This is a very good judo club for juniors up to 13 years old. Sensei Angel Perez is the BEST judo coach I have known with kids. He switches between playful and strict in a heartbeat as appropriate to manage the class and keep it fun for the kids. Class size varies between 3 to 12 kids. He has a couple of other black belt instructors to help him out. He does promotions a little different than I have seen before where he has the entire class that has met the time in grade requirements do the required techniques together. He also does promotions based on tournament results. Class is approximately 80% boys, 20% girls. He has a junior class of up to six year olds and then an older class of 7 to 13 yo.
I would highly recommend this school to anyone looking for a martial art for children.
PROS
There is an associated Brazilian Jujitsu school led by Sensei Daniel Perez ( no relation ) that complements the judo practice nicely by covering ground and no-gi techniques. The childrens price includes both BJJ and judo...so you could have the kids in five days a week.
The dojo floor consists of Swain mats, which he supplements with crash pads for throwing practice. Swain mats are used in the olympics.
There are mirrors on one wall and pads on the other wall. The mirrors assist in refining skills and the padded walls are adequate for safety.
It is a USA Judo affiliated school, which is the national governng body for Judo in the USA.
Atemi waza (striking) is covered which keeps class interesting for the kids as well as providing them more rounded self defense skills.
Sensei Perez is very good with children who have special needs and is able to adapt his coaching style to the needs of the child.
CONS
The bathroom is at the back of the dojo...so spectators need to remove footwear to use facilities if required...although there are pleanty of other places to use bathroom in strip mall.
The seating for parents is barely adequate, but with strip mall storefront, you can observe from outside if seating is short.
I felt the on-ramp for new students could be improved. Covering basics like breakfalls and rolls before integrating student into class would be useful and prevent injuries.
The rank distribution seems to be on junior end of spectrum, limiting the ability of having more experienced students teach others. read more