Mixed martial Arts : geoff oughton, uk's best kept secret

This interview has been 2 years in the making. When this website first started, and we were looking for interviews, Geoff's name kept cropping up from promoters and fighters alike.However , getting actual info from Mr Oughton wasn't easy. He's friendly but elusive, laughing off attempts of an interview with "nah, no-one would be interested". Those that know him will also know he's very low key and not at all keen to "toot his own trumpet". But dogged persistance pays off, LOL and finally here's the interview....

Part 1 - Pre Japan

SFUK : Hi Geoff, it's finally good to get this interview started with you. Let's start from the beginning - at what age did you start training and why? (Some people start because they are sporty, others because they are bullied, others because it's school activity, etc...) Also why judo? Was it the only martial arts around at the time?

Geoff Oughton : I think that i was about 13 years old when the Bruce Lee craze hit the UK. after initially wanting to learn kung fu/karate or something like that i was pointed in the direction of judo by my father. There were a lot of kung fu "cowboy" instructors springing up all over at the time, my father wanted me to learn from a bona-fide teacher and had some contacts in judo circles.

SFUK : I understand one of your judo instructors was the legendary John Gallon. Please could you illuminate us on Mr Gallon? Some history about him? What made him special? You've mentioned that he understood TRUE judo? What is that in your opinion?

Geoff Oughton : There's a lot of people that won't have even heard about Mr Gallon. Its just the way of things in sport, and life generally, that its very easy to be quickly forgotten. But to me he's right up there with whoever anyone else wants to rate as the best British judoka. There's so much to say about John Gallon but sfuk'ers might find it interesting to know that Mr Gallon studied under Kimura-sensei at Takashoku University in Tokyo.
"True" judo? Hard to define really but imo its somehow a spiritual thing with a physical embodiment. Is that nonsense?

SFUK : erm, nope...... So, as I understand it, from asking around, you reached a very high level of judo at a young age. Was the UK very strong at that time? Wasn't it the heyday of Neil Adams?

Geoff Oughton : I competed at Junior, Youth, and Senior National level winning medals at various events but nothing spectacular really. I'm not sure that the UK has ever had real strength in depth but we have managed to produce some very good individuals from time-to-time. Neil Adams was phenomenal and, at his weight, in a gi would have been a match for anyone, anytime.

Time in Japan

SFUK : Japan must be a natural pilgrimage for any top judoka - however it must have also been quite an intimidating prospect as well. What made you go over?

Geoff Oughton : Actually, Japan has long ceased to be a "pilgrimage" for judoka. In the 1980s there was a very definite move away from training in Japan - at least for extended periods. The national squads tend to only go there for one month training trips to take advantage of the large numbers of high-level opponents available there. Long periods there were felt to be counter-productive for a number of reasons. Quite a few knowledgable people tried to talk me out of following that path - and from a competitive point of view i suppose they were right really.

SFUK : What year did you go and how old where you?

Geoff Oughton : In the mid-80s I initially went for a 6 week training trip; thought that I didn't care particularly much for Japan at all - then went back again as soon as I was able to raise the money! That next time I stayed about 16months then came back to the UK for a while before returning to Japan again. By the late-80s, for a number of reasons, I was back in the UK permanently. Things are very different living in Japan for an extended period as opposed to just going out for a month or so.

SFUK : It must have been a culture shock, Japan is still so different even in these days of global economies. Where there many westerners out there training Judo?

Geoff Oughton : Yes, a big culture shock. But then you get it again the opposite way when you return to Europe after becoming used to Japanese ways.

There wasn't too many "foreigners" out there training. As I said earlier, the international teams used to only visit for short periods a few months before major events like Olympics, Worlds, etc. - although two notable exceptions were Van der Walle (Belgium) and Seisenbacher (Swiss) who both used to stay for a few months a couple of times a year.

Otherwise there was the occasional foreigner passing through to combine training with a vacation; and a few people who had originally came to Japan to do judo but ended up getting jobs, marrying, etc. whilst still practicing judo but less intensely.

SFUK : OK....Where did you train?

Geoff Oughton : Primarily at Kokushikan University out in the Tokyo suburbs. At that time Kokushikan had very tough reputation and was not a place where foreigners generally trained regularly. It was one of the top judo universities in Japan and had produced the famous champions Moriwaki, Nishida, Hikage, and Saito - all of whom were still either training or teaching there whilst i was in Japan.

