Samoa and Beyond

Hey guys just an update from me. On November 13, I competed in my latest event for Olympic Qualification. The Samoa Judo World Cup. I had a great day and despite losing the semi final to Sasha Mehmedovic of Canada I was able to defeat my USA opponent in the bronze final and secure 3rd place and another 40 points towards my Olympic dream. The result pushed my World Ranking up to 27. On the Olympic Selection order (taking out duplicates where more then 1 athlete from a country is in qualifying position) I am now in 19th. This is a great result as the top 22 in May 2012 are selected for London and I just have to maintain my form and I will realise my dream.

Before flying out to Samoa for this competition I was able to take up an invitation to be one of the 45 instructors at the Fight For Life Cancer Fundraiser, held in Melbourne on November 6-7. The event saw over 200 students learning from such notable instructors as Richard Norton, Mark 'The Hammer' Castagnini, Dan Cherubin and more. 

That is pretty much all for me for 2010. I will be competing in the Pan Pacific BJJ Titles next week and the Victorian State Judo Championships the week after. From then I will be taking some time off from training before launching my next training block in January 2011. 

Thanks for all of your support on my Journey to London 2012.

Ivo

Fight For Life

On November 6-7 the inaugural Fight For Life seminar was held in Melbourne. The seminar saw 45 martial arts instructors from 23 different Martial Arts conduct classes. I was honoured to be asked to conduct both Judo and MMA seminars over the weekend. Instructors included Richard Norton, Mark 'The Hammer' Castagnini, Dan Cherubin and many others. The event was a raging success with over 200 participants learning Martial Arts and raising money for Cancer Research. Over $30,000 was raised and everyone involved is excited for Fight For Life 2011.

Ivo

Al Pacino's Inspirational Speech