Throughout the year 2020, we have offered opportunities for you to stay active and keep having fun. We have delivered you the possibility of participating in a drawing contest or of doing exercises to stay healthy. We also offered you the opportunity to learn more about preserving our environment, thanks to messages from our IJF climate ambassadors, Sabrina Filzmoser and Flavio Canto. Saying that, we will soon have some more nice surprises for you.
Despite everything, although in many places around the world it has been and remains difficult to practise our favourite sport, to find oneself on a tatami and to learn the most beautiful techniques of judo, continues to provide incomparable pleasure.
This is why we asked the national federations to help us continue to teach you what is most beautiful in judo: a perfect and well-mastered technique that allows you to throw your partner on the back to score ippon. Don't you dream of one day becoming as good as Shohei Ono or Clarisse Agbegnenou? We wish you that.
Before we get there, there are several steps to take. You don't become world champion overnight, but you can work on it every day.
To date, more than 15 federations (Japan, Uzbekistan, France, Brazil, Great Britain, Kazakhstan, Hungary, Russia, Slovenia, Morocco, Portugal, Germany, Australia, USA, South Korea) have been asked to make small, fun and interesting films that the International Judo Federation and the Judo for Children Commission have organised and that we are happy to share here and on social networks. We have already made, with the help of children from all over the world, their coaches, their parents, their clubs and their federations, nearly thirty films.
In this series, you will discover the techniques that our champions on the World Judo Tour perform brilliantly, but this time performed by children themselves.
It is certain that when you are only about ten years old and have a white, yellow, orange or green belt, you have not yet reached the level of mastery of black belts, who have years of uchi-komi and nage-komi behind them, knowing that even black belts continue to perfect themselves on a daily basis. Nevertheless, we are convinced that you can gradually approach the greatest heights and one day you will be a great judoka yourself.
Despite the small imperfections, the lack of technical and tactical mastery and while you are still growing, you will find that you can get closer to your idols, step by step.
We are also convinced that if the children of Russia, Morocco, or Japan can demonstrate these techniques then those of France, Rwanda, Panama or anywhere, can practise them too. Judo is for everyone. Judo has a universal DNA imprint. What is done in Europe can be reproduced in Oceania. An o-soto-gari in Japan will also be called an o-soto-gari in Portugal or Australia.
The educational dimension of these films is crucial and it reinforces the philosophy advocated by the IJF, namely that judo is fun, that it is useful and that we can make a lot of friends there, who share the same values. You can learn skills for life, such as learning to fall without hurting yourself, while respecting your partner.
Don't hesitate to dream and aim for the stars. It is certain that judo will allow you to win more than one.
More videos at: CLICK HERE