Maik Edling training in a South African slum. Photos: NJV
EASTERN CAPE/NIENHAGEN. Judo trainer Maik Edling from SV Nienhagen visited the Eastern Cape in South Africa with a delegation from the Lower Saxony Judo Association. At the Ushiro Judo Academy, he and other members of the delegation gave the best judoka in the partner region of Lower Saxony the last impetus for the upcoming national championships.
It’s a set of opposites. After the NJV delegation was welcomed by the Eastern Cape sports officials with a hearty, typical lunch on Monday morning, the NJV coaches Maik Edling (SV Nienhagen), Daniel Deppe (VfL Grasdorf) and Janne Ahrenhold (Judo Team Hannover) and the head of the delegation, Julian Jelinsky (NJV), were thrown straight into the cold judo water in the afternoon. As head trainers, they took over the unit at the Ushiro Judo Academy in order to give the best judoka in the partner region of Lower Saxony the last impetus for the upcoming national championships.
Training sessions in a wide variety of local environments followed over the next few days. While the strength of squad selection at the Eastern Cape Academy of Sports’ state-of-the-art training center impressed, the NJV team also learned about other training circumstances. Despite surprising events that cannot be compared to those in Germany – no sanitary facilities, no classic judo mats, no running water, torn judo suits – the judo knowledge of the South African athletes caused enthusiasm among the Lower Saxony delegation.
The judo encounters on the mat were framed by a colorful cultural program. Discussions about sports and sports development in the Department of Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture, a reception by Eugene Johnson, the mayor of the Nelson Mandela Bay region and a visit to the local VW plant were just a few items on the agenda of the exchange.
At a mild 20 degrees, a big thank you went to Sondisa Magajana (Chairman of the Eastern Cape Judo Association and Vice President of the South African Judo Association) and Gerald Vena (Deputy Chairman of the Eastern Cape Judo Association and referee officer of the South African Judo Association), who guided the Lower Saxony judoka through the South African winter and accompany you during all events and encounters.
As part of the project funded by the LandesSportBund Niedersachsen and the Niedersächsisches Judo-Verband, the Lower Saxony quartet was looking forward to another six days at the Eastern Cape. Items on the program include the open South African championships, further training sessions and getting to know Gqerberha (the country’s own official name for Port Elizabeth) and the Eastern Cape region.
After the judoka from the Eastern Cape and the Nelson Mandela Bay region had given the NJV delegation a warm welcome, the varied program of judo and culture continued. The South African food was a particular highlight every day. The team was particularly enthusiastic about a visit to a butchery (similar to a butcher’s shop), where the people from Lower Saxony tried out traditional African dishes prepared over an open fire. The people of Lower Saxony didn’t just make new cultural experiences in the culinary sense. The visits to the townships left mixed feelings. Despite poor living conditions that differ far from European standards, the NJV delegation was impressed by the commitment, motivation, warmth and gratitude of the people they met during judo training, among other things. Regardless of the environment in which the judo training took place – whether it was a lack of sanitary facilities, waterproof roofs or poor lighting – the quality and level of the judoka hardly deviated from what visitors are used to from German mats. The differences lie more in the number of members and the structural events. While Lower Saxony has around 13,000 judoka, there are around 1,200 members in the Eastern Cape partner region.
So the interim balance of the NJV delegation is a really positive one. Because in judo matters and the pure action on the tatami, the associations are in no way inferior. The South African open championships taking place this weekend, to which the NJV judokas have been invited as guests of honour, are also eagerly awaited.
In addition to the judo training and the preparation of the Eastern Cape athletes for competitions, accompanied by the NJV coaches, tourist activities were also on the program beforehand. Park and beach visits on the Indian Ocean were just as important as a small shopping spree and a tour of the VW factory on the Eastern Cape. The municipal cemetery, where, among other things, honorable judo pioneers are buried, was also worth a visit.
The four people from Lower Saxony are accompanied on a daily basis by Sondisa Magajana (Chairman of the Eastern Cape Judo Association and Vice President of the South African Judo Association) and Gerald Vena (Deputy Chairman of the Eastern Cape Judo Association and referee of the South African Judo Association). From time to time, some athletes from the Eastern Cape region, such as the South African World Cup starter Lwazi Mapitiza, join the small tour group and bring the South African charm closer to the people of Lower Saxony with music, slang and insights into their lives bit by bit.
While the title fights for the German championships were being held in Stuttgart, a judo highlight was also on the program at the other end of the world. The entire South African judo community flocked to the Nelson Mandela Bay region to determine the winners of the national championships. Also invited was the NJV delegation, who attended the event on both days as a “special guest” and got to see really good judo.
Unlike in Germany, the South African championships of all age groups took place on the same day.
From the U15 to the U60, around 450 judoka took part in the annual event, which was held in the grandstand sports hall of Nelson Mandela University. At the first event since 2019, significantly fewer participants than usual made the mats unsafe, but the organizers were more than satisfied with the first major competition after Corona.
NJV coaches Maik Edling and Daniel Deppe warmed up the athletes from the partner region in Lower Saxony and provided the final motivation before the competitions were officially opened. Because they got to know many of the fighters from the Eastern Cape in advance in various units and accompanied the preparation for the competition, the Lower Saxony delegation cheered on the edge of the mat with the judoka from the Eastern Cape, who had meanwhile become friends, and were able to celebrate many medals.
It wasn’t just the sporting successes that caused goosebumps. In the meantime, the African cheering songs of the athletes, parents and carers of the Eastern Cape filled the large hall with a very special atmosphere that the NJV coaches will remember for a long time. With polyphonic choirs and rhythmic elements, the team on the grandstand combined their own culture with the sport of judo – and conveyed an atmosphere that went far beyond the winning slogans we are familiar with.
While the shiai tournament from 8 am to 6 pm took up the entire Saturday, the kata demonstrations the next day made do with less time. The NJV judoka were particularly surprised by the extraordinarily high number of young judoka who took part in the competitions. The fact that the young athletes were able to get a taste of competition not only in the nage no kata but also in the katame no kata through the presentation of individual groups was particularly positive.
The competition weekend ended on the beach at Gqeberha followed by dinner at the accommodation, where host Fred served one of many excellent menus for the NJV and Eastern Cape judoka.
Text: Janne Ahrenhold
The delegation with the responsible coach of the South African team from Eastern Cape
The South African champions that Maik Edling helped prepare during the week.
The team sent to South Africa by the NJV and LSB
first training session in Eastern Cape with some of the squad athletes
