Judo Olympians pass on their knowledge to Royal Marine fighters

Storyline: Judo

Royal Marines joined over 1000 people worldwide in Italy for a training camp with the Great Britain Judo team and their coaches.

Green Camp 2023 allowed Royal Marines to gain invaluable experience receiving world class coaching from the Great Britain Judo team and their coaches. 

Three Olympians and five international level fighters joined them on the mat from the Great Britain contingent and were not shy to pass on their knowledge to the Royal Marine fighters.

If that was not enough, the England Development team were also training at the camp. The Development team are the next generation of GB fighters ranging from 13–19 years old who aspire to become full time athletes in the GB squad. 

The Chairman of Royal Marines Judo, WO2 Andy Farmer gave a run-down of events: “Our transit out to Rimini, Northeast Italy started nice and early on Wednesday last week arriving at 10:00 local time.

“This was followed by a short transit to the hotel in Riccione to dump bags in our rooms and grab some food. Two hours later we needed to be on the mats all kitted out ready for the first of many 2-hour training sessions.

“Each of the training sessions followed a similar construct for both morning and afternoon sessions, 15 minutes of warmups as a team followed by Randori (free practice). This free practice is a recognised serial amongst Judo fighters and in this case consisted of 5-7 rounds of 4-6 mins fighting with someone of a similar weight. 

“During and post each fight, coaches and other fighters gave feedback to fix or work on during your next fight. These Randori sessions where on twice a day, one just before lunch and one just before dinner totalling 4 hours of fights each day. 

“Post each Randori session, reviews and practices took place to work on the previously identified points ready for the next session. The sheer volume of practice, level, and variety of fighters to go up against along with the world class feedback from Olympians and Olympic level coaches was off the scale! 

“Our skills, techniques and confidence grew far beyond what we thought was possible, not only the training gained but the relationships built with the British Judo Association, specifically the GB team has set all Military Judo Associations up for more opportunities training with National level teams. Open invitations are already being sent in to future events.”

Our skills, techniques and confidence grew far beyond what we thought was possible, not only the training gained but the relationships built with the British Judo Association, specifically the GB team has set all Military Judo Associations up for more opportunities training with the National level teams.

WO2 Andy Farmer