Text: Hans van Essen
Photo: David Finch
How do you plan to eventually give back to judo?
I was an elite athlete for 16 years, during which time I was fully involved in judo. Now, I’m taking a break from judo and it’s good to be able to take a step back to reflect on what to do next. I now live in Japan where I work for a sports marketing company. Nowadays, instead of competing I get to watch judo competitions as as judo fan, not a competitor. I go to see student competitions and recently, I went to see the Kodokan Cup and the Tokyo Grand Slam.
At the Tokyo Grand Slam did a part of you want to get back onto the mat to compete again?
Surprisingly no but I was really happy to see a lot of friends and familiar faces. I was very impressed with the -60kg player Ryuju Nagayama. I also like watching the -100kg player Kentaro Iida. They are both very young but very strong. But the most impressive guy was the -66kg player Hifumi Abe. He’s doing every technique you can imagine.
Do you meet up with any of the top-level Japanese judokas?
I'm good friends with Tatsuaki Egusa. Among the current athletes, the one I speak to the most is Yuma Oshima. There are a few others.
Do you speak any Japanese?
I speak enough Japanese to get along, just a little bit. But I started taking serious Japanese lessons recently so I hope to become more fluent in Japanese soon.