it cam to my sport, and  really put my mind to it.I wanted to get the most out of it. I think my family mentioned here have all put there mind and focused their energies in other areas and I think anyone can do that.  My PE teacher did once point this out about me.... still don't think I would have made a rocket scientist though! You also have to have the opportunity to put your mind to something that inspires you. I was talking to a very good friend once and said that I just felt so lucky to have had such good opportunities. And she said "yes but only part of it is down to luck. You make your own opportunities and you do with them what you can."
Without getting too philosophical, I think striving to be happy and successful is a great thing, but it's not always the successful people which are the happiest. I'm at my happiest when i at my most 'giving'. Whether that is giving myself over to the hardships of training and competing, or giving my time and appreciation to those around me, or giving myself to a new project. I still have to find time for a complete veg of course, or some me time lounging around in the sun, but that is just for a quick fix. Gotta think long term sometimes :). Phew well I think I've meandered enough so without further ado and before I read through and delete it all I'm going to sign off. I will finish with the complete lyrics from a great philosopher ;)

http://www.anysonglyrics.com/lyrics/b/bazluhrmann/everybodys.htm

Working towards a sustainable legacy

Very interesting weekend this weekend. Firstly Saturday saw me in action for the DKH legacy trust working with a group of young people who were doing their NCS and volunteering within their local community. Around 25 were there to help chop wood, sort out nativity costumes and clean up the cupboard. They then went out on a leaflet drop to promote the activities of the local church (Abundant Life Church, Bradford). After a few false starts, there was wood flying everywhere and a couple of times I had to take cover quickly! My role was to bolster some good spirit (not hard, everyone was in good form). We did a bit of a Japanese language test (what does judo mean?) and then I was encouraged to give a quick demo. One of the guys was a willing volunteer and we had a great time wrestling in sumo suits! Team Sophie proved triumphant, although she did have a little help :). The cupboard was spotless by the end and the church organisers were very happy with the help.

Women in Sport

Sophie’s Legacy:- continuing to inspire a generation post 2012

During the London Olympics David Cameron announced that it would not be automatic for British medallists to receive any kind of honour unless they contributed in some way to bequeathing a legacy to the community. Athens and London Judo Olympian, Sophie Cox, was disappointed not to have won a medal, but she is certainly firing on all cylinders in pursuit of fulfilling Cameron’s second criterion.

Sophie has been selected as a Sporting Champion by the Dame Kelly Holmes Legacy Trust and by UsGirls, a project developed by Street Games, funded by the Government and Sport England. She has already delivered a very successful judo taster day at the North West UsGirls Rock festival held at Leigh Sports Village. As well as attending these taster session days, Sophie will be visiting local schools, colleges and youth groups. She has helped the project secure a CocaCola bursary which aims to afford young people in disadvantaged communities the opportunities to get involved in new sports, specifically targeting the 14-25 year old age group. Street Games and the UsGirls project have been keen to have Sophie on board as an ambassador to inspire young females to ‘have a go’. This successful bid will help all involved (StreetGames, Usgirls, Sportivate) to develop more outreach work and allow them to do more for the young people within the local community. On the day of the Liegh festival UsGirls tweeted: “Thanks for coming today, you were fab, the girls had a great time!!”

Sophie recently complete the theory and practice to gain her 4th Dan, an honour attained by still relatively few female G.B. judoka. She will be presented with her certificate by Bacup Judo Club Head Coach, Brian Moore, 6th Dan, her long time mentor, on Sunday 18th November during the BiG WeekEnder (for details please see the flyer attached), which is an event designed by Sophie to encourage interest in the Club and in judo.

Sophie has been appointed a sporting ambassador for sustainability for BioRegional, a company heavily involved in the making of the Games and advisors to the Government about sustainability issues regarding the Games and the Games legacy. (please see defra.gov.uk). She recently gave one of the key speeches at the annual meeting of BASIS (British Association of Sustainability in Sport) held at Cheltenham Racecourse. She was asked to the opening of the One Planet Centre at the Royal Albert Docklands Community School and although unable to attend, delivered a video message and sent competition footage of herself. She has been asked by the company to go into schools and the local community and help deliver the message of sustainability in sport. Reactions to her speech at the conference were positive and enthusiastic:Alex John - “inspiring talk today by Sophie Cox at sustainability sports conference.” Nick Roberts: “Listening to Sophie Cox at BASIS sustainability conference. All those character building exercises obviously worked. Really interesting talk.”

