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Judo Ireland players & coaches train in Paris

Two full-time Judo Ireland coaches, Alan Martin, Dublin & Adrian Boyle, Cavan took 7 Junior players from St. Patrick’s, Drumavaddy & Cavan Judo Clubs on a club visit to La Defence area in Paris.

This was a return visit to the Puteaux Judo Club, who visited Dublin nearly 2 years ago.

Ms. Laurie Sebastian, 1st Dan, met our group on arrival at La Defence, together with the families of the judo club members who hosted our group during our visit. Staying with these French families added to the cultural experience for all our young players, many of who were travelling out of Ireland for the first time.

After a full day’s sightseeing in Paris on the second day, we were formally welcomed to Puteaux at a reception in the evening by the club coach and many of its senior players. Lots of archival videos were shown on a large screen while we discussed methods of training, grading & coaching. We found many of the French attitudes towards these subjects quite close to our own ideas in Judo Ireland. We will certainly bring up some of their ideas at future meetings of the various bodies within Judo Ireland.

After a visit to the Eiffel Tower on the third morning we took our students to visit the all-new Institut de Judo, at Porte d’Orleans, a short metro ride from the city centre. Our players were hugely impressed by the 8 contest Tatami area in the main hall, surrounded by tiered seating above the changing rooms, mini-gyms, offices & meeting rooms. There we met with a group of young trainee judo teachers, who were studying for their coaching exams, which they will take next June. They told us how long & difficult their course is, and the fact that there is a glut of Judo Coaches in France right now. We told them that our biggest problem in Ireland was the lack of people willing to coach Judo & offered to employ some of them here when they finish their course.

That evening we took part in a training session at the permanent dojo in Puteaux, which was taken by their senior coach, Jean-Pierre. He had some different ideas to many of our Irish coaches to approaching his class. The class was clearly well constructed & organised with a light Randori session at the end of the hour & a half. After the class, the club members organised another reception with a delicious buffet, as only the French know how.

On the last day we took our players on a visit to the famous Latin Quarter, where they bought their last minute souvenirs, followed by a super lunch at the famous ‘Chartiers’ restaurant, where they tried l’escargot for the first time. Then we just had a little time for a visit to the outdoor ice rink at the Hotel de Ville, before heading to the airport for our flight home.

It was a truly memorable trip for all our players. With the rekindling of our relations with this & many other French judo clubs, we hope to increase the frequency of our visits there, as well as encourage many of their fine players & coaches visit us here.

Our group on this occasion included Alan Martin, Adrian Boyle, Joseph Moore, Jason Walsh, Darren McGrath, Michael Flood, James Daly, Simone Smith & Jason Smith.

Any judo club requiring assistance in organising a club visit abroad, please feel free to contact us at info@judoireland.com at any time.

Alan Martin, 3rd Dan.