FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact:

Shannon Kuykendall
Ferguson Marketing Systems
7040 Palmetto Park Road Ste #4 – 717
Boca Raton, FL 33433

Telephone: (888)-568-7770
Fax Number: (561).347.8474
Email Address: shannonk@rhadi.com
Web site address: www.rhadi.com

2004 Olympian and Coach Rhadi Ferguson Awarded the  United States Olympic Committee Sports Science Award of the Year for Judo at the 2007 USA Judo National Championships

Miami, Florida, April 21, 2007 — 2004 Olympian Rhadi Ferguson retired from Judo in 2005 after winning four National Championships and becoming one of the top 16 players in the World in Athens, Greece. Although he has retired from competing, once again, he did not leave the National Championships empty-handed. Ferguson was awarded the United States Olympic Committee’s Sports Science Award of the Year for Judo.
 
Since retiring in 2005 Ferguson has produced and co-produced 14 DVDs on strength and conditioning, judo and information on how to win at sport and life. He has produced fitness products, books and constantly promotes the sport of Judo while coaching his athletes to the top echelon in sport.

In 2005 Rhadi aided two of his clients to Gold medals at the 2005 US Open. In that same year, both of his clients finished in the top 10 in their respective weight classes at the World Judo Championships. In 2006 Rhadi Ferguson was a key presenter at the National Strength and Conditioning Associations National Conference and he spoke on a subject matter for which he is an expert – Bodyweight Training.  

In that same year Rhadi taught at several USA Judo Coaching Clinics and achieved the status of an “A” level Coach which makes him eligible to coach at the Olympic Games and the World Championships. Rhadi is also a contributing editor of Grappling Magazine and does his best to elevate the strength and conditioning as well as nutritional practices for those in the martial arts and judo communities.

This past weekend at the 2007 USA Judo Nationals, both of Rhadi Ferguson’s clients won the National Championship in their respective weight classes and one of his clients Taraje Williams-Murray is going to represent the United States at the 2007 World Championships and Pam American Games in Judo. Taraje has been on a blistering streak since partnering with Rhadi Ferguson and is on-track to medal at the World Championships.

The beautiful thing about Rhadi is that he has not confined his talents to the Judo mat. Rhadi is the only Olympian Judo Player to also hold a black belt in Brazilian Jiujitsu and he is the only  “A” ranked Judo Coach in the country to have coached, not only in high level judo tournaments but also at the Pride Fighting Championships and the Ultimate Fighting Championships.

When asked about the award Ferguson said, “It has always been my goal to raise the bar in my sport. I truly believe there is a void in terms of having a professional approach when it comes to proper preparation in sport. Having a collaborative sports science approach which includes but is not limited to strength and conditioning, sports psychology and sound rehabilitative practices is imperative. It is the only way to ensure optimum performance. A lot of people confine sports science to resistance training – it is so much more than that.  The lack of understanding of that ‘small’ fact can make-or-break your client’s success.”

Because of Ferguson’s many accomplishments in Judo and the grappling arena as a Coach at the 2007 USA National Championships USA Judo Awarded Rhadi Ferguson with the 2006 Sports Science Award of the Year.

Rhadi Ferguson has a host of websites and resources available to all interested. In celebration of his receiving this award Rhadi has decided to give away, instead of sell, his new book and Audio CDs in electronic format as free downloads. His new product titled “Coaching Success Secrets” is available for free at www.TheKingOfStrengthAndConditioning.com

Rhadi Ferguson is available for clinics, seminars and coaching consultations. You may contact Coach Ferguson at info@rhadi.com or by the various methods:

Shannon Kuykendall
Ferguson Marketing Systems
Telephone: (888)-568-7770
Fax Number: (561).347.8474
Email Address: shannonk@rhadi.com
Web site address: www.rhadi.com

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I was super tired on my way home from the the hotel after the meeting and getting the draws and then after the “meetings” after the meetings.