I visited a number of other universities and also the Keisicho (Tokyo Police dojo) for occasional practices. I also did a stint living out outside Tokyo and training full-time at Tokei University as well as training out in Ibaraki with Mr Okano and at Katsuura (I.B.U.) with Mr Kashiwazaki - both near-legendary in Japanese judo circles - and i am grateful for those experiences.

I wrestled at Kokushikan when the Olympic Champion Mr Jiichiro Date was Head Coach and studied sombo-wrestling under the tuition of Mr Furukawa, former President of the All-Japan Sombo Federation.

SFUK : John Gallon was well known and respected in Japan, did this give you an advantage? - as I've read that Martial Arts schools were not easy for foreigners to get into.

Geoff Oughton : Not really, although it certainly would have done had I utilised it via proper "introductions" at certain places etc. Instead, as has tended to be my way in life (for better or worse!), I went about things my own way.

SFUK : What did the japanese judoka make of you, as person - a foreigner coming to learn judo, and technically as a judoka? Was it easy to train?

Geoff Oughton : Its always hard to tell what the japanese actually think of you but I made some good friends anyway. In fact some of the very best friends and very best times of my life.

SFUK : The discipline and severity of training in Japan is famous....so did they beat you up? :+)

Geoff Oughton : Yes. And on a regular basis at first. Things can get pretty rough in those university dojos beleive me. That thing about judo being "the gentle way" is a crock of shit!

SFUK : What was the standard of your training partners and how did you measure up against them?

Geoff Oughton : Ha! That was a laugh!! I initially went out there thinking i was pretty slick - being unbeaten in my area, international youth tournament winner, senior national medallist, etc. But after getting beaten up just about everyday, everywhere i went on that first 6-week trip my ego was rock bottom.

Its very tough mentally being out there alone and having to go back everyday for the same treatment. This is one of the reasons the national teams go as a team and for short periods; they don't have to come to terms with the mental adjustments that can ruin you as a competitor - especially when you are young. But it does build the mental toughness that you don't get when you're having things your own way; the Japanese are big on "fighting spirit".

When I returned later that year for a longer stay the coaches initially made me do extra newaza practice with the High School Team before the University Team practices in order to bring my ground game up to scratch. Prior to Japan my judo had been very much a standing game and the matches i'd lost in competition had tended to be on the ground. Japan sure changed a lot of things for me and that was one of them.

However I quickly raised my levels and by the middle of my first year I was attending the Japanese National Team Gashuku's (special training camps) as part of the Kokushikan University contingent. I even represented the university team in an inter-university "friendly" one time. Nothing important but i felt flattered that they even asked me as its not something they generally do with "foreigners". Once you are "accepted" things change.

Of course, the main benefit of the training there is the comparitively vast quantity of high-level training opposition and, especially when you are a foreigner, a lot of the so-called "practices" are pretty intense! After my transition period there I went up against a lot of tough guys and generally did quite well.

SFUK : There's been a lot written that BJJ is basically old style Judo - would you agree with that?

Geoff Oughton : Very definitely. Anyone who this opinion offends please accept my apologies; I dont want to get into a piss-fight about it!

SFUK : Today, modern judo concentrates on throwing and many feel the newaza has become neglected - how was judo trained when you were there in Japan?

Geoff Oughton : About 50/50. A typical session at the university would be warm-ups; some light uchi-komi and nage-komi; 10-12 x 5-6min newaza bouts; 10-12 x 5-6 min tachiwaza bouts; a series of ippon/nippon-dachi - where various players (usually the university team members and contenders) had to fight a series of challengers and score either 1 or 2 points to win and go onto the next. the length and severity of this drill would depend on what tournament was coming up or just how pissed the coaches were that day!; then a series of calisthenic and/or body-weight exercises followed by a cool-down. The session would usually run close to three hours, occasionally more!

The wrestling and sombo training I did were scheduled along similar lines but obviously focussing on different skills etc.

SFUK : You've said many times that Japan is your spiritual home, can you express why that is so and what the Japanese culture has left imprinted in you?

Geoff Oughton : Its just too difficult to do mate! At least without rambling on and boring the pants off everyone!!

Enough to say that my experiences there affected me profoundly and etched a deep mark in my heart, changing me as a person - for the better i like to believe! Like muich in life its a bitter-sweet thing though as there's always things you'd like to have done differently. Hindsight is an absolute crippler!

Geoff Oughton Interview Part 2 - Post Japan and MMA competition