Children's judo classes

We're starting a kids' class soon.

KL Judo is about to turn four years old in less than a month. All this while, we've been focusing on building up an adults class. It's been a challenging journey but we not only survived but managed to thrive. We now have a critical mass of adult judo players training three times a week. This is no mean feat. We're very proud of what we've achieved but we won't be complacent. We will continue to grow our adults class, which is unique in the Malaysian context.

We've been thinking of starting a children's class for some time now but we kept putting it off because there was so much to do trying to foster and build up an adults class. No other club in the country focuses on this demographic. Why? Because it's really hard getting working adults to come train regularly in judo. But at KL Judo we don't do things because they are easy. We do them because they are hard.

Now that our adults class has matured and we have a steady critical mass of adult members, we think it's a good time to start looking at a children's class. From Day 1, we've had inquiries about children's classes. One person even asked if his three-year old could start judo.

Three years old is pretty young for judo. You could probably do a rolling and tumbling class with a three year old but to learn judo, I'd say a good starting age is around six. I would define a children's class as that for kids aged six to 12. (Those aged 13 and older can join the adults class).

Everyone and anyone who has visited and trained at KL Judo has told us our sessions are quite different from any other sessions they've experienced before (and they mean that in a good way). In this spirit, we will make our children's class different too.

I'm still working on the structure for our children's class but this is what I can tell you so far:

a) It will be fun, fun, fun. It's gotta be fun or children won't stick with it. That doesn't mean it will only be games throughout the whole session but games will be a big part of what we do. They will be enjoyable activities for active young bodies but they will also help to teach some skill sets or principles. So, yeah, expect lots of games.

b) There will be some technical stuff taught. After all, it can't be a judo class if you don't teach any judo techniques. So we definitely will teach them core techniques. But it will be done in a fun way.

c) It will be very hands-on and practical. One of the best ways to bore a kid (or anyone, for that matter) to death is to have them do endless uchikomi without the chance to do any actual physical activity. We will have lots of physical activities that will give them the chance to roll about, tumble, grapple and wrestle. Like I said, it will be fun, fun, fun.

If you are a parent and you want your kid to learn judo, contact us and we can arrange for a free trial. We aim to get our kids' class going sometime in May.