What should a Judo noob look out for?

I'm looking to add some Judo into my training. However due to low funds and lack of selection in clubs, I'll most likely be taking Judo classes at the University's Sport Center. Due to that condition I'm a bit skeptical about the quality of the classes. So as a complete noob in any form of grappling, what should I watch out for with regards to low quality Judo?

Also the club has set up 3 categories that students can join, 1 for complete beginners, 2 for intermediates, and 3 for advanced students. What's your take in this seperation system?
From a TKD and MT stance this would be a bit counter-productive since the beginners don't have role models to look up to or to challenge themselves with, and also the more advanced students wouldn't be able to help out the beginners with techniques. But I imagine that this is done to ease and speed up the lessons.

 

Why do you assume the quality would be low? A couple of years ago we had a world champion at our University club, and usually have at least a couple of national level players.

From a not quite noob but older person view, my difficulty is all these tweenies are just a lot faster than me, and usually very competitive. The art is often secondary to winning.

There are two levels at our club, which though not ideal is better than just the one. Beginners have their own class on Thursdays, with senior students encouraged to attend to help out. Obviously this is more technique based. There are two more classes which beginners can attend in the second term once they have at least a grounding in technique and breakfalls

 

Quite often in martial arts, high quality practice and price have no relation to one another.

 

I agree with PH and aiki, your university sports center might be one of the best places, at least to start.

And I would go for the beginners category with no doubt. Judo might look simple, but it isn't, and you must learn a few things in order to keep it safe from injuries.

 

Overall, judo is good in the Netherlands so that's a start.

Check that the coach is registered with your national governing body, the one that is linked to the IJF preferably.

Turn up and see how hard the players train, if most of the time they're goofing off or not sweating then that's a warning sign (although is harder to spot in a class for beginners).

 

to this point, take care in looking how much falling practice is done. very important, especially for noobs.

 

Luckily for you Judo is one of the arts where the answer to this question is relatively easy to find. I would start by checking out their competition record. Judo is a sport, and much like any sports club you can generally judge the quality of instruction by the results the club gets in competition.

 

My experience is that type of program should be great. I take karate at my local community center, keeps business out of things.

 

Thanks for the replies. Seems like I don't have too much to worry about.

My fears were that since there is a large amount students "just trying it out" (I imagine at least) that the teachers would do a half job, or that the students would be hesitant to participate. Of course I'll test out a class before making my mind up for sure.

 

Yeh this has been my experience as well. The price wasn't my main concern. I was a bit more worried about it since it's taught in a Uni Sport's center. Also the seperate levels worried me a bit.

 

This!!

I'm gonna check this now.

 

LOL there's no such thing, its either quality or its not Judo.

 

Often University clubs are very good as they tend to be full of young, active, motivated people and can usually afford a good coach thanks to universities subsidising hall fees and such like.

 

Not necessarily my experience with university clubs is quite the opposite. Although they are cheap it often seems the instructors are "cheap" as well, as in not the lifelong experienced instructors you'd find at long standing dojo's. Because they cater to students alot of classes dont have "veteran" students, since most only stay during the few years they study, which comes down to again less expertise in the class. Also a lot of the students come more for the "social" part since its usually all students there and less for the martial part. Of course this varies per uni and sport but in my experience when it comes to martial arts high quality instruction is best found in a non-university affiliated dojo preferably with some history (competition).

Above is in regards to the Netherlands.

 

Hi mate, hardly see other Nederlanders on this site. My initial reaction to Uni sport center type classes were that they only give you a taster of the sport, rather than a proper course. I guess I didn´t say that in my original post.

Do you happen to be talking about the RU in Nijmegen?
We have the Judo Olympic training center in our city, yet ironically, we hardly have any proper adult Judo classes that I've been able to find online at least.

 

Similar problem in Cambridge. There are only two clubs that I can find within the city boundaries, both University clubs: ours CUJC has some strong players and some with national ranking, the other ARJC I think were British Universities Student Championship winning team so no slouches, also one of the very few places you can do a degree in Judo. There are two clubs on the fringes of the city: Shelford and Comberton, both had junior and senior classes, but not nearly enough of the latter to progress imo.

 

Well, if your instructor doesn't get you into ridori by intermediate level, it's probably not a good club. Basics of judo are pretty simple-they just take repetition to memorize. It's an art/sport you can't "internalize" very much (unlike bagua zhang, in which you can just practice alone for the most part and visualize). You just practice, practice, practice.
Also, does your club have a belt system as you move through the categories? The cirricula in that case should be well-organized and coherent.
ETA: You can try entering your club's name into google to see if anyone has reviewed it. (though some review sites are more credible than others...don't base a decision on one review)

 

Closing thread because it was over a year old and most likely the OP has found what they needed
Some good info here though, I second to anyone reading that price doesn't always mean quality.