Gentlemen,
I haven't had much opportunity to post here lately, so I guess I missed telling everyone about the Ugo Legrand clinic we were hosting at Orange County Judo Training Center yesterday.
Ugo over the course of two sessions taught 65 youth and adults (There were also 5 paid no shows. I will never understand that). We had the session divided by Yonen (12 and under) and Teen/Adult (13 and above). The first session was scheduled for 90 minutes and the second one for 2 hours.
The first session was kids all from Orange County Judo Training Center. All I can say is "Thank God!" We had a full mat and he was absolutely spectacular with the kids. I'm so grateful that they were all ours! I will explain why a little later.
He started with just a little warm up and then went immediately into some games that develop newaza awareness. The kids were having a great time and the parents were smiling. He then taught some drills which all led into newaza techniques that he wanted to teach them. He then taught them a tachiwaza technique with excellent explanation of movement and unbalancing. Meanwhile, my instructors on the mat are getting a lot of content they can add to the curriculum. He ended with a little randori with each of the kids which had them smiling and laughing again. He is a great believer in "Learning while playing". He got rousing applause from the kids and parents at the end of the session. To use a baseball phrase "he hit it out of the park".
Now, if that was all we got for the money we paid him, I would have been ecstastic. But he hit it out of the ballpark again with the adults. He was very technical starting with newaza and then ending with showing one of his favorite techniques. Very methodical on the newaza. showing the technique, the various responses and the counter responses to a very common situation judoka find themselves but often don't respond correctly. Again, with the tachiwaza, very clear instruction and made what looks difficult, look easy (well easier I should say). He was very helpful to everyone as he walked around the mat giving some assistance and guidance. The Class went over the 2 hour limit and he still took the time to do a Q & A. Again, all those on the mat thought it was incredible. Sensei Juan and I were getting texts for the first few hours thanking us for bringing him to OCJTC.
Let me tell you that every Sensei in So Cal who didn't send kids to the clinic blew an opportunity and I'm grateful for it. That allowed me to put more of our students on the mat. Well, I can promise you this. Not one of those kids who went to the clinic will quit over the next few months and the parents will be happy to keep bringing them. That is how we are get a return on our investment. Ugo Legrand was a great investment for us. If you are person who is serious about your judo club, he is a great guy to bring in.
Jack Hatton was in New York getting ready for the New York Open. I know Jack pretty well. I'm sure he would have loved the opportunity to learn from Ugo.
He beat Wang (S.Korea) at the 2012 Olympics for Bronze. Did he comment on the match? Plus he is 27 yrs. old. Replaced by Pierre Duprat 73K on French National judo team. Glad you are back posting on this forum.
Hatton fought this weekend at the NY open. The matches are on YOutube. Just type in New York Open 2016 Live Stream. 7 hrs. Hatton is the first match up. Problem in that you can't see the score board and Jimmy gets calls from viewers and you can hear him talk about this. Audio is terrible.
jbb,
Nobody asked Ugo about the match against Wang. Most of the questions were focused on his training outside the dojo, things he does for fun outside of judo, some questions about training in France, the life of a professional judo player there etc.
I am 100% convinced that Ugo is an incredible asset for judo clubs in the USA. I don't say that lightly. We have spent far too much time in building our club and name. We also have results in terms of membership numbers that I kind of like to think make the case we know what we are doing.
Any insights into how he trains? 
The judokas you are bringing in are top notch and international. Young enough to display their talents. Did he randori with anyone?
jbb,
Yes, he did randori with a few people. Bear in mind that he has not trained for competition in months upon months. Regardless, he did throw all the people who he did randori with.
His real value these days is as an instructor. He is impressive.
TheThrill,
A little. Basically, his training as I understand it was really judo. He did not like weights and even stretching much. He worked a lot of movement on the mat. Did not speak too kindly on static training for himself. Very much into drilling and chaining moves/movement. He was asked about randori and surprisingly he said they don't do much of it in France. Certainly not at the rate which one would do in Japan. He had two sessions a day of judo when he was on the national team. They would only do randori in one of the sessions, and then it was maybe 5-8 rounds at most.
Appreciate the feedback. Great to here this.At his level I would think even though he did not train he could handle anyone.
From my experience the Koreans and Japanese are big on tumbling/mat awareness/transition exercises/conditioning. And tons of randori/newaza from our juniors who trained there for the Sanix tournament.
jbb,
Yeah, he threw everyone there. My point is that he is not training at the same level he did when he was beating the likes of Wang. He retired and I expect he will stay retired, so now the value he brings to judo is not highlight films but coaching skils.
Yeah, he contrasted the French method with the Japanese system in terms of randori. Japanese are much bigger on it. He said it was often 20 rounds when he was over there. Same for juniors and seniors I guess.
Plus the French have so many more judokas/pipeline to replace the current stars. I think Travis keeps fighting since no one is there to replace him. When will we see another 81K "A" level player from the US?