Our dojo at the start of the year

We've always aimed to get the best infrastructure for our members. That means:
a) big mat area
b) high-quality, 5cm-thick mats
c) crash pads (plenty of them, and both thick and thin ones)
d) TV monitor to show them judo videos
e) portable speaker for the TV and to play music during randori
f) wall paddings for safety

It took a long time for us to be able to offer all these things to our members but as of this new year, we managed to do it.

The usable training area (not including safety buffers) is roughly 9m x 14m, which gives us 126 square meters. That's not huge but it's a pretty big mat area (especially compared to our previous dojo where we only had 50 square meters to work with). Not quite triple the original size but 2.5 times what we used to have.

We used to work with only two crash pads. Now, we have 8 thick ones and 4 thin ones. We were able to afford these with some assistance from Majlis Sukan Wilayah Persekutuan. During randori, these crash pads act as wall paddings for the side of the dojo that doesn't have a buffer zone. So, that works out pretty well.

On Saturday, we had a small group doing some training. After the session ended, we put in new buffers on the far end of the dojo (replacing the white foam with some older tatami mats, which are sturdier). The mat area is now really pretty solid. Big space, sufficient cushioning and well-buffered.

As a coach, I think it's super important to provided good infrastructure for our players. Without quality equipment in place, you can't train properly. But at KL Judo, now you can train like a pro.