In her role as Rochdale Ambassador for Sport, Sophie recently presented the awards and delivered a speech at the Rochdale Training awards evening, a company that mentors and trains young people in apprentice qualifications. Jill Nagy (CEO) said “Thank you for coming Sophie, you made our night! You were brilliant!”.

In addition to judo, Sophie will be involved as a role model with the ESRL and in events for the RFL World Cup in 2013. 2013 is the 20th anniversary of Sophie’s historic game at Wembley when she became the first female to play rugby league on the hallowed turf, thus paving the way for a rule change which has allowed other girls to follow in her footsteps. Halima Kahn (ESRL development officer) hopes to have Sophie at a number of events the first of which is on Sunday 11/11/12, an English Schools R.L. celebration event to be held at the Salford City Stadium. Sophie will be speaking at such events, motivating and inspiring girls and boys to take up sports at all levels, and give insights into the trials, tribulations and joys, of being an elite sports person. Her 4 years in Thailand means that she has unique experience and the time away from elite sport means that she has a wider perspective on life issues than is sometimes the case with elite athletes and she used her experience of life there to telling effect in her speech for BASIS.

Each year the Sophie Cox Medal is awarded to the Year 7 girl player of the match at the Carnegie Cup Championships Schools finals.  She joins some of the greats in RFL in having this honour: Renis Betts, Phil Clarke, Kevin Sinfield, Brenda Dobek and Lisa McIntosh who all have medals named after them. Sophie; “After the Games I had to think carefully about the direction my future would take. I decided that I wanted to continue competing for G.B. as I feel I still have the drive and ambition to win medals; but also to somehow use my experiences to coach and inspire others, particularly vulnerable females, to get involved in sport. It would be unusual for an elite athlete still competing to coach as well but I am determined to have a go at both. I intend to train at Bacup and Kendal Judo clubs and other Judo clubs throughout the North West area. I still feel I can achieve success and add to my 4 European medals. A longer term ambition is to compete at the 2014 Commonwealth Games for England. As I no longer receive funding from the UKSC, and am unlikely to in the near future as I am considered too old for Rio (?) I have returned home and intend to further my ambitions from that base. I will look to get a good result at the British Trials in 2013 at a new weight of 57kg, the weight I competed at in Athens at which point I was ranked 7th in the world and 2nd in Europe. I recently self-funded myself to a World Cup competition in Istanbul, the first for me at this level and in this weight category for a long time, although I have had silver and bronze medals in European Cups in that weight over the last 2 years. I finished 5th, narrowly losing for bronze, but beating the world number 13 along the way. I have to go out and win medals, it’s up to me to prove the doubters wrong. I am very happy that I receive support from friends, family, the judo club and the North West Area, Link4Life and Rossendale MBC. I already coach at the club and at a gym in central Manchester, where I recently did a very successful judo seminar (see blog :Judo or MMA? Fighting Fit seminar by 2x Olympian Sophie Cox bridges the two arts. Quote: “Last friday......” by parttimegrappler.blogspot.com/2012/10/judo-o).

I have become interested in working with MMA fighters and in developing and expanding my knowledge in this area. I think judo still has a lot to offer the MMA world and I know that when I worked with Rosi Sexton, the most famous and most able British female MMA fighter, she was very impressed with what I had to offer.  Getting around to training and events is sometimes tricky as I have to rely on lifts a lot or good old public transport and all the joys that come with it!

I intend to give of my best competitively and in coaching and along the way I hope I can encourage people of all ages and in all walks of life to take part in something new and interesting, be that judo or something else. If I am successful I believe I will have left a positive legacy and be repaying the debt I owe to Mr. Jigaro Kano, the founder of Kodokan Judo, and those who helped to spread the art across the world. Judo is, and will always be, a way of life.”

