Miroslav said, “I love taking part in the IBSA judo events; for me it is emotional. On one hand I feel sorry for them having to manage challenges which the world is not always set up for but on the other hand I admire them a lot, because judo is hard, especially when you don’t see your opponent or the environment.
Today I saw a lot of beautiful ippon scores, possibly even the best ippon of the year. It was okuri-ashi-harai by Sardor Nurillaev from Uzbekistan. It is very important that they start the contest and every “hajime” with the grip because I think there is no other way to display their judo effectively. I also think that this makes their judo less tactical as, for example, no grip-breaking can be take place. This leads to a lot of spectacular, direct attacks.
Day 1 at the 2023 IBSA Judo Grand Prix 🥋✅#JudoTokyo #Judo #IBSA #Paralympics pic.twitter.com/pj0YM1vdO5
— Judo (@Judo) December 4, 2023
I also witnessed today good work with ashi-waza and also lots of successful harai-goshi wins. In my opinion the reason that IBSA judo often has more action is because they cannot see what is coming, which changes the the reaction times and also requires the prioritising of the ukemi to protect themselves when falling.”
Simplicity, safely and action have combined to produce a great first day at the Tokyo IBSA Grand Prix and we can’t wait for day 2.