Bridge of Allan Judo - Personal Safety (Self Defence) Courses

Our club has several British Judo Association qualified - Personal Safety Advisors. From time to time - depending on interest and numbers we offer Personal Safety (Self Defence) Courses.

For recent course photographs - Click Here

We have separate courses for the beginner and more advanced aspects of personal safety and self defence.

We also run corporate courses for companies wishing to give their employees both introductory and advanced self defence skills.

Women only classes are also available on request.

For more information on these courses please contact:

Stuart McKay
1st Dan
British Judo Assocation - Club Coach
British Judo Assocation - Personal Safety Advisor
British Judo Assocation - Goshin Jutsu Instructor

Blue Belt - Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
Gracie Barra
Telephone - 01786 480861

Goshin Jutsu

As well as teaching Judo techniques we also teach the Goshin Jutsu self defence system. This is a relatively new kind of kata, created in 1956 - making use of throws, armlocks, strikes and kicks.

Dr Jigoro Kano (1860 - 1938) founder of Judo was a great believer in sport but he was also interested in Self Defence. He had some of his best students go to study Aikido under professor Ueshiba, and experts of other self defence arts come to the Kodokan to teach and give demonstrations. He adopted Koshiki no Kata (ancient forms), which is a form of self defence used by men in armour, as a Judo Kata, and under his leadership Kime no Kata was devised, which was up to the formation of Goshin Jutsu, the basis of Judo self defence.

The later professor Kenji Tomiki of Waseda University was one of the group of experts that devised the Goshin Jutsu. Apart from being a high grade Judoka, Professor Tomiki was also a high grade Aikido exponent. In his school of Aikido one of the katas used is the Goshin Jutsu and therefore we see both Judo and Aikido used in this kata.

In an actual case of Self Defence the severity of the counter attack must be restricted, but the attacker cannot in any way be relied upon to restrict himself to the method of attack he will use. So to make self defence practice as beneficial as possible, it must comprise of all the kinds of attack that are likely to be met.

Kodokan Goshin Jutsu, formally established in 1958 is a set of twenty-one self defence techniques, twelve for use against an unarmed assailant, nine against an armed assailant and as can be seen these actual combat forms include defences against all forms of armed or unarmed attacks.

Though the number of conceivable kinds of attacks are overwhelming there is no need to think of each and every attack individually, many attacks can be grouped together, for example, because they are from the same angle, or because the same defence technique would be suitable. This grouping of attacks is done in the Goshin Jutsu, and each attack can be thought of as representing a group of similar attacks. The defence techniques are also not only suitable for attacks they are used against in the Kata but as a whole make a complete system of defence.

The British Judo Assocation Goshin Jutsu is not a kata but a Personal Safety (Self Defence) Development Programme. For more information in taking part in these classes please contact Stuart on the number shown above.