Appendix I - How To Form A Club

If two readers have been practising together throughout this course, it is very likely that others will have heard of their practice and have asked to join them. They may therefore be interested, now, in forming a club, particularly as it will help their own studies to have a variety of opponents to practise with. The three things needed for a Judo Club are: members, premises and equipment. I shall say something about each and also give an outline of administrative procedure.

(a) Members

If you wish to extend your numbers, advertise. A few shillings spent on advertisements in your local paper, or in postcard advertisements in shop windows, will almost certainly bring replies. Again, youth leaders, teachers, or clergymen may know of others interested, or the national Judo associations may have had inquiries from people in your district with whom they could put you in touch. Use discretion, however, about who you admit to membership of your club.

When you are established, your local newspaper might be willing to print news of your activities, or to do a feature article on your club, and this would be an excellent way of attracting new members.

(b) Premises

The hall in which Judo is practiced is called by the Japanese name, "Dojo". Professor Kano's original Dojo was a Buddhist temple, and the hall of practice has always been a near-sacred place to Judo students. "Dojo" to Buddhists meant a place of meditation and study. People who entered it were expected to be quiet, clean, and reverent. However humble your own Dojo may be, it is a good thing to bear this in mind, and to encourage members before entering to see that they are not only physically clean, but that they cleanse their minds of prejudice and emotion. If they come tensed up with dislike of other individuals there, or with an over-eager desire to win all the time, they will be unable to achieve the calm, relaxed state needed for true progress, and they will disturb the atmosphere for others.

Presumably, if you have followed this course, you will already have some kind of premises. The problem may now arise of getting larger ones to meet the needs of your new members. The hall you need should be very simple in its furnishings, and preferably have a light, restful color scheme. If shower-baths and dressing-rooms are available, so much the better. The mat should be as large as the area will allow.

This may sound a counsel of perfection. You will probably have to take whatever hall you can get, but it can be brought as near these ideals as possible, with a little thought and work.

If you can form your Judo Club within the framework of an existing organization, such as your Youth Club, or a Church, the problem of premises may be solved for you. If, however, you are an independent group, advertising may again be the answer to your problem. Quite humble premises can be made suitable with a little soap and water, paint, and distemper, given the enthusiasm of members. I have seen lofts and cellars transformed into excellent Dojos, and such places can often be rented quite cheaply. Another possibility is to get the use of school premises from the local authority. This is sometimes granted, if need can be shown to exist.

(c) Equipment

The main item of equipment needed for Judo is the mat. This should be as large as space will allow. The real Judo mats are made of rice straw, but they are unobtainable in this country. It is possible to buy mats of U.S. straw, or of rubber, size about six feet by three feet, and to build»up your own area, by placing them side by side. A wooden surround is needed to keep them from sliding apart, which would be dangerous, as gaps would appear in which your foot might be caught. The mat should be covered with a sheet of canvas, stretched tight, and secured by roping, or by attaching to the floor or surround. Straw or rubber mats are expensive, and an area fifteen feet square would cost you about $90.

I have already spoken of some of the cheaper ways of making your own mats, in the Introduction. These are quite satisfactory for any sized club. If you are buying mats, other possibilities are: ones of rope, which you will find are hard-wearing; or ordinary coir gym mats.

Proper Judo suits can be purchased from: Honda Associates, Inc., 66 West 47th Street, New York 36, N.Y., or Castello Fencing Equipment Co., Inc., 30 East 10th Street, New York 3, N.Y., amongst other firms. They will send price lists and catalogues on application. Canvas mats and mat covers are also obtainable from the latter firm.

(d) Club administration

If you aim to study for grades, you will have to join one of the Judo organizations, or have an examiner from a private club. The former is the better plan, as then your grade will have wider recognition. If your club is a private venture, you can of course run it any way you please, but if you apply to join an organization, they will probably want to see your Rules and Constitution.

I will give a specimen Constitution that would suit a small club, specimen rules, specimen book-keeping records, and specimen record card, which should enable you to work out your own system.

1. Specimen Constitution

(i) The name of the Club shall be          

(ii) The object of the Club shall be Judo studies.

(iii) The Club shall be governed by a Committee of members, one of whom shall be the Chairman, one the Secretary, and one the Treasurer. Committee members shall be eligible for re-election, and at Committee meetings each Committee Member shall have one vote, with the Chairman having a casting vote in case of equal division.

The Committee shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting of the Club, at which each member shall have one vote on each issue before the meeting. Committee Members shall serve for one year.

(iv) The Committee shall be empowered to carry on the day-to-day business of the Club, but matters of general policy shall be decided by members at General Meetings, which shall be called for that purpose as often as necessary.

(v) General Meetings and the Annual General Meeting shall be advertised to all members by the Secretary.

(vi) The Secretary shall be responsible for maintaining the Club's records, keeping minutes of Committee and General Meetings, conducting correspondence, and carrying on the general business of the Club.

(vii) The Treasurer shall be responsible for collecting and holding Club subscriptions, paying all bills, and maintaining a correct account of income and expenditure. He shall present a Balance Sheet to the Club at the end of each financial year, or interim Balance Sheets if required.

(viii) The Chairman is the Leader of the Club, and shall be acknowledged as such by members.

(ix) Membership shall be open to all suitable persons who accept the Club Rules and Constitution. A member may be expelled only by majority vote amongst the Committee, and shall have right of appeal to a General Meeting.

(x) per cent of the members shall have power to demand a general meeting of the Club, if they wish.

2. Specimen Club Rules

(i) Members accept the Constitution and the Club Rules as a condition of membership.

(ii) Members shall behave in an orderly manner on the premises.

(iii) Members shall uphold the high traditions of behavior expected of Judo students, never misusing the art they are taught.

(iv) Members shall pay their subscriptions promptly. Members in arrears may be expelled.

(v) Complaints and suggestions shall be passed to the Secretary, who shall be responsible for seeing that they are promptly considered by the Committee.

3. Book-keeping

On the opposite page is a specimen of a Double Entry System of book-keeping, which is very satisfactory for a small club, as it checks itself line by line, as you go, and involves only a minimum of writing.

The sums in column 3 are entered also in the appropriate column on the opposite page. Add up every column at the end of each month, when you should find that the totals of columns 4 to 9 come to the same as the total in column 3. This should be found to be the case on any line, and at any point in the book. Your cash-in-hand is found at any point by deducting columns 2 and 3 from column 1. When you are called upon to prepare a Balance Sheet, all you have to do is to add up, and read across the page, and your analysis is already done for you. If desired, the system can be varied by having two columns for Income, one showing Subscriptions, which is your normal income, and the other column showing other sources of income, but since these are usually few, the system I have outlined will generally serve your purpose.
4. Club Records

The records system that involves least work and gives the completes record is the card-index system. Have a card for each member, made out as the specimen (page 190). Enter the relevant facts as soon as he joins, and as grading results become known. File the cards alphabetically. When a member leaves, transfer his card to a file of past members, also kept in alphabetical order. Should he rejoin, bring his card back into the file of present members.

Specimen Record Card

Name                                                   Date of birth

Address
Date of first joining club 
Occupation 
Club Offices held

Office                                                   From                         To
Grades awarded

Date                             Grade               Place                         Examiner
                                    6thKyu
                                    5thKyu 
                                    4thKyu 

Both cards and filing boxes are available at any good stationers, and as your club develops, you will never regret having kept records of the early days.

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