You see, from the outside the Tonbridge Dojo may not look much but on the inside it is a breeding ground for some of the brightest judo players in the country.
In the words of head coach Chris Bowles, Yates is "quite simply awesome" and on Monday night she was at her regular training session at the Swanmead with, among others, six Great Britain junior internationals as well as three lithe, flexible, athletic members of the Courier Media Group sports desk. Yes, messrs Garrett, Harvey and Pearson joined Tonbridge Judo Club for a training session as part of their ongoing Sports Desk Challenge.
It's fair to say judo is a million miles away from bowls and curling and didn't the boys know it as they donned their suits and began their warm up. Pearson, kitted out in official Team GB attire, certainly looked the part and was fairly confident having in his words "done a bit of judo in the past". As for the other two, well, they were more concerned about the friction burns on their feet after a commando crawl.
The young starlets (not us I must add) were then taken to one side for a spot of gymnastics. For, as much as judo is a physical sport in which you need brute strength, it is also equally about technique and flexibility – these guys certainly have that in abundance.
Sadly, we didn't and Bowles proceeded to teach us a few basic judo moves.
Of course we couldn't do this on our own so enter James Sparks our crash test dummy.
Young Sparks has been in some fights in his short career but nothing could have prepared him for this.
First up was the Koshi Guruma aka the hip wheel. Bowles and Sparks demonstrated this but luckily for us our photographer didn't think it was suitable for a clear picture.
However, the Deashi Harai or advancing foot sweep certainly was and poor old Sparks was soon being thrown to the floor.
Now rule number one is never let go of your opponent – sadly Garrett wasn't listening to this advice and sent Sparks crashing to the floor. However, we had soon 'mastered' this technique and it was time for the Kata Guruma or shoulder wheel. Harvey, for some reason only known to himself, felt it was time for some WWE moves. Claiming he lost balance, with Sparks on his back, Harvey threw him over German-Suplex style and to the gasps of onlookers landed straight on the young starlet's neck. He would get his own back later by strangling Mr Harvey!!!
It was then time for Yates to enter the arena. Now, as Garrett pointed out "there is no way you'll be able to lift me over your shoulders". How wrong he was as she proceeded to throw us all to kingdom come.
Of course we couldn't leave the dojo without practicing some of our newly discovered skills on each other and it was here that Harvey and Pearson came into their own.
Legendary judo coach Dick Marcroft complimented Harvey on his Koshi Guruma technique (we don't know quite what he was watching), while Pearson got his own back on Garrett for all those hours of subbing junior football by sending him crashing onto the hard floor (he should have relaxed!) – it certainly took the wind out of his sails.
The one thing we all noticed was how quick and easy judo is to pick up and with a little bit of practice it is a sport that can make stars out of ordinary kids. Suffice to say we'll be sticking to our day job.
