June 21 – 23 was the USA Judo Junior Olympic National and International Championships, held at the David Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburg, Pa. Four young Santa Clara residents who study at Santa Clara’s Nakano Judo Academy attended this competition to demonstrate their Japanese martial arts smarts.
Elijah Bergado, 10, won second place in the National Intermediate category and third place in the International Intermediate category, both for competitors under 28 kg.
“In the first match, I threw my opponent,” Bergado said. “The second match was about six minutes. My opponent and I were fighting, and we went to the “golden score,” which means overtime. I won. I did an ippon seoi nage, which is a throw in judo where you hook your opponent’s armpit with your bicep and then you pull the sleeve with your arm in a rainbow shape. After you go fully down, you pull the hand of the sleeve and the bicep you’re hooking onto into your chest. And then you throw your opponent over your back.”
Although Bergado got a foul, he still won the second match.
“When you get fouled, remember you didn’t lose,” Bergado said. “But maybe you should pay attention more.”
Mariah Nogami, 14, won first place in the International Juvenile category and third place in the National Juvenile category, both for competitors under 53 kg.
“Sensei Nakano always tells me before I begin fighting to take two deep breaths to get my nerves out; so I did that,” Nogami said of her gold medal win. “Once my opponent and I were fighting, I threw my opponent with a pin. I had to hold her for twenty seconds to get the full point.”
“I was fighting a girl with a strong grip,” Nogami continued, now of her bronze medal win. “How I got out of it was a counter. A counter is when someone tries to fight you with a technique and you throw them back. I won.”
Bergardo and Nogami will advance to the international competition at the 2024 Pan American Judo Championships in Havana, Cuba in December.
Also competing in the judo championships in Pittsburg was Oghuzkhan Guliyev, 13, who won third place in the International Juvenile category under 44 kg and Gustavo Gonzalez, 10, who took second place in two categories for competitors over 44 kg – National Bantam 6 and International Bantam 6.
Shintaro Nakano, owner and head coach of Nakano Judo Academy, is known to his students as “Sensei.” A fifth-degree black belt, Nakano was born and raised in Japan where he trained in judo.
Nakano praised his four students who competed in Pittsburg.
“Elijah fought hard; he has a fighting spirit,” Nakano said. “Mariah has strong mental strength. Oghuzkhan has a lot of potential. He attacks very fast and has a great gripping technique. Besides doing judo, Gustavo goes to a gym. His effort for practicing judo is tremendous.”
“A lot of people get nervous about facing their opponents and they can forget everything they learned when they are in a match,” Nakano continued. “What I usually say to my students is that everyone gets nervous. I tell them their opponents might be more nervous than they are.”
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