Rising Sun Judo Club
JUDO FITNESS SELF DEFENCE
Our Team
All our instructors are National Governing Body qualified. This provides liability insurance, DBS checking, First Aid qualification, and Child Protection qualification. In addition, each instructor must attend regular judo educational courses. We believe in leading from the front and show both technical and working judo.
If you have any questions, please talk to any of us. We run the club for our members’ benefit.
Pawel Wojtas (MA) - 1st Dan. Pawel has been practising judo for 30 years and is a former Polish National Junior bronze medallist. He has competed many times in competitions across Europe, winning many regional events. He has also won a 5th place at the Polish University Championships. In England, he is a former Sussex and a Southern Area medallist.
Erin Southam BA (Hons) - 2nd Dan. Erin has been practising judo for over 30 years. Having a degree in PE & Sports, she is also a qualified coach in other sports. At judo, she has won many competitions at both junior and senior level. She has represented Sussex County and is also a former Southern Area gold medallist at the annual Inter Counties Championships.
Dave Wright - 4th Dan. Dave has been practising judo for 40 years. He is a former Sussex gold and silver medallist, as well as a National Masters gold and silver medallist. He also spent 12 years as a Sussex County Squad Instructor.
All instructors have trained under Japanese masters and Instructors and Olympic coaches.
Assistant Instructors:
Paul Kendall - 1st Dan. Paul has been practising judo for over 20 years, winning medals from many events.
Karen Sweetman-Hicks 1st Dan. Karen started judo as a junior and has many years’ experience of judo.
Website Manager:
Joel Hammond - 1st Kyu. Joel has been practising judo for over 12 years and is a former Sussex County medallist.