St Albans Judo Club has been providing over 70 years of service to judo & the community. The club is a thriving community of junior and senior members, parents, and volunteers who all come together to enjoy judo.

Expert tuition caters for all levels from beginner to black belt and beyond!

Interested in a Trial?

NOTE: WE ARE CURRENTLY OPERATING A WAITING LIST SYSTEM FOR ALL UNDER 14s .

Please note we organise our U19s classes by School Year rather than exact age.
Monkeys – For those who will be starting Reception in Sept 2023 or 2024
(Pre-registration for Sept 2023 is open)

Dragons – Years 1-3 / Tigers – Years 4-6 / Wolves – Years 7-9 / Cranes – Years 10-13

If you are over 18, and have never done Judo before, we are launching our new Adult Beginners Course on Thursday 22nd February at 8pm.

Age is no barrier, our September course had a 50 year age span between oldest & youngest! The course is also suitable for people who did judo in the past and would like to get back into it.

In the first instance, for all ages, please complete our short expression of interest form and we will get in touch with more details.

For more information & prices see the How to Join section.

Visitors welcome

See Class Timetable for available sessions.

PAYG Session passes for Visitors can be purchased from our club shop – https://st-albans-judo-club-shop.mymawebsite.com/product/payg-session-pass/

From 1st September 2023 our Visitors fees are £5 for 18s & under and £7 for Over 19s

You MUST bring your current, in date, BJC, BJA or AJA licence with you.

Session PAYG Passes are valid for one training session, they are not tied to a specific date and can be used up to 1 month after purchase. Please note we can not accept cash or card payments on the door.

We are proud to have met the requirements to be awarded the Safeguarding Code in Martial Arts for a 3rd Year For more information on this scheme: www.safeguardingcode.com/parents

SAJC Hosts GB Olympian Nekoda Davis
Session video available

St. Albans Judo Club4 days ago

Great day out for our younger members yesterday at the Bishops Stortford U8s Festival. Split into age groups for 6 year olds & 7 year olds, we even managed to snap a whole team photo in the middle.

Well done to Aillie, Cora, Lizzie, Theo, Ruairi, Finn & Max on your excellent performances! 👍

For some this was their first time taking part in anything outside our own dojo, and they all handled it brilliantly. The judo was strong, and they all gave it their best efforts, putting into practice what we learn in class.

Great work from Samuel who came along as assistant coach to look after them, doing a great job keeping them calm & focused, and offering supportive encouragement & coaching throughout.

Our thanks to Bishops Stortford Judokwai for putting on an excellent, fun & relaxed introduction to competitive judo for our youngsters. 🥋

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St. Albans Judo Club1 week ago

Busy night at our Fighting Fit session last night - An excellent turn out for a holiday week, with 22 on the mat all working hard & getting extremely sweaty!

Ukemi & Ashi-waza practice to start, then fitness circuits, 8x 3-min transitional Randori bouts & we even had time for a game before the youngsters went off. To finish off, the adults carried on for a bit more Randori & technical practice.

Our next session is on April 22nd 6:45pm-7:45pm/8:15pm open for all ages & visitors welcome (minimum grade requirements & u8s by invitation only)

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St. Albans Judo Club1 week ago

This weekend saw Freya & George finish their move from our SAJC Young Coaches pathway on to the Senior pathway by completing their BJC Level 1 Coaching course
Also on the course this weekend we had Ian G & Bill J doing revalidations of prior awards.

👏 Congratulations to all of you 👏

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St. Albans Judo Club2 weeks ago

Please note the changed time for the 8-11 boys weigh-in at Bishops Stortford on the 14th.

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St. Albans Judo Club3 weeks ago

❗Easter Holidays - Opening Times❗

👉 Monday 25th - Fighting Fit 6:45pm-7:45/8:15pm - Ages 8-Adult.
Our Fortnightly Fitness, Randori & Competitive Skills session,
Minimum grade 3 Orange Tabs/2 Yellow Tabs (or by personal invitation)

👍 Tuesday 26th - Thursday 18th - All classes running as usual (including Monkeys)

‼️ Friday 29th - Bank Holiday, so Batchwood Centre is closed in the evening. Students that would normally come on Friday are welcome on other nights.
Bank Holiday Monday 1st April - No class scheduled

👉 Tuesday 2nd - Friday 5th - All classes running as usual EXCEPT Monkeys.

🤜 Monday 8th - Fighting Fit Session
👍 Tuesday 9th onwards - All classes as normal.

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St. Albans Judo Club3 weeks ago

🥋 Over the weekend the club welcomed Harrow School to the dojo, along with their Japanese visitors from Nada & Konan High Schools. Many thanks to Paul Ajala & Matthew Glossop for inviting our older teenagers to join in with the session. 👍
The atmosphere in the dojo was amazing, and the judo a joy to watch.
The SAJC folks all came off extremely sweaty & smiling, which is exactly what you hope for after a good practice! 😅

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Technical & Development Classes

Note: All classes at SAJC are organised by School Year Groups.

