The Judo Way of Life

A conversation with Aoife Coughlan...Part 2!! Aoife is an Australian Judoka who competes in the -70kg category. We first talked back in 2022 shortly after Aoife won the Birmingham Commonwealth Games. If you haven't listened to this episode yet, go check it out!! In this episode we talk about her current training program and how it has evolved following the Tokyo Olympics, how this Olympic cycl...

Julien Brulard, aka The Judo Nomad,  is a French Judoka who has undertaken the greatest of Judo adventures. Travelling solo, Julien has set out to visit and practice Judo in every single country around the World…that’s 197 countries. The last time we spoke, Julien had just reached Kazakhstan and was only able to find wifi in a local Starbucks coffee shop (so you may be able to hear some milk being...

Romina is a highly accomplished grappler, specialising in Judo and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. As a Judoka, Romina has trained around the world, learning various styles of Judo, before reaching Sydney Australia, where she recently attained her Dan Grade. She won the 2021 Australian National Championships in the -52kg category. Romina is also a BJJ Brown Belt and in 2021 she won the ADCC National Champion...

 Aoife is an Australian Judoka who competes in the -70kg category. In 2021, Aoife fought in the Tokyo Olympics, placing in the Top 16 at her debut Games and followed up this in 2022 where she won Gold at her debut Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Since 2012, Aoife has won 9 Continental Championship medals, including 2 Golds. We talk about her current training program and how it has evolved o...

 Julien Brulard, aka The Judo Nomad,  is a French Judoka who has undertaken the greatest of Judo adventures. Travelling solo, Julien has set out to visit and practice Judo in every single country around the World…that’s 197 countries. With several limitations, including no flights and no hotels, at the time of recording, Julien has visited 24 countries so far and we catch up just as he r...

This episode was originally recorded for the Judo Fanatics podcast, which has unfortunately taken a long hiatus, and so was not realised on their platform. Kindly, the Judo Fanatics Team have agreed to let me share this episode with you through The JudoWay of Life. I (David Groom) have a very enjoyable conversation with American Judoka, Chuck Jefferson, where we talk about how I got started in Jud...

Alex Haecker has extensive coaching experience, working his way up through the German system, to the Sports Director at Hamburg’s Judo Association, before moving on to coach the Luxembourg National Team. More recently, Alex has relocated to Australia to coach his wife and Australian representative, Katharina Haecker, who under Alex’s guidance, has won 6 Continental Championships, multiple IJF Worl...

 Michael Horley represented Great Britain for a number of years, with career highlights including competing at the 2010 world championships in Tokyo, ranking number 1 on the European ranking list in 2013 and also winning numerous European Cup medals including gold at the prestigious German Open. Following his competition career, Michael has smoothly transitioned into High Performance Coaching...

Andy Hung began his Judo journey in his home State of Hawaii as part of the High School system there. From here, he continued his learning at the prestigious San Jose College, where he also graduated with a Business Management Degree. Andy has medalled at  numerous competitions, including the 2008 Beijing Olympic trials for the US Team, the US Miami Nationals, the NCJA Florida Championships,...

Vince represented Great Britain as a Cadet, where he fought at both the European Championships and Youth Olympics, as a Junior and Senior Level Athlete. Following an early retirement at 24years old, Vince transitioned into coaching, initially at the prestigious Camberley Judo Club, before going out on his own to build one of the UKs biggest Judo Clubs, Fighting Fitness Judo. Vince has a MSc in Adv...

Ivica originally started Judo in New Zealand, and went on to represent his country, nationally and internationally, winning multiple National and Oceania titles. He had a top 16 finish at the 2013 World Championships, competed for New Zealand at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, and was on the edge of competing in the Olympic games twice, in both London 2012 and Rio 2016. Ivica is the current coach of...

Dr. Derek Mueller is a psychologist who researches, writes, and speaks about the science of sports performance for judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He received his doctorate in clinical psychology from Pacific University in Oregon and began his judo study at Portland Judo during this time. He competes at the local, regional, and national levels in Judo and BJJ, currently training at Yungwirth Judo Ac...

