Photos by SAMUEL ONG

THE Selangor Judo Association's (SJA) newly established training centre at Bandar Teknologi Kajang is the result of combined effort from parents and volunteers.

After seeing how his two children benefited from taking up judo, businessman Chew Eng Kian transformed a floor of his shoplot unit in Bandar Teknologi Kajang into a training centre furnished with proper training mats.

Johnathan (back) pays close attention as the trainees practice.

“My daughter (Yen Peng, 10) and son (Boon Hou, eight) took up judo at their school in Hulu Langat two years ago.

“Besides learning a form of self-defence, judo grooms youngsters to develop good character at an early age. Our aim is to provide the opportunity for them to learn the art,” said Chew.

The facilities at the centre set up in August include multi-station weight training equipment, a recreational area, a television lounge and changing rooms.

In addition, a mural depicting slick judo moves is the pride and joy of the centre.

“The thought of retiring from teaching judo was sitting at the back of my mind when we were told to move from our previous location.

“At the same time, we were also shocked with Chew’s goodwill gesture when he offered us his premises for free,” said SJA honorary secretary Susan Cheah, 49.

Two young trainees practicing at the centre.

Cheah has teamed up with her husband Wong Joon Meng, 54, to provide free judo classes to willing students for the past 20 years.

Currently, the centre has about 100 trainees aged between four- and 55-years-old undergoing training for recreation, competition, self-defence and combat.

Classes are conducted on Wednesday and Friday evenings and Sunday mornings.

Even the more than one-hour drive from Ampang is no deterrent to SMK Taman Kosas student Khong Fai Kean, 16, who trains in Kajang.

“I have taken up the art since I was five years old. I want to continue to hone my skills in judo,” said Khong, who emerged as the national junior champion in the above 50kg category at the National Judo Championships in Malacca in 2002.

In addition, visually impaired exponents also workout at the centre once a week.

“We are able to offer a conducive training environment for the trainees because of their parents’ unconditional support to keep the centre going,” added Cheah.

Joon Meng, a former national champion also trains the Methodist Boys School (MBS) exponents at the YMCA in Brickfields.

“It is a way to play a small role in contributing to sports development at my former school,” said Joon Meng, who heads the MBS Old Boys’ Association sports section.

The couple is on a mission to promote the art to the youth in Kajang with the help of their son Johnathan Wong, 22, who has just returned from United Kingdom after pursuing his education in law.

During his stay there, Johnathan was ranked fifth in United Kingdom in the below 73kg category. He was also the Newcastle champion in the same category.

“I have been assisting my parents for the past two months. Although it can be a stressful task teaching the youngsters, I am keen to share my experience with them,” said Johnathan, a businessman.

So far, the centre has attracted more than 30 new exponents.

Kajang High School student R. Muralitharah, 14, was among the newcomers.

“I am looking forward to mastering new techniques in judo,” said Muralitharah.

Muralitharah was exposed to sparring after only three lessons.

“We are keeping a watchful eye on him (Muralitharah) because he has the potential to do well,” added Cheah, who is also the only qualified female referee in the country.

Usually, training commences with 30-minutes of conditioning, emphasising on flexibility and reflexes to develop balanced body movements.

The deafening echo of the trainees cheering their teammates when the exponents take on each other in friendly bouts is also inevitable during the session.

Grading tests are organised twice a year.

Those interested in taking up judo can call 016-271 3070 (Cheah).

SEVERAL visually impaired judo practitioners are unhappy with the Malaysian Association of the Blind (MAB) for disrupting their martial arts class.

According to Steven Looi, 24, who holds a brown-belt, the MAB has asked the Selangor Judo Association (SJA), which trains him and his counterparts, to cease all training sessions.

This is because the MAB had made arrangements to replace the SJA instructors, who had been conducting classes there for the last six years, with trainers from the Malaysian Judo Federation (MJF).

“I am used to my current instructors and am afraid that I will lag behind if someone else takes over.

Connel (left) showing Mohd Hashim Muhamad, 30, a judo tackle.

“I remember attending a training session conducted by other trainers last year and was not able to learn anything,” said Looi.

Volunteer trainer Tobin Connel, who helps train Looi, said the blind had to be familiar with their trainers in order to benefit from training sessions.

He added that training the blind in martial arts was a specialised field, which required close physical rapport between students and instructors.

“Looi, for instance, has been training with the same instructor for several years and so he knows what to listen for and is comfortable touching him (the instructor) during training,” said Connel, who is a teacher with the Alice Smith School.

He added that Looi would have to start from scratch if new instructors were brought in.

SJA president Mohan Ramakrishnan concurred and added that MBA’s move was unfair given that his organisation had taken the trouble and initiative to promote judo among the blind.

“They had not done anything to promote judo among the blind, but now that we have the classes going they want to take over,” said Mohan.

“Changing instructors may also deter some of the girls from attending the training sessions, as both MJA trainers are male,” added Mohan.

“SJA secretary Susan Cheah is the only certified female judo trainer around and the girls are comfortable with her.

“I am certain they would be uncomfortable with male instructors,” he said.

When contacted MAB sports and recreation executive Muhammad Fairuz Abdullah said SJA’s training tenure was terminated because the Malaysian Paralympic Council (MPC) wanted to intensify the training sessions.

“The MPC has taken two new coaches from the MJF to train the blind to participate in the Asia-Pacific Games in November,” he added.

Muhammad Fairuz said the decision to change the instructors was also made based on the lacklustre performance of the current batch of blind judo exponents.

“We hope to upgrade the performance of existing visually impaired trainees as well as to encourage more blind people to take up judo,” said Muhammad Fairuz.

He added that Looi and his counterparts could come to him if they had problems training with the new trainers.

“We will do whatever is necessary to ensure that the training programme goes on well as it is both the MAB and MPC’s responsibilities to oversee all sporting activities for the blind,” said Muhammad Fairuz.

He also added that MAB was unhappy that SJA had been using its (MAB’s) facilities to train SJA association members.