OLYMPICS-RIO/JAPAN-JUDO Japan’s judo team practices with Brazilian judokas in Rio for Olympic warm-up

Record ID: 147724

  • Title: OLYMPICS-RIO/JAPAN-JUDO Japan’s judo team practices with Brazilian judokas in Rio for Olympic warm-up
  • Date: 10th July 2015
  • Summary: RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL (JULY 10, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MEMBERS OF JAPAN AND BRAZIL'S NATIONAL JUDO TEAMS WARMING UP ON THE MATS BEFORE A TRAINING SESSION VARIOUS OF BRAZILIAN AND JAPANESE JUDO FIGHTERS TRAINING COACH OF THE JAPANESE JUDO TEAM, KOSEI INOUE, DURING PRACTICE VARIOUS OF TRAINING SESSION MORE OF INOUE TWO JUDOKAS FIGHTING DURING PRACTICE (SOUNDBITE) (Engli
  • Embargoed: 25th July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Brazil
  • Country: Brazil
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVADFDL0JJAW12TAD7GDFWCIH9Y0
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Japan's men's judo team sparred with Brazilian judo practitioners in Rio de Janeiro on Friday (July 10) in a joint training session as the Japanese team looks ahead to the 2016 Olympics to be held here next summer.
    The Japanese team is in Rio for three days of training to acclimatize to the Olympic host city as they look to add some hardware to their collection of world champion and Olympic medals when the Summer Games kick off in August of 2016.
    Most of Brazil's top judokas were in Toronto for the Pam American Games, but the Japanese team got the chance to wrangle with some of Brazil's top prospects from the Brazilian Judo Confederation (CBJ).
    Japan's coach, Olympic gold medalist and three time world champion Kosei Inoue, said the joint training exercises gave his athletes the opportunity to learn from Brazil's unique jiu-jitsu style of judo.
    "Our purpose here is to have a new experience. You know, like jiu-jitsu and Brazilian judo technique, you know, something like that. We're learning a lot of things from jiu-jitsu so, I'm really happy," Inoue said.
    But Brazil's technical coach, Amadeu Moura, said the practice also gave his team the chance to learn from judokas from the home of the sport including world champions Masashi Ebinuma (66kg), Naohisa Takato (60kg), Shohei Ono (73kg) and Riki Nakaya (73kg) who participated in Friday's session.
    "I think this exchange is essential. Right now Japan is still the best in the judo world. They really have great athletes, and excellent judo and we are sharing this experience with them," Moura said.
    Brazilian judoka Eric Takabatake said he was soaking up what he could from some of the best judo practitioners in the world.
    "I think we have to make the most of it. They're a strong team (Japan). They're a team with a ton of world championship and Olympic medals. I love this kind of training session. I love to learn new things. And fighting with them I think only benefits us," Takabatake said.
    The Japanese team arrived to Rio on Thursday (July 9) and will have another day of training in Rio on Saturday (July 11).
    The 2016 Olympics open on August 5, 2016.
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