St Albans Judo Club has been providing 75 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!

If you are over 18, and have never done Judo before (or are returning after a long break), we will be running our next Adult Beginners Course on Thursday 18th September at 8pm.

Age is no barrier, our September ’23 course had a 50 year age span between oldest & youngest! The 12 week course is also an excellent refresher for people who did judo in the past and would like to get back into it.

If you’re interested in finding out more about this course, complete our expression of interest form and we will get in touch with more details.

Interested in a Trial?

NOTE: WE ARE CURRENTLY OPERATING A WAITING LIST SYSTEM.

Please note we organise our U19s classes by School Year rather than exact age.

Primary School Sections:
Monkeys – For those who will be starting Reception in Sept 2025 or 2026, minimum age 3years & 6months (Pre-registration for Sept 2025 is open)
Dragons – Years 1-3 / Tigers – Years 4-6

Secondary School Sections:
Wolves – Years 7-9 / Cranes – Years 10-13 (or college equivalent)

For Adults Aged 18+ (Tortoises)

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

For more information & prices see the How to Join section & check our Class Timetable

NEW FROM SEPTEMBER 2025

Monday Night – Kata Sessions

Monthly at 6:45pm-7:45pm or 6:45pm-8:30pm
Upcoming Dates – 29 September / 27 October / 24 November

These will take place on the last Monday of the month, in the same time slot as the Fighting Fit classes, with the same minimum attendance requirements.

Visitors welcome

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

Our Visitors fees are £5 for 18s & under and £7 for Over 19s

See our Class Timetable for available sessions.

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 5th Year For more information on this scheme: www.safeguardingcode.com/parents

SAJC Hosts GB Olympian Nekoda Davis
Session video available

St. Albans Judo Club3 weeks ago

And just like that the Club's judo for 2025 comes to an end!

We finished off the year with a grading for our latest cohort of Adult beginners, who've all worked hard over the past 12 weeks, deservedly earning their 5th Kyu (Yellow Belt).
(With a couple more still to do in Jan who've already headed off for the holidays)

Welcome to the end of the beginning guys, and we look forward to you joining us at the wider club sessions in the new year 👍👍

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St. Albans Judo Club3 weeks ago

🎉Well now that was CHAOS! 🎉
An absolutely 🎄brilliant🎄last night of the year for all our youngsters yesterday, with over 120 taking part across the 3 sessions. At our busiest point during the u13s session, we had 85 people on the mat - including a Dinosaur, and I don't mean me!

Huge, huge "thank yous" to everyone who supported the night both on and off the mat - herding cats has nothing on trying to organise 75+ extremely over excited kids! Admin, Coaches & Young Helpers - You Rock! 👍

In particular I want to give a really big shoutout to 🌟Liz🌟 for all her hard work both in advance and during the evening, sorting out all the food, preparing all the sweet cones for the kids, and just generally keeping the kitchen flowing for everyone.👏

It was also great to a visit from a couple of our older teens who left us for Uni this year, hope to see you back again in the next Holidays 🙂

Photos, from this other events this year, thanks to Valeria & Bill 👍

One last session for Adults tonight, including the wrap up of this terms Beginners Course, then it's time for a relaxing couple of weeks before everything zooms back into motion in January.

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St. Albans Judo Club3 weeks ago

A huge 🌟Thank You🌟 to everyone who donated prizes for our Christmas Raffle.

In particular the top prize donations from:
Warner Bros Harry Potter Studio Tours (https://www.wbstudiotour.co.uk/)
Photographic Synergy (https://photographicsynergy.com/)
Gratitude Charity (https://gratitude.charity/)

Overall we raised £400 which will be split between our two chosen Charities
Cancer Research UK (https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/) & Youth Talk (https://youthtalk.org.uk/)

The winners have all been drawn, and prizes can be collected from the dojo during this evening's kids sessions, tomorrows adult session, or will be stored safely until January. 🎉

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St. Albans Judo Club3 weeks ago

Just a reminder for all members that our last sessions for the year are:

🎄KIDS - End of Term Fun & Games night - TONIGHT (Wednesday 17th)
Monkeys - 5:30-6pm / U13s 6-7:30pm / O13s thru U21s - 7:30pm-9pm
These sessions are open to Members from across the week.
(Times for this are quite fluid, so if arriving for 6pm is hard it's ok to arrive a bit later, and if you have to leave before 9pm that's also fine)

