UPDATE: Although we had planned to reopen the Sobell on Monday 30th March, the current Covid-19 outbreak still has the nation on its backfoot. Therefore, the Sobell will remain closed until the situation clears. Please keep your eye on our Facebook page for more updates.
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The Sobell Judo Club is an extremely busy club. Probably the busiest judo club in London. On average, we have around 100 people entering our dojo each night we train. That's a lot of people, and that's a lot of families. What started as 'mass hysteria' has now turned to fact and Covid-19 is a real threat. After taking some time to consider the current state of affairs, we have come to the difficult decision that we will temporarily suspend training at the Sobell Judo Club for a period of 2 weeks.
We know how much you all love training so we know that this is not the news that you wanted to hear. It's certainly not the news that we wanted to deliver, however, the safety of our members and their families must always come first.
We know that multiple countries within Europe have taken action, and it is therefore inevitable that the UK will follow. However, we have made the decision to act fast in an effort to prevent the spread and flatten the curve as much as possible. As Kano said, judoka must embody the philosophy of maximum efficiency, with minimum effort both on and off the tatami.
For the time being, training will not be running for 2 weeks. This means seniors will resume on Monday 30th March 2020 and juniors will resume on Wednesday 1st April 2020. If this changes, then we will inform you via email, Facebook and Whatsapp (if you have asked to join the group). Please stay alert and if you have any questions then please do not hesitate to contact us.
But I want to train! What can I do?
Judo doesn't only take place on the tatami. You can still study judo from the comfort of your own home. Luckily for you, our head coach has established a successful YouTube channel which you can refer to during this time to brush up on techniques: www.youtube.com/SampsonJudo.