UCLA Club Sports

The UCLA Judo Club has been increasing its efforts to expand on campus and within the martial arts community! I caught up with Andrew Kageyama, (second year bio major, 12 year Judo student and club safety officer) for some Q/A, as he recently was awarded his national judo referee certification. Here's the lowdown about Andrew and one of the emerging martial art clubs at UCLA.
 
Hrag: You passed the exams to become a certified judo referee. Can you explain that process and what you had to do to get to that level officiating?
 
Andrew:
"I've been doing judo for 12 years now and about four years ago I started reffing when I was a junior in high school. I was doing a lot of local tournaments and during that time I got certified as a regional referee."
 
"You definitely move up the ladder. I started as a regional before and then when I turned 18 and got my black belt, I was qualified to test for my national referee certification. I'm really starting to see more national referees and the program and culture is to promote it more, as some of our officials are getting older and they want to get some more involvement with the younger members."
 
"I watched a lot of film and there was also a written test in addition to the on-mat stuff. I also asked Sensei Osugi a lot of questions about a lot of situations because you never know what is going to happen."
 
H: What is the highest level of judo that one can officiate?
 
A:
"The Olympics. If I were able to make it there, that would be awesome. One of the guys evaluating me was the judo referee for the 2012 Olympics. If I ever have the chance to go to that level, I think that would be pretty fun."
 
H: Do you train in Sensei Osugi's Dojo?
 
A:
"Occasionally we'll head down and go to his practices. All the clubs in SoCal have kind of an open door policy and I hope eventually we'll be able to get out to a lot different clubs and get different mat time for players."
 
"When you travel, you grow up a little. When I went to other friends' dojos, I was able to get a lot of feedback from other coaches. It's just an overall good experience."
 
H: Does the club have any upcoming tournaments?
 
A:
"After the first week of spring quarter; we're having a joint practice with USC and also a 5-on-5 team scrimmage against them too."
 
H: Can you talk a little about the Judo Club and their involvement with special needs athletes?
 
A:
"We had a few guys out to Riverside, where they were hosting a special-needs athletes scrimmage. They helped run the tables and registration, as well as got onto the mat and helped with scorekeeping. "
 
"Also the staff needs to assess the level of ability the athletes have. So, they do different exercises and drills to evaluate them to put them in the best competition pool. It's all about giving the athletes a chance to compete!"
 
H: How would you describe the direction of the Judo club and martial arts programs here at UCLA?
 
A:
"This year has definitely been different. Kind of because of a coaching change, but now I feel like we are really taking a step in the right direction. Last year we were kind of stagnant and not really sure what we were doing and this year we're being a lot more active in the judo community; getting into tournaments and getting our guys on the mat."
 
 
For students interested in learning more about the UCLA Judo Club please visit http://uclaclubsports.com/sports/2014/9/16/Judo.aspx for class registrations, practice schedules, and instructor bios!
 
 
GO BRUINS!