Your first Tora Judo Kai training session

Whether you are attending one of our classes as a complete beginner or an existing practitioner of Judo you will find a warm and friendly welcome at Tora Judo Kai. We pride ourselves on looking after anyone who is interested in practising Judo.

Please arrive at training hall (Dojo) approximately 15 mins before the session is due to start. This gives us time to introduce our CRB-checked, insured instructors and the club. We also ask you to fill out a brief heath and contact details form.

What to wear

If you have not practiced judo before we would recommend that you wear tracksuit bottoms and a long sleeved top without a zip or hood. Due to the nature of judo you need to wear loose fitting clothing to allow ease of movement. Be prepared for any clothing to be pulled about as Judo involves a lot of movement in exercise, throwing and grappling. If you are an existing Judoka (practitioner) white Judo Suits (Gis) are preferred.

Judo is a close contact activity and as such we require a good level of personal hygiene, i.e. short clean fingernails and toenails. No jewellery should be worn for practice and long hair should be tied back with a soft non metallic band.

Typical session

A typical session will start and end with a formal bow. This is where the students line up on one side of the mat (beginners at the end of the line) and bow (rei) in a kneeling position. This is a traditional formality and done as a sign of respect from students to instructors for what they learn and from instructors to students for their time and attention.

This is followed by a warm up that will be specific to the planned session. The warm up prepares the body for action.

Typically the warm up would be followed by breakfall practice (ukemi). Breakfalling is the activity that protects you and allows you to land safely when being thrown.

The session could then continue with learning and practising the skills required for Judo which are then reinforced with specific training drills and directed free practice.

The sessions always conclude with a cool down, check for well being, notices and a formal bow (rei).

Benefits of membership

Other benefits include access to our grading system and preferential rates to all Tora Judo Kai and Bushido Budo Kai events including competitions, courses and training camps. You will also be entitled to continued access to our highly trained and experienced coaches.

Membership of Tora Judo Kai also allows you to train at any other martial arts clubs that are members of Bushido Budo Kai. Training sessions are regularly run by guest Martial Art instructors from other Bushido Budo Kai member clubs. Please see Bushido Budo Kai page and Diary of this website for more detail.

It is at this point when you are thinking about membership that we would advise you to purchase a judo suit (Gi). Details and prices can be found on our web shop or by asking one of the instructors.