And suddenly the view shifted. The first weekend of July 2026 marked a turning point. On the 3rd, Faïza Mokdar, twenty-four, world No. 3 in U57, announced the end of her career (see below). In the days that followed, at the football World Cup, the unpunished acts of anti-play in France–Paraguay, the almost regal reinstatement […]
From an Old Continent – Episode 5/13 – Summer 2026 Read More »
Born on July 13, 1998, in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Diyora Keldiyorova is the 2024 Olympic champion in the U52kg category. A recent documentary by the International Judo Federation produced with the support of Fighting Films in collaboration with the International Olympic Committee, looks back at this pivotal achievement as the woman who was also world silver
Diyora Keldiyorova – Another Giant Leap for (Wo)Mankind Read More »
Born on November 26, 1973 in Nice (France), Habib Alouache belongs to that category of teachers who make it a point of honor to stay (almost) as physically sharp as their students. A leadership ethic born of a mindset constantly on a razor’s edge, and of the conviction that credibility may only exist through embodiment.
Habib Alouache – Teaching Joy Read More »
Born on March 20, 1976 in Grenoble (France), Alexandre Paysan is both one of the reasons for and an extension of judo journalism’s famous “right of follow-up.” Interviewed in the summer of 2018 as part of a report on the European Veterans Championships in Glasgow, the fifth dan was at that time in charge of
Alexandre Paysan – We Saw Him in the Vercors, Bungee Jumping… Read More »
Born on October 20, 1936 in Castelliri (Italy), eighth-dan René “Natch” Nazaret passed away during the night of July 25 to 26, 2026. He was eighty-nine years old. Almost exactly twenty years ago, on July 25 and 27, 2006, we spent two full afternoons at his apartment in Lyon’s seventh arrondissement retracing – with his
Rest in Peace, René Nazaret (1936-2026) Read More »
Born on November 14, 1961, in Salins-les-Bains (France), Patrick Grosperrin first came into my life through a professional encounter. In July 2017, a partnership between the Lyon Press Club – on whose board I was sitting at the time – and the telecom operator Orange, where Patrick was then a management trainer, gave us a
Patrick Grosperrin – Laterality, a Little-Known Lever of Performance Read More »
Brace yourself and let settle slowly. “I rather believe that the West’s inexhaustible capacity to disconnect words from deeds has long rendered its modernity both unintelligible and illegitimate to those it has designated as others, even if they may have benefited from it by default.” Twenty-five years after the publication of her stimulating essay L’Occident
From an Old Continent – Episode 4/13 – Spring 2026 Read More »
Born on February 1, 1994 in Celje (Slovenia), Mihael Žgank is, first and foremost, a physical memory. The memory of randoris together – first at his home base, the Judo Klub Z’dežele Sankaku, then every following Christmas at the Italian training camp in Bardonecchia. The U90kg was barely out of his twenties at the time
Mihael Žgank – Coming Home Is Where the Real Journey Starts Read More »
Born on June 7, 1975 in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne (France), Eric Gervasoni is first a name mentioned in autumn 2025 by Arthur Clerget, French U73kg champion in 2015 who has since his sporting retirement become a seeker of absolutes in the field of psychomotricity – and beyond. The conversation concerned a project at the crossroads of judo
Eric Gervasoni – From Moves to Movies Read More »
