Most recently, 11 members of the team were in Jakarta for the Indonesian Judo Open Championships on the weekend of Nov 18-19 where they were competing against close to 700 other fighters from 45 regional clubs and gyms.
Student Oscar has had an incredible year, developing at a fantastic pace into a very astute competitor and it was he who led the charge for the Dojo brigade.
Young Oscar triumphed after five challenging ippon matches in his cadet division, the largest category of the tournament with a total of 30 players involved.
“He is improving all the time and is very impressive,” commented Dojo lead instructor Alexis Plantard.
“In the last two months he has won all the events he has contested at international level, including at tournaments in Australia, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and now, Indonesia.
“The turning point for him was last summer when he progressed to the top three position at US open after 17 matches in three days. This gave him the belief to know he can fight anyone and win.”
Oscar was also awarded his green belt for his development and impressive results.
Elsewhere, team captain Gabin demonstated his talent by winning a bronze medal in his class to sustain his being on the podium at every event he has been involved with this year and edge to within touching distance of his blue belt classification.
The 11-year-old illustrated just how tough he is in the Indonesian capital by sending one of his opponents from Uzbekistan to hospital with a devstating massive dropping movement (thankfully the opponent was ok).
David secured a much deserved silver medal, while young Tomo won a bronze after contesting four gruelling encounters.
Despite being just 8 years old, Kiichi continues to compete in the under-12 age class, winning three of his five matches out of a total of 30 contestants, while teammate Oliver, who is the same age and fights in the same age class, reached the top seven after several very impressive performances.
Leading by example as always, coach Alexis won his four matches against Indonesian and Japanese opponents to secure his medal haul.
Prior to the tournament in Jakarta, the team travelled north to Vientiane to compete in the Laos International Judo Championships on the weekend of Nov 11-12.
Once again the medals continued to flow, with team captain Gabin showing the way by securing gold in the under-38kg weight class, while Oscar won top honours in the under-32kg class.
Oliver won a bronze medal in the under-32kg, an extra impressive feat as the 8-year-old was facing off against opponents four years older.
Coach Alexis also won bronze in the open weight division althugh he was left aggrieved at what he said was sub-standard officiating which cost him the chance to claim top honours.
Flying solo
When he is not leading his team into competition, coach Alexis will often fly solo. Last Tuesday (Nov 28), for example, he faced off against the world’s best 500 wrestlers in front of 5,000 spectators at the national indoor stadium in Ashgabat, Turkmenistanat the 14th World Kurash Wrestling Championship.
Despite a very challenging draw, the Frenchman managed to overcome several opponents, including tough competition from Afghanistan, before falling at the quarter-final stage and finishing fifth after defeat to Iranian world champion and eventual winner Masoud Ghavibazoo.
Prior to this, Alexis battled through several bruising and extremely challenging encounters to finish fifth at the World Judo Championships in Abu Dhabi on Nov 3.
The bronze medal match between Alexis and his Brazilian opponent descended into an all out war, with several innocuous moves on show and penalties handed out to both fighters before Alexis took a risk chasing victory that, alas, was not to materialise.
“To finish fifth in the world, I’ll take that,” Alexis told The Phuket News. “I was close to the podium and will keep pushing until I am back there.”
Next weekend (Dec 9-10) Alexis and 19 students from the Dojo are competing at the Malaysian International Judo Open.
“All of them started from nothing, with no experience or knowledge but trained in the jungle of Phuket and are now serious athletes and will only continue to improve,” Alexis said. “I am very, very proud of all of them.”