Saint-Doulchard. Mathilde Neil, 1st Dan judo black belt. Dolchardienne Mathilde Neil, 18, young graduate of the Saint-Doulchard judo club, obtained her black belt.
His judoka comrades celebrated the event on Thursday evening, on the tatami of the dojo, with small rituals. Each of them made her fall, all carried her at arm’s length and propelled her into the air… Between laughter and emotions, the atmosphere was particularly joyful. “Judo allowed me to free myself, to meet extra people”, says Mathilde Neil, who summarizes in a few spontaneous words thirteen years of passion and practice.
A few years ago, martial arts took over gymnastics. And the big brother, also a judoka, was a model for his little sister.
To be a black belt, “it’s one of the objectives of a judoka”, affirms Mathilde Neil. “But this is only the beginning,” recalls his teacher, Sabrina Martin.
“Judo is a whole life”. Mathilde Neil, a student in the final year maths/physics class at the Marguerite-de-Navarre high school in Bourges, devotes three hours of training to it a week. “Judo gave me self-confidence,” she says.
To get his black belt 1 is dan, it took a mastered technique but above all determination and maturity. “The mind matters”, confirms Sabrina Martin.
A big smile is drawn on the face of Mathilde Neil who passed and passed her value units, between March and December last.
“She is always like that, radiant. She is the very image of judo,” says Josée Rousseau, president of the Saint-Doulchard judo club, with joy and pride.
