TRIBUTES

Bronze for Craig Curtis at the World Masters Judo Championships - Brussels, Belgium - 27 June 2008.

Craig Curtis sent this letter of thanks to all his Bradley Stoke training partners.

Great Teamwork
A massive thanks to everyone at Bradley Stoke who helped me and the rest of the Swindon boys prepare for the world masters. My bronze was very much a team effort; I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who fought me tooth and nail over the last 4 months.
Special thanks to Pete without doubt a prodigious talent both as a fighter and a coach. Several of my fights could easily have gone one way or the other, Pete's advice and coaching from the side was a major factor in turning things around.
Without a shadow of a doubt our training group is what the rest of the British masters are talking about and judging by the amount of enquiries Pete is getting from people to train with us, you would need the big sports hall if they all turned up.

Many thanks again, lets keep it going, roll on the Europeans in November. Craig.

International Tournament of Judo, Grisolles (Tarn-Garonne, France) - 10th and 11th May 2008

Comment on the article in The Bradley Stoke Examiner click here to see article

Cllr Brian Hopkinson // May 13, 2008 at 5:12 pm

"Well done Bradley Stoke Judo Club, the squad travelled to France and
brought back both medals and an invitation for them to return next year.
What excellent ambassadors for Bradley Stoke. Brilliant work what a
fantastic team they are for taking part in this international event with Alan,
Marc , Elliot, Bethan, Kelly, Adam, Louis , and Marc winning their medals
best wishes for future success to all team members their Trainers, and
supporters."

International Tournament of Judo, Grisolles (Tarn-Garonne, France) - 10th and 11th May 2008

Email from the competition organiser
From: Patrick Ferrara
Date: 16/05/2008 11:33:07
To: pete douglas; christophe arsac
Subject: Judo - Ours de Grisolles

Hi Pete and Christophe,
We liked much your participation and we hope to re-examine you at the time of our next edition in 2011. Indeed, we will make this tournament every 3 years.
And this time, we will have time to make the joint drive. Your passage was appreciated much and I espére that it will be the beginning of a long friendship between our 2 clubs (Tournaments, training courses...).
We know that all the young people will keep in memory this tournament. All the Steering Committee thanks you and congratulates you for your participation. The premiére series of photographs will be on our site dice Monday. You can copy the photographs which interests you. Friendships,
Patrick Ferrara

Bradley Stoke Training Day - 4 November 2007

Email of Thanks from Gary Foley 1st Dan (Dowty)
Hi all at Bradley Stoke Judo Club
Just a quick note to say we had a look at your website and thought I would let you know that the training day Nov 4th, was run really well and my two kids Lauryn Foley (Dowty) and Jay Foley both thouroghly enjoyed themselves with the games at the start and the competition, I would also like to mention we were reading the write up about the Stroud results, and noticed that you did not know the name of the lad that Louis Horne fought in the match of the day WWF contest, it was my lad Jay foley,(Stroud) ..We will definately be coming to more..
Regards
Gary Foley 1st Dan (Dowty)

Craig Curtis wins Bronze at the European Masters Competition - 18 November 2007

Letter of Thanks from Craig Curtis to Bradley Stoke Judo Club
Fresh from my medal win at the Europeans Masters, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you at Bradley Stoke for all the effort you have put in helping myself and the other guys from Swindon prepare for the Masters.
Special thanks to Pete who has turned disaster at the British closed to a Bronze in the Europeans with his good advice and coaching, it has given me an extra dimension to my game. Also thanks for opening the club every Saturday morning especially after the nationals when he had no need to leave his bed.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and see you all in the new year when preparations start for the Worlds!
Craig Curtis.

Steve Morgan gains his First Dan - Cardiff Grading - 17 June 2007


Letter of thanks from Steve Morgan to Bradley Stoke Judo Club

My name is Steve Morgan (the bigger and uglier one) and I have been training at BSJC for the last couple of years.
During the course of this time I have sustained a slight cauliflower ear, split the underside of my little toe, damaged my knee, received numerous blows to my nether regions and have been subjected to numerous unprovoked attacks from a certain Mr Goodfield. This however was a small price to pay for achieving a personal goal, which I managed to do on Sunday 17th June when I attained my black belt.

