Amazing Good Friday Open Mat

Yesterday we held our first “open mat” which was attended by Judoka from Winchester Judo Club, Fleming Park Judo Club, Southampton University Judo Club and Matsumachi Judo Club.

Judo and BJJ open mat attendees

With 6 Judo black belts on the mat, we enjoyed well over an hour of randori with other Judoka and with some of the BJJ practioners (including BJJ black belts).

This fortnight our coach Lance has been teaching Judo to the BJJ learners as part of their take downs block of training.

Next week more crossover training is taking place, so next Fridays open mat should have even more people doing some throwing.

After the main session, the sharing continued with some of the Judo Dan grades working with gym owner and BJJ coach Jon on some ne-waza (groundwork) technique refinement and exploration.

The open mat is a regular Friday evening event, open to all clubs and free to attend. We are really hoping to grow the Judo participation make it a regular part of our weekly schedule.

Amazing 3 months of Judo at Parity!

What an amazing start to the year the club has had at our new home as part of Parity Martial Arts and Wellness.

Starting with a Thursday session, we quickly needed a Sunday session too.

Highlights have included hosting a session with our friends from Fleming Park Judo club and a club visit from our friends at Fort Purbrook Judo Club.

As we go into second quarter of 2025 we shift focus to grading some people (once club revalidation processes complete this will be easier).

We also want to see if we can visit the clubs that have supported us, and arrange regular training with them and other nearby clubs.

Next on the plan is idea for a women’s only session we hold regularly. Parity already do this for BJJ and it’s just a matter of logistics now.

Next… competitions. Now people have a base it’s time to test it in a competitive scenario. This partially fits with the women’s judo session plan, as creating opportunity for a women’s focussed competition is part of the plan. Stay tuned for more info.

This may be delayed as we try and sort out the situation with our Judo mats still at St Mary’s Leisure Centre given the changes in management there.

As ever, the club is open and welcome to new comers and experienced players. If you’ve not been on the mat for a decade or two, our large soft mat area is perfect for a gentle return.

Fancy just hanging out and chatting Judo, that’s great too. We have plenty of seating and more coaching is always welcome!

If there is something like being involved in organising competitions, organising gradings, organising women’s sessions that interest you (even if you’ve never done it before) please let us know!!

Next… Sumo. Yes SUMO!

Not only is it coming to the UK, with a professional tournament being held at the Royal Albert Hall later this year. We are working behind the scenes to try and bring Sumo to Southampton soon. Interested? Let us know!

Finally, as has always been our way. We welcome adult beginners, in fact it’s always been a focus of ours given our formation as part of Solent University sport. So we are the place you are looking for if you’ve never done Judo (or any martial arts) and want to try it. If Judo turns out to not be for you, there are loads of alternatives at Parity for you to try.

Thanks everyone for an amazing three months, especially to Jo and Jon for being amazing partners at Parity and making us part of the Parity family.

One week free trials

We offer everyone a free one week trial. You can come out Thursday and Sunday sessions to try it out.

If you register at https://www.paritymartialarts.co.uk/memberships you can sign up to try Judo… Or try Judo, BJJ, Kick Boxing and all the classes at Parity Martial Arts andΒ  Wellness.

We have classes for children and adults. A majority of our participants are new starters, so it’s a great time to start.

We teach in a informal style (yes, there is often music) with traditional Judo techniques mixed with modern competitive Judo. Expect a little formal “Kata” along with lots of free practice “Randori”.

Experienced players are always welcome and we have visitors from other clubs regularly. So you will get a good variety of perspectives.

We work to ensure safe training space for EVERYONE no matter what race, religion, disabilities, gender etc.

Judo is all about improving the world around us by improving ourselves, so we strive to make sure everyone has the chance to improve thems lives via Judo.

Come and give it a go, currently every Thursday and Sunday on Millbank Street, Southampton.

Judo at Parity going well

This year we re-opened the club at Parity Martial Arts & Wellness on a Thursday evening. After the first month we have had enough participation to start a Sunday morning session also.

We are offering kids and adults sessions. Both are ideal for beginners, especially the adult session. Unlike many clubs, our adult section is heavily focussed on adult novices, so if you have never done it before, or not since being a kid it’s perfect for you. Equally, we have good attendance from experienced Judoka who have been great at sharing their knowledge.

Our new venue has an incredible soft mats, so are perfect for novices. The large mat area allows plenty of room for plenty of people.

The Thursday 6:30pm kids session is already really full and the Sunday 9:30am session filling up fast.

Adults are at 7:30pm Thursday and 10:30am Sunday, both are great with a perhaps more “chill” vibe on Sundays.

We have also had some visitors from both near and far, which is amazing after such a short time re-opened.

Huge thank you to everyone who has supported our re-opening, especially Jon and Jo of Parity who have been incredible partners in bringing the club back into operation.

On the social networks!

