Mar 15, 2016
Blind since birth, Nolan Morris overcomes opponents, disability on the judo mat
Nolan Morris may not be able to see his opponent, but the feeling he gets from competing on the judo mat is filled with passion for the sport he took up just 18 months ago.
The eight-year-old from Dawson Creek, B.C., who was born without sight, competed in his very first judo tournament this weekend at the Edmonton International Judo tournament and earned a gold medal after winning all three of his matches in the U-10 category.
“This is the best feeling in the world. I did all the hard work as a white belt, got my yellow belt and worked so hard for this day to finally compete in a tournament,” said Morris, who was born with Libras Congenital Fibrosis.
“When someone grabs a hold of me, I can feel them moving, and I just tell myself that they’re not going to knock me down.”
When Nolan stepped out on to the mat Saturday morning his father Myles, mother Jennifer, brother Liam and sister Iya looked on with great joy.
“When he first walked on to the mat, I had tears in my eyes, I was so proud,” said his father Myles.
“He was diagnosed at four months old, after we started to notice he had no light perception and no vision. It’s been a learning experience for us every day.”
Despite his disability, Nolan was eager to learn and play a sport that he could compete in against able-bodied kids his own age. His parents tried him in various sports, but couldn’t find a fit.
One day at the local recreation centre in Dawson Creek, they met sensei Bruce Sydnam, a long-time judo instructor at Norther Warrior Academy, who encouraged them to give judo a try.
Now you can’t keep Nolan off the mat.
“To be able to bring an opportunity like this to a young man who is visually impaired is quite an honour … it’s a real gift and a shining moment in my near 50 years of teaching judo,” said Sydnam.
“Competition can help us define who we are and where we stand if not within society, but within ourselves and this gives him a chance to fight one-on-one with visually intact people, and he’s been absolutely incredible to teach.
“This is a tremendous opportunity to teach him drive, worth ethic, how to handle adversity, get thrown and get back up, because he’s done that his whole life.”
Training in judo can become a person’s lifestyle. It’s a form a martial art that people of all ages can learn and compete in well into their adult life.
For Nolan, it’s also helped him live a more stable life.
“He had pretty poor balance and body movement in tight spaces and it’s improved leaps and bounds in terms of stability and his ability to move through the world,” said Myles.
“It’s been remarkable to see. This has been the best therapy he could’ve ever had. Judo’s meant a lot to us.”
Nolan won’t be the only member of his family competing this weekend. After seeing how much fun his son was having, Myles decided to take up the sport as well, taking part in the adult classes after Nolan’s finished training. Both he and Nolan are making their tournament debuts.
“This is something we can do together all throughout life,” said Myles, who will compete in the adult division on Sunday.
“I know without a doubt, I’m the more nervous one competing this weekend … not even close. But this whole weekend has given me a huge amount of pride. This experience for him has been everything we could’ve imagined and more.”
SOURCE OF GROWTH
The Edmonton International Judo Championships has grown to become a global event and it’s one of the largest judo competitions of its kind.
“This is our 11th year,” said tournament director Mark Hicks.
“We have 740 competitors and 112 black belts competing (this year). It’s a big tournament we have people from all over North America and Japan competing. This is three times the size of the Pan-American championships, so it gives you an idea how big this tournament has become.”
The tournament is held at West Edmonton Mall, and that allows the event to be showcased in a different setting in hopes of growing the sport.
Judo has become a very popular sport in Canada. Competitors from nine different provinces and two territories are taking part this weekend.
It’s also used as a training ground for coaches, referees and volunteers.
“It’s almost become a judo symposium,” said Hicks.
“We run seminars on coaching, refereeing and how to run the computer software for tournaments. This tournament has almost become a strong educational tool for us.”
Over the years, the tournament has had many former national and world champions compete, so the competition is strong, but it also has young athletes just learning the sport taking part, too.
“It’s a full skill tournament. Some places only hold tournaments for kids, or just adults. We cover all the bases. It’s a tournament for all ages,” said Hicks.
“We have a lot of family involvement where we get generations of families competing and this is very much a family sport.”
@hillsyjay
jason.hills77@yahoo.com
.