Judokas turn green belts to gold in Edmonton

Local judo green belts Dane Vasseur and son Erik brought home gold from the University of Alberta Invitational Judo Championships in Edmonton on Nov. 14.

Local judo green belts Dane Vasseur and son Erik brought home gold from the University of Alberta Invitational Judo Championships in Edmonton on Nov. 14.

Vasseur says that he always heads into a judo match with a particular plan.

“Going into a judo match a competitor tries to focus by deep breathing and clearing their head of anything but the plan of attack such as visualizing a strong grip then a particular throw,” he said. “Like any competitive sport however, you have no control over what your opponent brings to the match.”

Despite his best efforts though, the plan never works out, and this tournament was no different.

“When the referee says, ‘hajime’ (begin), you have between three and five minutes of 100 per cent intensity and your plan lasts about 10 seconds,” said Vasseur.

The green belt competitor, which is halfway to a black belt, the highest ranking in judo,  has competed at a few tournaments before, but he didn’t bring home a medal at the last two.

Vasseur competed in the Creaky Old Men (veterans 40 and up) and the Adults Intermediate yellow to blue belt under 161 pounds divisions.

In the veterans division Vasseur scored a silver medal due to a defeat by a higher ranked opponent.

“I don’t feel bad about my one loss to a brown belt who also had 20 years of wrestling in Russia,” said Vasseur.

A judo match can be won three different ways; by throwing, holding someone on their back for 25 seconds or a submission like a choke or armbar, Vasseur said.

“I did not win by submissions, but I benefitted from the ground training I received in Whitehorse by being able to defend against my competitors’ attempted chokes and having strong hold-downs of my own,” Vasseur said.

Vasseur also put his training in throws to use.

“My wins by throws were a result of the repetitive speed training I received from the numerous black and brown belts in Whitehorse,” he said.

Vasseur also had a few tricks up the sleeve of his judogi taught to him by local senseis, that threw off his competitors.

“My sensei also started me thinking about uncommon techniques such as left-handed throws which we all practice but we seldom use in actual combat,” said Vasseur. “When I aggressively gained the left grip and initiated left my opponent stopped his attack and I could sense that he had to think over his moves, kind of like when some of us men count in our heads on the dance floor.”

As he began to win more matches, Vasseur stayed focused on the match he needed to win; the gold medal round.

“I have fought other tournaments where I started out winning and then thought I was unbeatable.  In these situations I invariably end up airborne thanks to my winning opponent,” said Vasseur.

While he was upset about the loss, his wife enjoyed his air time.

“Last year my wife remarked, ‘You sure looked graceful flying through the air,’ which was well intentioned but did not stop me from sulking,” Vasseur said.

His focus paid off and allowed him to keep a clear head that won him the match.

“ I did not take anything for granted and approached the gold medal match like any other,” Vasseur said. “I ended up reacting to my opponents move with an unplanned counter sending him to the mat which surprised us both.”

During the tournament, Vasseur was only able to see one match his son competed in – and won, and it was a big one.

“Erik is also a green belt and the one match of his I was able to watch showed him win the gold medal in his division by a combination where you initiate one throw, your opponent counters and you quickly change direction of the throw, also courtesy of the training by black belts in Whitehorse,” said Vasseur.

For Vasseur the win felt great but there are lessons to be learned no matter what the outcome, he says.

“In judo I have found that like many sports, you learn more when you lose but it sure feels better when you win,” he said.