Jimmy Pedro’s Mental and Physical Training System Key to USA success

In its best international performance ever, USA Judo won two Gold Medals at the World Judo Masters tournament held May 27-29 in Guadalajara, Mexico. Kayla Harrison and Travis Stevens of Team USA Judo both earned Gold medals in Guadalajara, following years of training with Jimmy Pedro, two-time Olympic medalist and coach of the 2016 US Olympic Judo Team. His structured mental and physical training system was vital to their success, and has the athletes well prepared for the Olympic Games in Rio.

“I could talk for hours about working and living with the Pedros,” said Kayla Harrison following her Gold medal performance in Mexico. “Their training methods are challenging, personalized and structured to get me ready for the biggest events so that I can compete with confidence.” Harrison’s confident skill helped her win Olympic Gold in the London Games in 2012, making her the first and only American Judo athlete to earn the top Olympic achievement. At the recent World Judo Masters event, she beat Brazilian Mayra Aguiar to earn Gold in the 78kg division. She has trained with coach Jimmy Pedro and Big Jim at Pedro’s Judo Center in Wakefield, Mass. for several years.

The winning performances of Harrison and Stevens were crafted through an integrated training plan built by Pedro and his father James Pedro Sr., or “Big Jim.” Their medal-producing system was born of Big Jim’s focus on grip fighting, ground-focused “ne-waza” judo drills and game planning that lead Jimmy Pedro to two Olympic Bronze medals, and has been refined through Jimmy Pedro’s proven technique of visualization and mental training. Delivered through years of coaching, this system allows athletes to peak at the right moment and to perform at their maximum potential.

Following years of well-designed mental training, Travis Stevens found a way to Gold-medal victory (81 kg division) at the World Judo Masters tournament. In fact, Stevens and Pedro used “Find a way” as part of the visualization and mental conditioning. The system trains athletes to visualize all aspects of winning as a method for goal setting and motivation that helps them work through a planned regimen.

“We have cultivated a relationship over the years,” said Stevens. “I truly believe that Big Jim and Jimmy have each athlete’s best interest at heart, and those who listen to their advice and work hard find the straightest line to success. I owe my win at World Judo Masters to these guys.”

“These two American judo athletes accomplished something that I may never witness again in my lifetime,” said Jimmy Pedro, US Olympic Judo Team coach, four-time Olympian, two-time bronze medal winner, and President of FUJI Mats. “Once you truly visualize winning as Harrison and Stevens have,” said Pedro, “the body begins to follow that path.”

At London’s Olympic Games in 2012 team USA won a gold medal by Harrison and bronze by Marti Malloy.