Make Judo part of your Vacation.

Regular visitors to this site will have noticed that I have been quiet for a few weeks, this is in part because I recently attended the University of Bath BSc course on Judo coaching where I am completing my EJU level 5 coaching certification. I also took a week off and went away with my family on holiday.

Which brings me to the topic of this short blog post, on the Wednesday in the middle of my week long vacation I took my kids to the local Judo club near where I was staying on vacation (Torquay, Devon, UK). Many Judo clubs and Judo coaches run Holiday programmes and this is a great opportunity for you to incorporate Judo into your family holiday.

In my case, I took both my kids down to the Torquay Judo Kwai club for the morning. Simon Ward, the coach, ran a fun session that all the kids enjoyed. He allowed me to come on the mat and participate, which meant primarily holding hands with my daughter and being thrown by her. This could be you too, you do not need to be a black belt or have much Judo experience generally. You also don’t need to participate.

Incorporating Judo into a Holiday is a great way of including Judo in your family and life. It is a great break from the beach for  a start.

My recommendation would be to talk to your local club coach about your going on holiday. Tell them where you are going and ask them if they know a coach in that area, you might be suprised by at where your local coach has friends or colleagues they know in odd places. If they know someone then they will probably be able to tell you if they think that coach/club will be okay for your child to attend.

The second way is to contact the national Judo governing body and ask them for a recommendation for a club in the area you will be taking your vacation. They will have a database of clubs and potentially even have a database of events including holiday camps etc.

Finally, you could Google for Judo in the area and try and find information direct from club websites.

I really enjoyed being on the mat with my kids and it was a terrific and very unique and special addition to our family holiday, hopefully having some new people in the club from far away was fun for the Torquay Judo Club members too.