Western Area Celebrates the Life of Craig Curtis

It was with the greatest sadness that we shared the news of the passing of Craig Curtis prior to Christmas. Craig was a member of Swindon Judo Club for over 40 years winning medals at every level from Juniors through to Masters.

Craig’s love of judo ensured that he achieved so much including becoming European Masters Champion, World Masters Bronze and five times British Champion. One of his proudest moments was achieving his 6th Dan promotion.  His passion, commitment and ethics made him a great ambassador for our sport. He was a complete gentleman on and off the Tatami and a complete pleasure to train with whatever your age or level of experience.  He will be hugely missed and we extend our heartfelt condolences to his family.

The Western Area Judo Association along with support from Craig’s club Swindon and Bradley Stoke Judo Club put together a very special Christmas Memorial Randori get together at Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre on Saturday 29th December.

And what a fantastic turn out to celebrate Craig Curtis with almost 200 Judoka and Friends just kept arriving into the Dojo at Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre in Bristol. It really turned out to be totally wonderful way to honour with true Judo Respect for Craig who would have loved the mass turnout.

The session, followed a quite simple little warmup, then Randori non stop across two mat sessions for 4 hours. The club welcomed judoka from every corner of the Western Area as well as visitors from London, Wales and many other regions. With decades of many British Judo Champions all on the mat together with faces from the past and present ages from 5 year old to 70 years old all just getting on the mat and just enjoying a good old fashioned pull around with a smile, no pressure, no must wins, no rivalry just a chance to celebrate and get stuck in.

The whole day was hosted by Bradley Stoke Judo Club with Pete Douglas and Simon Ward arranging the format while everyone from Swindon Judo Club were wearing special T-Shirts to remember Craig, with Roy Walker doing a fabulous job getting them all together to join in with the day.

So we simply must end with a HUGE HUGE THANK YOU…..So many people young and old just coming TOGETHER for the LOVE OF JUDO….