8 July 2024
Muscle memory and anticipating her opponent’s actions helped Flying Officer Keresi Farouk win her gold medal in the veterans women’s division of the Judo Australian National Championships.
“You have to anticipate their moves. If you pre-empt incorrectly, you still need to have counters,” she said.
“Mostly it’s having the feel of the opponent and just leveraging their body movement; using their weight against them.”
Flying Officer Farouk, a shodan black belt, also received a silver medal in the senior women’s division at the competition on the Gold Coast in mid-June.
“I used to compete in the under 78kg category when I competed internationally for Fiji,” she said.
“Moving into the 78kg-plus category presented challenges. When you have heavier opponents, a wrong move can result in them falling on you and holding you.”
Judo is not only about physical strength. Flying Officer Farouk said it was also about mental fortitude. The challenges in training and competitions instil a sense of resilience.
Judo builds stamina and toughness while also teaching elegance through kata, according to Flying Officer Farouk.
Kata, which means ‘form’ in Japanese, refers to a choreographed pattern of movements to perfect techniques and movements.
'It’s more enjoyable to win, but you learn more from losing too.'
In judo, matches generally last four minutes. An immediate win, called an ippon, is scored by either throwing an opponent onto their back, holding an opponent on their back for 20 seconds, or forcing an opponent to submit via a strangle or joint lock.
A throw resulting in an opponent falling into their side, or a hold-down of only 15 seconds, results in a partial score, known as waza-ari. Two waza-ari scores equal an ippon score.
Able Seaman Shane Rigby, a sandan black belt who was state coach for Western Australia at the championships, has coached for almost 10 years – three of those with Defence.
Because of his 20 years practising judo, he said he was able to specialise in competition coaching – particularly grip fighting and techniques.
“I approach a competition to coach in a traditional sense, maintaining control and establishing it as well,” Able Seaman Rigby said.
Coaching levels include assistant, coach, senior coach and advanced senior coach – each requiring courses and practical components.
Private Charles Laidlaw, also a shodan black belt, earned a silver medal in the under 66kg veterans men’s division and prefers to use sacrifice techniques in fights.
“I sacrifice my standing position and use gravity to help pull them to the ground,” he said.
“Most of my wins come on the ground. I get a lot of armbars.”
His lifelong interest in martial arts was inspired by watching Chuck Norris movies with his dad.
Private Laidlaw has a philosophical approach to losses, viewing them as learning opportunities.
“Perhaps it’s because I'm an older man, but I just tell myself, ‘maybe it was more important for him to win that day’,” he said.
“It’s more enjoyable to win, but you learn more from losing too. There are specific things that my coaches are working on with me that I will fix up for the next time I fight this guy.”
The ADF was represented by seven competitors and four state coaches at the championship, along with a number of support staff.
All were members of the ADF Combat Sports Association. Information on becoming a member can be sought from adf.combatsports@defence.gov.au
