First up was the Australian International Judo Open in Perth, Western Australia on the weekend of Nov 12-13 where Dojo at Blue Tree Phuket founder and lead instructor Alexis Plantard won gold medals in the under 90kg senior class and master class.
Young student Oliver won a bronze medal in the boys under 30kg weight class, Oscar finished in fourth place in the under 34kg class and fellow student Gabin finished fourth in the 38kg class, losing to the eventual champion from the Philippines.
It resulted in a 12th place finish overall for the Dojo team out of 21 academies who participated, with Alexis’ achievements helping his homelnad of France to a third place finish out of 11 competing nations.
Alexis was full of praise for his blossoming students, saying: “Oliver fought very well and fully deserved his medal. He only has a few weeks of training and practice under his belt, as does Oscar, but both showed incredible fighting skills and truly brave attitudes.”
Alexis also had special praise for Gabin who he explained has less than a year’s experience in the sport but demonstrated some excellent skills that will boost his confidence immeasurably for future tournaments.
Next up was the Indonesia International Judo Open in Jakarta on the weekend of Dec 3-4, where more than 500 athletes from 10 countries participated.
Dojo at Blue Tree Phuket had eight athletes competing, four of whom were pre-cadet class from France, Russia, Japan and China and four of whom were in the senior class, from Thailand, the United States, Syria and France.
It was a tough challenge with Valentine defeated in the first round of his competition, Thiti going out in the second round and Fadi finishing in fifth place overall after two strong fights.
The pre-cadet students fared better with Leo and Timur capturing bronze medals in their respective classes, Tomo finishing in fifth place and Gabin unfortunate to exit after the first round.
Alexis won the gold medal in his class after overcoming strong opponents from Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Japan, meaning the team claimed three medals in total and a great deal of invaluable competition experience.
Prior to this, Alexis had competed at the 13th Senior World Championships of Kurash Wrestling in Pune, India.
Held between Nov 23-28, the competition saw over 400 athletes from 70 countries taking part and the Dojo at Blue Tree lead instructor managed to claim a bronze medal.
“I am very happy with my performance and my finish,” Alexis told The Phuket News. “It took four very hard fights for me to secure a medal finish and I am delighted as it is the fifth time that I have made the podium. This is all made possible due to high levels of discipline and commitment to my training and my lifestyle.”
Alexis then came fifth at the Qazaq Kuresi World Wrestling Championship in Astana, Kazakhstan, held between Dec 12-14.
With athletes from over 50 nations taking part competition was tough and Alexis performed well to win against opponents from Pakistan and Italy (twice) before he fell to the current world champion from Poland and a local Kazak athlete who had the enthusiastic support of a 3,000-plus crowd.
French national Alexis is a fourth dan black belt in Judo and Jiu-Jitsu with 28 years’ experience practising martial arts who has won numerous accolades over the years. He established The Dojo at Blue Tree in Cherng Thalay at the start of 2020 and, under his stewardship, the pupils there have flourished.
This coming weekend (Dec 16-19) Alexis and 12 of his students from Dojo at Blue Tree Phuket are competing at the Malaysia International Judo Open.
The Dojo at Blue Tree is open daily from 10am to 7pm and all levels and ages are welcome. For further information please visit their Facebook page or email: dojo@bluetree.fun
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