The Malta Judo Federation assembled the national team, so that together with Marcon Bezzina, Olympic Solidarity Scholarship holder, could attend an intensive camp under the guidance of Maestro Lamberto Raffi, an established name in the world of Judo, Grappling and Sambo.

Maestro Raffi is a medallist at the Judo Team European Championships, and has won contests against the Olympic Champion Mark Huizinga NED and Roberto Meloni ITA, medallist at World Level. Maestro Raffi is an expert in ne-waza (ground work techniques) and strength and conditioning. He already proved, and continues to prove, his expertise by transferring his Judo knowledge even to other disciplines known for this specialization, winning top places in Sambo and Grappling.

During this intensive training camp, sessions were held both mornings and evenings, taking the opportunity of last week’s long weekend. Maestro Raffi corrected and introduced many effective judo techniques. He was constantly on the mat challenging our athletes individually, so that he could see the effectiveness of what they were learning.

Jeremy Saywell, Brent Law, James Falzon, Joanna Camilleri, accompanied by Marcon Bezzina, are travelling to Vittorio Veneto, Italy, to compete in the 23rd International Judo tournament.