“In my opinion, judo is one of the Olympic sports whose movement material is used effectively by the armed forces” – said Major Szabolcs Krizsán, after he held a further training session in martial arts for North Macedonian special police units in Skopje. The commander of the HDF Sport Company is currently the head police & military commissioner at the Police & Military Commission of the European Judo Union, and at the same time a member of the Military and Police Commission of the International Judo Federation.
The objective of the international and the European associations is to help popularize judo through similar programs within the armed corps, as well as to strengthen sport relationships among military and police organizations.
During the Millennium Team European Cadet Championships held in Skopje at the end of June, a memorandum was signed on supporting the police forces of the Republic of North Macedonia. The seminar held at the last weekend of July in the capital of the country was the first practical result of this memorandum.
Major Szabolcs Krizsán demonstrated a close-quarters combat method based on judo fundamentals, which provides an excellent starting point for further CQC training programs. During the seminar, he gained experiences about the level of preparedness and general CQC skills of the members of the North Macedonian armed forces.
The commander of the HDF Sport Company has been pursuing judo for decades. The fact that he has been invited as lecturer is a serious recognition and positive feedback for the Hungarian Defence Forces as well, given that the HDF have a number of excellent experts who are invited to lead seminars and further training programs abroad.
Vladimir Trpanoski, President of the National Judo Federation of North Macedonia told eju.net that “we have long been working on this program, but it has to be postponed due to the change of government. The right time has come now for us to start it – and we start with the police. The European Judo Union helped us by donating tatamis and judogis, and now we have kicked off with some workouts – we will go on and I believe that this will be one of the most successful programs”.
The training curriculum of the martial arts seminar is the Defence Judo Program developed in Hungary, in which many soldiers of the Hungarian Defence Forces have already participated. Among the main objectives of the program are the establishment of a basic martial arts ability, as well as prevention, which involves the learning of breakfalling techniques for avoiding injuries.
Under Major Krizsán’s professional supervision, the judo military athletes of the HDF 2nd Sport Company are teaching the same program at more and more secondary schools participating in the Defence Cadet Program countrywide. The educational institutions have recognized its inherent potentials, and it has the result that the participating students’ physical stamina, workload capacity, discipline and attention in class improve. Besides, judo workouts increase respect for each other and strengthen the community spirit.
