My Judo journey started when I was about 8 years old where I nervously turned up to Kanazawa Judo Club on a Thursday night with some curiosity to see what Judo was all about. Over 15 years later I still find myself attending the same Thursday night club but now as an instructor rather than as the same timid student I once was before. 

I first started learning Judo under Kyoshi Paddy Swallow 7th Dan, where I graduated from Juvenile (Sho) to Junior (Mon) and finally Senior Grade (Kyu). During this time I would regularly attend all available Judo sessions to help Uke or just help the younger students when they were struggling. Doing this helped develop my technique and also my confidence when it came to explaining how to do each technique. Under Kyoshi Paddy I managed to attain my 1st Kyu grade before unfortunately due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, we all had to stop practicing Judo to maintain safe social distancing. 

After the restrictions were lifted, and Judo practice could resume (With only 10 people in the room at once) I returned to Judo this time under Renshi Scott Thurston 4th Dan, at Kanazawa’s Somersham club. Where I then started my instructor journey. Once the restrictions were completely lifted I then decided that I wanted to train as much as possible to help develop my Judo further and also help the club get back on its feet after the pandemic. So I started training at all three sessions. In this time I met lots of new people and the club grew larger and larger. 

In 2022 I achieved my 1st Dan in Judo after a really long and painful day of training. After this my Judo world expanded. I have since attended Seminar’s and different courses to further expand my knowledge. 

After this we as a  club decided that we wanted to look to affiliate ourselves to British Judo Association (BJA) where I then had to work towards having my Dan Grade recognised by BJA. At the same time as this I also started to work towards my BJA Level 1 Coaching qualification. After lots of training, courses and a lot of throwing in January 2024 my Technical Dan grade was officially recognised by BJA. In October 2024 I officially passed my BJA Level 1 Coaching. 

While I was working hard to achieve BJA recognition, I also started my Jiu-Jitsu journey learning under Renshi Feri Takacs where I also affiliated myself to Asahi Dojo International Association (ADIA). After learning lots of different techniques some similar what I already knew from my Judo experience, and others very different I have gradually become more comfortable with Jiu-Jitsu and its various techniques. My Jiu-Jitsu journey has been very eye opening for my development of both my personality and my technique. 

In August 2024 Renshi Feri awarded me my 1st Dan recognition in Jiu-Jitsu on behalf of Istvan Nagy-Hinst Hebi Gawa Hanshi 9th Dan. 

In September 2024, Me and some of the other instructors flew out to attend the 15th Jubilee Asahi Dojo International Association (ADIA) seminar where I met lots of new people and  was officially awarded my Jiu-Jitsu 1st Dan from the Founding Grandmaster of ADIA, Shodai Soke Daniel Blanchet.

Judo is largely responsible for the person I am today and I hope to keep training and developing myself and my technique in the future.