USA Judo Senior Nationals Spokane, WA May 20-21, 2023

The USA Judo Senior Nationals took place in Spokane, Washington this year. We had three competitors take part, all three being instructors for Shipyard. Mike competed in the age-group competition and Haley and Brynn competed in the kata (forms) competition. Coach Rob went along to support them.

The combative competition was held on May 20. Mike only had one other person in his 65-69 pool. After the first match, we realized that his competitor was a former world champion. It was a good effort and he got on the mat at nationals. He took home a second place.

Brynn and Haley competed in the kata competition on May 21. They were competing in two different forms, Nage no Kata (Forms of Throwing) and Ju no Kata (Forms of Gentleness). They were also competing in two different divisions for each as well, the Under 33 category and the Intermediate category, and had to preform four kata in total. Their years of judo experience and the extra work the put in this last year training specifically for this paid of very well. Brynn and Haley are now four-time national champions, winning each event!

Addition: Not long after nationals, Haley and Brynn were selected by the USA Judo National Team to represent the United States at the Pan American Judo Confederation (PJC) Veteran and Kata Championships in Guadalajara, Mexico. They will be competing in both kata in the Under 23 divisions. They will also be the first members of our club to compete internationally.

Extra addition: At the end of August Brynn, Haley, and Mike finally got their medals. We’ll get a picture of Mike when he’s back from vacation.