Since I began in judo in 1972, I have always liked Team tournaments, in particular the ones between clubs.

During the pandemic, many of our judo clubs have been reduced, and there has been no tournaments held in California. The idea of holding a team tournament at my dojo now seemed like good timing and like a good opportunity for our members to get back in the game.

So I contacted Jerry Hazemoto from Sawtelle Dojo and Gary Goltz from Goltz Dojo. They were instantly on board!

The advantages are many. An in-house tournament doesn’t require renting a large arena, it’s easier to control Covid testing and the event can be over within a few hours. Competitors will have an opportunity to try out their skills in a more familiar and friendly setting. We decided this time to make it an adult competitors event with white belts, colored bets and black belts.

Each of the three clubs contributed with a team of 10 players, and we matched them up as close in weight, age and rank as we could. We also added some exhibition matches for same club competitors that could not be matched up.

After the competition was over, we brought in pizza and everyone had a chance to mingle and to make new friends. The event started promptly at noon and by 2:00 PM people were on their way home.

It turned out to be a great afternoon for everyone and we will be doing this again on a regular basis.

Scrimmage Highlights 

Photo Highlights 

The Team from Goltz Judo with the host of the event

Host:

Hollywood Judo - Philippe Morotti

Referees:

- Glenn Koyama (Head, IJF B)

- Renato Ferrara (National)

- Gary Goltz (National)

- Cheryl Harai (National)

- Kenji Osugi (National)

- Jim Yoder (Regional)

- Mike Trelinski (Local)

Goltz Team: * From Cheryl Harai’s Dojo

OJ Soler - Coach

Noah Calibuso

- Age: 21

- Rank: Shodan

- Weight: 220

Aaron Day*

- Age 49

- Rank Brown belt

- Weight 150 lbs.

Robert Fulton

- Age 21

- Rank: yellow belt

- Weight: 193 lbs.

Victor Gutierrez

- Age: 26

- Rank: Brown belt

- Weight: 178 lbs.

Madison Hobbs

- Age 20

- Rank yellow belt

- Weight 157 lbs.

Thanos Syntrivanis

- Age: 18

- Rank: Brown belt

- Weight: 178 lbs.

Phillip Taylor*

- Age 24

- Orange/Green belt

- Weight 170 lbs.

David Victoria

- Age: 25

- Rank: White belt

- Weight: 205

Hollywood Team:

Philippe Morotti - Coach

Beverly Baker

- Age 50

- Rank: green

- Weight: 170 lbs.

Ryan Bratton

- Age 31

- Rank: brown

- Weight: 170 lbs.

Erick Mendez

- Age 43

- Rank: black

- Weight: 158 lbs.

Mateus Pare

- Age 43

- Rank: black

- Weight: 198 lbs.

Emmanuel Reyes

- Age 26

- Rank: black

- Weight: 135 lbs.

Sawtelle Team:

Jerry Hazemoto - Coach

Emma Chacon

- Age: 29

- Rank: Green

- Weight: 160 lbs.

Stefano Cossu

-Age: 46

-Rank: Sankyu

-Weight: 128 lbs.

George Ishii

- Age: 36

- Rank: Ikkyu

- Weight: 165 lbs.

Tae Ho Kim

- Age: 32

- Rank: White

- Weight: 160 lbs.

Miguel Maia

-Age: 37

-White

-Weight: 172 lbs.

Curtis Minami

- Age: 34

- Rank: Sankyu

- Weight: 120 lbs.

Maurice Cruz-Morales

- Age: 19

- Rank: Sankyu

- Weight: 142 lbs.

Brian Selem

- Age: 55

- Rank: Sankyu

- Weight: 186 lbs.

Jeff Suzuki

- Age: 23

- Rank: White

- Weight: 165 lbs.

Looking forward to seeing many of my friends next weekend at the Shoshinkan Scrimmage Saturday December 18th in Las Vegas!

I’m always looking for new subjects to write about regarding judo as well as contributions from my readers. Please send them to gary@garygoltz.com, thanks.