 My audio recap is below.

I’ll keep you all posted on how the Nationals are going.

Take care.

The Judo Crusader

This week are the USA Judo National Championships and I have 2 clients who are fighting who I believe will be victories. Those 2 clients are Joel Brutus – 2 Time Olympian from Haiti who now fights for the United States and Taraje Williams-Murray.

I will provide you all with some updates, interviews and information during the tournament.

Please check back to this blog for updates.

Just in case you haven’t seen my man Taraje in Action, you can check him out here:

[youtube]5r9FcEO5dyE[/youtube]

Up, up and away……….

The Judo Crusader

I believe in the fusion of Brazilian Jiujitsu and Judo

I believe that Newaza should be taught first and tachiwaza second

I believe young athletes need to learn armbars and chokes before they can do them in Judo competition so that when they become of age they can be proficient

I believe that wrestling is a perfect addition to a judoka background

I don’t believe in traveling all across the globe to practice and train unless you have exhausted all of your homeland resources (i.e. strength practices, conditioning, plannnig, resource management, tools, DVDs, books, study materials, watching film). That way your travel can be looked at as an investment and not a waste of money

I believe that our sport needs a league of Crusaders to go out and start blogging, writing, advertising, promoting, supporting and helping out the sport of judo.

I believe we can show our support by become active participants in our judo organizations.

I believe that all Brazilian Jiujitsu practitioners should cross train in judo and that all judo practitioners should cross train in BJJ at some time in their career to create a great level of respect for the sport. Hell, they come from the same root, it only makes sense.

I believe that there is more to Judo than just doing judo.

I DO NOT BELIEVE IN THE TERMS “good judo” or “bad judo”. All judo is good. The only bad judo is the kind you do when you’re talking. Talking judo SUCKS!!  If you practice SPORT JUDO that means your desire is to have “winning judo”.

I believe that traditionalist suck and the status quo is holding us back.

I believe that people like David Camarillo, Karo Parisyan, Lloyd Irvin, Flavio Canto, Leo Leite, Winston Gordon, and Rhadi Ferguson are pioneers and the new breed of grappler

I believe you can improve your judo by doing judo

I believe you can improve your judo by not doing judo

I believe that there are many ways to improve

I believe that if  you teach a move YOU SHOULD KNOW THE DEFENSE or you should not teach it!!

I believe that if  you teach a move YOU SHOULD KNOW THE DEFENSE or you should not teach it!!I believe that if  you teach a move YOU SHOULD KNOW THE DEFENSE or you should not teach it!!
I believe that if  you teach a move YOU SHOULD KNOW THE DEFENSE or you should not teach it!!I do not believe that saying, “You shouldn’t get caught in it” is the proper advice for defending

I do not believe that Brazilian Jiujitsu is just JudoI do not believe that Judo is Brazilian Jiujitsu
I believe there are many people who want to see the grappling arts grow and that includes Judo.I also believe some people get so caught up in the pursuit of the Olympics that they forget that there are more people who are NOT training for the Olympic Games than those who are and those people NEED attention too!!

I believe that the grassroots movement is THE MOST IMPORTANT movement for Judo!!!!!I believe that judo needs an initiative to invite the mixed martial arts world, the submission wrestling world and the brazilian jiujitsu world into our world so that we can all learn from each other.
THIS IS THE CRUSADE OF THE JUDO CRUSADER. WILL YOU JOIN ME? WILL YOU BE A CRUSADER TOO?

Help me to fight against the status quo!

I haven’t posted in a while and I’m sure you can understand why. I was tired after getting back from Japan and my son’s birthday party was this weekend and now another week of new challenges presents itself.   My parents are leaving tomorrow and as they leave Taraje Williams-Murray (60 kg Judo Player) comes in town for us to tighten up some loose ends on his game.

He spent the past two weeks up at Jimmy Pedro’s Judo Club in Methuen, MA.   He had a good time and learned a good deal of things. We have to cover some groundwork though and make sure that he’s sharp and drop the last couple of pounds the healthy way.

