The next group of children are those from over 10 years of age and under 16 years of age. Children in this age group are taught armlocks and strangulations, some organisations permit these to be used in competition and others don’t, so it’s important for the children to learn these techniques because once they reach the age of 16 all organisations permit the use of armlocks and strangulations as children enter the senior group. As mentioned with the younger group of children, children within the 11 to 16 year age group will be expected to compete for grades at gradings. Some of the children may go to competitions in addition to gradings. The basic difference in a grading is there tends to be an element of theory, testing and examination followed by some competition. In a competition this is purely about taking the players and then competing against each other to see who’s the best. Some children in the age group are likely to be quite competitive and you might find that those children will be at competitions every other week, or once a month, and so on. Some children will choose not to enter competitions other than perhaps once or twice a year. All said and done the choice is down to the child, or the child and the parents.
So, if you’re looking for a judo club for a child in this age group it’s important to understand what the club can offer the child and what sort of arrangements there are for competitions and gradings.

The last group of people that can practice Judo are split into two, this is the seniors The seniors are anyone who’s over the age of 16. In some tournaments they may distinguish between 16 and 17 year olds and 18 and above, but once you get to 16 you’re considered to be a senior. The other distinction that’s made is that the other end of the age group, at about 35 for most organisations, you’re considered to be a veteran. Many organisations will arrange categories for competitions which include veterans, seniors, sometimes the 16 to 18 year olds are referred to as Espoires. The idea is to break these main categories down to give the younger players a good chance of being successful with competitions. Although a 16 year old and a 25 year old could be the same sort of grade, the 25 year old will have had maybe 9 years more judo experience and the 16 year old is really just coming along to join the seniors and to take part in the senior event. This is why the categories are sometimes divided into different sub categories.

Aylwin Judo Club South East London SE16