A Brief History of Rochdale Judo Club in the North West
Rochdale Judo Club’s motto taken from a quote by Gunji Koizumi who was regarded as the father of British Judo is “in skill opposed – in spirit united” and it is true to say that spirits at the club are very high indeed as the club with the recent redevelopment complete looks to the future. The club has always had a policy of ever striving to improve the training and facilities it offers its members and that saw a progression of venues in the early years – above a garage, in a church hall, in a room above the old Rochdale market – but a great landmark was reached when in the summer of 1977 the club opened its own custom built premises – the Trafalgar Street Dojo.
The club celebrated its 50th anniversary on the 9th December 2000, over 120 past and present members of the club attended a celebration dinner to mark this achievement.
Recreational Judo
Since then, the club has thrived and it’s continuing success stories not only in the competitive arena but also in the more recreational Judo experiences it offers, has meant that even with the restructuring of sessions to cope with demand there was still a real need for the club to grow physically in order to cater for increasing membership. This was made possible in 2005 with the aid of a Sport England Lottery grant.
The club caters for players from 5 years of age upwards, and still training regularly is Club Life President Maurice Clarke (4th Dan) who at 78 has no problem holding his own with many of the younger black belt players. Truly a ‘grass-roots’ club serving members with a wide range of skills from beginners to national and internationally ranked players, Rochdale Judo Club lives up to its claim of having ‘something for everyone.’
Seniors and Juniors
Behind every successful club is a dedicated coaching team and Rochdale Judo Club is no exception – the senior and junior sections are headed up by Warren Schofield (6th Dan) and Dave Duffy (6th Dan) respectively – Warren formally sat on the British Judo Association’s National Coaching Commission and Dave is at the forefront of modern day coaching being formally employed by the British Judo Association as full-time BJA development Officer. Between them they have helped develop a truly well rounded coaching team at the club with Mick Armstrong bringing from his day job schools coaching expertise, who could forget Simon Jackson MBE with his unique motivational qualities.
For those who do not take to Judo the club offers a regular Karate class and recently Jiu-jitsu groups have taken advantage of the excellent facilities. On occasions the premises have been made available to the local community where appropriate for projects as diverse as an Asian women only group, an adult self-defence course and a pre-jump parachute instruction course. It has even been used as a base for mourners who had travelled extensively for an Asian funeral. The premises are also used regularly by the BJA NW Area as its main venue for coach education and on occasions by the BJA National Personal Safety advisor (self-defence) for qualification and re-validation events. In the past at the club, has helped out both ‘Rochdale Hornets’ and ‘Oldham Rugby League Football Club’ by offering out of season training facilities.
The founder of Judo Jigoro Kano was born in 1860; he graduated with a degree in literature from Tokyo Imperial University in 1881 and took a further degree in philosophy the following year. Apart from being the founder of judo, Kano was a leading educationalist and a prominent figure in the Japanese Olympic movement.
The Formative Years
The founder of Judo Jigoro Kano was born in 1860; he graduated with a degree in literature from Tokyo Imperial University in 1881 and took a further degree in philosophy the following year. Apart from being the founder of judo, Kano was a leading educationalist and a prominent figure in the Japanese Olympic movement.
When Kano began his study of Jiu-jitsu as a young man, the Jiu-jitsu masters of the martial arts were struggling to earn a living. Although they were willing to teach the skills handed down to them over many generations, there was little interest among people of the succeeding generation, additionally the demise of the samurai (warrior) class had reduced the need for instruction. At the age of 18 Kano studied the Jiu-jitsu of the Tenshin Shiny Ryu under Fukudo and Iso, both instructors at the prestigious Komu Sho. Following the death of Fukuda, Kano remained briefly with master Iso before finishing his pupilage with master Ilkubo. By 1883, Kano had clarified his analysis of Jiu-jitsu and related methods to the point at which he felt able to instruct the public through a school of his own. To that end he borrowed a small room at Eishoji temple and opened the first Kodokan for the study of Kano judo.
Kata
The building blocks for all good technique within Judo; God bless Youtube!
Nage no kata: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOcVfmmMBLY
Katame no kata: Set 1 (Osaekomi-waza) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6g83MgiLMI
Set 2 (Shime-waza) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDwYdzUZV0w
Set 3 (Kansetsu-waza) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePqTWKsYgsI
The British Judo Association
Koizumi’s vision for the growth of judo on an international basis began to materialise in 1948. On 24 July that year the British Judo Association (BJA) was established as the representative national body; 4 days later a meeting under the chairmanship of Trevor Leggett, the most senior non-Japanese player in the world, approved the constitution of a European Judo Union (EJU) to represent judo in the continent of Europe. 3 years later still, the International Judo Federation (IJF) was created as an inter-continental body.
See: www.britishjudo.org.uk for details of the National Governing Body for Judo in the UK.
Contact Us
Whether you are looking for Judo, an activity for fitness training, to learn a form of self defence or martial arts you can achieve all of these goals. For further information on Rochdale Judo Club be sure to get in touch with us by using the ‘Contact Us‘ page form, via the number listed above or why not drop in to one of our sessions. We welcome students of all ages and all skill levels, and look forward to speaking with you in the near future.
Thank you for your time reading this – don’t be a stranger!