Taraje is such a good and coachable athlete that he’s very easy to work with and he’s a hard-nosed tough dude. He did very well at the New York Open last month and I’m really looking forward to him doing well at Nationals because Nationals acts as the Trials for the World Team and the Pan American Games.

Taraje has to be ready for a long and grueling day, but I’m sure he already knows that and he’s a veteran of the Trial system and has previous experience because he won the Olympic Trials in 2004.

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MMA
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On the MMA side of things, I was completely disgusted with the Bodog Fight Show that I saw last night. I expected to see a great fight between Fedor and Lindland. Instead I saw a quick fight that I think would have ended differently if Fedor was reprimanded appropriately for a couple of infractions and insubordination to the guidelines purported by the ref.  But that neither here nor there. However I would like to see a rematch.

On another note, I’m in talks and prelim negotiations with both Jeff Monson and Dennis Kang about putting out some products later in 2007 or early 2008. If there is something that you’d like to see on the MMA/No Gi side of things email me at info@rhadi.com and let me know.

Thanks.

Take care.

Up, up and Awayyyyyyyyy,

The Crusdader

P.S. Real soon I’m getting ready to release a vicious new product about how to break the judo game down like a fraction. To get in and get on the VIP early bird list go here and sign in –>  www.judosuccesssecrets.com

Here’s the Monson vs. Fujita Fight from Pride 34

[youtube]SnyYhQhH-so[/youtube]

Finally, the Judo Crusader is back in the United States!! Well, I’m in Minneapolis and I flew all the way here. My cape kept me warm, but it’s still hard to fly that long distance with no food, but I’m tough.

 While in Japan the Judo Crusader had an opportunity to meet one of his favorite Judo players of all tim – Takimoto. Takimoto won the Olympics in 2000 in the 81 kg weight class. He had flawless technique and in Pride 34 he performed very well by displaying a sweet kosoto gake and then following up with some great ground work that ended with a submission.

After the fight the Judo Crusader had an opportunity to meet with Takimoto and explain to him how glad he was to actually meet him. The Judo Crusader also told him congratulations on a job well done.

The Judo Crusader and Takimoto

Another one of The Crusader’s highlights was watching Judoka Terry Sokoudjou knock out Ricardo Arona. Terry Sokoudjou has knocked out 2 of the top light heavyweights in the world in the past 2 months. He has really shown the world that he is no joke. And will be a force to reckon with.

People often ask The Crusader how good Terry Sokoudjou is in Judo. And all The Judo Crusader can say is this….. When he and Terry were in the same weight class – The Crusader finished first. But the Crusader and Terry have never fought. But Terry did fight against Karo Parysian an dKaro beat him by Ippon. But Terry does have a great amount of skill and he is a “world class” judo player. He has won the US Open before and he does have a great amount of Judo Skill. But most importantly, he has one hell of a right hand!

Sok and Dan Henderson…..

Well, that’s it for today. The Judo Crusader is good and tired. I’m been flying all night long and now I’m very tired.

Down, Down, and Away……….

The Judo Crusader….

The announcement was made last night and the acquisition is all but final. Pride has handed over their shares and complete control to UFC.

Nobody knows what this all will mean. Butterbean isn’t sure if he’ll still be fighting MMA because he is a superheavyweight and UFC has no such division.

Frank Trigg’s not sure what he’ll be doing in terms of commentary because nothing has been determined as of yet.

And many of the fighters on this card see this as their opportunity to make a statement about how good they really are.

At any rate, this show marks the end of an era and the beginning of a new one. The real deal is this – You don’t want to go out as the loser in this show, and that is certainly true for my good friend Jeff Monson.

Jeff needs a “W” here like we all need oxygen to breathe. 

So tonight he will attack in the ring with the tenacity of a pitbull.

