Dyman review, Paralympic judo dream for young Blackburn fighter

A YOUNG judo fighter who dreams of competing in the Paralympics has been hailed an ‘inspiration’ by a leading blind charity.

Caitlin Leigh, who has glaucoma and is registered blind, competes against fully-sighted youngsters and recently scored her first victory.

The 10-year-old, of Leopold Way, Blackburn, took up the sport five years ago after struggling to take part in ball-based sports and her mum is delighted by the huge confidence boost it has given her.

Claire, 32, said: “In judo you are grabbing hold of people pretty much the whole time so it’s much better suited for her.

“She’s absolutely loved it and was over the moon when she won her first fight. We’d been to about five tournaments and she had tears in her eyes and ran over to her dad and gave him a big hug.

“The great thing about it is she’s not treated any differently and she’s made some great friends.

“We took her to see the judo at the Paralympics in London last year and that just fuelled it even more. It’s her ultimate goal to compete at the games one day.”

Caitlin, a pupil at St James Primary School in Lower Darwen, has no vision in her left eye, and her right eye is extremely short sighted. She reads braille and uses a cane to walk.

She first tried the sport at a taster session run by the Action for Blind People Actionnaires Club in Blackburn and enjoyed it so much she joined Beach Judo Club in Westbury Gardens as well as Shadsworth Judo Club. She trains twice a week and now competes regularly, recently achieving her orange belt.

The order of grades generally sees fighters progress from orange to green, blue and brown before black.

Janet Beale, a support coordinator at Action for Blind People, said: “Caitlin is an absolute inspiration to other youngsters with sight problems.

“She’s been a regular at our sessions and doesn’t seem to let anything get in her way. We gave her the confidence to try something different and that’s what it’s all about. Blindness shouldn’t be a barrier to taking part in sport.”

Dyman review: Ex-judo star gets to grips with world of finance

Sean Oldfield is revolutionizing the mortgage industry with innovative equity loans company, Castle Trust.

Sean Oldfield is a glutton for punishment. In 2002, he gave up a lucrative career in banking to pursue a grueling judo career.

He travelled around Europe on his motorbike, training in different judo clubs, with the aim of competing in the 2004 Athens Olympics.

The Australian, who has been living in the UK for the past 12 years, represented his home country at the Canadian and US opens.

After two years on the road, however, he realized he would never be a world champion.

“I started training at 19, which is very late,” he explained. “Most guys start when they are three. I realized that if I made it to the Olympics, I would probably get knocked out in the first round and end up penniless.”

Mr. Oldfield cut his losses and returned to Macquarie Bank, where he stayed for a further four years. But his desire to take on a new challenge then took him to Moscow, where a burgeoning financial services industry was taking hold.

“I was interested in the mortgage market out there,” he said. “People were trying to buy their homes out of the communist regime. Previously, people had only been able to buy their homes if they had cash. The transfers were literally made with cash, too – big briefcases of the stuff.”

Mr Oldfield set about starting a company but soon attracted heat from the local gangsters. “I ended up getting shot at,” he said. “In Moscow, you need to buy protection when you start a business. The Russian word for it is 'krysha’, which means roof.

“If you don’t have the right protection, either you die or your business dies.”

A local cartel offered its “roof” to Mr. Oldfield in the very early days of his start-up. He refused, saying that he didn’t believe they would do the job very well. “They shot at me to prove that they would have been just fine at their job,” said Mr. Oldfield.

Rather than return to Macquarie, cap in hand, Mr. Oldfield decided to come back to the UK, take stock and work on an innovative new business model that he’d been turning around in his mind for years.

“I have a personal interest in the mortgage system,” he said. “When I was 11 years old, interest rates in Australia went from single digits to 18pc. My mum was a high school math teacher and, as a single mum, really struggled to make her interest payments every month.”

Mr Oldfield remembers sitting in his local bank manager’s office with his mother, pleading for more time to pay.

In June 2008, he began fleshing out an idea for a two-pronged business, one side of which was an equity loans provider and the other an investment product linked to the national housing index. He called the business Castle Trust.

