Jan Snijders is a retired judo

Judo

is a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an...

ka from the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

. Together with his twin brother Peter Snijders

Peter Snijders

Peter Snijders is a retired judoka from the Netherlands. Together with his twin brother Jan Snijders, Anton Geesink, Hein Essink, Tonni Wagenaar, Coos Bontje, Jan van Ierland, Martin Poglajen, Joop Gouweleeuw, Wim Ruska, Ernst Eugster, Henk Numan, Peter Adelaar, Willy Wilhelm, Ben Spijkers,...

, Anton Geesink

Anton Geesink

Antonius "Anton" Johannes Geesink was a Dutch 10th-dan judoka from Utrecht. He was a three-time World Judo Champion , Olympic Gold Medalist and won 21 European championships...

, Hein Essink, Tonni Wagenaar, Coos Bontje, Jan van Ierland, Martin Poglajen, Joop Gouweleeuw, Wim Ruska

Wim Ruska

Willem Ruska is a retired judoka from the Netherlands.During his career in the 1960s and 1970s he won seven European titles, five in the +93kg category and two in the open category . He furthermore won two world titles and two Olympic titles...

, Ernst Eugster, Henk Numan

Henk Numan

Hendrik Numan is a former judoka from the Netherlands, who won the bronze medal in half-heavyweight division at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Soviet Union. His only loss at that tournament was against the later champion Robert Van De Walle from Belgium.-References:*...

, Peter Adelaar, Willy Wilhelm, Ben Spijkers, Anthony Wurth and Theo Meyer he belongs to the generation of Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 top judoka which gained their successes in the 1960s and 1970s.

Judo career

Jan Snijders started with judo

Judo

is a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an...

 in 1954. Already in 1961, he won gold in Milan on the European Championship for Juniors (Hans van Essen, 12 November 2002). In 1962, he became European champion in Essen (Germany) and in 1964, he participated in the legendary Olympic Games

Olympic Games

The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

 in Tokyo where Anton Geesink was the first European to win gold in the heaviest weight class.

In the years from 1962 up to and including 1972 he participated in the national Dutch selection, became 8 times Dutch champion, won 3 x silver and 2 x bronze medals in the European championships and became 1 x fourth and 2 x fifth in the World Championships.

Jan Snijders as well as his twin brother Peter was known, or indeed notorious, for his technical perfection (Tai Otoshi

Tai Otoshi

,is one of the original 40 throws of Judo as developed by Jigoro Kano.It belongs to the second group,Dai Nikyo,of the traditional throwing list, Gokyo ,of Kodokan Judo.It is also part of the current 67 Throws of Kodokan Judo....

).

Jan Snijders gained in 1967 his diploma as a judo teacher and started his judo school.

Refereeing career

As from 1972 Jan Snijders acted as a referee, firstly national, then as from 1976 continental (E.J.U.) and as from 1984 international (I.J.F.). This way he was among other things referee at the 7th World Championships and several Olympic Games (for instance Seoul in 1988, and Barcelona in 1992). Additionally he has been a member of the Dutch District Degrees Commission and for 7 years President of the Dutch District Referee Commission.

In 1992 Jan Snijders became a member of the E.J.U. Referee Committee and has since been actively involved in European and World championships.

At the 56th congress of the European Judo Union on 3 December 2004 in Budapest

Budapest

Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...

, Jan Snijders was appointed Referee Director by the Directing Committee of the EJU. In that capacity among other things he gives guidance and seminars to E.J.U. referees (for example in Sweden, Portugal, Cyprus, Germany, France, Russia, Hungary etc. etc.). Jan Snijders has been involved in the training of E.J.U. referees, in the judo reglementation/legislation and evaluation of judo techniques.

In 1990 Snijders became 7th dan grade; in 2003 he was appointed 8th dan

Dan (rank)

The ranking system is a Japanese mark of level, which is used in modern fine arts and martial arts. Originally invented in a Go school in the Edo period, this system was applied to martial arts by Kanō Jigorō, the founder of judo and later introduced to other East Asia countries.In the modern...

.

In September 2003 the International Judo Federation

International Judo Federation

The International Judo Federation was founded in July 1951. The IJF was originally composed of judo federations from Europe plus Argentina. Countries from four continents were affiliated over the next ten years. Today the IJF has 200 National Federations on all continents...

 (IJF) honored him at Osaka with the Silver Medal for his merits in the sport of judo.

Jan Snijders continues to teach judo in Oirschot

Oirschot

Oirschot is a municipality and a town in the southern Netherlands. It is situated 12 km from the city of Eindhoven and 20 km from the city of Tilburg in the province Noord-Brabant...

, Bladel

Bladel

- Notable people :*Roy Beerens , Dutch footballer*Corky de Graauw , Dutch ice hockey player*Jan Renier Snieders , Flemish writer*August Snieders , Flemish writer and journalist-External links:*...

, Deurne

Deurne

Deurne may refer to two towns:* Deurne, North Brabant, a municipality in North Brabant * Deurne, Belgium, a district of the city of Antwerp...

 and Gemert

Gemert

Gemert is a town in the Dutch province of North Brabant. It is located in the municipality of Gemert-Bakel. On January 1, 2009 there were 15.268 inhabitants in Gemert.Gemert was a separate municipality until 1997, when it merged with Bakel....

.

Judo Sports Official

Anton J. Geesink, Dutch IOC representative, wrote about Jan Snijders:

Jan Snijders is a splendid example of a sport career from the bottom upwards, of athlete to sport official. Recently the EJU Directing Committee board has appointed Jan Snijders Director and Chairman of the Referee Committee of Europe, an honor up till then never accorded to a Dutchman.

Firstly a fantastic judoka, then coach, as a result of which he showed the necessary involvement. Afterwards referee in the Netherlands, then Europe and afterwards globally and now Official in the EJU. That is the ideal career that the sports official must take to represent the associations and athletes at the highest levels of interests.

External links

• Judoschool Jan Snijders in Dutch and English