It is with great shock and sadness that we announce the death of Barry Strettle in an accident.
Barry was the owner of the Fylde Road Martial Arts Centre and the driving force of the Judo club. He was a 7th dan judoka and was very active teacher and fighter at the club.
Nick Tuley writes:
It is a devastating blow, its such a shock because he was so fit. He did 1,000 sit ups and press ups a week, so considering his age he was extremely fit.
He didn't run this place for the money, he ran it at cost and did it because he loved it.
It had always been his dream to make the Fylde Road Club a judo centre of excellence.
Nick Tuley
There is an online book of condolence on the North West Judo site.
| Florica Patel | Dark Blue |
| John Andrews | Light Blue |
| James Ludlam | Green |
| Curtis Yates | Green |
| Andrew Catterall | Orange III |
| Hang Kong | Orange III |
| Yang Tamg | Orange III |
| Daniel Hughes | Orange II |
| Charlotte Hughes | Orange I |
| Sophie Ludlam | Orange I |
| Rebekah Brockbank | Yellow III |
| Kieren Crook | Yellow II |
| Daniel Phillips | Yellow I |
| Daniel Zhou | Yellow |
| Steve Chapman | Dark Blue |
| Richard Dudley | Light Blue |
| Craig Byrne | Purple |
| Andrew Sawyer | Purple |
| Peter Bradshaw | Green |
| Lloyd Grundy | Green |
| Martin Shaw | Orange III |
| Jamie Depport | Orange II |
| David Hughes | Orange I |
| Angus Rhodes | Yellow III |
| Stuard Bradshaw | Yellow II |
| Matthew Fort | Yellow II |
| Darren Phillips | Yellow II |
On the whole, a very good grading. Sensei Andy McDonnell was pleased with the standard, espcially the Juniors. He said that it was one of the best Junior clubs he had visited. That is not to say that everybody was perfect, but I was happy with the grades given. Special thanks to Craig, Lloyd, Zidong and Steve for being ukes at the junior grading.
Without doubt my admiration goes to James, who was injured at school last week and had a good reason to miss the grading. Not only did he try for green, but passed well despite being in pain. An example of fighting spirit for us all.
Sensei Nick Sodan
The pre-Christmas grading was very scessful. So sucessful in fact that I have still not been able to get a full list of results. If your name should be here, please e-mail me.
| John Stockdale | Light Blue |
| Zoe Tang | Green |
| Liz Hodder | Orange III |
| Steve Chapman | Orange II |
| Kate Tottle | Orange II |
| Richard Yates | Orange |
| Catherine Ransom | Yellow II |
| Ricardo | Yellow II |
| Kieron | Yellow II |
| Charlotte Crook | Yellow I |
| Ravi | Yellow I |
| Andrew McKenzie | Yellow |
| Freidy | Yellow |
| Karla | Yellow |
The grading was held on Sunday 28th in Strettles. The best result of the day was for Craig Brynewho double graded straight from novice to Orange.
| Edward Bretherton | Green |
| Matthew Robinson | Orange II |
| Craig Bryne | Orange |
| Zidong | Yellow III |
| Andy Bank | Yellow I |
| Rizwan Isap | Yellow I |
| Martin Meredith | Yellow I |
| Magda Arddeanu | Yellow |
| Mick Phoenix | Yellow |
| Carl | Yellow |
The grading panel were Senseis John Hamer, Richard Goulding and John Allen.
Sensei Lister Worthington has started a new club at Lancashire Police College. At the moment, people from outside the College can attend by invitation.
This means than Preston now has three clubs. This is very impressive for its size.
It also marks a return of Jitsu itself to its first environment. It is widely believed that the style began in the 1950's when Riukiu Myura, applied his knowledge of Nippon Shorinji Kempo to Japanese police training.
A national brown belt grading was held in Preston on the 30th of June. As always, this was a fearsome event, but Rob and Dhiren both passed.
| Dhiren Patel | Brown |
| Robert Young | Brown |
An excellent showing by the Preston juniors in the 18th of January at Strettles. All of the Preston people passed.
| Terri-Louise Cromie | Light Blue |
| Florica Patel | Purple |
| Paul Cromie | Green |
| Dwayne Hayes | Orange II |
| Robert Brown | Yellow III |
| Jason Moffat | Yellow II |
| Chris Mooney | Yellow II |
| Liam Hayes | Yellow II |
| Rebecca Tyson | Yellow II |
| Charlie Hopkinson | Yellow II |
University instructor Phil Lindsay has moved to London. The club gave him a proper send off in Roper Hall.
Meanwhile, Lister Worthington was promoted to Senior Primary at the last nationals. He has assured Jitsuka that it will not go to his head.
