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| Mark
Pickering meets Don Werner |
On a windswept winter evening, I stroll through a mazy but well-stocked
car park to see a sign brandishing the Pinewood Judo Club name which
adorns the corner of the world-famous dojo.
The history of the venue and the names who’ve emerged from this
humble dojo is apparent to everyone initiated with the Olympic sport
and they’re among my thoughts as I edge open the dojo’s doors to
the unmistakable smell and of the gi-clad craft and the sound of
bodies hitting the canvas in an exhibition of grace and technical
prowess.
After being drawn to the toil of the young judoka on the mat my
eyes are lost on the trophy cabinet which extends as I reclaim focus.
The name of Pinewood Judo Club has travelled the world around as
some of the sport’s greatest British exponents claimed judo’s most
sought after prizes.
I’m there to meet the man responsible, 78-year-old Don Werner. As
I walk towards his flat which is also contained in the venue, honours
boards dominate the walls alongside me, running the length of venue
and list names such as Nicola Fairbrother, Rowena Birch (nee Sweatman)
Karen Roberts and Georgina Singleton.
A brand new set of blue and yellow mats lay dormant beside the walls,
set to replace the famous canvas floor as Pinewood becomes one of
the final clubs to embrace a matted area.
My path is momentarily blocked by the dojo’s resident canine, chow
chow San Gow, but he relinquishes after a call from his master,
who inherits a snap to his tone from a lifetime of instruction.
Don offers a warm greeting, parting with a body-hugging leather
chair to smile and stretch out his right hand. To the side of us
a plucky feline newcomer, a 10-month-old kitten, settles down on
top of the aquarium, adjacent to pictures of San Gow and his predecessors.
Behind every judo champion is a club coach who once set out a path
to greatness and we promptly sit down to delve into the career of
one of British judo’s most successful coaches.
Don fondly recalls his heydays as a budding sportsman, captaining
the school football and cricket teams. He went on to become a keen
swimmer and took to cycling with national success as he won British
Cycle Speedway Championships in 1948.
After moving to Pinewood, Don, then a prototype wireman, was eager
to call time on his football days and set out on a new challenge
after talking to a work colleague.
“I married and moved to Pinewood and the only I was doing was football,
I was 24 and I was tired of it,” he said.
“I worked with a chap who did judo in Brackell and I went down on
a Sunday afternoon, had a quick go and I was sold on it. It was
an individual sport which I liked, what you win is yours and what
you lose is just down to yourself. I found it fascinating, the techniques
and in those days there were no weight categories, you turned up
at competitions and just fought who was there. It was you against
someone else and I liked the mental side as well as the physical
side. Judo’s like a game of physical chess, that’s why it appealed
to me.”
As Don moved through the ranks his ever-growing appetite for the
sport remained unsatisfied and he enlisted in a day’s instruction
at Reading Judo Club from the late Geoff Gleeson who would go on
to coach the British national team.
The judo stalwart credits Geoff as one of his main inspirations,
as his session led Don to look at the sport from the coaching angle.
“I did a day’s instruction with Geoff Gleeson, Reading was a big
club with a big hall and the Sunday session was very popular. He
gave me an idea of how to approach the sport from a coaching perspective.
Like anything I started helping out at Bracknell Judo Club, people
didn’t give up so much of their time for judo in those days – if
they wanted to go out they went out. I was coaching the juniors
in 1958 and gradually took the classes over. Before I knew it I
was secretary and treasurer because nobody wanted to do it.
“I started beginner’s school classes and sessions for senior beginner
and we grew from there.”
When asked about his aspirations as a coach, Don is frank, before
tip-toeing around a rare burst of immodesty.
“In those days you just coached the club, I started to look for
clubs to fight against because there was a lack of competition and
gradually it developed and we started doing quite well.
“It was Bracknell Judo Club then and I took the club to the Bracknell
Sports Centre. We were the first sports club to move there. In 1978
they wouldn’t let me have a dojo of my own so we had to move away
and I’m sure they regretted it as we were fairly success by then.
“We then bought the current building from the army and I stored
it across various farms. We wanted to establish a sports centre
with a difference, one where all the clubs would run themselves,
which still happens today while the council runs the site and the
car park. We were the first club to move in right at the end of
1978.”
