YOUNG JUDO CLUB 50 year journey 1957-2007
YJC 1950's YJC 1960 YJC 1970 YJC 1980 YJC 1990 YJC 2000-2007
Foreword by Martin Clarke 8th Dan
My Father Nobby and Mother Margret started the Young Judo Club for my brother Norman and me Martin because back in the 50’s children were not encouraged to do Judo and there were no Junior Judo clubs. Both I am afraid are in that Great Dojo in the Sky and I wonder if when they started the club they ever believed it would one day become 50. If there is one thing that put Sittingbourne on the World map was the YJC and the various grappling sports that would emerge because of the club, a big boast I hear you say but members of the YJC have travelled all over the world competiting in not just Judo but in Sombo, Karate and Jiu Jitsu. YJC members and the Clarke family has been responsible for bringing International Judo and Karate tournaments to Great Britain, they organised GB’s first European and World Sombo Championships, people from all over the World have visited our club. The YJC has trained literally thousands of people we have produced thousands of medallists, trained countless Black Belts, YJC members have been members of the GB Olympic and National Judo squad, our Sombo players have been World Champions, all this because two loving parents believed Judo would be good for their sons.
At its height the YJC had branches in Bexley, Slade Green, Bromley, Edenbridge, Newington, Selling, Ashford, Ospringe, Tunbridge Wells, Milton Regis, Bredgar, Rodmersham, Tenterden, Teynham, Folkestone, New Romney, Queenborough, Faversham, Northfleet and one member opened a club in Australia? Today we have YJC Sittingbourne, Bredgar, Bromley, Bexley and we soon hope to open a club in
Teynham.
On the Young Judo Club Web site and in its YJC History book you will find a section first dedicated to John Nobby Clarke this article gives you an insight to the man and it give a good historical account of the YJC, there is also an article on Margret Clarke and her unique impact on Judo plus many other activities.
To write an accurate account of the History of the YJC over the last 50 years would be a near impossible task and you would not be able to mention everyone who as involved so I have used the local press reports to give me a helping hand I have tried to make a page of copied newspaper articles per year this I hope would feature the people most prominent in the YJC. In latter years the YJC has always courted publicity but this was not the case in the 50’s and 60’s and I had to use the library to search for articles, 1960 I could find no trace of Judo in the local paper it just show how things change.
There has been many stars in the YJC plus many Coaches but there are always a few people who at the fore Dave Boulding 6th Dan joined the club in 1971 and is still one of our resident Coaches, Trevor Davies 6th Dan started at about the same time and now Senior Coach for Faversham Judo Club yet he still has time to help with the Kata training, Keith Costa 3rd Dan now runs the Junior section in Sittingbourne and has been a great boon to the YJC over the last 15 years, when Nobby died in 1990 it was Brian Stening 4th Dan and Greg Garside who kept the Bexley section going both to this day still maintain it is Nobby’s Club they are just caretaker for him, Greg went on to form the successful Bromley section and is also the resident Kata Expert at the Sittingbourne Branch, two years ago two ex YJC pupils Brother and Sister Drew and Marcella Cullen opened the Bredgar branch, Drew has moved to the USA and there is hope we may soon have a YJC USA. Not all YJC members still train at the club but still want keep involved by officiating at events two of these are well known referees Trevor Waghorn 3rd Dan and Alan Kontozi 4th Dan. The Clarke family started the YJC and our Senior Section Coach is John Clarke 4th Dan the 3rd generation.
I hope you enjoy your look at our past 50 years and maybe at the 100th anniversary of the Club a Clarke will doing the report but if there is not a Clarke there the Young Judo Club will be, for the YJC is now bigger then one family it has now become it own family.
Martin Clarke 8th Dan
2007 YJC Coaches:
Sittingbourne: Martin Clarke 8th Dan, Dave Boulding 6th Dan, John Clarke 4th Dan, Greg Garside 4th Dan, Keith Costa 3rd Dan, Ashley Costa 3rd Dan, Colin Carrott 3rd Dan, , Sarah Jordan 1st Dan, Sarah Day 1st Dan, Bruce Fisher 1st Kyu.
Bredgar: Marcella Cullen 1st Dan
Bexley: Brian Stening 4th Dan, Greg Garside 4th Dan
Bromley: Greg Garside 4th Dan, Margaret Smith 1st Dan
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