Final phase

We're just about to start our 'final preparation' camp here at Dartford so all the team plus training partners are coming together for the next 10 days. We were lucky enough to persuade the British Judo to get us into the Hilton just down the road from the Dojo - massive props to the 2 Gemmas for their charm and persuasion skills! Don't be fooled though - they are both ferocious on the mat! All the support staff coaches etc. will be together with the athletes so it should be a food atmosphere. Everyone will be working on their own individual targets but we all have the same goal- to win medals. I know the excitement is building and everyone at home is getting really into it. For me at this stage it's about remaining focused and concentrated, but it does make me smile and gives me a really warm feeling when I see the support out there. It's unbelievable the amount of people who have in some way helped me to be here, and very humbling. The thing I'm most looking forward after the Games is a great big Sunday roast with all the family! Maybe a 3 day feast haha! I'm obviously hoping all of Team GB do well but also everyone who has worked hard to get where they are and are prepared to go the extra distance.

Seoul - Olympic Parktel

Room with a view.

8 weeks to go, keep rollin

Monday -

Had a day of getting lost yesterday. Well not quite lost but exploring around and about. Actually managed to get a decent nights sleep and was still sleepy in the morning so declined going back into Tokyo again to watch the judo competition. Instead I took my time and went for a jog around the park here. I explored a bit further afield though and took some pics on the way. In the afternoon I went to find a couple of temples that I had looked up and it was nice to see some of the surrounding countryside. Its good to spend a bit of time away from the gym and judo mat occasionally and since my time in Thailand I'm more interested in different religions and cultures so it was nice to see some Shinto temples and some Monks at prayer.

Tuesday -

Went to the dojo in the morning to work on some technical aspects. We've been doing some video analysis and it's good to work through some specific situations and drill certain aspects. It's then time to put it into practice in randori (free practice) so you are in as realistic a situation as possible. Training continues to be a high intensity with shorter sessions but the days are going by quickly and always end up full.

Thursday -

I met a friend of a friend yesterday after training and us girls took him out for a meal. He is a journalist from the Japanese TV station but he just came to say hello. He was very happy to meet some past Olympic judo players and some potential athletes for London 2012, especially as judo is so popular here. Japan is one place where practically everyone will be tuned into the judo at the Games, and they will be hoping to do well. However, the competition is fierce and Japan aren't the dominant force they used to be. Judo is so popular as a sport around the world that every country from Kazakstan to Cuba to the US to Holland to Korea etc. produce top players and potential Olympic medallists. And there's us of course!

It was laundry day yesterday and as the sun was shining I went for my little recovery run whilst the washing was on. A wash and a tumble dry later and I had fresh clothes again, lovely. Just in time for another judo session!

Countdown continues 9 weeks

Friday - Woke up at 4 and despite my best efforts including listening to some guided meditation, I was not going back to sleep, so back to McDonalds it was for morning coffee! Feeling better in general though. It'll be a week tonight since we arrived here so should just about be over the jet lag by tomorrow. They do say it takes an day for every hour when travelling from west to east and I feel like I'm getting into the routine.

The sun came out in full force yesterday which always helps put things in a better light as well. The quality of training has been good so far and the Japanese players at the university are of a very good standard. They have been training for a competition this weekend. I've been making sure I do lots of recovery in between which should help ensure that the quality remains high throughout the length of the training block. I've been doing a circuit everyday so lots of cardio and speed exercises, but I'm beginning to hate tuck jumps with a passion! So I was happy yesterday when I had weights on my program instead. However, Sally soon pointed out that it was actually a weights circuit!

Sally has been getting all artistic and playing around with picture collages and I've been helping her start up her blog. iPads are definitely big kids toys! Its always useful to be able to connect to the WWW whilst travelling and training although I do make sure I disconnect regularly and give myself a break. I'm enjoying reading The Hunger Games at the moment and brought a book out with me called Mind Gym, a sports psychology book which I'm finding quite interesting. Watched another good film "The Way" (hang on, is there a theme here?!) about a father's journey along the road to Santiago in memory of his dead son. Reminded me about the Paoulo Cuello book.

