“This hall is one of the best in the world!” Olympic medalist Vitaly Makarov talks about training at the Martial Arts Academy

The Russian judo team trains at the Martial Arts Academy. It is there that more than 150 athletes from different Russian regions train with martial arts masters, including Japanese specialist Go Tsunoda.

 The head of the training camp, Vitaly Makarov, silver medalist of the 2004 Olympics, talked about this in more detail.

 "Almost every training camp, and this is at least 20 days per every month, we do a segment for the regions and boys and girls from the regions can come and compete, learn from the Russian judo team, men’s and women’s. Here now there is more tatami and grinding, and less physical training. This is done so that kids from the regions also improve their skills by training with the national team. You can see this hall for yourself, I think it is one of the best in the world. I just can’t remember that there were 12 full tatami mats and all in one room. Two physical training halls: here we have one behind the wall and a second one below, so all the necessary conditions are  here: a 25-meter swimming pool, a sauna, and a dining hall," Vitaly said.

 He also noted that a Japanese specialist takes part in training camp participants.

 "Last time he coached the Portuguese, his contract expired and we took advantage of this in time and invited him to work with the Russian national team. His specification is specifically women’s judo, but we don’t have such a strict division. All of our coaches are open, and if an athlete needs help: to find something out about a technique, tactics, then we change and replace each other by mutual agreement, and are always open to everyone," he said.