Weds 9th November proved to be one the most inspirational and educational days of my Judo career.  Ben Fletcher, Britains No.1 in the -100kg and ranked at World's 28th, spent a day with Macs School of Judo.  

It started with a Whirlwind tour of three Primary Schools (Thurlbear, Minehead & Cotford St Luke) and one college (Somerset & Bridgwater College).  Ben attended assemblies at the primary schools and showed a fun and interactive presentation, culminating in allowing the students to throw him (including a headteacher!) to great delight and cheers from the pupils!

The day finished with Ben giving a masterclass to students of Wellington School, which in itself was educational and fun for the students.  I can honestly say that everyone that met Ben was impressed on how grounded he was and inspired by his story.

From 'Macs School of Judo' and on behalf of our students we would like to say a huge 'thank you' to Ben and we will be cheering you on in all your up and coming competitions.

Look forward to working with you again soon and good luck in the upcoming British Championships in December.

As of 2nd November 2015 we will be running 'Before School' sessions at Cotford St Luke Primary School.

This is a new school for us and the first time we have run 'before-school' sessions.  Cotford St Luke Primary School is a lovely school with a wonderful atmosphere as soon as you walk in the door.  With over 300 students in this newish school and numbers of below 30 in each class, we believe to be a quality school and one which we are honoured to teach at.

 The 'before-school' club will start on Monday 2nd of November and run through to the end of term (14th December 2015).  Sessions will run from 08:00 - 08:45 every Monday with an introductory offer of only £30 per student (equivalent of only £4.28 per lesson) AND a FREE taster session.  We will also throw in FREE suit hire, which normally costs £7 per term.

Please get in contact by filling in the form below.

We look forward to seeing lots of new faces on 2nd November!

We at Macs School of Judo are very pleased to announce that Wellington School has now added Judo to the curriculum.  The timetable is crammed full with academic learning and lots of different sports with a plethora of choice from Badminton, Dance, Table Tennis and of course Judo.

One of the many good things about the school's set-up is that there is continuity between the Prep & the Senior School for sports so not only are we teaching different years in a 4 week cycle in the prep, we are doing the same in the senior school.  

Not only is this a wonderfully equipped school already but now with Judo on the timetable it is an exciting time for us supplying the coaching within the school

We will look to be running two Judo clubs from term, probably on a Tuesday lunchtime and a Thursday after-school.  Please watch this space for more news!

Macs School of Judo are pleased to be helping Woolavington Primary School with their sports relief.  

On Friday 21st March we will be giving taster sessions to the school.  In just over 3 hours, we will enable over 120 children to 'try' Judo at school who otherwise may not get the opportunity.

Macs School of Judo were fortunate enough to be brought into to teach all 220 students of Thurlbear Primary School.  These were 45 min back-to-back taster sessions making the sessions short, sharp, fast moving and most importantly fun for the students.

The Taunton Gazette came in to write an article which was then published on Thursday 15th November, the article is shown below:

A PRIMARY school has introduced judo classes to help children who lack confidence.
Thurlbear Primary School hopes the martial art sessions will bring youngsters out of their shells, and teach livelier children a skill and discipline.

Black belt Nigel McBrayne, who has been teaching judo for 20 years, is running the classes and said they are proving popular with children of all personalities.

He said: “I get a lot of job satisfaction from it because it’s good to see children who are shy at the beginning, and by the end they’re interacting, throwing each other around and having fun.

“It’s also good to see children who are lively at the start, but then show good discipline towards the end.”
Nigel said the sessions are not just about fighting, but more about life skills, including respect, discipline, self-control and confidence.

He said there had been marked improvements in children with confidence issues during his classes at The Castle School in Taunton.
Cameron Mann, PE co-ordinator at Thurlbear Primary School, said they decided to give the sport a go after receiving funding from the Government’s Olympic Legacy project.
He said: “We’re giving something completely different a go that not many other schools offer.

“This was a taster session, but we’re going to run an after-school club and an intervention session on Wednesday afternoons for children in years three to six.
“Hopefully this will help the children’s personal development as well as teaching some control.
“We’re hoping it will boost self-esteem with some of the more vulnerable children to get them out of their shell.”
You can contact Nigel about coming into your school on 07720-640698.