Foreign Coaches Praise the Exchange from Brazil
Coaches from Japan, France, Italy and Puerto Rico praise the ground techniques training
All Brazilians who participated in the largest Junior Training Camp ever organized in Brazil highlighted the opportunity to share the mats with world traditional judo schools such as the Japanese and the French. However, the representatives of the latter share the opinion of the first ones. Moreover, the foreign coaches who are in Brazil consider as well that the training camp has been very fruitful for the 27 athletes from outside Brazil.
"I believe we improved a lot our skills by watching great athletes from Brazil, Japan and France. But it is also important for them to see what they will find when they become senior since we invest in them to be elite athletes, "said Jose Garcia Cruceta, the coach and the president of the Federation from Puerto Rico.
The team from Puerto Rico is composed of Luis Miguel Rivera, Adrian Miguel Gines, Jeffrey Avilez and Litza Rivera. Ashlyn White is the representative of the United States. The French team is larger and came with nine athletes, all women. Among them, there are famous judokas such as Gneto and Posvite.
"I found the training sessions very hard. Still, they were very fruitful because the junior athletes do not master the ne-waza and Brazil has a great tradition in ground fighting. We feel a little bit the heat but now this is no longer a problem, "said the French coach Séverine Vandenhende.
The French delegation is composed of Eloise Combeau (48kg), Astride Gneto (52kg), Amelie Guihur (52kg), Sarah Harachi (57kg), Laury Posvite (57kg), Marie-Eve Gahie (70kg), Melissa Heleine (70kg), Samah Hawa Camara (78kg) and Julie Pierret (78kg).
Japan came with their men’s team: Norihito Isoda (66kg), Yuji Yamamoto (73kg), Jun Toba (73kg), Toshimasa Ogata (81kg), Tomoki Kinoshita (90kg), Genta Tanaka (+100 kg).
"One can’t say who’s better: Brazil or Japan? Both are very strong schools and this exchange will make everybody grow as athletes," said Ryuzo Testsuya, one of the team’s Japanese coaches; the other two were Hidekazu Shoda and Masahiko Tomouchi.
The Italians came with a mixed team. The Italian delegation was composed of Fabio Basile (60kg), Carmine Di Loreto (60kg), Elios Manzi (60kg), Matteo Piras (66kg), Davide Pozzi (90kg), Odette Giuffrida (52kg) and Valeria Ferrari (70kg). The coach Paolo Bianchessi considers that ground trainings are intensified this week.
"I think the Brazilian style is very similar to the Japanese one concerning its technique, but we are surprised by how much ne-waza is emphasized. There are many types of them and very educational, “Paolo Bianchessi said.
The training will go on until next Sunday, May 25th.
*With Pedro Dassoler’s contribution
