Stockton Judo Club is looking for newer, younger members

The Stockton Judo Club, the oldest in Northern California, is hoping to infuse its ranks with some newer, younger blood.

“I’ve been affiliated with the club since 1971 when I started,” says current club sensei (teacher) Steve Ikeda. I’m learning a lot about the history of the club, even now. I thought the club started in 1946 because that’s when the person who I thought was our original sensei started the club (Duke Yoshimura). But in doing some research into old newspapers, my wife discovered a bunch of articles from the 1920s talking about the Stockton Judo Club in some tournament results from 1922, ’23 & ’24. They’re not exhaustive records, but its evidence that the club existed pre-war (WWII), which I didn’t know.”

The club was most likely shuttered during the war after it’s Japanese-American members were interned in relocation camps.  Yoshimura re-formed the group in 1946 and was its sensei until he retired in 1990. Yoshimura handed off the reins of the club to long-time student Jack Ferrill.

“Jack carried the club from the early ‘90s until 2018. That’s when he started transitioning control of the club over to me. I’ve been the sensei since then,” says Ikeda.

Over the years, Stockton Judo Club has produced numerous local, state, and national champions. It is the home dojo of two-time Olympian Tommy Martin, who represented the United States at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games and was also on the 1980 Olympic team.

Judo is derived from the deadly martial art of Ju-Jitsu.

“The founder of Judo, Jigoro Kano, took all lethal elements out of Ju-Jitsu to turn it into a sport and exercise," Ikeda explained. “It has been an Olympic sport since 1964. It involves throws and grappling. The biggest difference between Judo and other striking arts, Karate, Kung Fu, Muy Thai, Taekwondo, in Judo we can go at each other at full speed (without fear of injury).”

Like many other activities, the pandemic put a damper on the things at the club.

“We couldn’t work out for about a year. It was March 2020 when the lockdown started. It was about a year later and we need permission for the city and from the United States Judo Federation, which is our sanctioning body, to start working out. They issued guidelines. (They required) masks, and initially no contact, which is hard to do in Judo. You couldn’t get your hands on one another so we were doing a lot of exercises and some Judo specific drills that don’t require body contact.”

“We’ve been back for about a year now. Since about spring of 2022. The only things the COVID has changed for us is that we’ve got a sign-in sheet so we can do contact tracing in case anyone tests positive. We have masks and hand sanitizer available for anyone who wants them. And we also have a stash of COVID tests that anyone can grab if they fell like the want to see how they’re doing.  We’re always encouraging members to take a test if you feel you need it and let us know if you’re positive some can let everybody else know. So far we’ve been pretty lucky.”

The biggest affect is that most of the young people haven’t returned. The current membership is about 30. “Pre-pandemic we had about 45-50 members,” says Ikeda. “For as long as I’ve been associated with the club we had almost always two-thirds to three-fourths kids and one-third to one-fourth adults. And now we’re just the opposite.” Ikeda believes that some of those kids went into other sports or got out of the groove all together.

The club is hoping to recruit more younger members. Regular dues are $70 per person but they offer family discounts. $90 for 2 people and $110 for 3 or more. For the month of September (starting Sept. 7) the club will be offering a special class for beginners. For $25 new students can learn the fundamentals of Judo during 1-hour sessions from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays before regular club practices at the McKinley Park Community Center (424 E. Ninth Street) in Stockton.

Judo does a lot of things for Ikeda’s students.

“It raises their self-esteem, especially in a time when kids don’t get a lot of P.E. in school anymore” says Ikeda. “ It gives them a physical outlet on a regular basis with some structure. Judo is a full-body sport. It works out muscles that you didn’t know you had. There’s opportunity for social development because they have get along with one another. We expect all our members to workout with each other respectfully and not take advantage of size or inexperience and to help one another out. The advanced students are helping them (the younger students) along, they’re guiding them. They’re providing some mentorship. We have between one to four and sometimes as many as five black belt instructors on the mat at any one time. I think the parents of our kids appreciate that their kids are getting the opportunity to blow off some steam. The last few years have been really hard for a lot of kids, not being able to get out, not being able to be with their friends or do much of anything. They have the opportunity to work out some aggression and frustration in a controlled environment.”

Alyx Long, 14, has been a member of the club for about a year.

“I like being able to throw people because I have a lot of rage” says Long. “I’m a child of seven. I have a lot of siblings so it’s quite difficult to be mad because it makes you want to physically hurt them. So, I do Judo instead, it’s easier.” “I get physical strength, I get to make friends, get to learn new moves.”

This article originally appeared on The Record: Stockton Judo Club is looking to increase ranks after COVID decline