When you meet Daniel Noorthoek for the first time a few things will strike you. He is Square, small and sturdy and more over he moves somewhat cumbersome on strong walking shoes. When you get to talk to him and take your time to listen to his somewhat flawed way of communicating, you will discover a clever, humorous man. If you had to guess which sport he practices I think few people would think of judo. Yet at the age of eight Daniel started with therapeutic judo at Franciscusoord at Valkenburg-Houthem in the province of Limburg. His then therapist doctor Anton advised his parents to have a look at a regular judo club. It turned out to be possible to train at Sportschool Theo Hoenen if his mother Els would help. Daniel says that then he really started to do judo. Three years af-ter obtaining his brown belt, as a boy of fifteen, he enters his first competition. When I first saw Daniel in action my heart missed a beat and there was sweat in the palms of my hands while watching this severely spastic boy who did his match standing up. It is en-tirely against my principles to enter these judokas in a competition tachi-waza. Daniel however, backed by his mother and his personal coach, are of an entirely different opin-ion. He thinks that in ne-waza there are too many factors working against him: creeping on the floor, in his opinion, does not offer him the opportunities he has standing up. Then he is too slow and uncontrolled. Falling has never been an issue according to Daniel and he has not been hurt more or less than other judokas. Another argument is that he has been training on his feet for years and would have to start all over again. On moral grounds one cannot forbid someone to compete on hypothetical safety grounds. People with Down Syndrome have been banned from doing judo because of safety reasons. But a few simple adjustments were enough to solve this problems.
Daniël Noorthoek
For Daniel however these adjustments were unnecessary, he has adjusted his judo in such a way that it is almost impossible to throw him over.
Thus Daniel will always start a throw in such a manner that it is almost impossible for his opponent to take over. His spe-cialty is Ippon-seoi-nage which makes him look a little like the famous Toshihiko Koga.
All his opponents know what kind of throw Daniel will execute but when, where and how is always a surprise. It is remarkable that he, just like Koga, does not need a specific grip to perform a Ippon-seoi, besides that he is always able to manipulate his opponent in such a way that he has enough room to turn in very quickly. Then he starts his throw with 200% effort while he keeps directing his opponent until he ends up on the floor which is shown in the above photograph. Many an opponent has been thrown on his back which yielded a full point. The few times that Daniel met a sizable opponent he offered such tenacious resistance that he usually lost with only a minimal difference in points. In any case, Daniel completely changed my opinion about tachi-waza in a competition for judokas with CD.
The fact remains that Daniel only began to partake in competitions three years after he got the 1st Kyu. A sound basis for people with CD to do judo standing up remains neces-sary, in my opinion. I think only a small group will be able to achieve this, most will remain ne-waza.
In my position I regularly advise people in the field and also Daniel who said he wanted to obtain the black belt. The discussion whether to let people with a restriction partake in regular exams was, at that moment, very much alive. In a letter to the grade commission Daniel expresses the feeling of being locked out perfectly.
“I want, just like other judokas, to experience the excitement of passing an exam. Solidar-ity, did I do well or not, being happy when my fellow judokas obtain a black belt, being disappointed when a fellow trainee fails. I won’t get that on my own, when I am an out-sider again, the exception. I belong to a group and when I fail, well, so be it, I can live with that and will do better next time.”
This was a fatal blow to the opinion of the separatists, from that moment the exam proce-dure was enriched with the opinion of an examinee.
Well done, you sturdy little man from Brunsum.
