“On June 3, 2022, while I was engaged on a three-month mission to protect the French Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, with the Mobile Gendarmerie Squadron (EGM) 13/9 from Calais, I learn my selection in the French team for the European Military Judo Championships, which will take place on August 27, 2022 in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia.
Sandstorm and short nights
While continuing to carry out my mission, with an average of 10 hours of service per day, often at night, I therefore had to arrange my days to be able to train. In order to lose several kilos, to return to my weight category, I also had to adapt my diet, while making sure to eat enough to remain operational and last all day. I also had to work on my technique and my automatisms… And this, without my kimono and with the lawn of the Embassy as a tatami!
Other factors had to be taken into account, in particular sleep, which is of course not as restorative as usual when listening to the radio 24/7. Not to mention that the operation of the power generators, the nightclub adjoining the Embassy and the calls to prayer shortened some nights!
It was also necessary to take into account the outside temperature, often bordering on 50° C, and therefore to arrange the sports sessions. Providing the slightest effort in this heat requires a lot of energy. Knowing that at the end of the mission, precautionary measures were taken by the Embassy, due to an increase in the rate of Covid-19 infection in Iraq, which implied favoring outdoor sessions , at the expense of cardio machines and weight machines, and rearrange the training schedule accordingly.
Finally, the numerous sand and/or dust storms that took place during this period did not make things any easier, as the lungs were constantly put to the test.
Amby and Marco, the sparring partners
The operational constraint and the availability at all times often shortened certain sessions, in favor of the implementation of a defense plan, or of a reinforcement necessary to accomplish a task.
Throughout the duration of the mission, I did not have any day off, nor any exit from the embassy, to really be able to breathe and rest, but I was able to benefit from the infrastructures of the building, from a personal physical trainer, in order to have adapted sessions and optimal follow-up, as well as a mental coach, in the person of a Diplomatic Security Guard (GSD) trained in TOP methods (Techniques for Optimizing Potential) and ORFA (Optimization of Armed Forces Resources).
I also had the chance not to train alone and to be surrounded by Marco, who practices boxing at a high level, and Amby, GSD and permanent gendarme of the embassy, who practices MMA (mixed martial arts). With the latter, which weighs twice my weight, I had to work relying on technique! »
