The dojo at Clyde Judo Club has become a bustling hub of activity on a Tuesday night as their female-only session gets into full swing with over twenty female judoka taking to the mat each week.
Clyde Judo Club launched their female-only sessions in February after securing funding via the JudoScotland Judo Girls Rise Fund which was awarded to 12 clubs across Scotland last year. When developing their female judo programme at the club, Clyde Judo Coach Rebecca Bradley found a gap in their offering and knew immediately what she wanted to do with the awarded funds.
“We applied for the grant with JudoScotland and looked at who we had at the club currently. We’re quite a 50/50 split for girls and boys in our younger sessions so we thought it might be a bit different to tap into a totally different group. So, we decided to aim the class for woman 25 and up and that’s how we ended up with the session.”
Susan Wright, who co-leads the female-only sessions alongside Rebecca describes why they felt it was important as a club to provide a female-only space in their class offering:
“Sometimes it might feel a bit intimidating to not have a female-only space and it might feel like they don’t deserve to be there especially as you get that little bit older. It’s nice to have a space where you’re not going to be judged by anyone. These women don’t want to go on the mat at the same time as their kids, they don’t want to go on the mat at the same time as the young boys, so they want to be in their own space.
The sessions were an instant hit and were fully booked just two hours after going live online on the club’s social media pages.
All the woman in attendance highlighted the sense of community and friendship they had formed over the past few weeks and are eager to continue attending and improving their judo skills. One of the session participants Catriona Kerr said her reason for signing up for the sessions originally stemmed from wanting to inspire her daughter but she has ended up loving the sport herself:
“My little girl comes to Clyde Judo, she’s been coming now for two years, she enjoys the exercise but she’s a little bit less willing to do the fighting. So, I thought it was a good experience for her to see her mum doing it too.
“As a woman of a certain age, taking on new things it can be a bit apprehensive but I think there’s comfort coming into an all woman’s class, we’re all the same level so it’s not like you’re coming into a class with people who have been doing judo for years and you’re trying to catch up. No one’s afraid of doing anything stupid, no one’s afraid of making a fool of themselves because everyone’s here for the same thing and that’s quite comforting.”
The class structure follows a split between generally fitness exercises and introducing the women to basics techniques of judo, working on safe falling, grips and have begun to introduce throwing in the past few sessions.
Another session participant Audrey Smith who has been attending since week one described how the sessions are not only a source of exercise but also of socialisation:
“They vary it every week and even when you’re doing the warmup, you’re on your own and then you grab a partner then you’re on your own again so you’re meeting new people every week.
“It’s varied and fun, it’s not boring, it’s not like going to the gym and just going on the treadmill constantly for 10 minutes and you don’t have anyone to talk to, you can come here and have a laugh and still feel like you’re done something.”
Looking ahead to the future, the appetite for the classes to keep going is high and the club are keen to continue the class offering to anyone who wants to join. They are eager that women who might otherwise never have experienced all that our sport has to offer them can get involved. Clyde Judo’s Rebecca Bradley said:
“I think it’s important to show that Judo is for everyone, it’s not just for kids or people who are already fit. Our classes show that everyone can do it and we’re open to everyone giving it a go.
“We’re hoping to keep it going past the eight weeks, absolutely everyone has asked us to keep it going and we hope to open it up to even more people and keep it going forever!”
If you want to find out more information about the Judo Girls Rise Programme or how to get involved, please contact Club Support Officer Laura Kirkhouse at laurakirkhouse@judoscotland.com