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 Club5 days ago

Brilliant Day at the BJC Closed, incredibly proud of the performances of the whole team. with everyone coming away with at least one win under their belt, with the overall tally being 17 wins across the 9 contestants, almost all of them by straight Ippon throws. Big thanks to Samuel for his support at the mats, and to Liz & Elinore for catching all the results he & I missed. 👍

🎗️Great efforts from Finn & Nye, who came 2nd & 3rd in their respective pools, which at other events would have seen them on the podium, but as they were in groups of 10 & 11 only the top of the pool progresses, so no medals today, but both showed good judo & great fighting spirit.

🥉Bronzes went to Alexander, Tim & Isla, 1st Nationals for Alexander, and the 1st as Juniors for the other two. A really strong showing, and great to watch them performing at this level.

🥈Silvers were claimed by Archie, Patrick (Shizentai) & Henry (Hatfield), with grit & determination, plus a couple of massive throws - excellent efforts!

🥇And finally Max - at his last Nationals as a Primary, taking Gold, & being named 🌟BJC National Champion🌟, whose 5 Ippon wins (4 from powerful throws) started our day, and wrapped up his U10 years, in style!

(sorry you missed the photos Henry!)

2941View on Facebook

St. Albans Judo Club6 days ago

Good Luck today to those taking part in the BJC Closed Nationals.

We have 9 club members here today.
In the Primaries we have Max & Finn, then in the Juniors we have Isla, Nye, Tim, Archie, Alex, Patrick & Henry.

💪💪💪

222View on Facebook

St. Albans Judo Club2 weeks ago

🥋 Fantastic grading yesterday, with 59 of our youngsters under yellow belt on the 1st session and 31 yellow & orange belts on the 2nd session. With some excellent judo on display across both sessions. 🌟

Well done to the kids for their efforts, and thanks to the families for bringing them each week & for patience during a couple of very long sessions! 👍

Big thanks to all the Coaches & young helpers who gave up their afternoon to assessing everyone, it's a mammoth task, but your support makes it much easier. 👌🏅

Thanks too to the kitchen team, keeping everyone supplied with tea & coffee, and ensuring the team got fed in the gap between sessions! ☕🍕

And then there's my long suffering admin team, who put up with me changing process again & still got everything processed, licences stamped & belts/tabs prepared for 90 people! You are amazing and I appreciate you hugely. 👏🤩

Unfortunately we didn't manage to get a photo of the older group, but here is a "beautifully posed" picture of the younger batch 😀

21View on Facebook

St. Albans Judo Club3 weeks ago

🥋 BJC Grading all done, with excellent effort from all 5 SAJC Seniors who took part. Some disappointments, but as always good judo on display & plenty of lessons to take back from the day.

Huge congratulations for the successful Contests, and Theory & Kata assessment leading to promotions for Richard - 2nd Kyu (blue belt) & Stratty - 1st Kyu (brown belt) 🎉🎉

2721View on Facebook

St. Albans Judo Club3 weeks ago

Good luck to Lily, George M, George H, Richard and Stratty at the area grading today! You’ve got this 👍🏻🥋

10View on Facebook

St. Albans Judo Club4 weeks ago

🥋 We've had a great Weekend on the FPJ2 Course, with new Level 2 Coach Awards for Steve & John, revalidations for Bob, Kim, Ian, Jad (and Adam who missed the photo!) 🎉

It was wonderful to spend some time catching up with a few SAJC Alumni (Lisa, Paddy, Tori & Ricky) who were also revalidating their awards. 👍

5121View on Facebook

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.