With our 2025 restart, we are also back on social media!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/15s95SxLU4/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/southamptonjudo/

YouTube: https://youtube.com/@southamptoncityjudoclub3365

and latest is… TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@southamptonjudo

Which is where we posted this video, which has already had over 1000 views! It rather nicely highlights how amazing our first month back has been!

@southamptonjudo

#Judo Thursdays and Sundays #CapCut

♬ original sound – π‚π¨π›π«πš 𝐊𝐚𝐒

Sunday Judo!

Judo classes timetable

We are really pleased to announce that we are offering Judo on Sundays as well as our Thursday sessions.

Kids are from 9:30am, then after them Adults take to the mat 10:30 till 12 noon.

This means each session is approximately Β£5,00 per session which is amazing value given the quality of our new venue.

Judo is back for 2025!!

We are really excited to announce that we restart Judo on January 9th 2025, in a new venue!

After a long hiatus from operation the club is restarting in January 2025, in a new venue… Parity Martial Arts and Wellness (72-94 Millbank Street, Southampton, SO14 5QN), Thursday evenings Adults and Children/Teens!!

Starting with a kids/teens session at 6:30pm, we will be training Judo. This will be followed by an Adults session from 7:30 to 9:00pm. The training will take place on the lovely, spacious, double layered area upstairs.

There is a large car-park opposite the venue (Bond Street carpark). We are looking forward to seeing faces both old and new on the mat!

Please visit the Parity Martial Arts and Wellness site. Consider joining not just for the Judo but also for the gym and other classes on offer!

Club remains closed

Dear all,

The club remains closed for the foreseeable future.

Having looked at the BJA guidance, government guidance and the state of the pandemic in UK we will not be opening the club at this time.

Unfortunately, the infection rate and death rate from COVID-19 is still high, with declines stalling. As the lockdown eases, infections are likely to increase. We do not want to be a vector by which the disease spreads so are not able to open.

Wearing of masks seems impractical for Judo, and the heavy breathing at close proximity is likely to transfer the disease. Especially given the small size of the dojo.

Our hope is that the wider adoption of mask wearing and improvements.to track and trace will start to have a positive impact and make returning to Judo possible for us.

At this stage hundreds are still dieing tragically each week from COVID-19 in the UK. We do not want to risk anyone and at this stage doing Judo is a risky proposition that can be avoided.

We encourage everyone to follow the government guidance and “stay at home”, “work from home” and limit contact with others. The better we all do this the sooner we can safely return to Judo.

We are through the first wave of the pandemic, and as Judoka we know too well how dangerous it is if you let your guard down when you think you have the win, but the contest is not over.

Stay safe everyone!!

Training suspended

Regrettably, with the current COVID-19 pandemic situation we have decided to do the responsible thing and suspend our club operations until we have more information.

The last thing we want to do is close our club after only recently reopening our doors. However, we believe that the correct thing to do in the current situation is to protect our members and the wider community by suspending the club for now.

Although government guidance is not clear, what is clear is that the pandemic is still in it’s early phases and anything we can do to limit the damage it will do; we should do. We are not wanting to be a vector by which it spreads.

So we close our doors again, for now!

Staying healthy is important and we might slip some solo home training ideas into our facebook, twitter and web site.

As a club we would like to encourage everyone to be socially responsible; wask your hands, avoid situations that are likely to encourage spreading COVID-19.

But also, please consider your friends, neighbours and wider community. Is everyone around you healthy? Are their at risk people in your area? Could they do with some support or assistance?
Now might be the perfect time to let those around you know that you are there and happy to help if need be. I am sure around all of us there are unwell, elderly, at risk people. Maybe let them know they are not alone, offer to pop down the shops for them or just check they are ok over the next few days/weeks.

Stay well everyone, we will update as the situation changes.

@JudoSouthampton February 2020 Review

This month marked the return of the club which is thanks to some of our members who have been persistent and enthusiastic in their efforts to get us restarted! Thank you!!

February 10th had us back at St Marys Leisure Centre in Southampton for the first time this year and it was nice and busy for a first session, with a mix of old faces and new; black belts and novices.

We are now operating Monday 7pm and Wednesday 7pm, with both sessions being a mix of throwing and groundwork randori and technique.

As a club we have always focussed on “playing” Judo and this is the current plan for 2020. We will provide a fun place to “learn by doing”, with terrible music from Lance (bring your own if you have some ideas) and smiles being preferred over bruises.

We have along with new people had visits from Gary Hill of Southampton University Judo Club and of course from Fleming Park Judo Club. Southampton has a great Judo culture of freindship and having these visits is always appreciated.

Numbers are still lower than we want, but only a few weeks back lots of our regulars are missing still and people have not regained the Judo habit.

In March we will continue to operate the same days, times and format.

In March we will decide next steps for the club in terms of structures, finances, registrations etc. If you are interested in supporting us, please let us know and better yet join our Admin Group on Loomio.

Finally, please help the club by spreading the word that we are alive and well and open twice a week. Facebook posts, twitter messages, chats with friends all help.

Lance
(Coach)