Samurai Judo Club, who recently celebrated six new promotions to and within the black belt ranks, have for many years run events to give opportunities for high grade men and women to gain their next competitive ranks. They are holding three events over the next three months to further this aim.

May 20th is the date of the Senior Men Dan Grades Open. Over the years, many notable British men have gained 5^th dans and below at this event. Now the event starts with a dan grading, followed by the usual competition by grade. 1^st kyu men have been excluded so that the club has time at the event to offer players lots of contests. Masters players will be separated where possible.

June 17th is the date of the Ladies Open, a long-standing event at the club. This will run in similar fashion to the men’s event, with a grading first, except that 1^st kyus are able to enter. Over the years, the club has been a beacon for women’s judo, with around 40% of their membership being female, currently including 16 female dan grades of which one is 5^th dan and seven more are 3^rddan. They have a strong belief that women should be able to get the same contest grade opportunities as the men.

And then, on July 9^th, they hold the Midlands Dan Grading, for all male and female players 1^stkyu to 4^th dan. The Midlands Dan Gradings have been completely revamped and the two held to date both enabled male players to gain grades on the day all the way up to 5^th dan, whilst the women so far have been able to score points up to 4^th dan and had line-ups for 2^nd dan. The hope is that this will build still further as time goes on.

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