Montréal, November 16, 2025 – A year ago, Luke Thomson was forced to forgo the Quebec Open and Canada Cup judo tournaments in Montréal because of a tendon injury. However, the young judoka had no intention of sitting idle. In fact, he turned the situation into an opportunity to combine his two passions: filmmaking and judo.
Thomson had always wanted to make a documentary film about judo, and the timing was perfect, as the biggest names in Canadian judo were all gathered in Montréal for the events.
“I wanted to do something productive while I was away from the tatamis, and I’ve always been fascinated by filmmaking. At first, my plan was simply to make a short documentary about the two competitions in Montréal, but as I started interviewing the athletes, the coaches, and the staff who were there for the tournaments, I realized there was the potential to take it further,” explained Thomson.
“During the competitions last year, it felt like a full-time job. My partner Finn Nakamura and I filmed tons of bouts and interviewed a lot of people. We also conducted some more interviews a few months later, before going into post-production, in between competitions and training sessions. We’ve just completed the editing. I really enjoyed working on this project.”
Olympic medallists Christa Deguchi and Jessika Klimkait, as well as fellow Olympic medallist and Team Canada head coach Antoine Valois-Fortier, were among the twenty-seven people interviewed by Thomson for the project.
“It’s essentially a pretty small project, so I’m very proud and happy that all these judo legends took the time to answer my questions and take part in my documentary. To me, it’s pretty magical!” he exclaimed.
“One of my favourite interviews was with Janusz Pawlowski, one of the national team coaches. He told me some incredible stories about living in communist Poland, where he would watch judo classes through the windows, teaching himself judo because he was not allowed to attend. It was a very inspiring conversation.”
Thomson closed each of his interviews with the same question: “What does judo mean to you?”
He also asked himself the same question.
“While conducting the interviews, I realized it was actually a difficult question to answer. For me, I think I just go where judo takes me. Judo brought me to Canada, where I’m building a whole new life. Judo gives my life structure and direction. It’s not always easy, but it allows me to set goals for myself, and the sport brings me fulfillment.”
Luke Thomson was born in Scotland. He moved to Montréal a couple of years ago to pursue his judo career. And late this past summer, his younger sister Maia followed suit.
“I first started practicing judo in the UK, but my goal has always been to compete in the Olympics, and we made the decision for me to move to Canada because it would be the most beneficial thing for my career, going forward. My parents have always been very sports-minded as well. My father played rugby, and my mother played basketball for many years. Maia and I are the first judokas in the family, though, and I’m really glad she decided to come to Canada with me.”
“In Canada, I’ve learned so much about strategy and how to attack. I think those were the aspects that were missing back in Scotland, if I wanted to progress to the next level. Working with a coach like Janusz has allowed me to improve rapidly, especially in terms of my stance and the execution of my movements,” he concluded.
Following its premiere on Sunday during the Pan-American Cup at the Centre Pierre-Charbonneau, Thomson’s documentary What Does Judo Mean to You? will be available on his YouTube channel.
-30-
Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada
Media Contact
Patrick Esparbès
Chief Operating Officer
Judo Canada
(514) 668-6279
p.esparbes@judocanada.org