Selkirk siblings rule the judo mats

You can’t talk about Manitoba’s judo scene without mentioning the Ekosky family.

The four siblings from Selkirk — Damien, Justin, Sarah, and Daniel — have all had success on the national stage and aren’t showing any signs of slowing down.

Sarah, 19, and Daniel, 17, participated in Judo Manitoba’s provincials at the Sport for Life Centre on Sunday and earned gold medals in their respective events. There were 75 athletes from all different ages in the competition.

Damien, 24, and Justin, 22, took the plunge into the sport at a young age as it happened to be close to where they took swimming lessons. Their younger siblings quickly followed suit and they haven’t looked back since.

“It’s really fun. We get to go to practice together and we’re together all the time,” said Daniel. “We get to go on trips and it’s always us.”

Judo is a martial art where the objective is to either throw or take down an opponent to the ground. You can subdue your competitor with a pin, or by forcing them to submit with a joint lock or a choke.

“You’re not punching each other each other in the face. You’re not taking any head trauma. You’re getting thrown, and most people are experienced and know what they’re doing,” said Damien.

“You’re not going to be getting hurt, really, but things do happen like any physical sport… Heck, I used to do 13 or 14 tournaments a year. You’re banged up sometimes, but you’re not taking anything that will affect you in the long term. That’s the benefit of it is that you can train and spar hard and not have to worry.”

Damien, who has fought in countries like Portugal, Argentina, and the United States and was once nominated for Manitoba’s junior male athlete of the year, did, however, sit out Sunday due to an injury.

“Funny enough, I got hurt playing tag football. I don’t get hurt at judo, but I dove after a football and landed on my shoulder. I’ve been out for a little bit but I’m already getting better,” said Damien.

Sarah, who trains six times a week, also won gold last month at the Montreal Junior Panamerican Cup. Her resume features national titles in the under-16 and under-18 age groups.

Sarah was graded her second-degree black belt this weekend and will head to Edmonton next month to battle it out with the top eight judokas in the 63-kilogram division.

“I”m very proud to be Manitoban. We’re a very small team compared to Quebec and other provinces. So, to go out there, and people know you’re from Manitoba, it puts an emphasis on we have good fighters just like other provinces that have a lot larger numbers,” said Sarah.

Daniel won bronze earlier this year at the 2023 Canada Winter Games in Prince Edward Island at 81 kilograms. He also has a bronze at nationals to his name.

“I’d like to medal again at nationals and consistently medal. I’ve moved up an age group so I’m really finding it harder. It’s harder fights, better opponents, so I just really want to improve my judo and medal a few more times over this year,” said Daniel.

Sunday’s results play a role in who qualifies for the provincial judo team. Those who make the cut travel to circuit tournaments across the country and represent Manitoba at nationals. The head coach of the program is Airton Nakamura — a 46-year-old who’s originally from Brazil. Nakamura moved to Winnipeg in 2006 and took over the program in 2019. He also runs Nakamura Judo Club on McPhillips St.

“The number of people practicing judo in Manitoba is very low compared to other provinces. It’s the reality. We compete with hockey and football and that’s hard competition,” said Nakamura. “We’re trying our best to increase the numbers and I think we’re slowly going back to pre-COVID numbers. We work with what we have, but we have very good athletes here that medal at nationals.”

Manitoba boasts roughly 10 judo clubs. It’s a challenge to get people to walk through the doors, but Nakamura believes once they do, they’re unlikely to regret it.

“Honestly, you just gotta try. Everybody’s afraid of the first time. It’s a little intimidating for them just to try because it’s a martial art, but after they see it’s a family environment,” said Nakamura.

“Every single club here is a family environment. They come, they feel like they belong there, and everyone’s nice. There’s no intimidation, just come and try.”

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