Brian Jacks Masterclass
Drake Judo Club was delighted to bring Brian Jacks down to Plymouth to give a Masterclass on Wednesday the 6th of September.
For those of you who don't know, Brian is pretty much the most famous person to have come out of British Judo through his appearances on the BBC sports program 'Superstars'. in his chosen sport of Judo he has also won, European, World and Olympic medals, been coach of the British team and been head coach of the Budokwai amongst many many other accolades.
His day started off early as Brian was interviewed by BBC Radio Devon on the Breakfast show along with Drake Club Captain Jack Murphy
If you would like to listen to the interview then please click the following https://soundcloud.com/user-862694963/brian-jacks-jack-murphy-radio-interview
Brian then arrived in Plymouth around lunch time where he was spotted at the Barbican doing some of his famous dips for the locals!
his first class for juniors began at the Life Centre at 6pm, players from Drake and Kazoku Judo Club were given expert instruction by Brian including a chance to learn some Sutemi Waza which for some of the youngsters was there first experience of sacrifice techniques. Big thanks to Kate and Cordelia for assisting
At the end of the session Brian took questions from the juniors which included his favourite throw(Uchi Mata) Biggest non Judo achievement(world dips record) and favourite judo player(himself! and Angelo Parisi) we were also joined by BBC Spotlight and spoke to Brian, Charles and a number of our juniors including a certain Nathaniel Morgan
He then took time to speak to all 40 juniors and sign autographs and pose for pictures, some also bought a signed copy of his book ''The Mind-set of a Champion''
We then moved onto the senior class which saw Judoka travelling from all over the south west, over 10 clubs were represented including judoka from both the BJA, BJC and AJA
The class had many high grades including 4th and 5th Dan's so Brian concentrated on gripping and movement rather than specific techniques give the students his philosophy and old school brand of judo which was fantastic to see.
Brian then rounded off the evening signing books for the seniors and having more pics taken.
Drake Judo Club is proud to bring its members and indeed members of surrounding clubs the best coaching opportunities available and it was an absolute pleasure to bring Brian Jacks down to Plymouth and we hope to see him again on his next visit
