TYPICALLY, combat sports have been picked up by schoolchildren, particularly following the boom in popularity of movies like The Karate Kid.
However, many students overlook judo, preferring mixed martial arts (MMA) or karate because they are more popular.
Judo’s popularity peaks when it is an Olympic year, particularly in the London 2012 Olympic Games, where it was more popular than both Karate and MMA in the United Kingdom.
There were also 186 men and 186 women competing in 15 events at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
At Southampton Judo Club, they have two classes a week for adults where they encourage both beginners and experts to take part.
They closed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but reopened with a high demand for beginners wanting to try out the sport.
Lance Wicks, head coach and 2nd Dan Black Belt, explained:
“We picked up a load of beginners from scratch, which was really nice. A lot of people had done other martial arts but they wanted to try something different.
“We’re a quite modern club, we listen to music, we chat and we have a laugh so its really important that the venue share the same values of it not being about winning medals and that it’s about everyone has a go and has a good time.”
Judoka Leah Cozens joined the club a year ago as a beginner in judo, having participated in other combat sports for 12 years, she said:
“You get to know each other quite well and we’re really welcome in here so it works really well.
“We do try and encourage competing. I don’t personally tend to compete in judo, I tend to do it in another sport, but we do always encourage it.”
Despite the popularity of other combat sports, judo continues to gain popularity, with many adults still signing up each year as beginners.
