Last weekend saw Full Fat Grappling Judo and Jiu-Jitsu Club competing in Samobor, Croatia.

Cody (Chuck) Hucker, Hannah Hucker, Rafe Treasure and Daisy-Mo Hucker all competed with six hundred other participant from twelve different nations. Daisy-Mo had a shock when she first gripped up to fight as the fighting style of the Croats, Bulgarian and Czech judokas was very intense, heavily influenced by wrestling and more lenient towards forbidden techniques in the UK.

Despite throwing her opponents five times, Daisy-Mo only scored three of them, which proved to be crucial leaving her in a respectable fifth place.

Next up, Rafe Treasure. Rafe won his first fight via a hold down against a fellow Brit, held down a Croat in the next round to take his second win, only to lose to a young talented Bulgarian in the Semi Final. Rafe came back strong with a huge show stopping throw in the bronze final taking his first international silverware.

Hannah had the biggest result on the day beating three girls from different nations, one after another. She won her first fight in seven seconds, second fight in seven seconds and third fight in twenty eight seconds to progress to the final. Frustratingly, after slamming her opponent to the ground in again, seven seconds, Hannah didn’t get the win she felt she deserved and the fight carried on.

Whilst a wazari up, Hannah was then thrown herself into a non-scoring yet awkward position which winded her. After a short period of being upset and catching her breathe, the referee disqualified Hannah for taking too much time to regain her composure. Hannah settled for silver, her third international medal.

Chuck went last in the under 14’s category and started very poorly. He was beaten in the first fight and then had to win three straight fights to have a chance at any medal.

Courageously, that is exactly what he did and Chuck left with a bronze around his neck. A mixture on throws, hold-downs and turnovers highlighted exactly what he had been practicing in training.

The children then spent the remainder of their visit to Croatia skiing, eating and playing games, adding to their already wide and in-depth judo experience.

For information regarding the clubs adult and junior training session, contact Matthew on 07877 816749 or through social media platforms by searching ‘Full Fat Grappling’.

Matthew Hucker