Everything online
All of Fighting Films’ past productions are now online. These include videos by judo legends such as Toshihiko Koga of Japan, Mark Huizinga of the Netherlands, Jeon Ki-Young of South Korea, Udo Quellmalz of Germany, Kosei Inoue of Japan, and Britain's own Karen Briggs and Neil Adams.
They have also been gradually releasing all the past 101 Ippons volumes as well. Since Fighting Films will no longer be producing DVDs, new 101 clips can only be found on the Superstar Judo site. But the real attraction, of course, is the newly-produced instructional videos.
The site kicked off with a set of new material by South Korea's Jeon Ki-Young who presented some new stuff on Korean judo, including the intriguing reverse seoi-nage.
This was quickly followed with appearances by Olympic Champion Ole Bischof of Germany, World Champion Advantili Tchrikishvili and Olympic silver medallist Varlam Liparteliani of Georgia, World Champion Craig Fallon of Britain and most recently, World Champion Tsagaanbaatar Khashbaatar of Mongolia.
Current players
The involvement of the two Georgian champions and the Mongolian champions Tumurkhuleg Davaadorj and Amartuvshin Dashdavaa is unusual for the fact that they are still actively competing.
Normally, only retired champions will want to reveal their techniques. This was certainly the case with champions Fighting Films worked with in the past. But Danny says these are a new breed of players.
“These top-level judokas, even those who are still competing, are really interested in what we are trying to do with Superstar Judo," says Danny. "The over-riding feeling we get from these judokas is that they want to share their style of judo and their judo heritage with the world.”
But aren’t they concerned that rivals might learn their techniques? Danny says that this is not a problem for these top-level judokas their judo is continually evolving. “Liparteliani said that he and Tchrikishvili look for at least one new detail at every training session they attend. This means their techniques are constantly evolving. If they want to be at the top they have to have this mentality.”