Judo

About Us

Judo, translating to “gentle way,” is one of the most popular forms of martial arts in the world. It’s one of the biggest Olympic sports in terms of competitors and there are millions of judokas (person who plays Judo) worldwide. UCC Judo club provides a welcoming and encouraging atmosphere to safely learn and practice Judo, under the guidance of 4^th Dan Black belt and Sport Ireland level 2 coach, David Holmes.

For those who do not know what judo is, it is quite unlike the martial arts that you would generally think of; there is no kicking or punching, rather throwing and grappling. The main objective of judo is to use your opponent’s weight against them to throw them on their backs – maximum effect with minimum effort. There’s both standing fighting and groundwork fighting both of which are great ways of defending oneself.

Judo is a fantastic sport in many ways; to get fit and maintain fitness; to learn how to fight and defend yourself; to help you feel more confident; but most of all its loads of fun. We cater for all levels of judo, from absolute beginner, to highly advanced. There is never any pressure to participate in events or competitions, if someone wishes to play just for fun, then that is just as great! However, if you wish to throw yourself in and get to as many competitions as possible, we pride ourselves in creating opportunities for judoka of all levels of ability to be able to compete and learn the rules of competition. We regularly travel to competitions in Dublin, Galway and Derry and compete at the Inter-varsities (between all University Judo Clubs) for Judo every year. Most of the competitions we travel to have separate competitions for beginners and for advanced judoka, which is a great way to meet new people and begin a competitive journey.

Our club holds a great reputation throughout the judo community in Ireland and internationally, thanks to some of our Erasmus students that we have had the pleasure of getting to know after they joined our club during their year in Ireland. If you would like to read about their experiences here, you can find them on our website under Erasmus Testimonies. We highly encourage people to join a club or society when they first arrive in college as it is the best way of getting to know people. Therefore, we run regular self- defence classes and collaborations with other Societies. We train every Monday (8.30) and Wednesday (9.00) in the Mardyke Hall 1. If you would like to throw yourself into something new – judo is the club for you!