Another full day of training ahead today but a quieter weekend after that. I'm looking forward to catching up on a bit of sleep and hopefully I'll get to explore Tokyo a bit, if my legs can keep carrying me upright!

10 weeks:- the Final Countdown

The Final Countdown: 10 weeks:-

After a successful British Open competition, followed by nomination to Team GB 2012 by the British Judo at -52kg, and then a pretty hectic 3 days getting organised and trying to squeeze in my training, it was that time again - Japan/Korea part 2. It was only 6 weeks since I was last out there so it was easier to pack and prepare. A lot less training stuff went in this time; it was really easy to wash things there; and a lot more food went in instead! This isn't because I don't like the food in Japan or Korea, I love it, but at this stage I have to be very controlled with my diet and sometimes it's easier when you don't have to think about the all the ins and outs of the nutritional side all the time. So in went plenty of porridge sachets and protein bars. Also some snack a jacks. I knew Sally, my Roomie out there, would be bringing the tea and coffee so didn't need that. In went my scales, my HR monitor, skipping rope, foam roller and elastics. Hmm I could see my 27kg limit fast approaching! Good job my hair straighteners are the mini variety.

On Thursday at the airport I invested in a Team GB mug as I remember craving a 'proper' size cup of tea last time. I also bought one for my friend Akina who I'm hoping to catch up with. The 9 o'clock flight was a good time for sleeping and with time differences we arrived at our hotel in Tokyo at 12.00 Friday night. Saturday was a good time for easing into the new time zone and we went into central Tokyo for a walk around and some bargain hunting in Ueno. Sunday me and Sal went to the gym and I did a circuit and a stretch. Then we went to buy a few things from the local shops - I got a flask, a chopping board (for making my salads up), and some chopsticks. I also got a few things for taking home: a bamboo sushi rolling mat, some packets of noodles and a tea strainer. We have a fridge in the room so I got some salad and sashimi- mmmmm good protein!

Monday saw me get stuck into some hard training with a gym circuit and our first judo session at the uni. I knew I had to ease myself in though so kept the judo short - just 90 mins as opposed to the usual 3 hours they do here! Watched a good film on Sal's computer - The Way Back - inspiring story of the human will to survive. Was drifting off about 11.30 so thought I was in for a good nights kip, but it didn't happen.

By Tuesday jet-lag was seriously catching up with me and 2 nights of barely any sleep started to show with some dark eyes and a bit more of a grump about me! In the morning, 4 of us (me, Sally, coach Kate and physio Sophia) headed off to the uni for a gym session. Whilst Sally was getting massive on the weights I did another tortuous circuit, sweated a lot, swore a bit and was a happy chappy when it was shower and lunch time! We ate at the uni and hung around for the session which was at 4. I was so tired by then but managed to get a decent session in with the help of some persuasive encouragement from Kate and the thought of udon noodles for dinner! Sally and I went out for food when we got back and I got some more salad and sashimi for the next couple of days. Fingers are feeling it already so iced them a bit and tried to ease some shoulder ache in the bath. Easier training day today (Wednesday) so time to do some video analysis and get a long physio session in. Think Ben is bring his electro acupuncture needles into the equation! The only place open for a coffee at 6.30am in McDonalds so sat in there, caught up on my training diaries and now back to the room to wake up Sally Ann. MORNING!!!!!!

British Open 2012

http://www.britishjudo.org.uk/home/documents/EurCup_Seniors_GBR_London_formsandoutlines_Published.pdf

