By Solihull Judo Club Correspondent Lena Strang

Roy Manuel must be the supreme role model for judo players. He has been on the judo scene for many years and is still dedicated to the sport . His astonishing fitness and agility often mean that he takes many younger, experienced players by surprise. As the true 'judo gentleman' he is, he is always annoyingly nice as he dumps you on the mat! Roy attributes his fitness and stamina to regular bowls of porridge in the mornings, but it may have more to do with his judo training coupled with running marathons, skiing and mountain climbing!

How long have you been practising judo?

It is over 40 years now

I train at Solihull Judo Club

I do Judo every Friday and lots of running in between

Tsuri-Komi-Goshi and Hari-goshi

My judo career can be divided into two phases:

In the 1960's I did all of my fighting in London and the South East where I came under the influence of some notable judo idols:

My Club was the LJS (London Judo Society). We had a wonderful fighting spirit inspired by Ted Mossom, a retired England International with one leg shorter than the other which gave him an unenviable advantage when he attacked with morote-seo-nage! He would drive us into a state of near exhaustion where randori `line-ups' forced you to fight everybody on the mat. You could find yourself up against the hardest, heaviest or most awkward opponents, the kind of partners we all steer clear of today! Worth a mention, Brian Jacks paid us frequent visits, nobody could beat him.
The second phase of my judo career began when I moved to the Midlands in the 1970's and joined the Solihull Judo Club. Here, I came under the influence of Peter Barnet 5<sup>th</sup> Dan. When he barked the whole club used to jump to attention. I never met anybody whose influence produced so many National and International Champions. He was wonderful.
I was married, starting a family, thinking I would gracefully fade into retirement. Peter Barnett had other ideas. He used to call me the `Silver Fox' and I found myself `doing' judo with opponents who very quickly learned how to defend against my best tricks and under Peter Barnett's influence were destined to become great names in their own right. They are Club Legends now:

What are your achievements in judo?

I won quite a few medals in London and the Southern Area Championships. I was LJS Club Champion three years in succession. And as captain of the Club Team I won the Southern area Championships twice and got among the medals in the East Anglia championships. We used to have some great battles with the Renshuden. I fought at Crystal Palace for the Area but we never managed to progress and win any medals.
I have a Coaching Award Certificate authorised by Geoff Gleeson.

I am going through a (continuous) highlight at the moment. I am very fortunate to enjoy good health and stamina, which enables me to get on the mat and `have a go'.

Attitude of mind plays an important role in training and fighting. You have got to believe you are going to win. I think a good judo fighter has a good positive approach to his techniques. He must be determined to make them work and if at first they don't, he/she must find their own way of making them work.

Downhill skiing in the Alps; Rock Climbing in North Wales; Mountaineering in Scotland. The Foot and Mouth Disease severely restricted my activities last year. I literally had only one day's rock climbing, but managed several days climbing `Munros' in Scotland. That was good.

I am looking forward to skiing in Austria in March.

Your toughest opponent on the mat is yourself. After a night's practice, those of us who really want to improve, should always ask ourselves why we didn't throw everybody we fought. The wrong answer is, `because he wouldn't let me'!