Hello, my name is Gary Ireland, and I am a 3rd Dan at Judo with Kanazawa Judo Club. 

I have been a part of the Kanazawa Judo club since 2005. How I decided to Judo was a bit of a strange one. I was at school, and they were having an open day for the 6th form students which I was in at the time. One of the sessions was a Brazilian Ju-Jitsu class and I really took to it. Later that night I looked online to find other martial arts classes and found Kanazawa Judo at St Ives One Leisure. 

So I went along to the class where I met Renshi Scott (then Sensei) and I was hooked. It was right for me from the get-go, with my experience of rugby it was an ideal martial art for me.  

I eventually met Kyoshi Paddy Swallow and we became good friends. So much so he entrusted me with the running of a club at Stukeley Meadows which I ran for a few years until the club closed. 

I see this club as more of a family as they have treated me with such respect and that was really evident when in late 2006, I suddenly lost my mum. I was a bit all over the place and not sure where to go. I was only 18 years old and could have easily gone down a different path but with the guidance of Kyoshi Paddy and Renshi Scott, they helped me through this period and I came through it. 

In May of 2013 I went for my hardest grading to date. My Shodan grading. This was the ultimate test for me. A long day of running, exercises and judo knowledge all wrapped up into about 5 or 6 hours. I was in pain and hurting but I made it through it and was awarded my black belt. This was a massive achievement for me because I could now say I was a Black Belt! 

From there I went on to become an instructor with the club and teach many students. Many of which I trained from a young age through to our senior classes. It gives me great satisfaction seeing students’ progress through the club and over the years. 

I have had the privilege to go on many courses over my Judo career and learn new skills and embrace new experiences at seminars lead by some well-known figures in the martial arts community. This has been brilliant, and I would encourage anyone to take opportunities should they ever come up. 

In February 2016 I became a dad and I decided to take a break from Judo for a while and spend some quality time with my family. I found this really helped as because I started to miss the thing I really enjoyed and when I came back in September 2018, I was hungry to get back into it all and start training again. 

In January 2019 Kyoshi Paddy awarded me my 2nd Dan Black Belt which came as a total surprise. 

Sadly, the clubs has to shut due to the COVID pandemic and we didn’t reopen till September 2021. The clubs lost many of its former students, but we gained many new students and it has been refreshing teaching all these new students again as nearly 2 years off from Judo all the instructors were rusty. 

As with any club we all go through new challenges and directions and all the club instructors agreed that we needed to become part of the British Judo Association (BJA) to help the club and for it to continue to grow. As part of this process, I was assessed by a senior instructior from BJA and they felt I had done enough and awarded me my 3rd Dan in January 2024. This was a great privilege for me to be given my next black belt. I know hard work pays off and this really meant a lot to me as my son who is also not learning judo saw me be awarded this grade. 

More recently I was also honoured by Asahi Dojo International Association and Inter National Bunbu Ichi Nihon Ju-Jitsu for my 1st Dan in Ju-Jitsu and was awarded this grade by Renshi Feri Takacs in June 2024. This was a great honour for me as never in my dreams did I think I would own a black belt let alone 2 black belts. 

The club continues to grow with many new faces walking through the door along with a few older faces and I just can’t wait to see what happens next with this club. 

Regards 

Sensei Gary