Judo tourney comes to FAU

Judo tourney comes to FAU

Published Thursday, July 13, 2006
By Mario SarmentoStaff Writer

Two of the biggest judo events in the United States are coming to Boca Raton Saturday, as the 37th Annual Junior National Judo Championships and the 13th Annual USJA Junior National Kata Championships get underway.
"This tournament should be the largest junior judo tournament in the United States," Tomodachi Judo Club President and tournament organizer Mike Szrejter said. "And it's going to be held at FAU. I'm hoping for between 600 and 800 competitors, kids 4-20 years old. And, it's going to be an awesome event."
Some members of the Tomodachi Judo Club have been training for this moment for the last four years, so this is an opportunity many have waited most of their young lives for.
"We have a few stars that we are hoping will be national medallists," Szrejter said.
Fifteen-year-old Boca Raton High sophomore Karyna Martinez is one of Tomodachi's stronger competitors. Martinez stumbled into the sport three years ago when she and a friend joined the club. That friend is long gone, but Martinez has become a judo enthusiast.
"It was really different," she said. "I hadn't really seen it before so it's a unique thing. I just wanted to go in and see what it was. And just the style and how you compete. I liked the adrenaline rush when you compete."
Martinez will be competing in the 55 or 60-kilogram division, and she has modest hopes for this event.
"I can't hope to get a gold, but I just want to do my best, that's all," she said. "I don't really care about winning."
Martinez has competed in eight tournaments, and she captured first place in her class at the Sunshine State Games.Martinez's mother Libuse has been watching her daughter excel from afar.
"It's a lot of fun," she said. "A lot of times I have to squint because I don't want to see her get hurt."
Brandon Smith, 10, is another Tomodachi member who figures to do well at the tournament. Smith and his sister got involved in the sport when their father, Tomodachi Judo Club teacher/sensei Randy Smith got his black belt.
"They both have a pretty aggressive streak in them, and it (judo) helps to control that and to balance them," Randy said.
Brandon will compete in the 32-kilogram weight class, where he is ranked second in the country."Yeah, I'm pretty excited," he said. "I just hope I come home with the gold."
Brandon's classmate Devin Richardson, 9, already won a gold and a silver medal at this event last year in the 60-kilogram division and the 4-foot-3 height division. He wants to repeat that feat, and Richarson has set even higher goals after that.
"I want to go to the Junior Olympics," he said. Richardson has excelled in a sport that his mother Kimberly Glover chose because of its nonviolent aspects.
"I didn't like karate, Tae Kwon Do, and others, because of hitting and kicking," she said. "And what do you teach your kids to do? No hitting, no kicking, nonviolence."
At the other end of the spectrum are the Diaz brothers, who are entering just their second tournament and are true neophytes in the sport.Raeny, 8, and Christian, 6, got involved through their grandfather.
"I was nervous," mother Kathy Knill said. "But now I love it."
The boys have an advantage in that they always have someone to practice their moves on.
"The throw I like is the one where you grab from the neck," Raeny said. As for feeling nervous about entering their first major competition, the boys both emphatically said, "No."
They are just some of the local names who will gather at this event. A few will also compete in the Kata Championships, which is noncompetitive judo where two opponents are judged on a choreographed routine.
Friday the contestants will register, and that is followed by Saturday's action starting at 9 a.m. for the younger kids. The older kids wrap up the tournament Sunday with a 10 a.m. start.
Admission is $7 per person per day, $10 for a two-day pass, and children 5-and-under get in free.

FONTE: Boca Raton News - FL, USA - http://www.bocaratonnews.com/