20 judo lesson; 34 judo interviews

Twenty. That's the number of judo concept lessons I've written for my club members. When the lock-down was announced, I chatted with a bunch of coaches from various countries about what they are going to do. Almost everybody said we've got to offer our players some online lessons.

From what I can tell, most major judo clubs are offering some kind of online lessons. Normally it's showing them how to do high-intensity exercises or some drills with uchikomi bands or things you can do with a dummy wearing a judogi. Quite a few BJJ instructors actually demonstrated techniques with a partner.

I didn't like any of those things. I don't see the point of showing them solo exercises because there's a bunch of such videos on YouTube that the students could easily find. As for techniques — same thing: you can find so much technical stuff online.

I wanted to give them something unique. So, I decided to come up with tutorials on judo concepts. These are things that tend to get overlooked during everyday judo sessions. We're so caught up with learning the technicalities of how to do a throw or groundwork maneuver that we don't discuss important things like stance and gripping and ways to deal with different scenarios.

So far, I've managed to come up with 20 such lessons. I'll just keep going until we can reopen again. By then, my players should be very knowledgeable about judo concepts!

Thirty-four. That's the number of interviews I've done with judokas from across the globe. Most of them are competitors, many are very high-level ones, and a few are ranked within the Top 10 of the world. But I've also done interviews high-level coaches, club coaches, club players, a photographer and a journalist. The idea is to give readers a good sense of how judokas are dealing with the lock-down.

Producing these interviews is a way to let my players know more about the world of judo. I've been to many judo clubs in many different countries. But most of my players have not. I wanted them to get a sense of the different training systems that can be found in different places around the world.

It's also a good way to introduce them to the many judo personalities out there, some of whom are very interesting. I wanted them to see what these various players go through in their quest to achieve their goals.

In producing these interviews, I'm also helping my good friend, Hans Van Essen of JudoInside, by providing him with high-quality, original content. We've worked together on many projects in the past, and support each other all the time, so I'm delighted to be able to collaborate with him once again during this time of Covid-19.

How long will this series go on? Well, it'll come to an end once the lock-down is lifted. Once that happens, I'll need to focus on rebuilding my judo club. But from time to time, I will do some more of these types of interviews because people like reading them. How often do you get insights into the life of judokas in other countries?