New Location January 2018

Since we moved to our current location last year, Oakland Judo has grown tremendously. Between kids and adults, we now have more than sixty members! Some of you have been in classes where it was uncomfortably crowded, and even had to take turns on the mat. 

I'm very happy to announce that Oakland Judo is moving to an excellent new facility, just down the street! Starting January 2018, our new address will be 2819A Macarthur Boulevard, less than a mile away from our current location. 

Some of the features of the new space include:

• 908 square feet of mat space! (77% more than our current mat area)
• Real changing rooms!
• Day use lockers!
• A parking lot!
• More classes!

Details about the new location

We will be located inside Oakland Strength Factory (OSF), a gym owned by my friend and jiujitsu training partner Jeff Bot. The shopping center is at the intersection of Macarthur and Coolidge, right across the street from Bret Harte Middle School. Loard’s Ice Cream is also in the same shopping center.

Oakland Judo and OSF will remain separate entities, which means that as an Oakland Judo member, you will not be allowed to use any of the OSF equipment (including all the weights, ropes, machines, etc) unless you also get a separate membership with OSF. An OSF membership is a great idea for your health and overall athletic performance, but is completely optional. 

Stay tuned for more updates, including our new January schedule with lots more classes! If you have any questions feel free to reply to this email or call me at 510-560-JUDO. 

Testing for Kids

Our juniors are coming up on their December testing. In junior ranks, there are four stripes in between each belt. Sometimes stripes can be skipped due to good results in competition or other outstanding work. 

Once you have a stripe on your belt, you are eligible to attend the Wednesday Intermediate/Advanced class. In this class we expect a much higher level of behavior - I look forward to seeing all the new stripes on Wednesdays. 

Click here to learn more about ranks and promotions at Oakland Judo.

CCSF Tournament cancelled - Winternationals December 9th

The fall tournament at City College of San Francisco has been cancelled, which means that the next local competition is January 28th in Vacaville.

If anyone is interested in taking a trip to southern California, there is a big tournament on December 9th at Azusa Pacific University. The Judo Winternationals attracts competitors from all over California and the southwest, and would be a good step up in competition from the local scene. If you've been to the San Jose Buddhist tournament, it's similar in size.  

Awesome throw video


In adult class recently we've been covering the throw sasae tsurikomi ashi. Click here to see Japan's +100kg player Yasuyuki Muneta pull off a near perfect example of this throw in competition.