🎄And finally our ADULT Open Mat & Beginners Course - Tomorrow (Thursday 18th) 8-9:30pm

There are no classes on the 19th December & we are then closed through until Tuesday 6th January when all classes return as normal. 🎉

If you are a Club Member & haven't yet joined Our WhatsApp community, please grab the details next time you are in the dojo - its the best place to fine up to date notifications, and ask us questions about events & timings

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St. Albans Judo Club4 weeks ago

🌟On Sunday 7th December we held our 2025 Annual Club Championships.🌟

During over 7 hours of judo, 75 individual competitors, split into 5 groups, took part in a total of 113 matches, with participants across all age & grade ranges, from tiny 6-year-old Novices who've been with us just a couple of months, through to, errm, lets say, "Veteran" Dan grades with decades of experience.

It was also especially lovely to have ex-Chief Instructor Pete Wortley with us to hand out the medals through the morning. 👍

Huge congratulations to everyone who took part, it was a fantastic day, with some excellent judo on display. Every medal, in every category, was hard fought for and well deserved. 🎉

As always these events simply couldn't run without our amazing team of volunteers, both on and off mat, young & old - covering Referees, Corner Judges & Table Officials, plus those serving teas & coffees, selling raffle tickets, stringing medals, and setting up & clearing down before & after the event. Thank you all for your amazing hard work.👏

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St. Albans Judo Club1 month ago

🎉Really well done to our small, but awesome group of young Dragons who headed over to Bishops Stortford to take part in their U8s Festival this morning. 🏅

For most this was their first big trip outside the dojo, and they all did amazingly!

Thanks to Steve & Samuel, and all the parents for supporting. 👍

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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 2025 start.
Wednesdays – 5-5:45pm
*For those who will start Reception in Sept ’25 or Sept ’26

Dragons – Years 1, 2 & 3 – WAITING LIST IN OPERATION
Wednesday – 6-7pm / Friday – 6-7pm

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

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

Cranes – Years 10, 11, 12 & 13 – WAITING LIST IN OPERATION
Wednesday 8:30-9:30pm / Friday 7:15-8:15pm
Over 16s can also join Adults classes.

Adults – Available for all ages from 16 onwards
Technical Tuesday 7:30-9:30pm / Open Mat Thursday 8-9:30pm
(Not suitable for new starters)

Adult Beginners Course – Starts THURSDAY 18th SEPTEMBER
Thursday 8-9:30pm – Fixed course dates from September to December 2025

Monday Night – Fighting Fitness Sessions

Fortnightly at 6:45pm-7:45pm or 6:45pm-8:30pm
Upcoming Dates – 21st July / 4th August – Then Paused for the Summer
8th & 22nd September / 6th & 20th October / 3rd, 10th* & 17th November / 1st & 15th December
(* Extra session before BJC Nationals)

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

Dragons (age 7&8 by invitation only)
Tigers (minimum grade BJC 2 Green Tabs / BJC 6^th Kyu San / BJA 3^rd Mon, or by invitation)
Wolves (minimum grade BJC 6^th Kyu San / BJA 3^rd Mon, or by invitation)

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

Wolves (14+, BJC 4th Kyu, or BJA 7^th Mon, or by invitation)
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.

NEW FROM SEPTEMBER 2025

Monday Night – Kata Sessions

Monthly at 6:45pm-7:45pm or 6:45pm-8:30pm
Upcoming Dates – 29 September / 27 October / 24 November

Section A: 6:45pm-7:45pm / Section B: 6:45pm-8:15pm

Same minimum attendance requirements as for Fighting Fit

If you are interested in the Kata Sessions, 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 our Pre-Judo class, (Pre-school from age 3&1/2 & Reception) the rate is £12 per month.

Juniors (ages 5-18, School Years 1 – 13) we have two pricing options.
GINMedaru (Silver) gives one session per week and is £15 per month
KINMedaru (Gold) allows attendance at all sessions for the age group each week and is £25 per month

Seniors (Over 19s) are £25 per month, which allows access to all available adult classes.

When on the GINmedaru plan, 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.