For the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, many judo fans were still hopeful of yet another showdown between Jeon and Yoshida, who was the defending Olympic champion but this was not to be as Yoshida got thrown for ippon in the first round by Adrian...

Many people wanted to see a Jeon vs Yoshida rematch but back then, international competitions were a rarity. The IJF World Tour didn’t exist and there were no Grand Slams or Grand Prix where they could meet. Furthermore, the World Championships were also...

Jeon Ki-Young's Debut Jeon Ki-Young made his World Championships debut in 1993 when he was just 19 years old. Prior to that, he had had just one international competition under his belt, the Munich World Cup where he had won a bronze medal....

  At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, the stylish Cuban player Israel Hernandez met and defeated Kenji Maruyama (Joshiro’s father) on his way to winning his first Olympic bronze medal (Hernandez would go on to win a second Olympic bronze at the 1996 Atlanta...

2020 was a good year for Paltchik 2020 was a horrible year for many people and most people would probably prefer to forget all about the year that was. But for Peter Paltchik, 2020 was the year he shone as a competitor.Q: Tel...

Ilias Iliadis is one of the most accomplished judokas in history.  At the tender age of 17, he won the Olympic Gold medal.  Six years later he would add more gold to that with a World Championship gold medal in 2010. Strength and...

Satoshi Ishii is one of the most decorated Japanese judokas in history.  Satoshi Ishii was on the 2007 World Champion Japanese judo team and in 2008 he won the gold medal in the 100+ kg division at the Beijing Summer Olympics. Since his...

Learning judo techniques in isolation can be fine when a judoka is just starting out, but overtime as the students become more involved in randori sessions and perhaps have the hopes of competing one day, it's important to begin building connections between moves...

Q: Congratulations on your win. How did you feel going into the European Championships? A: Thank you. I didn’t feel any pressure. I felt I had nothing to lose, so that gave me the right mindset to do my judo and to win!...

Italy’s Fabio Basile was not an unknown quantity when he stepped on the judo mat at the 2016 Rio Olympics. He had, after all, won the bronze medal at the European Championships that year. However, it is true that he was relatively unknown...

Q: Congratulations, with your win in Budapest you are now back to being World Ranked No. 1. How does that feel?   A: Thank you very much. Yes, I saw that I was back at No. 1. But to be honest, I do...

Many players stay in the same weight class throughout their entire senior competition career. Some would change a category, usually moving up to a higher weight class in the later stages of their career. Few would change more than one category but Olympic...

  For most players, winning the Olympic gold is the ultimate goal. Even the World title doesn’t mean as much to them. But for some athletes, Olympic gold came early. This certainly was the case for Ilias Iliadis, who won his Olympic gold...

At the 2020 Hungary Grand Slam, this youngster won a bronze medal, a milestone for this Serbian player who is still technically a junior competitor.  Q: How prepared were you for this competition? A: Despite the pandemic, I didn’t really take a break....

Judo Fanatics was able to catch up with -48kg 2020 Hungary Grand Slam Winner Distria Krasniqi.  Check out our exclusive interview with the champ. Q: How did you feel about the IJF World Tour resuming and how prepared were you for this competition?...

Please enter your name and email and answer these 10 questions for a chance to win Ilias Iliadis' new EBook. The first 10 people to get all questions correct will win a copy of his upcoming book.  Simply type your responses into the...

Shinjiro Sasaki began his study of judo at the age of six in Hiroshima, Japan where he was born. When he turned 18, he began to study the sport at the world-famous Kodokan, established by judo founder, Jigoro Kano, in 1882. Shinjiro Sasaki would...

Kelita Zupancic is a Canadian judoka who earned gold for Canada in 2010, 2013, and 2015 at the Pan American Games.  She competed in the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games representing Canada. She has joined forces with JudoFanatics.com to share all of her...

The Four Elements of a Judo ThrowIn order to become proficient at a sport like judo, it’s not enough to embed the techniques into muscle memory, it’s also crucial to understand the concepts behind the throws. There are four elements to a judo...

Andy Hung is a 3rd degree black belt and senior instructor at Portland Judo.  Andy is also the owner of the only brick and mortar retail store geared towards judokas in the Pacific Northwest, Dojo Outfitters.  In 2008, Andy Hung was an Olympic team alternate...