Judo

Judo, the gentle way. A Japanese martial art and sport. Consisting of throwing and ground fighting, Judo is a dynamic exciting sport that also provides a unique self defense training. Most of all it improves those involved creating better people in virtually every country of the world.

My Judo Background:

I started Judo at the age of ten in Auckland, New Zealand. At the Massey dojo of the Rendokan Judo club, run by Ray Roberts.

Since then Judo has taken me all over the world first as a young fighter representing New Zealand.

I have been fortunate to have traveled and learnt from every Judoka I have trained with. I have tried to share this knowledge both in my own coaching and via this website that has been in existence since the early 1990's

I am presently expanding my knowledge through study. I am studying for a Judo specific degree in Sports Performance at the University of Bath.

Evidence Based Judo

Through the time I spent studying at University of Bath for my EJU level 5 Elite PErformance coach qualification, the term "Evidence Based Coaching" was coined by Dr. Mike Callan. The concept is one I believe in and try to coach based on the principle that coaching is the application of scientific knowledge.

In January 2010, I was invited to teach a clinic in Oklahoma City, USA at OKCDT, by Mike Darter of TheJudoPodcast.com.

This clinic was based in part on evidence based Judo principles, that I discussed with Mike and he kindly has edited together into a short video.

The video (below) highlights some of the ideas behind evidence based Judo Coaching and also some of how we applied it during the clinic to educate junior and senior players.

The video is available on Youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL_uqLlF7MM

Research

I am interested and involved in research for performance and participation Judo. My area of study has been performance primarily, looking at the possible relationships between attack rates and victory in Judo. This formed the basis of my BSC. dissertation and also my presentation at the 2009 International Judo Science of Judo Symposium. My research is available is available online and includes the raw data, dissertation and research poster. ( Research for the 6th International Science of Judo Symposium. "USE OF ATTACK RATE AS A PREDICTOR OF VICTORY IN OLYMPIC LEVEL JUDO" by Lance Wicks. )

This research started in 2006 with a Pilot study at the 2006 Commonwealth Judo Tornament (available here 2006 Commonwealth Judo Tournament Statistics). In 2008/2009 I expanded on this by examining the 2008 Beijing Olympic Judo Tournament. This work formed the basis of my BSC dissertation. It also was the genesis of the creation of some software written specifically to assist in the notation of Judo fights, this I made open source and is available at: Github.com.

My studies at the University of Bath also prompted my involvement with Mr. Stanislaw Sterkowicz and his Special Judo Fitness Test. This is the defacto standard for testing fitness in Judo athletes and I have had the great honour of recording a podcast with Mr. Sterkowics about the test and also created a video showing how to conduct the test, that has now been published in the Archives of Budo online journal; as well as below.

My recent areas of investigation has been into internet technology and sport (Judo) and how social media tools such as YouTube, FaceBook, Twitter, Blogs, etc can be used to enhance participation and performance sport. In 2008 I gave a keynote lecture at the University of Bath titled "Coaching Digital Natives". The slides for this talk are available on SlideShare: Coaching Digital Natives, By Lance Wicks. An overview with video clips is also available on my blog ( My Keynote "Coaching Digital Natives".

My involvement in Bath has also allowed me to be bring to the internet the University of Bath Judo Debates, where contemporary Judo issues are debated in a parliamentary style.

My current area of research is into ranking systems for international level Judo.

Special Judo Fitness test - The Sterkowicz test.

The special judo fitness test is a Judo specific fitness test devised by Stanislaw Sterkowicz. It has had considerable testing and use in all levels of Judo. The information below has proven popular and has been used by students of Judo worldwide, it is a great pleasure to be able to have been able to share the test with such a wide audience. There is much information on the test, here are a few: