Zenbu Judo Club

**Katriona1992** · Posted On: 5/28/2011 3:20am

Location: Olympic Park

Website: http://www.zenbu.com.au/

Style: Kosen Judo

Payment schemes:
Adults- $40 per fortnight to get unlimited access to 2 no-gi sessions, 3 normal sessions and one low impact session (more stretching and less sparring, intended for the older portion of the population) per week. Lessons are typically ninety minutes long.
Kids (under 16)- $30 per fortnight to get unlimited access to 3 normal sessions a week for kids. Lessons are typically one hour long.
Casual lesson- $15 per lesson for adults, $10 for concession/kids

Aliveness: 9
Reason: At least 20-30 minutes of full contact sparring (randori) at the end of each normal/no-gi session. This club practices kosen judo so groundwork is allowed and encouraged- practitioners are NOT stood up after spending a period of time on the ground and will get yelled at by the teachers if they turtle. Only con is that striking is not allowed, but considering this is a school which only promotes one style, that is alright.

Equipment: 7
Reason: There really isn't much equipment for judo. The teacher encourages students to buy their own uniform but will also lend them one free-of-charge if you notify him prior to the lesson.Tatami is very clean and is kept in a good state. Only con is that there is no weights/cardio equipment.

Gym Size: 8
Reason: The dojo is a little over 4200 square feet in size with 15-25 people on there at any one time. It is considered uncommon if you find yourself coming into physical contact during any part of the lesson with anyone other than your allocated partner(s).

Instructor/Student ratio: 9
Reason: Class is lead by a father-son duo. The father has won the New Zealand National Competition thrice and is a 6th dan recognized by the Kokodan. The son holds a 4th dan recognized by the Kokodan and came 9th in the Olympics in year 2004. Both have other achievements too but it is, literally, too much to list in the short space here (visit the website for more information). There is usually one to two more assistant instructors helping out too and are, again, all qualified by the Kokodan and hold coaching and refereeing qualifications.

There is normally 10-20 students so the ratio is around 1:4-1:5 dependant on the day one decides to attend lessons. Every student will recieve some personal instruction or advice from the main instructors every lesson and it is perfectly fine to stay after class for an extra 10-15 minutes to work on a technique with them without paying any extra if the student wishes to do so.

Atmoshphere/attutide: 9
Very friendly atmosphere where respect is given to those who deserve it. The teachers do not go by any absurdly long title, it is alright to call them "sensei", "sir" or even their first name when you address them. Classmates are encouraging and easygoing. It is not uncommon for class to finish and everyone, including the teachers, going to an eatery together for a bite.

Striking instructions: 1 or non-applicable
This is a pure judo dojo.

Grappling instructions: 10
See instructor qualifications listed above.

Weapons instructions: 1 or non applicable
This is a pure judo dojo.

**judoka_uk** · Posted On: 5/28/2011 8:40am

Nice write up.

They don't teach Kosen Judo there, though.

Also Zenbu is most famous for its badass advert video:

**Katriona1992** · Posted On: 5/29/2011 4:08pm

Originally Posted by judoka_uk

Nice write up.

They don't teach Kosen Judo there, though.

Also Zenbu is most famous for its badass advert video:

They teach the style with alot of submisisons, chokes and stuff on the ground...isn't that kosen?

Thanks for the compliment :)

**Lindz** · Posted On: 5/29/2011 4:19pm

Originally Posted by Katriona1992

They teach the style with alot of submisisons, chokes and stuff on the ground...isn't that kosen?

Thanks for the compliment :)

That's just judo newaza

**judoka_uk** · Posted On: 5/29/2011 5:44pm

Originally Posted by Katriona1992

They teach the style with alot of submisisons, chokes and stuff on the ground...isn't that kosen?

Thanks for the compliment :)

Kosen is a Japanese shortening of Koutosenmongakko 高等専門学校 which refers to a specific set of Japanese educational institutions and the intermural competition between them.

If you aren't one of those universities competing under that rule set, in those intermural competitions then you aren't doing Kosen Judo.

Its like claiming that your rowing club is a 'varsity rowing club' as in the Oxbridge varisty. Its just nonsensical.

**Katriona1992** · Posted On: 5/29/2011 11:25pm

Originally Posted by judoka_uk

Kosen is a Japanese shortening of Koutosenmongakko 高等専門学校 which refers to a specific set of Japanese educational institutions and the intermural competition between them.

If you aren't one of those universities competing under that rule set, in those intermural competitions then you aren't doing Kosen Judo.

Its like claiming that your rowing club is a 'varsity rowing club' as in the Oxbridge varisty. Its just nonsensical.

alright sorry...I'll fix it right away :)

**WB47** · Posted On: 6/26/2011 7:08pm

Great review! I am very interested in starting Judo now at Zenbu. If the classes are categorised into age levels and not skill and experience, how would beginners, like myself train and improve? Are there many other newcomers?

Thank You.

**ty5** · Posted On: 6/27/2011 6:46am

If Zenbu judo club is anything like the club where I go to, during randori the black belts generally help out the lower grades, the middle grades like to test out their techniques on the grades lower than them and the whites belts spaz out lots, so all round it is a good learning experience.

I am a white belt BTW, so also a beginner and this approach seems to work. Though the club I go to is 90% randori where as Zenbu club sounds more well rounded between techniques and randori.

**yottabit** · Posted On: 1/10/2012 5:23am

I know it's 6 months late.

I rolled with the Zenbu Judokas, I can vouch for their quality. I say it's possibly one of the best Judo dojos in Australia.