I attended a grading session at Cardiff with the two Dans (Salmon and Dowling) providing support. I honestly can't remember being quite so nervous however this quickly disappeared when I was called first onto the mat. After a cagey start I seemed to gather some momentum and managed to beat my first two opponents thereby ensuring a line up. Everything seemed to go just right and all the little gems of advice provided by Pete, Nick and James proved to be spot on and I was fortunate enough to win my next three fights to cap off a great day.

Thank you all to those regulars who have used me for canon fodder or allowed me to throw them (Dan.S, Dan.D, Phil, Elaine, Mike, Christoph etc etc), and apologies to those who I may of landed on, causing them to think, "Why have I got to fight this great oaf". Obviously a big thank you to Pete, Nick and James who tirelessly provide you with advice, moral support and unending enthusiasm.

For my next goal I am not going to think of it as attaining dan grades, my next objective is to somehow stop Nick running rings around me, put Pete under a small amount of pressure (it doesn’t matter how small), and to somehow move the immovable object that is James. This I feel could be harder to achieve than attaining a 2nd dan. Aim high!

Thanks again,
Steve Morgan.

Stephen Morgan gains his First Dan - Cardiff Grading - 29 April 2007


Letter of thanks from Stephen Morgan to Bradley Stoke Judo Club

For those of you that don't know me, my name is Stephen Morgan (one of two with the same name at the club, just to confuse things!) and I joined Bradley Stoke Judo Club in November/December 2006 after over a 10-year absence from the sport. From the start I was impressed by the friendly nature of the club and the quality of coaching provided by Nick and Pete - it didn't take long to realise BSJC is, quite rightly, one of the best and well respected clubs in the area.

Like Phil, who got his black belt earlier in April, I had considered grading a long while back having attained my 1st Kyu in the now distant past of 1992, but for various reasons I never got round to it. My first aim on restarting was to change that, though I never anticipated it would happen this quickly. Special thanks to Pete for persuading me I was ready to grade even though I wasn't sure, and together with Dan, for the invaluable matside support on the day. As for the grading I couldn't have hoped for it to go any better, starting with Ippon wins in my first two fights (a throw and strangle), which qualified me for a line out. The first fight was won on the ground followed by a throw in the second and finally another throw to win the last fight and secure my 1st Dan (finally!).

I'd like to thank everybody at BSJC, and also congratulate everybody else who graded on the day.
Stephen Morgan

Phil gets his 1st Dan - 7 April 2007

Letter of thanks from Phil to Bradley Stoke Judo Club

Well where do I start? My name is Phil and I've been attending Bradley Stoke Judo Club now since October 2006. I found the club through the B.J.A website when I started work in Bristol last year.

Since attending the club I've been supported and coached by Pete, Nick, Mike and all the regulars. Pete and Mike in particular have really encouraged and helped me focus on my techniques and doing what suits my size and ability. In short they've been fantastic! It still makes me smile when one night after a training both Mike and Pete advised me that I needed to stop sending out the scouts and start sending out the nuclear scuds to just do the throws!!!!!!! And that seems to be the Bradley Stoke ethics "Get out there have fun do the Judo and just throw them for Ippon!" After a few months of attending the club I started to realise through the Judo community just how much respect Bradley Stoke had as a club and the quality of the players that trained at the club.

I had been considering to grade for the first time since 1997 for quite a while but had never quite got the courage or confidence to just go and do it believing that I'd not got the ability or skill to earn my black belt. But Pete and Mike both believed I just need to focus on my training a little more get a bit fitter and attend a national grading and do my best…. Well what do you know they where right and on the 7th April 2007 I attended the national grading and did my line up and won all my fights earning my black belt after nearly ten years, through the support and encouragement of Pete, Mike, Nick and all the guys at the club they helped give me the support and training that I needed to attend the grading and achieve my goal to get my black belt at last!!
Thank you to everyone at Bradley Stoke Judo Club and all the support that I've been given since attending the club last year.

Phil Macefield