2025 National Senior Examiners Conference

On the afternoon of Sunday 6^th March 2025, a National Senior Examiners (SE) conference was held in the excellent Samurai Judo Club facility in the West Midlands.

The event was co-presented by Commission Chair Dave Clark, Dan Gradings Manager Dave Horton-Jones, Commission member Nick Fletcher and Refereeing Commission member Martin Rivers. Commission members Kim Tilley, Ben George and Rick Kenney also contributed to the success of the day.

The conference was preceded by a Promotions Commission meeting the day before and an Area Director of Examiners meeting in the morning, so the weekend was extremely busy and productive.

There were 64 Judoka sharing their vast knowledge and experience, with over half of them holding the grade of 6^th Dan or higher. Participants who were all Senior Examiners or Trainees included members of the Promotions Commission, Area Directors of Examiners, IJF referees, ex-GB Internationals, members of the BJA Board, Judo Commission, Adaptive Commission, Kata Commission and members of area committees.

A networking lunch was held where conference delegates were able to meet up and renew old friendships whilst sharing ideas and best practices from each other’s areas. There was an incredibly positive vibe, and a fantastic start to the afternoon.

A formal bow and photograph was the official start of the conference, followed by an introduction from Dave Clark. Dave, Nick Fletcher, and Dave Horton-Jones presented proposed changes to the Dan Grade Scheme.

Their focus was on why the changes are needed, the use of the Kodokan 100 techniques, a creative approach to combinations, proposed changes to the Technical Dan grade, and changes to kata requirements. Following the presentation, Dave thanked the members of the National Promotions and Gradings Commission.

There was an extremely positive display of support for all the proposed changes, with informal discussions held during a refreshment break.

After the break, a presentation was then given by IJF referee Martin Rivers on the changes to the rules with particular relevance to their use in Dan Gradings. Martin showed some excellent video examples and gave very clear and accurate descriptions.

The conference finished with a Q&A Open Forum, which again was extremely positive, plenty of ideas suggested and recorded for consideration.

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