Korean BBq

Final blog -Korea By Sophie cox and Sally Conway

Hello and welcome to the GB ladies final blog of our Asian tour.
It's Friday morning and I've woke up very sore and tired. 1 more session to go this afternoon. Then it's packing the bags up for one last time this trip ready for home.
We left Tokyo on Saturday to take a 2 hour flight to Seoul. All the team collected their bags and jumped on the bus. Of course there was time for some of us to grab a sneaky donut to take on our travels though.
After a two hour bus journey we made it to our hotel. We have been staying right in the Olympic Park, a legacy left over from the '88 games. It's pretty huge and you can walk round it and see the stadium and the the veledrome among other things and the "peace gates" at the entrance, quite inspiring! There are also loads of sculptures all around affording some interesting sights. When we arrived it was pretty late, so we dropped our bags off straight away and headed out for some good old proper Koren barbeque. We found a really authentic place and got given so much food! Lots of side dishes which most of us had even seen or tasted before, but to be honest there wasn't much we didn't try/like! The meat we tasted was lovely, really delicious and everyone was in good spirits.
Sunday, we all did our own thing, weather it was chilling in or around the hotel,or heading in to seoul for a bit of shopping and a look about. We all found it so much cheaper for food and shopping than TOkyo, so some of us have made some little purchases out here which is great. A bit of retail therapy...lovely!
So Monday it all kicked off again with a bang. A bus was put on for the GB team to take us ti Yong Yin University, which was about a 50 min journey.
We had to trek up a pretty steep hill to get to the uni which was hard work and was only going to get harder as the week went on. And I can tell you now,it's defiantly did!
Yong Yin uni is the biggest and strongest uni for judo in the whole of Korea. Most of the top team train there so we knew we were going to be in for a hard, final week, and that we'd all have to dig in. The number 1 Korean women team were in Japan, but this didn't effect how hard or how beneficial the training was for the women at all.
The session was started off with a bow, a stretch, and a couple of forward rolls,a little uchikomi and straight into 12x6min tachiwaza. No messing about in Korea! The session was completed in 2hours. But it was 2 hours of none stop fighting...perfect! :) this is what it was like for the rest of the sessions, usually with 5 newaza randoris to finish.
Blood, sweat and tears! It was all happening on the mat! But I think I talk on behalf of everyone when I say this but it has been a really great 4 weeks of randori, and we have all come away from this Asian tour with things we have improved, things that still need working on and some different ideas to take back home with us. The whole experience has been brilliant. And a great block of training for our European preparation.
We're all off out tonight for a team meal to celebrate Euan's birthday. (He doesn't know so shhhhh....) Were going to a steak house. Think everyone is going to enjoy it. It's really tasty!

Well that wraps the Asian trip up. I hope you have enjoyed keeping upto date with our blogs, and have got a little insight of what has been going on in the GB camp...untill next time, bye for now :-)

Asia Tour Week 3

end of week 3 and the Japan leg

It's the end of the third and final week in Japan and we all met this morning at 7 to get the bus to the airport. The last couple of weeks we've been training at Teikyo university which has a very good reputation for women's judo. It was usually a 15min bus journey to get there, some of us would tape up on the way or watch/listen to our i-pods. We were made very welcome at the dojo, and soon got into the routine. Quite a lot of the girls we knew from the last time we visited but there were a lot of new faces as well. There's normally about 50 girls on the mat and a whole range of weights, shapes and sizes and they all like to fight hard on the mat but are generally very friendly before and after training. By the end of the 3 weeks we were exchanging a few small gifts and getting lots of pictures. The sessions at the uni were between 3-3.5 hours long. They would start with a long stretch and warm up then we would go on to do 15 mins of newaza, then into Tachiwaza (randori). If you got given a red belt you were out in the front for 8x5mins and there was normally 3 sets of this. Most of the sessions followed this format but then on Thursday with two sessions left to go about 30 more high school girls turned up so the sessions got even longer! They were obviously a different standard to the uni girls but they were all fresh and raring to go. Physio Ben joined us on Wednesday and it was time to say bye bye to Physio Soph whose hard work really helped the team a lot. We were also joined by Coach Luke who seemed to be impressed with the work we were doing on the mat and helped spur us through the last couple of sessions. We had had coaches Billy and Go visit us from the boys side when there wasn't a clash of training times. Coach Kate was always keeping an eye out despite having a slight football injury!

We were all loving their old school, rocky style weights gym they have.  Nothing fancy just a proper working gym.

Packing up to leave was a little bit of a mission as some things seem to have been acquired over the course of these last three weeks so every nook and cranny of baggage space was being needed. Most people were lighter in another area though having gone through most of their porridge stores and protein bars, just enough left to take on to the next place. Korea here we come!

