Kazoku-Kan took 3 students over to Beverwijk, Holland to compete in the largest Adaptive competition in the world. Competitors from Israel, America, Netherlands, Germany and many more took part in this amazing competition. The weekend was split into 2 events, the first being the World Games itself and Kata championships on the Saturday and on the Sunday was the Beng Memorial tournament which is held every year in honour of Ben Van Der Eng, one of the founders of the Special needs Judo foundation.
Day one, Felicity Warburton and Liam Jones were competing in both the competition and the World Kata championships so it turned out to be a busy day for the pair.
Felicity was first up in the 90kg category and had a good pull against her first opponent, turning in for a beautiful Tai-O-Toshi to send her opponent to the Tatami and transition to hold down for her first win of the day. Her Second competition was slightly tougher with a larger opponent, but that didn't stop the momentum at all as Felicity delivered a great combination of techniques to send her opponent to the mat for her second win of the tournament. Her last fight of the day was rewarding, when she turned in and scored a straight ippon to claim the Gold position and World Champion title for 2024.
Liam was fighting on the adjacent mat to Felicity which kept Sensei Rich busy running between the 2 mats to coach both players. Liam was fighting in the 75kg category and his pool of players were slightly taller, but Liam with the heart of a lion didn't let that phase him one little bit. Liam's first fight was a strong one, despite a tremendous effort, Liam's opponent caught him and pinned him down. Liam came back strong in his second contest toppling his opponent with a lovely O-Soto-Gari for the Ippon win. His 3rd contest was a short one, but his O-Soto-Gari scored him another Ippon to win the 3rd round. A valiant effort from Liam and he comes away with the World Silver medal.
In the Afternoon we witnessed Felicity and Liam perform their Nage-No-Kata, which was performed respectfully and smoothly, the judges awarded the Gold placement for the pair, which is a fantastic achievement for them both.
On Sunday all 3 of the students were fighting for their placements in the Beng tournament.
Tyler Bedenham, who fights in the Ne-Waza position (ground) was first up and was greeted by a tough first fight, but he overcame his opponent and scored the Ippon to win his first round. His second fight proved to be no different as he had another tough opponent who gave Tyler a great contest, but in the end Tyler proved yet again he can roll with the toughest ground fighters and scored his second ippon of the day. To finish his day off, Tyler put his all into his final round and soundly beat his opponent with a beautiful hold to win him the Gold medal.
Felicity and Liam were also fighting, which resulted in Felicity fighting 2 Dan grade male competitors to grab the gold, Felicity was also asked by the organisers to assist with helping others in a different category that needed someone to give them a good pull, to which she was awarded Bronze - but the real prize here was the opportunity to help at the largest Adaptive contest in the world. Liam came away with Bronze in the Sunday Tournament, which means he was the triple crown winner, having Gold, Silver and Bronze medals awarded during the weekend.
As a surprise, Tyler was also awarded his Junior Brown belt for the work he has put in over the past 6 months and the resulting award at the Games this year, Tycho Van Der Werf, one of the founders of the Special Needs Judo Foundation presented Tyler with his new (And final Junior grade).
A fantastic weekend of Judo, seeing our adaptive family in Holland is always such a great experience and we are already looking forward to next year, which will mark the 25th Anniversary of the competition.
We are so proud of all of our students and the hard work certainly pays off.
