Kids Kodokan Judo Training Is Alive and Thriving At Wyndham Vale Dojo

I love my Judo training, just like I love breathing and it is such a great feeling to see so many kids in the Judo classes not just having fun but genuinely wanting to do Judo lessons… I had a gentleman and his friend say to me during the week ” Judo, you mean they still do that? Surely kids aren’t interested in that stuff”. Well tonight just showed how alive Judo for kids is in Wyndham Vale.

Nearly 40 eager kids on the floor bursting at the seams to learn just one more thing, to do one more roll and to play one more game. Yes Judo is truly alive and growing, and growing fast, we are now in discussions to add two more classes per week and split the kids into two age segments. We will talk to all the parents about this once we have confirmed the time availability with the centre management.

Tonight Judo training for the kids started with the traditional warm ups and stretching, then we got the kids to do some pulling and grip exercises that really help build pulling strength and powerful Judo grips as this really builds fitness for kids. We then moved onto practice of the forward rolls and for the more advanced forward rolls into break falls.

We then got the kids into seated back break falls and left and right side break falls the emphasis being on chin position, leg position and the 45 degree placement of the break fall arm. The kids handled this very well, and then we provided a short demonstration of the power and effectiveness of Judo.

Keanu one of the smaller kids and a Kodokan Blue Belt as well as being a previous Australian Kodokan Judo Champion took to throwing his much, much larger father and instructor around the floor. I do not know who was more amazed the students or the parents either way there were a lot of gasps. The children got a solid understanding of just what Judo can do in the right hands with the right application allowing a much smaller person to easily throw and disable a much, much larger attacker.

This skill will come to the students over time as they dedicate themselves to their Judo instruction and Judo training.

Tonight was a great night for all the kids and parents that attended, I have to make the point we could not possibly put another single individual on the floor we were at full capacity on the mats which is a real credit given we are just ending our first full month of being open.

Long live Judo in Wyndham Vale!