European and Olympic Preparation

Asia Tour part 2

Woke early this morning craving a cup of tea for some reason. Didn't want to make one in the room as it would disturb my roommate so got up and went for a little jog round the park whilst I waited for McDonalds to open. Got a gym session to look forward to a little later this morning and possibly some football in the park this afternoon. No judo today as the university we are training at have a rest day today. Yesterday was a total rest day (much needed!) for us and I did a recovery bike session in the gym followed by a shopping/eating trip in Tokyo central. I tried Unagi (eel) for the first time and loved it. "Good for power" our Japanese coach Go Tsuanda told me. Good to catch up with him and team mate Colin and find out the gossip from the boys camp. We followed up with a Starbucks coffee then spent a good couple of hours wondering around Harajuku. Faith was in good shopping form buying lots of little gifts for people back home. I didn't do very well but enjoyed just browsing although it was packed with people down there. Remembered it was mother's day back in the uk so scored some brownie points by skyping when we got back. This was after finding an amazing noodle shack for dinner time.

It's been one judo session a day this week with some weights and CV work fitted around. The sessions continue to be marathons - 3 hours long, 90% randori and it's as much a mental challenge; staying focused for that long; as it is physical. There's about 40 Japanese women on the mat, then the 7 of us, and we have been joined by 2 Swiss girls and a Austrian who are also training out here. The atmosphere is good and we are all fighting/training hard. I feel the team is giving each other plenty of support and it is motivational to see the girls pushing hard and being determined and that helps me get through those rough patches where occasionally I need a bit of a lift. Had a good team building football match at the beginning of last week which gave me an excellent ab work out due to plenty of hilarity. And laundry time was made into an experience as well with Sally managing to shrink her socks to the size of a one year olds. The Teikyo university girls have made us very welcome and it's great to meet up again with Akina who can to love and train in the UK with us for 6 months.

Highlights

Browsing the supermarkets looking for bargain gyozas and interesting Japanese treats.
Having an orange brûlée frappacino at Starbucks.
Laughing at the pictures on Facebook.
Making endless cups of tea in the room.
Eating Unagi.
Training with world champion Matsumoto.
Football in the park.

Lowlights

The cold.
The price of an orange brûlée frappacino.
Sore fingers.
Washing (clothes not me! I don't mind that so much and feel its better for my social acceptability if I do occasionally wash).
Tiredness - ok when I sleep well but not always the case.

Japan/Korea training week 1

We've just completed the first week of the 4 week long Asia tour so time for a quick recap. The women's team have been training at the National Training Centre where for the last 5 days their top women plus about 300 other judoka from various university teams have been training as well. Talk about throwing us in the deep end with a bunch of small but very nippy piranhas all trying to take chunks out of ya! And it has been very intense, each session 2 1/2 to 3 hours long, 95% randori (the other 5% warming up or cooling down.) everything is sore now; skin, fingers toes and muscles, joints; thankfully we have a couple of days off now whilst we move across Tokyo and station ourselves at the next training centre. Team physio Sophia has been doing a great job helping us keep on top of any grumbles and general maintenance. My left shoulder and elbow have started to niggle a bit and i have to keep on top of that plus some chronic wear and tear in my right elbow. I've done 3 gym sessions this week involving speed, power and core training but mostly focused on specific rehab/prehab. Recovery between sessions has been key but difficult as by the time you've stretched, showered and eaten you're generally ready to crash out. The food has been excellent (for those of us who like our food and are not picky anyway, not like coach Howey!) and most of our meals have been at the NTC where we eat in the Athletes section along with the other sports such as weightlifting, table tennis, wrestling and gymnastics. The hotel room also comes equipped with its own water boiler and fridge so it's easy to store drinks and snack and I've been drinking so much green tea it's coming out of my ears! Think of those anti-oxidants though....

