Nelson judo club fights back

Covid-19 subdued, but couldn’t break the spirit of the long running Nelson Judo Club. It dates back to 1964 and proudly claimed the biggest membership in the country, 135, until the pandemic struck.

Close contact sport was a huge casualty and numbers slumped to about a dozen.

“We almost folded but moved from our Stoke base to the Waimea Old Boys Rugby Football Clubrooms complex in Richmond. Now we are re-invigorating the club. We have up to 50 members and could take up to 75. Onwards and upwards,” declares Nelson Judo Club president Richard Stevenson.

A key part of the revival is the return to Nelson of third dan black belt John Maxwell who is the club’s head coach and on his way back from competing at the World Judo Championships in Las Vegas.

“I bumped in to John at the gym about eight or nine years ago and that’s how I got into the sport. John is a very charismatic person and his presence has given our morale a huge lift,” says Richard, who used to practise karate and is now a blue belt.

Another boost has been the arrival of Japanese foreign language student Yui Sakamoto, who is already a second dan black belt. Watching a club open session last Sunday, it was immediately obvious she had struck a chord with the younger brigade.

“Yui is a very strong and physical woman and giving us men a hard time on the mat,” reveals Richard.

The club has three categories with players ranging from four year olds to 65 and has sessions three days a week.

“It’s a good non-contact sport for children to learn. We used to go around the schools and we are starting that up again with a demonstration planned for Richmond Primary School on Saturday week,” confirms Richard, whose granddaughters Ana and Bella have won national age group titles.

Another target could be the Berryfields housing development, which is literally just across the paddock from the clubrooms.

The Richmond area accounts for about 60 per cent of members but there are plans to set up splinter groups in Nelson and Stoke, while keeping the Gladstone Rd premises as the main base.

The local martial arts scene is thriving and Richard insists everybody works together and there is no animosity with other groups.

The next assignment for the Nelson club is a youth tournament in Motueka on Saturday, with up to a dozen lightweights taking apart alongside players from Kaikōura, Blenheim, the West Coast and Motueka itself.

The Motueka Recreation Centre will also host the South Island Judo Championships next August. And it is not just the kids benefitting from judo which translates to “the gentle way” of self -defence.