Judo Australia’s Kodokan Committee holds regular online meetings with the Kodokan Institute in Tokyo, and our friends and mentors in judo have saluted this warm relationship.
The Kodokan leaders have praised the robustness of the Australian grading system, and said the relationship with Australia is closer than the Kodokan Institute enjoys with any other country.
The close alignment between the Australian and Japanese judo communities is no coincidence: Judo Australia takes inspiration and guidance from the Kodokan and continues to invest in opportunities to bring us closer.
Annual visits to Japan help Australians better appreciate the historic and cultural significance of the Kodokan and judo in Japan generally, and are appreciated by both sides.
In 2024, 13 Australian club coaches attended the Kodokan International Seminar, and another 13 are due to depart next week. In a week-long experience aimed at younger club coaches, Kodokan masters will teach and drill students in the traditional Kodokan manner, developed over more than a century.
Judo Australia and the wider Australian community congratulates the following coaches on their dedication to honing their craft at the home of judo:
Jack Rigby – Marrara Judo Club, NT
Mark Brewer – UTS Judo, NSW
Aaron Steffans – Maishin Judo Club, Queensland
Kyle Elkanhans - Kyushin Ryu School of Jujitsu, Queensland
Ernie Wakamatsu – Northern Suburbs Judo Club, NSW
David Groom – The Judo Way of Life Academy, NSW
Derek Morris – Beyond Grappling Club, ACT
Thomas Handler – Endeavour Hills Judo Club, Victoria
Christelle Legrand – Maishin Judo Club, Queensland
Carla Johnson – Seishin Martial Arts, Tasmania
Hannah Bradbury – Kazoku Judokan, South Australia
James Zahra - Illawarra International Judo Club
Neisha Brooking – Tauranga Judo Club, New Zealand
While the Tokyo seminars in the traditional home of judo are a highlight for Australians, the Kodokan Institute is keen to share its legacy around the world: it held a Kodokan Coaches Course in Perth in January this year after running a similar event in Wollongong in 2024. The next major event will be in Tokyo with the annual Kodokan Summer Camp, and discussions are underway for targeted Coaching visits in 2026 – possibly in late January to Melbourne, and early February in Sydney, followed by an Oceania Kata Seminar on the Gold Coast later in 2026.n Oceania Kata Seminar on the Gold Coast in September or October of 2026.
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