The idea was to “recycle” money between the two businesses so that those who had money to invest could get a return based on house prices, while those who needed finance could unlock the value of their homes with minimal risk.

Mr Oldfield explained: “Unlike traditional mortgages, with equity loans there are no monthly payments. We will lend up to 20pc of the value of the house. If the house doesn’t increase in value, you just pay us back the original principle. If it goes up in value, we take a 40pc share of the growth.”

If the house depreciates in value, Castle Trust shares in the fall; on a house worth 10pc less, you pay back 10pc less.

The model doesn’t replace the old-fashioned mortgage but raises cash for those who cannot secure finance in the usual way. Castle Trust’s services have been used by divorcing couples who want to buy a second home without taking out a further mortgage on the first. Entrepreneurs also use the model, to raise cash for their start-ups, but the biggest markets are “bank-of-mum-and-dad” customers who want to help their children get on the housing ladder. The buy-to-let market is also growing fast.

Getting Castle Trust off the ground has been Mr. Oldfield’s greatest challenge to date. “It took four and a half years from creating the concept to signing our first customer,” he said. “2008 was the worst time to try to raise money for a new business with the financial crisis.”

It took more than two years for Mr. Oldfield to secure a £65m investment from private equity firm JC Flowers. “Raising that kind of money for a business that only exists on a PowerPoint presentation, when you’re working from your lounge, is really tough,” he said.

Castle Trust is the first business of its kind in the world. The investment side of the business is based on UK house prices, and the Land Registry only released comprehensive data on transactions in early 2008. It cost £15m just to get the company off the ground with all the required regulation. “You wouldn’t believe the red tape you face as a brand new financial services business,” said Mr Oldfield.

Consumers can invest through their Isa or direct with Castle Trust. The company is now one year old and employs 30 staff. It is chaired by Callum McCarthy, former chairman of the Financial Services Authority. Deirdre Hutton, former chair of the National Consumer Council, and ex-environment minister Lord Deben are also on the board. “They’ve had faith in the business from the beginning,” said Mr. Oldfield.

Castle Trust has been boosted by the Government’s Help to Buy scheme. “It has an equity loan built in just like ours,” explained Mr. Oldfield, who credits his judo training for getting him through the tough start-up of the business.

“During that time, I got married and had my first son,” he said.

“I didn’t get my first pay cheque till he was one. Once every couple of months I would think, 'I should just go and get a job’.

“But I never gave up. I was patient through necessity. It takes a huge amount of tenacity and drive to knock down walls that seem impenetrable but now we’ve reached the tipping point.

“I was behind the curve with judo but I’m way ahead of the curve with Castle Trust.”

Dyman Judo Club Association & Dyman Karate Associates International: The International Judo Federation

Preambule of the IJF statutes

The International Judo Federation is composed of National Judo Federations and Continental Unions. Each National Federation must be recognized as the sole federation authorized to represent its country in international sporting bodies by its Olympic Committee, which itself is duly recognized by the International Olympic Committee.

The major development of judo worldwide made it necessary to create Continental Unions. These Unions are in charge of implementing the policy of the International Judo Federation and the International Olympic Committee.

Judo was created in 1882 by Professor Jigoro Kano. As an educational method derived from the martial arts, judo became an official Olympic sport in 1964 (after being named as a demonstration sport at the 1940 Tokyo Olympic Games which were cancelled due to international conflict). Judo is a highly codified sport in which the mind controls the expression of the body and is a sport which contributes to educating individuals.

Beyond competitions and combat, judo involves technical research, practice of katas, self-defense work, physical preparation and sharpening of spirit.

As a discipline derived from ancestral traditions, judo was designed by its Master Founder as an eminently modern and progressive activity.

The International Judo Federation was incorporated in Ireland as a company limited by guarantee and as a non for profit organization. In conformity with the decision of the Congress dated August 23, 2009, the International Judo Federation is now a nonprofit Association under Swiss law with seat in Lausanne.

