Julien Brulard, aka The Judo Nomad,  is a French Judoka who has undertaken the greatest of Judo adventures. Travelling solo, Julien has set out to visit and practice Judo in every single country around the World…that’s 197 countries. The last time we spoke, Julien had just reached Kazakhstan and was only able to find wifi in a local Starbucks coffee shop (so you may be able to hear some milk being frothed in the background)! Now he has made his way around to Sydney Australia and we can share a coffee together whilst we catch up on the highs and lows of Juliens journey since Kazakhstan and ..read more

Romina is a highly accomplished grappler, specialising in Judo and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. As a Judoka, Romina has trained around the world, learning various styles of Judo, before reaching Sydney Australia, where she recently attained her Dan Grade. She won the 2021 Australian National Championships in the -52kg category. Romina is also a BJJ Brown Belt and in 2021 she won the ADCC National Championships Pro Division and the UAEJJF Oceania Continental Pro Championships, which she also won in 2020. She also won the IBJJF Pan Pacific Championships and IBJJF Sydney International Open in 2019. We ta ..read more

 Aoife is an Australian Judoka who competes in the -70kg category. In 2021, Aoife fought in the Tokyo Olympics, placing in the Top 16 at her debut Games and followed up this in 2022 where she won Gold at her debut Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Since 2012, Aoife has won 9 Continental Championship medals, including 2 Golds. We talk about her current training program and how it has evolved over the years, the interesting road to the Tokyo Olympics and Birmingham Commonwealth Games and her plans for the future ..read more

 Julien Brulard, aka The Judo Nomad,  is a French Judoka who has undertaken the greatest of Judo adventures. Travelling solo, Julien has set out to visit and practice Judo in every single country around the World…that’s 197 countries. With several limitations, including no flights and no hotels, at the time of recording, Julien has visited 24 countries so far and we catch up just as he reaches Kazakhstan and is only able to find wifi in a local Starbucks coffee shop (so you may be able to hear some milk being frothed in the background)! If you want to follow or help support Julien’s ..read more

Alex Haecker has extensive coaching experience, working his way up through the German system, to the Sports Director at Hamburg’s Judo Association, before moving on to coach the Luxembourg National Team. More recently, Alex has relocated to Australia to coach his wife and Australian representative, Katharina Haecker, who under Alex’s guidance, has won 6 Continental Championships, multiple IJF World Tour medals, placed 7th at the 2018 World Championships and competed at two Olympic Games, 2016 and 2020. We discuss the German Judo system, differences between Judo in Germany, Luxembourg and Austr ..read more

 Michael Horley represented Great Britain for a number of years, with career highlights including competing at the 2010 world championships in Tokyo, ranking number 1 on the European ranking list in 2013 and also winning numerous European Cup medals including gold at the prestigious German Open. Following his competition career, Michael has smoothly transitioned into High Performance Coaching, initially at Judo Scotland and now in Saskatchewan, Canada, where he works with the Talent Squad and Development Squad ..read more

Vince represented Great Britain as a Cadet, where he fought at both the European Championships and Youth Olympics, as a Junior and Senior Level Athlete. Following an early retirement at 24years old, Vince transitioned into coaching, initially at the prestigious Camberley Judo Club, before going out on his own to build one of the UKs biggest Judo Clubs, Fighting Fitness Judo. Vince has a MSc in Advanced Sports Coaching Practice, a BJA Level 5 and UKCC Level 4 Coaching Award. We discuss coach development, how to get more people interested in coaching Judo and what we think needs to happen to gro ..read more

Ivica originally started Judo in New Zealand, and went on to represent his country, nationally and internationally, winning multiple National and Oceania titles. He had a top 16 finish at the 2013 World Championships, competed for New Zealand at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, and was on the edge of competing in the Olympic games twice, in both London 2012 and Rio 2016. Ivica is the current coach of the NSW Judo Team, Cadet Coach for the Australian Team and still finds time to coach grassroots level Judo at UNSW Judo Club, in Sydney Australia ..read more

Dr. Derek Mueller is a psychologist who researches, writes, and speaks about the science of sports performance for judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He received his doctorate in clinical psychology from Pacific University in Oregon and began his judo study at Portland Judo during this time. He competes at the local, regional, and national levels in Judo and BJJ, currently training at Yungwirth Judo Academy and Charlotte Jiu-Jitsu Academy. We talk about the mental side of training in Judo and BJJ, competition preparation, how to handle the pressure on the day of a competition and dealing with the p ..read more

Dave is the creator and host of the long running and highly successful podcast, Judo Chop Suey, which has recorded and released almost 100 episodes. In our conversation, we discuss why he started the podcast, talk about the new and old rule changes and there impact on the sport, our thoughts on the Tokyo Olympics and what we are looking forward to seeing at the Paris Games ..read more