Ne-waza, the ground phase of judo, is not new in itself, Resko is quick to point out. What was new was making it the whole contest. “Judo already involves ground fighting; the contest takes place both standing and on the ground,” he said. “Here we simply focused more on the ground work. There are nuances in the rules that we didn’t fully figure out until the end, so as a coach it was hard to give advice without making mistakes. But she attended the seminars herself, she knew it, well done to her. It was very interesting and unusual.”
That shift reshaped how his athletes trained. “If you break a session into warm-up, main part and cool-down, the first and last parts don’t differ much,” Resko explained. “But in the main part we went deeper into ground fighting, more shime-waza, kansetsu-waza, and more emphasis on holds. In classic judo you start standing, with a throw or a takedown, and the ground work follows. Here, we were already working from Ne-waza position.”
The payoff came in the form of a podium finish. “One of my athletes, Evelina Kazacenko, took second place and won the silver medal,” he said, before making a point of sharing the credit. “Many other athletes from our club also competed. I’m her coach but I don’t want anyone to feel left out.”
For Resko, who is also involved in organising the event, the first edition brought an unexpected calm. “For me it was a new experience. Compared to usual judo events it felt calmer, less hustle, everything went smoothly,” he said.
For his young athlete, the stakes felt higher. “For Evelina it was a challenge, a new discipline, a bit more nerve-wracking because it was her first time,” he said. “First competitions, or a first new discipline, are always more nerve-wracking but she handled it. Well done.”
With the heavier categories still to come on Sunday, 30 August. Watch all actions live online via JudoTV.