The IJF Aims

The IJF has the following aims, without this constituting an exhaustive list:

• To promote cordial and friendly relations between its members, to uphold proper operating procedures of the member Federations and Unions to lead and organize judo activities throughout the world.
• To protect the interests of judo throughout the world.
• To organize IJF events, to supervise events organized by its members and to participate in the organization of Olympic events. 
• To develop the practice of judo throughout the world for all categories of the population.
• To establish rules for practicing judo and the rules applicable to International competitions organized or recognized by the IJF.
• To improve the quality of judo training. 
• To supervise the awarding of grades, including “dan” ranks, and their compliance with IJF rules.
• To promote the ideals and objectives behind the Olympic movement.

World Judo Day of Dyman Judo Club Association & Dyman Karate Associates International

October 28th is Jigoro Kano's Birthday

Preamble

Judo is a sport of tradition based on a moral code that is not just a concept. This moral code is even the spine of our activity. The notion of respect, which was the theme of the first edition of the World Judo Day, is perhaps the strongest one for any judoka. Without respect, nothing is possible! The peaceful confrontation that is judo cannot take place without mutual respect. One of the symbols and a perfect concrete application of that respect is the bow. It opens a judo session, it closes it and between the two, "mutual aid and prosperity" and the "optimal use of energy" become possible. And that's why we have chosen the bow as the logo of the World Judo Day.

Judo also helps to convey the values of the moral code outside the tatami and to implement them in everyday life.

The World Judo Day initiated by the International Judo Federation aims to promote the values of our sport as they have been designed from its inception. With this event, the IJF also wants to eventually come closer to the people who make judo alive on a daily basis in all the dojo around the world.

Objectives

To promote a global awareness on the values of judo and its education system to all judo clubs and all judoka, through the Member Federations and with the help of the modern communication tools (website of the IFJ, social networks...). This year's theme: "JUDO FOR ALL". Judo clubs will be asked to take action "in" and "outside" of their club.

Dyman Judo Club Association & Dyman Karate Associates International: How to Participate?

Feel Free and Communicate

The World Judo Day is a special day dedicated to Judo all over the world.

Thus, if you represent a continental union, a federation, a club or if you are a coach, an educator or a judoka and a judo lover, if you are a judo fan or/and if somebody from your relatives practices judo, you can gather together and participate to the World Judo Day and emphasize the theme of this third edition: Perseverance.

We have chosen October 28th for many reasons, the main one being that it is the birthday of the founder of Judo: Jigoro Kano. Today, more than 20 million people practice judo around the world on a daily basis. The IJF counts 200 national federations and five continental Unions. There is not a single spot on earth where judo is not practiced. The IJF wanted to dedicate a day to our sport in order to promote our values and our spirit. Judo is more than a sport; it is an educational tool that can help people to live together and to respect one another. Our objective is the increase the number of judo players around the World. You are the actors and the makers of the objective!

Feel free, to organize an event related to the World Judo Day.


Communicate

The World Judo Day must help you to communicate, to share experiences, to attract to your federation, regional league or club, people who have no idea about judo. It must be a powerfull tool of communication towards the public, the local, regional and national authorities and the Media.

Dyman Judo Club Association & Dyman Karate Associates International: History of judo

Contest is a vitally important aspect of judo. Early examples include the Kodokan Monthly Tournament and the biannual Red and White Tournament, both of which started in 1884 and continue to the present day.

In 1899, Kano was asked to chair a committee of the Dai Nippon Butoku Kai to draw up the first formal set of contest rules for jujutsu. These rules were intended to cover contests between different various traditional schools of jujutsu as well as practitioners of Kodokan judo. Contests were 15 minutes long and were judged on the basis of nage waza and katame waza, excluding atemi waza. Wins were by two ippons, awarded for throwing that were the opponent's back strikes flat onto the mat or by pinning them on their back for a "sufficient" amount of time or by submission. Submissions could be achieved via shime-waza or kansetsu-waza. Finger, toe and ankle locks were prohibited. In 1900, these rules were adopted by the Kodokan with amendments made to prohibit all joint locks for kyu grades and added wrist locks to the prohibited kansetsu-waza for dan grades. It was also stated that the ratio of tachi-waza to ne-waza should be between 70% to 80% for kyu grades and 60% to 70% for dan grades.