Dave is the creator and host of the long running and highly successful podcast, Judo Chop Suey, which has recorded and released almost 100 episodes. In our conversation, we discuss why he started the podcast, talk about the new and old rule changes and there impact on the sport, our thoughts on the Tokyo Olympics and what we are looking forward to seeing at the Paris Games.

Mark Brewer is a strength and conditioning coach, specialising in judo and combat sports. He builds from his own basis of a career as a high level judo athlete, representing New Zealand at the Commonwealth Games in 2014 at -81kg. This conversation ranges through judo-specific topics, including benefits and differences in strength and conditioning for competitive athletes vs. recreational judoka; n...

Matt D'Aquino is an Australian judoka, coach, author, Olympian, 2 times Australian National Champion, 3 x Oceania Champion, and the Founder of Beyond Grappling. Which in 2020 was ranked as one of the top online judo platforms in the world by the International Judo Federation.

Wayne Phipps competed at the Tokyo Paralympics representing Australia in the -66kg category. He was born in South Africa, and grew up learning Judo there. Wayne went on to win the South African National Championships, and from here went on to represent South Africa internationally, with the highlight being competing at the 1993 World Championships in the -60kg category. In 2010, Wayne relocated to...

Justine is a Judo New Zealand representative who has medaled 5 times at the Oceania Continental Championships, taking the Gold in 2016. She has fought in 4 World Championships, has won numerous medals at Continental Open’s and has won 7 New Zealand National Championship titles. Leading into the Tokyo Olympics, Justine qualified for The Games through the IJF Continental Quota, however, did not meet...

Mike is Head Coach at the prestigious Kendal Judo Club, located in the idyllic Lake District National Park in the Northwest of England. As a player, Mike was coached and mentored by the great Tony Macconnell, and as a coach, Mike has continued his legacy of creating brutal training programs that utilise the great outdoors. He has coached numerous International level athletes, as well as having one...

I’m trying something different with this episode. I’m being replaced as host by Tyler Bell and has interviewed me instead. Tyler started learning Judo when he was 4 years old and I have been coaching him for three years now. Recently, he asked if he could be on the podcast and “interview” me...and I said yes! Tyler wrote down some questions and we recorded our conversation.

Ewan is currently a High Performance Coach in Alberta, Canada, and has previously been a High Performance coach in Saskatchewan and Manitoba as well. In addition to this, Ewan was the Canadian Olympic Team coach at both the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games. As a competitive Athlete, Ewan represented Canada at 3 World Championships and at both the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games. He won the 1995 Pan America...

Sophie is a two time Olympian, representing Team GB at the 2004 Athens and 2012 London Olympics. During her competitive career, she won 4 continental championship medals, a Commonwealth Games bronze medal in 2002, 7 British National championship gold medals and numerous other international titles. Sophie is now the coach for the England Talent Development Squad.

Nathan Katz is a Tokyo 2020 (2021) and 2016 Olympian and Australian representative in the -66kg category. He is a 3 time Senior Oceania Champion, 2 time Australian senior National Champion and has medalled at numerous World Cup events, including a Silver at the Asian Open.

Brian Moore is a 7th degree black belt, who has been involved in Judo as a competitor and coach since the 1960s. He is head coach at the prestigious Bacup Judo Club, where he coached players to multiple European, Commonwealth and World Championships, as well as multiple Olympic Games. He was the North West of England Area Coach for 12 years, the Great Britain Squad Coach for the under 18s team for...

Ivo Dos Santos is a third degree black belt, whose career accolades include 6 Oceania Titles, 5 Australian National Titles, countless International Medals. Ivo represented Australia at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Ivo now runs Senshi Academy in Melbourne and coaches for the Australian National Team.

Matt D'Aquino is an Australian judoka, coach, author, Olympian, 2 times Australian National Champion, 3 x Oceania Champion, and the Founder of Beyond Grappling. Which in 2020 was ranked as one of the top online judo platforms in the world by the International Judo Federation.