An Interview With Robert Eriksson - US Judo National Resident Training Center Team Head Coach

In this episode of the Shintaro Higashi Show, Shintaro sits down with Robert Eriksson, the head coach for the new US Judo National Resident Training Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. Robert shares insights into his transition from being the Swedish national team's head coach to taking on a pivotal role in USA Judo. They discuss Robert’'s coaching philosophy, the challenges and rewards of building a high-performance judo program, and the strategic plans for nurturing talents in the lead-up to the Olympics.
00:00:20 Robert’s Transition to US Judo
00:02:23 National Resident Training Center
00:08:54 Challenges and Opportunities in US Judo Development
00:11:06 Athlete recruitment
00:14:33 What Athletes Can Expect at the National Resident Training Center
00:18:48 Balancing Training with Competition
00:20:29 Leveraging Social Media for Judo Outreach
00:21:12 Comparing Judo Competitions: US vs. Sweden
00:23:45 Building a National Training System in Sweden
00:25:59 Collaboration With American Judo Coaches and Clubs
00:27:37 Robert’s Coaching Philosophy and Methodology
00:34:15 What Sets Successful Athletes Apart
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[@athleteanalyzer]

We're eager to see the progress and upcoming achievements from this program. We wish Robert and the athletes all the best for the future. 🥋💪🙏

[@evility1]

I am really glad to see that USA Judo is taking these steps in the right direction to bring more success to Judo in the USA. Hopefully USA Judo will work with the premier gyms in the country to help partner and facilitate success.

[@88Musk]

Good interview. The athleticism is so high now in Judo that it excludes a lot of people.

[@thejudocommunity]

The more diversity we have nationwide, the better. Cool to see the groundwork development starting for the athletes! Hopefully cross training opportunities can get creative, even pairing athletes with housing opportunities while they are there to initiate savings on costs.

[@Yupppi]

A Nordic person with some age behind not good with social media, borderline hating it? What a shocker :D But sounds really cool how rigid the system is from the get go. Like not allowing the athletes to do whatever but they have to commit to the structure and someone thinks their schedule through, evaluating what's worth it for them. This will get results, there is no question about that. When you have that commitment to training, take care of their business so they can focus on training and guarantee them high level training buddies, they are going to perform. I think this is what Travis and Kayla wanted from judo in the US when they were competing and what they wanted for the future judokas in the US. And I feel like the athletes will respect a Nordic coach. Not much chit-chattery or bullshit, maybe demanding a lot and not taking attitude, but also very fair and devoted. He could've just as well been Finland's new coach, sounds like what he's doing in the US is exactly what they decided to do in Finland to fix the system when they brought Rok Drakšič from Slovenia.

[@RoronoaZoroWasHere]

@shintaro higashi Are you familiar with any of the Judo dojo’s in Oregon? Have you heard of pacific rim martial arts? Apparently they were an international training camp for USA Judo around 2017/2018? I’m looking to begin doing Judo at 27 and was wondering how they would compare to more traditional dojo like Obukan in Portland Oregon if you’re familiar with them as well?

[@WayneManifesto]

Jeez, am I the only one here?