The fist North West Gradings of the year were held at the McDougal Centre on December th 8th. It was a real beast of a grading, but Preston did very well. Particlar mention has to go to Calvin Tang who managed to whack his own sensei with a cosh.
| Chantelle Smith | Green |
| Calvin Tan | Green |
| Edward Bretherton | Orange III |
| Matthew | Yellow III |
| Zoe Tang | Yellow III |
| Laura Burton | Yellow I |
| Jenny Bradley | Yellow |
| Andrew Collins | Yellow |
| Nicole Goltze | Yellow |
| Andrew Gallagher | Yellow |
| Alke Glet | Yellow |
| Franz Hipp | Yellow |
| Liz Hodder | Yellow |
| Juhana Huotarinen | Yellow |
| John McLoughlin | Yellow |
| Kim Osborn | Yellow |
| Richard Yates | Yellow |
| Jason | Yellow |
| Mike | Yellow |
This list is incomplete, so if you know a name which should be on it, please send it to feedback@jitsuka.org
Preston gained a new sensei on Saturday 2nd. Keren Curtis was awarded hakama at the regional course in Manchester.
While you were all watching the football, there was a grading on the 9th.
| Keren Curtis | Brown |
| Zoe Tang | Yellow |
Well done Zoe who has been far too long without a belt.
Keren missed out on her last chance for a dark blue due to injury. She also missed it this time because Shihan Birian Graham was so impressed that he awarded her a brown belt even though it was not a brown belt grading. As far as we know, this is the first time that this has ever happened.
The March grading was another good sucess. This years traditional Preston Warrior Woman was Katrina Bell who double graded to light blue.
| Katrina Bell | Light Blue |
| John Stockdale | Purple |
| Ben Wadsworth | Green |
| Deano | Orange II |
| Bernice | Orange |
| Arthur Chen | Orange |
| Calvin Tan | Orange |
| Ya-Lin | Orange |
This years December grading was very large and very sucessful.
| Katrina Bell | Green |
| Richard Dudley | Green |
| Davin Lugsden | Green |
| Simon Parkes | Green |
| Nicky Pepper | Green |
| Duncan Porteous | Green |
| Andrew Stewart | Green |
| Ben Wadsworth | Orange I |
| Bram Bekaert | Yellow II |
| Nick Carter | Yellow II |
| Chi-Kin Nam | Yellow II |
| Deano | Yellow II |
| Bernice | Yellow I |
| Arthur Chen | Yellow I |
| Jason King | Yellow I |
| Calvin Tan | Yellow I |
| Ya-Lin | Yellow |
| Duncan Porteous | Bronze | Orange |
This was definatly the year of the magical mysery tour. We managed to get lost between the hotel and the Leisure Centre every single time. And going to the nightcuub. And coming home.
The new venue did not seen to be any improvement in terms of mat space. There was however room for spectators and this made a huge difference to the feel of the competition. Everybody could get a good view of the action and this made the whole thing feel like a bigger event.
The judging was also more spectator friendly. The scores are now displayed immediatly after each "V" and gaultlet. This is more entertaining and allows you to see which judges are impressed by which things.
The grading was at the MacDonald Centre in Manchester on Martch 25. It was a very big event with juniors and seniors of all levels. The hero of the day was Chantelle Smith who managed to break a cosh on somebody in the "V".
| Anthony Asbury | Dark Blue |
| Keren Curtis | Light Blue |
| Dhiron Patel | Light Blue |
| Theo Van Kray | Purple |
| Greg Kelly | Green |
| John Stockdale | Green |
| Emily Wiltshire | Green |
| Katrina Bell | Orange II |
| Richard Dudley | Orange II |
| Nicky Pepper | Orange II |
| Thomas Heaps | Orange I |
| Matthew Moon | Orange I |
| Simon Parkes | Orange I |
| Andrew Stewart | Orange I |
| John Dickinson | Orange |
| Mark Doyle | Orange |
| David Lugsden | Orange |
| Chantelle Smith | Orange |
| Ben Heaps | Yellow III |
| James | Yellow III |
| Richard Proctor | Yellow II |
| Paul Cromie | Yellow I |
| Simon Hamilton | Yellow I |
| Dave Jenkins | Yellow I |
| Tracy Dilk | Yellow |
There was an undisputed star at this years event. The results speak for themselves.
| Keren Curtis | Gold | Female Open | |
| Keren Curtis | Gold | Female Purple Randori | |
| Keren Curtis | Gold | Female Purple Gatami-wazi | |
| Simon Hamilton | Bronze | Male Novice Randori | |
| Tracy Dilk | Bronze | Female Novice Gatami-wazi |