Mini Judo Monkeys* – Nursery & Reception (from 3years & 6 months)
New Intakes in Sept & Jan Only – Register now for Sept 2024 or Jan 2025 start.
Wednesdays – 5pm
*For those who will start Reception in Sept ’24 or Sept ’25

Dragons – Years 1, 2 & 3 – WAITING LIST IN OPERATION
Wednesday – 6pm / Friday – 6pm

Tigers – Years 4, 5 & 6 – WAITING LIST IN OPERATION
Wednesday – 7:15pm / Thursday – 6:45pm / Friday – 6pm

Wolves – Years 7, 8 & 9 – WAITING LIST IN OPERATION
Wednesday 7:15pm / Thursday 6:45pm / Friday – 7:15pm

Cranes – Years 10, 11, 12 & 13 – Subject to availability, contact for more info.
Wednesday 8:30pm / Friday 7:15pm
Over 16s can also join Adults classes.

Adults – Available for all ages from 16 onwards
Technical Tuesday 8pm / Open Mat Thursday 8pm
(Not suitable for new starters)

NEW Adult Beginners Course – Starts THURSDAY 22nd February
Thursday 8pm – Fixed course dates from February to May 2023

Monday Night – Fighting Fitness Sessions

Fortnightly at 6:45pm-7:45pm or 6:45pm-8:15pm
Upcoming Dates – 26^th February / 11^th & 25^th March / 8^th & 22^th & 29^th April
20^th May / 3^th & 17^th June / 1^st & 8^th July

(29^th April & 8^th July – Extra classes for specific competition preparation)

Section A: 6:45pm-7:45pm

Dragons (age 7&8 by invitation only)
Tigers (minimum grade BJC 3 Orange Tabs / BJC 6^th Kyu San / BJA 3^rd Mon, or by invitation)
Wolves (BJC 6^th Kyu San to 5^th Kyu San / BJA grade 3^rd to 6^th Mon, or by invitation)

Section B: 6:45pm-8:15pm

Wolves (by invitation only)
Cranes (minimum grade BJC or BJA 5^th Kyu, or by invitation)
Adults (minimum grade BJC or BJA 5^th Kyu, or by invitation)

If you are interested in the Fighting Fit Classes, but aren’t sure if you should be attending Section A or B, just get in touch and we can discuss.

For further information please email info@stalbansjudo.org.uk

NOTE: WE ARE CURRENTLY AT CAPACITY FOR UNDER 14s
AND OPERATING A WAITING LIST SYSTEM.

In the first instance, for all ages, please complete our short expression of interest form and we will get in touch with more details..

If you are new to judo, your first session is free!!
After your 1^st session if you want to continue we will ask you to purchase a 3-month provisional judo licence, or one of the other licences available if you prefer.

Once you have a licence, there is no training fee for your 2^nd session, but after that you will need to sign up to one of our membership options. Fees are paid monthly in advance by Direct Debit. SAJC offers training sessions for around 48 weeks of every year and our fees are spread equally across the months.

For the Ginmedaru options, you can attend additional sessions by purchasing a PAYG pass from our store.

We also have Annual Advance pricing rates if you would prefer to pay for a whole year upfront. These are available after 3 months of attendance, please speak to us if this is of interest.

Judo Licences

In order to take part in judo lessons, you much have a judo licence from one of our two governing bodies. This licence provides you with personal accident insurance, and full licences allow you to take part in gradings and competitions.

Our governing bodies are:
British Judo Council and British Judo Association.

There are other pricing options available for certain groups, please ask at the desk for more details.

* – Does not allow you to participate in gradings or competitions, but you can upgrade to the full membership at any time

Club Membership is £10 per year, and helps keep our training costs low.
If you choose not to take membership, when upgrading from your 3 month provisional licence your monthly training fees will increase.

If you are visiting from another club

Just bring your current BJA or BJC licence with you and purchase a PAYG Session pass.

PAYG Session passes for Visitors must be purchased in advance from our club shop – https://st-albans-judo-club-shop.mymawebsite.com/product/payg-session-pass/

Session PAYG Passes are valid for one training session, they are not tied to a specific date and can be used up to 1 month after purchase. We also offer a monthly Direct Debit rate for Regular visitors.

What to wear

For the first few classes you can wear tracksuit bottoms without zips/ buttons/ anything hard that could injure yourself or others when breakfalling. Girls should also wear a plain white T-shirt. These items may get pulled/ stretched so don’t wear anything you can’t afford to write off! Please use an elastic hair band to tie any long hair back (no metal hair clips are allowed).

We have spare judo jackets that you can use – just ask someone for help if you’re stuck. You’ll be expected to buy your own gi (judo outfit) if you decide to join. These are available at the club shop.

Forms

The club asks you to fill out a membership form on your first visit.

Club shop

The club shop carries a stock of judo clothing and accessories for members, including judo suits, and club branded kit.

Email

info@stalbansjudo.org.uk

Phone

01727 869007

Weekday evenings only. Please leave a message at other times.

Directions

The dojo address is:
St Albans Judo Club,
Batchwood Golf and Sports Centre,
Batchwood Drive,
St Albans,
Hertfordshire,
AL3 5XA.

The Dojo is within “Batchwood Golf and Sports Centre”. There is a large sign for this facility off the road “Batchwood Drive”.

Please be aware that the Dojo is on a section of one-way narrow country road, don’t go along this the wrong way. If you have a satnav then the following coordinates will lead you to the correct entrance to the one-way road N51.764848, W0.344282

Parking is on the right just before you reach the Sports Centre. Please observe the parking signs/ notices.