University Judo at the Auckland International Open

This weekend, the Barfoot & Thompson Stadium (formerly known as the ASB Stadium) featured the 2018 edition of the Auckland International Open, New Zealand's biggest annual judo competition. University had 10 people entered and came away with 5 medals. The event was a special one for us because it was the first competition following our beloved sensei's recent passing. It began with a moment's silence for one of New Zealand martial arts' OGs and also had a book that people could sign to leave their condolences.

Some highlights for our club:

• Gold Medal for Professor Stu Mitchell for the Masters Under 90kg category

• Bronze Medal for Vladimir Alekperov in the Masters under 73kg category

• Silver Medal for Thomas Renoult in the Senior Men under 90kg category

• Silver Medal for Ben Uy in the Senior Men under 100kg category

• 5 wins in a row for Thomas Renoult in the Batsugun (1 shy from an instant grade, but enough to gather points for a black belt)
• Silver Medal for Stu Mitchell and James McCombe for their Goshin-Jutsu Kata on Sunday.

As well as the written tributes, there were also other tributes on the mat. Stu Mitchell and Ben Uy began their fights with Rick's trademark battle pose (possibly contributing to their acquisition of silverware) and even attempted to use his favourite techniques, with Stu nearly completing a sankaku and Ben landing Rick's yoko-tomoe-nage armbar (seen below).

Overall, a good weekend for University as we prepare to send off our sensei at his funeral tomorrow as he departs to Kano's new dojo in the sky (where he gets a better vantage point to critique our sloppy technique).