What is Judo?
Judo is an Olympic Martial Art established in Japan in 1882.
Judo translates as “the gentle way” as there is no striking techniques and it focuses on grappling and throwing techniques.
Children benefit as they learn self discipline, the importance of timing and skill to overcome brute strength. It’s also very beneficial for children who struggle with morot skills as it builds co-ordination, balance and strength through repetition. Read below to find out more about our classes!
Fundamental Class
Monday night class from 7pm till 8pm.
This class is for beginners from 7 -10. It’s a high energy class where we have dynamic warm ups, teach children how to fall, play games and introduce Judo techniques such as throwing.
Competition Class
Thursday night class from 7pm till 8pm.
This class is for our more established children who want to compete at events such as the Galway Open, All Ireland’s and abroad. This provides more in-depth training with teaching combinations, tactics and practical competition skills. It is also open to those who are beginners from 11+
How do children progress?
In Judo, children progress through a structured grading system following the Irish Judo Association syllabus. In a grading, one of the coaches will take the children aside to demonstrate different throws, hold-downs (osaekomi), different types of falls and a few Japanese expressions to check for knowledge. As they progress up the belts, the challenge gets harder.
For beginners, who start in September, we typically wait till May for their first grading as it can take time to learn the different skills.
For everyone else, gradings take place typically twice a year in December and June.
Children progress with the following belts:
- White Belt
- White/Yellow Belt
- Yellow Belt
- Yellow/Orange Belt
- Orange Belt
- Orange/Green Belt
- Green Belt
- Green/Blue Belt
- Blue Belt
- Blue/Brown Belt
- Brown Belt
Killarney Judo 