Welcome to the Sapper Judo Tour of Cyprus 2016.
Tuesday 8 Mar 16 - A meet and greet briefing opened the tour at the Corps home, Brompton Barracks. A chance for old friends to reunite as well as a quick Dos and Don'ts, documentation check and a last chance to sort out all the items you should have brought but didn't. With the necessaries completed we made ourselves known to the local landlord for some light refreshments.
Wednesday 9 Mar 16 - Deploying to Gatwick Airport we flew to Cyprus whereupon Dave and Chris suddenly became locals, with in built knowledge of the islands geography and road network. After a detour or two we arrived at Episkopi base and settled into the accommodation.
Sapper Judo Squad
Thursday 10 Mar 16 – First job of the day, laying mats, every Judokas favourite job. Using the martial arts centre at Akrotiri base we had the space required to establish a decent mat area as well as a suitable amount of training space at the side. This was to become the home from home for the tour. Before embarking on to judo it was important for the coaches to establish the fitness levels of the team as well as weight measurements. That done it was time to introduce some creaky bodies back into judo and the vigour’s thereof. The session today was mainly aimed at getting movements and basics of judo back into people’s minds and establish a base upon which to work. A tour group will naturally have players across the spectrum of experience and skill which is to everyone’s benefit and a great learning opportunity.
Friday 11 Mar 16 – A quick mat session covering some standing movement techniques, designed to help move with greater fluidity and to create attacking opportunities, preceded a groundwork session introducing some strangles and arm bars. This extra training proved invaluable when we could put it into practice during an evening visit to a local Judo club. Training with other clubs, particularly abroad, is a great way to learn and gain from their experience. What we hadn’t fully taken into consideration was the considerable impact that fatigue coupled with a hotter climate made us a rather tired opposition and left a few members of the squad desperately hunting for oxygen.
Getting to Grips with Training
Saturday 12 Mar 16 - With bodies fully aching we reported to the dojo for a light session, focusing on learning new techniques without overly exerting ourselves. A short trip to the beach had been planned for the afternoon; going through some exercises and training routines on the sand being much more preferable to a hall in the afternoon heat, however the weather was distinctly British and so we settled for a run before retiring to watch the 6 Nations in the local rugby club.
Maj Campey RE leading the way
Finally the finish line!
Sunday 13 Mar 16 - Finally a chance to relax and rest our wearying bodies. Never a group to miss an opportunity however, we took in the Limassol Carnival Festival, watching the street parade element of a larger 12 day celebration. It was a great chance for the group to see some Cypriot culture as well as mixing with the locals. In fine form and of strong voice we cheered our appreciation of the more noteworthy displays, to the extent that the other bystanders came for pictures with us and we drew a small crowd. Fine representation of the Corps in public. With high spirits we celebrated with the locals well into the night.
Monday 15 Mar 16 - The rude awakening of physical exercise eagerly awaited our arrival on Monday morning with a crude reminder that we were on tour to do Judo and that we would have to get some good tough sessions going. The coaches duly obliged and we had several sessions throughout the day focusing on different elements and continuation of the previous weeks drills. Getting in decent mat time is critical for building the Judokas knowledge base as well as confirmation exercises to ensure we maximise the returns from a tour.
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Wednesday 16 Mar 16 - A further Training day, this time using only the morning for Judo. By now the conditioning element of the training was bearing fruit as we were starting to train at a greater intensity whilst maintaining the same recovery periods, the coaches now able to introduce a wider range of exercises and drills whilst continuing with the core skills. Whilst we principally came on tour to do Judo it is also very beneficial for anyone in martial arts to train cross discipline, and so we took advantage of the offer of a kickboxing session. Although perhaps not directly applicable the group all had good fun and there was a good element of stress relief taken out on the pads. A hearty Meze meal at the local restaurant rounded the day off nicely and gave the lads a taste of the local cuisine.
Variaty is the spice of life, and hard work!
Sgt K Quinlan – Kickboxing Masterclass
Thursday 17 Mar 16 - Today we continued with our training plan in the morning. In the afternoon we had the good fortunate of being visited by Professor XXX (Argyris Argyrides, Cypriot National Coach, 2 times World Champion), one of the top martial arts coaches in Cyprus and general master of turning opponents inside out. Using his extensive knowledge of Jujitsu we could again sample another sport but also adapt his teaching for use within Judo. A man who is simultaneously friendly as well as scary is a formidable individual. In the evening we returned once again to the Piero Judo Academy, keen to show our improvements and beat the locals. As to how successful we were we shall say it was a learning curve but most importantly we made a good contact with a foreign club and one which we can hopefully return to in the future.
This is how you tie a Royal Enginner in knots!
BJJ Masterclass Cypriot National Coach – Argyris Argyrides
Friday 18 Mar 16 - After a long week of judo it was deemed wise to have a relaxing last day on tour and incorporate some team building exercises. Starting with a karting session it was clear that the competitive spirit developed hadn't diminished in the name of ‘fun’, with several tight races and questionable racing tactics. Congratulations go to Cpl Hamilton for winning the overall Grands Prix, maximising his nimble frame for natural competitive advantage. The greatest individual feat goes to Spr Morton who managed to emulate the flying carpet by using the barriers as a ramp to cut out half the course. Desperate times call for desperate measures. In the afternoon with embarked upon the high ropes confidence course, greeted with an equal mix of eagerness and trepidation it soon became clear Musn Bartram did not particularly enjoy the ordeal. With feet once again on terra firma we enjoyed a relaxed evening and reflected upon the highlights of the tour.
To the victor, the spoils!
One happy squad, well almost!
With time for a team picture and tour analysis we returned to Larnaca airport to deploy back to the UK and begin the preparations for our upcoming competitions and events.
Back Row: WO2 Chesney, Spr Hutchinson, Lt Paske, Maj Campey, Cpl Hamilton
Front Row: Cpl Olajide, Musn Bartram, Spr Morton, LCpl Royals, LCpl Coley, Spr Scobbie
Not Pictured: Spr Smith