Highlights
Strangling 2 people and arm locking 1 and holding down 8 in one newaza session (bearing in mind the previous one my total ippons were nill: they're hard to catch on the ground!)
Green tea hot chocolate.
Green tea ice cream.
Green tea and strawberry kit kat chunkys.
Green tea McVites digestives.
Hot coffee out of the vending machine.
Getting to use the amazing facilities at the NTC.
Catching up on some TV series, How I Met Your Mother and Homeland.
General banter with the team.
Coin washers and dryers in the hotel.
The the small but lovely deep bath tub in the room where I can wind down.
The food.
Last nights feast at Sizzlers.

Lowlights
Shin bruises; the Arnica cream has come in handy!
The rain: had to purchase an umbrella.
Taping - fingers and a thumb. It's just hard work getting it all off again!
Blood on my kit from a cut/graze under my chin where people have been trying to strangle me! Now having to soak the jacket in the sink to try and get it out.
Soreness.
Jet lag - they say it takes a day for every hour of time difference to get yourself fully into sync. We didn't have time to mess around though so have had to cope and some people have been struggling with their sleeping patterns. I've struggled a little bit but getting enough to keep the engine running.

Pre Japan

Mr Ling chillin before heading out on his first big adventure - will he look as fresh after a month in Asia?

Training Japan

Well day 5 and 5 training sessions in and am definitely feeling the burn. Been having some great randoris - about 300 girls on the mat which is amazing! So plenty of judo and plenty of noodles and rice! And green stuff, green tea coming out of my ears. Absolutely wiped out right now so time to stick some washing on then crash out and hopefully sleep all the way through having just about kicked the jet lag. Sayonara.

Moving on..

Last week was the German GP and training camp in Dusseldorf. I had a tough draw - one of the top players first fight. However, you gotta beat em all! I lost on a couple of penalties which was frustrating but there were a good number of positives to take out of it, mainly I felt physically fit and ready, showing the preparation had been right this time. A better tactical fight on my behalf would have made the difference this time as there was little chance of either of us scoring - we both were pretty cagey - and her tactics were better than mine. Afterwards we stayed out for a camp and I had some great training sessions but it's really being able to make that hard work count that matters - the final result. So after a week of rest a select team is off to Japan for 3 weeks followed by a week in Korea ahead of the European Championships in Russia in late April. Time to knuckle down and focus on the weeks ahead.... got my monkey Mr. Ling to help with the knuckling... ;)

Some chillax time

Been spending the weekend doing some rebalancing and exploring some of the local Kent countryside. Been good just to slow things down for a couple of days. Focusing on next weekend and the German Grand Prix now but got to get the prep right this time.

Fresh morning jog

.... followed by brown rice, eggs and veggies for morning stimulation, mmmm. Off to London to get a new passport today. Gonna hop on the train and watch the world go by with maybe some Jamie Woon for company.

Paris training

Tough few days sparring but took time out last night to visit a bit of Paris I've not seen before. Some downtime then back to training on Monday to prepare for German grand prix in dusseldorf next saturday.

Paris Grand Slam

Sunday 5th Feb

Morning 10am. Sat in the hotel the day after my fight at the Paris Grand Slam. It's snowing outside and the Bercy stadium where the tournament is still going on (heavy weights fighting today) is literally a stones throw away. For me it was all over by 9.15 yesterday after 1 fight, one of the most disappointing performances I have ever had. What a drastic comparison to 2 weeks ago where I came out of the British Championships with 5 solid wins and a gold medal. In terms of level of competition there's no comparison - here the best in the world were out in full force. However, I have fought and beat some of the best in the world and would always back myself to win a medal even in a competition of this standard.

Although I am the last person to make excuses about a bad result, whether we like it or not we have to do some analysis on why this was the case, just as we should with any result. Then again, it's sometimes very easy to over analyse these things. I know in myself the surrounding circumstances, the consequences of different actions to do with my preparation and build up to this event, and my own overall feelings, but to try and put that down in words or explain it, well I think it would be impossible, and also a little fruitless as there's only really me who can do something about it. So instead of ruminating here let's mentally throw off the gloom cloud, shrug off the disappointment hold and get back on it with some positivity to infinity. Nest up.. dusseldorf Grand Prix 2012.....