Don’s words are assertive and bold, befitting of the moments that
shaped the club and ultimately his career as a coach. An expressive
audible marks the joy of his most cherished memories.
“I obviously had the ambition (to take players to the top) but I
just kept training them and conditioning them for competitions.
I set out a programme which was based on competition judo and it
moved through from beginners to intermediates, in fact I still use
it today with some slight changes to keep up with the times and
rule changes.
“The banning of the leg grab was very disappointing as it had been
an important part of our training and competitions. It took away
somewhat from the beauty of judo, the sport absorbed so many forms,
it was the most effective and intense form of fighting.
“You coach and you coach and you gradually find your beating people
and then Lynn Tilley won the European Championships in 1974 in Genoa,
Italy,” Don recalls with an unbridled smile and vivid flashback
that will forever be ingrained in his memory.
“We than had Nicola (Fairbrother) and Anisah Mohamoodally coming
through, we have a tremendous amount of history at the club.”
Don plays down his role in the success of his judoka, his focus
has always been on preparing players for the greatest stage and
then starting the process again with his budding judoka.
“It’s very nice (to have played a part in their success) but to
be honest I don’t really think about it. It’s just a way of life,
rotating round and round. It’s something you keep doing, you keep
going. I have qualified people to take classes if I’m ill having
trained them myself from scratch and they’ll add their own ideas
to it.”
“I’ve had so many highlights it’s difficult to single one out but
Nicola winning the 1987 Junior European Championships in Wroclaw,
Poland. That was really good, we also had Anna Aplin who took bronze
in the under 48kg category.
“I drove to Poland with Niccy and her mum, we had to go through
East Germany, then Poland and we plodded through each stop, the
journey was a nightmare but the trip itself and the results were
excellent. The 80’s were a great era for us and we managed to win
medals domestically and internationally.”
The pictures, press cuttings and honours board are all reminders
of the continued success the club has enjoyed and that winning is
more than just a habit at the club, it’s a mentality that has been
instilled for generations.
“Even the younger ones, they know winning is important but not the
be all and end all, you’ve got to get them to go that little bit
extra to win. You have to put the training in place; it’s no good
just talking to them, they need the technique and the attitude.
“It amuses me when people put a child in front of me and say that’s
a future Olympic champion – you don’t even know what they’ll be
doing next year. You’ve got to get a bit closer to the top before
you predict anything like that. Obviously some children do better
than others and you think, oh here’s a good one, I’ve done that
with children for a few years and then suddenly they’re gone.
“Sometimes I have a judoka who is very good at other sports. One
in fact used to bowl and I quite like that as a sport but I’ve never
done it, he won’t mind me saying he was fairly chubby and had the
belly for it. He felt he was better at bowls than judo and I had
no argument with that, I had a very good table tennis player who
did the same. He was so reluctant. He wanted to stay at the club
and do judo but he couldn’t do both because of the demands. As long
as they go off and do something well that doesn’t worry me, I have
no problem with that.”
After our lengthy chat, I want to see the man who produced four
World Champions, two Olympian’s and numerous European Champions
- along with a British Championships medalist every year since its
1968 inception - doing what he does best.
Don, who was awarded his 7th Dan in 2002, is taking an intermediate
session and sets about putting his judoka through their paces.
Willing judoka exchange throws as Don shares a lifetime of knowledge
and commands the respect of everyone who walks into the dojo.
Don is forced to be economical with his movements after an accident
on his motorbike last year but what he can’t do physically he makes
up for with an eye for detail and some trusted judoka to demonstrate
techniques.
After a committed 30 minutes of randori Don brings the two-hour
session to a close and is subject to an array of queries as his
current charge relish the opportunity to gain further expert tuition.
Tuition from a man who has been recognised by the National Coaching
Foundation on two occasions – for ‘junior coaching in 1986 and ‘coaching
an individual’ in 1994 – and guided Nicola Fairbrother to becoming
Britain’s first female Olympic silver medallist at Barcelona in
1992.
Don gives me a quick critique of the session and is already looking
ahead to the week’s remaining classes, issuing the strongest of
incentives for the next generation.
“Every child in the advanced class has the goal of getting their
name on the honours board and to me that’s all the incentive they
need.”
Pinewood Judo Club train at Old Wokingham Rd, Wokingham, Berkshire,
RG40 3AQ. For more information please visit pinewoodjudo.com
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