In 1916, additional rulings were brought in to further limit kansetsu waza with the prohibition of ashi garami and neck locks, as well as does jime. These were further added to in 1925, in response to Kosen judo, which concentrated on ne waza at the expense of tachi waza. The new rules banned all remaining joint locks except those applied to the elbow and prohibited the dragging down of an opponent to enter ne waza.

The All-Japan Judo Championships were first held in 1930 and have been held every year, with the exception of the wartime period between 1941 and 1948, and continue to be the highest profile tournament in Japan.

Judo's international profile was boosted by the introduction of the World Judo Championships in 1956. The championships were initially a fairly small affair, with 31 athletes attending from 21 countries in the first year. Competitors were exclusively male until the introduction of the Women's Championships in 1980, which took place on alternate years to the Men's Championships. The championships were combined in 1987 to create an event that takes place annually, except for the years in which Olympic games are held. Participation has steadily increased such that, in the most recent championships in 2011, 871 competitors from 132 countries took part.

The first time judo was seen in the Olympic Games was in an informal demonstration hosted by Kano at the 1932 Games. However, Kano was ambivalent about judo's potential inclusion as an Olympic sport:

Early life of the founder of Dyman Judo Club Association & Dyman Karate Associates International

The early history of judo is inseparable from its founder, Japanese polymath and educator Jigoro Kano (1860–1938), born Shinnosuke Kano Kano was born into a relatively affluent family. His father, Jirosaku, was the second son of the head priest of the Shinto Hiyoshi shrine in Shiga Prefecture. He married Sadako Kano, daughter of the owner of Kiku-Masamune sake brewing company and was adopted by the family, changing his name to Kano, and ultimately became an official in the Bakufu government.

Jigoro Kano had an academic upbringing and, from the age of seven, he studied English, Japanese calligraphy and the Four Confucian Texts under a number of tutors. When he was fourteen, Kano began boarding at an English-medium school, Ikuei-Gijuku in Shiba, Tokyo. The culture of bullying endemic at this school was the catalyst that caused Kano to seek out a Jujutsu dojo (training place) at which to train.

Early attempts to find a jujutsu teacher who was willing to take him on met with little success. With the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate in the Meiji Restoration of 1868, jujutsu had become unfashionable in an increasingly westernised Japan. Many of those who had once taught the art had been forced out of teaching or become so disillusioned with it that they had simply given up. Nakai Umenari, an acquaintance of Kanō's father and a former soldier, agreed to show him kata, but not to teach him. The caretaker of his father's second house, Katagiri Ryuji, also knew jujutsu, but would not teach it as he believed it was no longer of practical use. Another frequent visitor to Kanō's father's house, Imai Genshiro of Kyūshin-ryū school of jujutsu, also refused. Several years passed before he finally found a willing teacher.

In 1877, as a student at the Tokyo-Kaisei school (soon to become part of the newly founded Tokyo Imperial University), Kano learned that many jujutsu teachers had been forced to pursue alternative careers, frequently opening Seikotsu-in, traditional osteopathy practices). After inquiring at a number of these, Kano was referred to Fukuda Hachinosuke (c.1828–1880), a teacher of the Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū of jujutsu, who had a small nine mat dojo where he taught five students. Fukuda is said to have emphasized technique over formal exercise, sowing the seeds of Kano's emphasis on randori (free practice) in judo.

On Fukuda's death in 1880, Kano, who had become his keenest and most able student in both randori and kata ( pre-arranged forms), was given the densho (scrolls) of the Fukuda dojo. Kano chose to continue his studies at another Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū school, that of Iso Masatomo (c.1820–1881). Iso placed more emphasis on the practice of kata, and entrustedrandori instruction to assistants, increasingly to Kano. Iso died in June 1881 and Kano went on to study at the dojo of Iikubo Tsunetoshi (1835–1889) of Kitō-ryū . Like Fukuda, Iikubo placed much emphasis on randori, with Kitō-ryū having a greater focus on nage-waza (throwing techniques).