The Judo Crusader will be there to provide him all of the advice possible and to place him in the right frame of mind to be victorious.

If you would like to know the up-to-date results, please send an email to jeffmonson@aweber.com and place in the subject line “I need the info bro!”

P.S. It just so happened that Fujita is trained by Marco Ruas. Ruas is a good friend of mine and I use to see him all the time when I used to train with Joe Moreira in California.

 Here’s another pic with Dan Henderson…..

 Take care.

Up, up and away……..

The Judo Crusader

Right now its 11pm in Japan on April 6th and I’m wired because back home (in the Land of the Judo Cruader) its 10am.
I’m in Japan right now training with and helping out Jeff Monson train for his Pride 34 fight against Fujita.

Jeff Monson’s fight against Fujita is the main event on the card and it is entitled UFC versus Pride. Fujita is a very tough individual, but The Judo Crusader believes that Jeff Monson is going to pull out a victory, albeit a very “tight” one.

The one thing that Jeff cannot afford to do is leave this fight in the hands of the Judges. That is a big No-No as Fujita is a huge star in Japan.

The great thing about this card are that there are several Judokas on this card.

1. Terry Sokoudjou who used to fight at the US Open and is a Judoka from Cameroon rose to prominence in the Mixed Martial Arts World recently by defeating Minotouro (Rogerio Nogueira) via an EXPLOSIVE knockout. The Judo Crusader knows Terry personally and has spoken with him on several occasions and he had the opportunity to chat with Terry today at breakfast and Terry said that he’s ready. Terry is fighting Ricardo Arona who is a Brazilian Jiujitsu SPECIALIST

2. The journeyman and the best damn Tom Selleck look-alike you’re ever gonna see, Don Frye is on this card as well and he’s fighting against James “Brewster” Thompson. The Judo Crusader has had an opportunity to train with James Thompson as well and is leaning towards Don Frye taking this one but isn’t so sure. How can you ever be sure in MMA?  :-/     In Don Frye’s corner is another Judoka from Arizona who coached against me in the 2005 National Judo Championships in the Final. His name is slipping the mind of The Judo Crusader right now, but he’s a judoka none the less.

3. On this card is also the Judo Phenom Takimoto from Japan. He’s one great Judo player but he hasn’t really adapted his game well to Mixed Martial Arts yet. But The Judo Crusader is looking forward to meeting him none the less.

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EXCITING NEWS
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As soon as The Judo Crusader got to the hotel, they saw the Judo Crusaders’ powerful frame and asked him if he wanted to fight in the Pride 34 Show because they had an opening. The Judo Crusader said, “YES” (at first). But even though The Judo Crusader is strong, powerful, fast and quick, he is still (as Coach Ferguson would call him a “Chump” when it comes to his wife).  The Judo Crusader’s wife, REJECTED, the Judo Crusader’s request to make an apprearance in Pride 34 due to a previous “non-compete’ contract that the Judo Crusader has signed with his wife. The Judo Crusader’s request came right after he left his home the day after his birthday, the day before his son’s birthday and with the knowledge that he will miss his wife’s birthday.  Sooooo, The Judo Crusader’s wife has made all of the accomodations that she was willing to make for this trip.

Well, that was my on-the-spur-of-the-moment chance to get in the ring. I would have loved to do it, but I really love my marriage more 

Tomorrow The Judo Crusader has practice with Jeff Monson. I also am going to try to visit the Kodokan to take some pictures and to sightsee.

JEFF MONSON – PHOTO SHOOT PICS

RHADI FERGUSON, DON FRYE, TERRY SOKOUDJOU
IN LOBBY OF HOTEL

MONSON, FERGUSON, DENES AFTER TRAINING

[youtube]-wjna_GUg8Y[/youtube]

The Judo Crusader has been preaching for the last couple of years that people REALLY need to combine the arts of Brazilian Jiujitsu and Judo. Well, now I have even more social proof for you.

Watch the video above and if you are a believer then immediately go here