Matt Jones, AJF South Australian Representative

[Matt Jones ISOHEALTH]

Hi Guys,

I thought this was a good place to let everyone know that I was recently appointed to the position of State Representative for the Australian Jujitsu Federation (AJF) by AJF president Roger Quick. In March AJF president Roger Quick arranged a meeting in Adelaide between Jim Stackpoole (the QLD State Rep for the AJF) and I to discuss the role and shortly thereafter I was formally offered and accepted the position. I take it as a huge compliment to have been offered and appointed to the position and will do my best to perform the role at a very efficient level.

The AJF is the official body to represent a variety of martial arts (not just Jujitsu and it’s variants) to the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) and through this relationship the AJF offers government recognised coaching accreditation courses as part of the National Coaching Accreditation Scheme (NCAS). As mentioned earlier, the AJF represents more than just Jujitsu and in 2009 the AJF portfolio expanded to include: aikido, aiki jujitsu, hapkido, and kenpo, this being in addition to jujitsu and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

As for what the AJF does: The AJF aims to deliver coaching accredited courses around the country with the aim of one day having all coaches in the AJF represented arts being accredited coaches with the Australian Sports Commission (via the AJF coaching courses) thus promoting a nationally recognised set of standards with regards to safety and teaching skills in the arts. The courses are great, they are just a short 2 day course with follow up assignments and they are geared at giving coaches from the various arts a better understanding of how bodies work, how to run a class more safely, OH&S etc. They don't try to influence your technique choice etc (other than talking about safety and physiology to help people understand the movements in different ways) and the atmosphere is one of enjoyable learning rather than competition between the arts or coaches. Courses are usually administered by AJF president Roger Quick, they run from 7:45am-5:30pm on Saturday and Sunday (it is a two day course) and the cost including courses materials is only $275.00 for AJF member schools as of the time of me writing this.

For the record, I don't get a single cent out of any of this; it is a purely voluntary and is a role I accepted because I feel it can help to deliver a safer and more professional training environment for every South Australian who chooses to train in these arts. I know that as a coach and gym owner I very much keep to myself because (partly because I’m too busy to do anything else and partly because I feel it keeps life simpler) but I was keen to "step up" when offered this position because I can see that it's a place where I could help facilitate something productive for the wider SA martial arts community.
Anyhow, I need to let everyone know about my appointment to the position so that those people who are interested in AJF happenings and courses have a local point of contact. If anyone is interested in more information please feel free to post here or email me.

Kindest Regards,
Matt Jones

info@isohealth.com.au

[Davo@OzCombatives]

I'm sure you'll bring a lot of dedication to to the role Matt.

[Shawn]

Congrats on the role Matt

[Matt Jones ISOHEALTH]

Thanks Shawn!

Congrats on your achievements with KU too mate!