Morning Star Staff
As a tyke, Sydney Grevatt followed her mom to the dojo in Red Deer and loved seeing grown men toss one another to the judo mat.
Now 14, Grevatt will be among 200 athletes competing in a B.C. Open Tournament Saturday at the Vernon Curling Club.
“I used to go to the judo club during the adult classes and watched all the big guys throw everybody around and I always thought it would be really cool if I was the one throwing people around,” said Grevatt, a green belt.
Her mom, Donna Hanson, grew up in Vernon and is one of four sensei coaching with the local club. Sydney takes her fighting seriously.
“I tend to usually have a strategy how to go about the fights,” said Grevatt, whose ultimate goal is the Olympics. “You have to plan out what kind of throws you are going to do. You can’t always just go out there and wing it.”
Grevatt cross trains with soccer, basketball and track and field. She says judo helps her jump higher and run faster.
Athletes from Germany, England and the U.S. will fight from 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Also representing Vernon is Brendan Yakura, who celebrates his 15th birthday at the tournament.
Yakura’s father, Dean, is a sensei as was Brendan’s grandfather.
“I started at age seven,” said Brendan, a roadrunner in soccer. “I wasn’t so good right away. My first tournament was this Vernon one about seven, eight years ago, and I lost all my fights.”
Yakura is a brown belt with great balance he uses when downhill skiing.
Asked about his strengths, the smiling Yakura replied: “My agility and my technique. I’m strong, but there are some stronger guys. but I usually win with my technique and speed. If I start getting pulled down or dragged around, that’s when I start not doing so well.”
He says the coaches push him hard and after a silver at nationals last year, he wants gold in 2015.
Dallin Houston, 16, recently moved here from Lethbridge. He started judo at 11 and his grandfather was also a sensei.
“I went in six tournaments my second year and usually got gold or bronze,” said Houston, a green belt who loves ground battles.
“Dean specifically works with me on getting things perfect. There was one tournament where I messed up big time and didn’t turn my head so we worked on that.”
Houston says the dojo is a good place to blow off steam. He aims to be a black belt.
Kauner Jones, 16, has been in judo for six years. He’s a blue belt who is working on protecting his neck more when on the mat.
“I thought judo sounded interesting,” said Jones. “Instead of punching and hitting, you take someone down without hurting them.”
Hanson, who was born in Williams Lake, began judo at age 10 in Vernon.
“I had no clue about what it was, but got involved and wanted to quit after a year, and my parents said ‘no.’ After the second year, I was hooked. Forty years later and I’m still doing judo.”
Hanson has been a coach for Team Alberta while competing for Alberta and B.C. She is a national and international certified referee who loves making a difference training young people.
“Basically, you’re helping them master a set of skills that they are able to master their own body movement and also another competitor. You want to get them physically fit and mentally prepared.”
She says the athlete has to show the will and grit once shown the oportunities that come through hard work.
Judo is a respect-based sport. The Vernon club was formed in 1944 by Y. Mori, in a time when martial arts were banned in many places and Japanese Canadians even required a special police permit to meet in groups.
George Okazaki and Aubrey Comley are longtime coaches.
