Real Judo—Judo Club

JMJC Debuts at World Championships

Cairo, Egypt - Four members of the Jason Morris Judo Club competed at the 2005 World Championships September 8-11th. Ronda Rousey (18) went 2-1 at her first Senior Worlds. Ronda is the current Jr. World Champion and finished 9th at the 2004 Olympics in Athens Greece. First round Ronda upset veteran, Vania Ishii of Brazil. Ishii finished 5th at the last World Championships in Osaka, Japan. Ronda dominated Ishii the entire bout and scored yuko with osoto to secure the win. Next up for Rousey was Nadeja Gerasimenko (UKR). Rousey fell behind early by 2 kokas but kept a level head and scored yuko and waza-ari before pinning Gerasimenko for the win. To get to the quarterfinal Rousey lost her bout with Alice Schlesinger (ISR). Ronda was fighting well but got caught with osoto for ippon. Schlesinger lost her next match taking Rousey out of medal contention. Katie Mocco (21) fought well posting a 1-1 record. Katie defeated Tamara Sesevic (SCG) in an exciting come from behind victory. Mocco was losing by yuko then took advantage of her first newaza opportunity and pinned Sesevic with sankaku for the win. Next up for Katie was Sisilia Rasokisoki (FIJ). Rasokisoki countered Mocco’s over eager osoto attack two minutes into the fight to score ippon eliminating Katie. Aaron Cohen (23) fought well at his second World Championship appearance. Cohen lost a tight battle with Georgian Grigol Shindjikashvili and was eliminated. Aaron got caught early for a yuko and spent the match chasing the Georgian trying to get the score back. He was able to pressure Shindjikashvili into getting a shido but time ran out before he could even the match. Carrie Chandler (23) lost her opening match to eventual bronze medalist Kum Ae An (PRK). Carrie was penalized twice for stalling before getting caught with uchimata for ippon. An lost the next round to eventual silver medalist Yuki Yokosawa (JPN) eliminating Chandler from her first Worlds. “This was a terrific first step towards Beijing,” said JMJC coach, Jason Morris. Morris also served as the Head Coach for the US squad that participated in Cairo.