"David makes his long awaited comeback."

7 years ago David made the difficult decision in retiring from competitive Judo due to injuries and personal set backs.
Now in his early 30's he will be making a comeback as a veteran Judoka in the World Masters Judo Championships on the 28th June 2008 in Brussels , Belgium.

Speaking to the 'Farnborough News' in April he said, "Retiring from Judo was a tough decision. For me to receive Lottery Funding, the BJA were setting me National and International medal targets which i was succeeding in doing, but they were just moving the goal posts and wanting even more. I picked up injuries and financing getting to tournaments and holding down a full time job was becoming increasingly difficult. The injuries dragged on and the politics were getting too much, so i retired gracefully at the top."

His only association with Judo since then has been the business he set up towards the end of his career, going in to schools and teaching children the Japanese martial art.

He went on to say, "I love teaching and it just came naturally. Some of the kids i teach have gone on to do well in their own competitions, but parents and the children themselves were constantly urging me to get back into fighting myself. It had always been my intention to do Judo later in life and enter the masters competitions which do not require such dedication and training. Back then the age to enter a Masters event was 35 but now it has been lowered to 30. So in the end i thought why not, particularly while my knees still work."

Since his return to competition in March he has gone on to be undefeated at his weight category of -66kgs in 2 tournaments and his only 1 defeat came in the Open weight. He beat 3 of his opponents who all weighed over 81 kgs and narrowly lost to the eventual winner who weighed a staggering 130kgs (20 stone).

Next on the agenda is the Salisbury Open on 1st June, using this as preperation for the World Masters Judo Championships at the end of June.

Salisbury Open Result, report and pictures.
( Please click on the link above )