Greetings,
Does anyone have any experience with any of the judo clubs in Taipei? Which clubs are considered the best for active competitors? How much are dues? Is there a system of police dojos set up (like in Japan) which are free to train at and always have very high level players?
Thanks in advance!
Judo is mostly done by kids or at schools in Taiwan. I think the only semi-real place to train is in Wanhua on the roof of the police station.
I say “semi-real” because it has serious adults, but you have to put up with some binlang chewing older gents who don’t seem to train much but like to stroll around like the cock of the walk, but I suppose you get that almost anywhere involving martial arts in Taiwan. Anyway, as far as I know its the only game in town that is a viable option.
Here is their website.
http://willy313.myweb.hinet.net/JudoFramRecord.htm
I trained at the Wanhua place and it’s pretty good. It’s been there a loooong time so yeah there’s some old guys there but they all know what they’re doing. And some of them are very good. There’s also a nice mix of younger guys that compete and visitors from all over.
The best days to go are Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday morning.
Great bunch there and highly recommended.
[quote=“chainsmoker”]Judo is mostly done by kids or at schools in Taiwan. I think the only semi-real place to train is in Wanhua on the roof of the police station.
I say “semi-real” because it has serious adults, but you have to put up with some binlang chewing older gents who don’t seem to train much but like to stroll around like the cock of the walk, but I suppose you get that almost anywhere involving martial arts in Taiwan. Anyway, as far as I know its the only game in town that is a viable option.
Here is their website.
http://willy313.myweb.hinet.net/JudoFramRecord.htm[/quote]
Do you know if this place is only suitable for experienced guys? I’m a beginner and I can’t speak any Chinese but I’m thinking about trying out judo.
Beginners are welcome, especially on Wednesdays. They have a female teacher that is really good at teaching beginners. i should have stayed with her longer. Some Chinese ability would really help but many of them speak some English and a few speak really good English. You should have no problem.
[quote=“chainsmoker”]Judo is mostly done by kids or at schools in Taiwan. I think the only semi-real place to train is in Wanhua on the roof of the police station.
I say “semi-real” because it has serious adults, but you have to put up with some binlang chewing older gents who don’t seem to train much but like to stroll around like the cock of the walk, but I suppose you get that almost anywhere involving martial arts in Taiwan. Anyway, as far as I know its the only game in town that is a viable option.
Here is their website.
http://willy313.myweb.hinet.net/JudoFramRecord.htm[/quote]
What time are the classes on Wednesday? How much does it cost?
This is the Shuan Yuan Judo Club. And since only 2 of the black belts they have awarded have been to foreign members, and I’m one of those two, I have to confess to feeling a little annoyed that people I have never seen at my club refer to it as …
The only person here I have ever met at judo is Formosa Fitness.
I haven’t been there for about a year, but I doubt things have changed much, as that’s the way they have been for years. Shuan Yuan trains everyday, but some days are more instructionally oriented than others. Wednesday and Friday night are more randori-oriented. Sunday morning is open mat.
It is a highly competitive club and easily the best social judo in Taiwan. Many national high school champions train there regularly and some members have represented Taiwan nationally. At Shuan Yuan, I have trained with members of the Saudi Arabian, Syrian, and UAE national teams. The coaches are all national-level and many have competed at respectable levels. We are the Taiwan over-40 champions. The real advantage of training there is you get to spar with seriously good fighters. I once remember Andy Wang explaining the virtues of BJJ after someone in our club had to fight the Filipino national judo champion in BJJ. Well, in Taiwan judo, you get to compete and train with top people all the time.
As FF mentions, there are a couple of people there who can speak any English. If you can’t handle Chinese instruction and you’re starting from zero, it might be a little tough. I paid $4000 a year, but I think I got the student rate because I’m a teacher. You have to buy a gi, but my advice is to have more than one. The club pays for registration to some events, but depending on the event, you may have to your own registration fee. It’s pretty cheap, but the language barrier can be an issue for beginners.
The club’s a little hard to find. Anyone who wants to know how to get there can PM me.
Also, I think this is a more up-to-date website
willy313.myweb.hinet.net/wanhwajudo.htm
Scott, I sent you a pm. I’d like to find this place.
I am planning to go there at 7PM tomorrow. I guess I will see how it goes. How many nights a week do people usually train at this Judo club?
[quote=“ScottSommers”]This is the Shuan Yuan Judo Club. And since only 2 of the black belts they have awarded have been to foreign members, and I’m one of those two, I have to confess to feeling a little annoyed that people I have never seen at my club refer to it as …
The only person here I have ever met at judo is Formosa Fitness.
I haven’t been there for about a year, but I doubt things have changed much, as that’s the way they have been for years. Shuan Yuan trains everyday, but some days are more instructionally oriented than others. Wednesday and Friday night are more randori-oriented. Sunday morning is open mat.
It is a highly competitive club and easily the best social judo in Taiwan. Many national high school champions train there regularly and some members have represented Taiwan nationally. At Shuan Yuan, I have trained with members of the Saudi Arabian, Syrian, and UAE national teams. The coaches are all national-level and many have competed at respectable levels. We are the Taiwan over-40 champions. The real advantage of training there is you get to spar with seriously good fighters. I once remember Andy Wang explaining the virtues of BJJ after someone in our club had to fight the Filipino national judo champion in BJJ. Well, in Taiwan judo, you get to compete and train with top people all the time.
As FF mentions, there are a couple of people there who can speak any English. If you can’t handle Chinese instruction and you’re starting from zero, it might be a little tough. I paid $4000 a year, but I think I got the student rate because I’m a teacher. You have to buy a gi, but my advice is to have more than one. The club pays for registration to some events, but depending on the event, you may have to your own registration fee. It’s pretty cheap, but the language barrier can be an issue for beginners.
The club’s a little hard to find. Anyone who wants to know how to get there can PM me.
Also, I think this is a more up-to-date website
willy313.myweb.hinet.net/wanhwajudo.htm[/quote]
The price I was quoted was 12,000 for a year. That seems a lot higher.
Anyways, I went there today and Scott is totally correct. There is no English. I was not looking to speak English. Actually it is amusing that they tried to throw in the odd English word that they remembered from their school days. Everything English word they used I know what it is in Chinese.
I will say that even know I have a decent level of Chinese the words used for Judo are probably not Chinese words that you will learn speaking Chinese with friends or at work.
That’s not true. Coach Wang (IIRC) speaks pretty good English and he’s very willing to help train foreigners. He used English with me and i had no problem understanding him. There are a LOT of coaches there. You won’t bump into all of them just going one time. He’s there mostly on Wed. night and Sunday morning.
I’m not sure about the price but i also didn’t pay anywhere close to 12,000.
I plan to go again but I was put off a little by the price. Any advice on how to approach paying for Judo at this club? I did not pay yet. I said I wanted to check things out. Can I go again without paying or should I only show up when I have cash in my hand?
Can you just give them 1000 for the month?
I know I’m a bit late to this discussion, but I’d be interested in hearing how things are going now. I’m looking to find a good judo school. I noticed on my way home to Luzhou on the #9 bus that as we go through parts of Shilin, there’s what looks like a community center. On different occassions I’ve noticed what looked like Judo being taught as well as Chin Na and possible a TKD Class. Anyone familiar with this place?
Can anyone confirm it’s 12000 nt a year? That’s high for Judo and considering the average incomes in Taiwan.
I was quoted 6000 a year
They have a tablet with high prices on it, they give you a discount depending on how much they think they can charge you so if you’re a white guy it’s automatically assumed you have money so they charge you the full price.
Find clubs in universities or even in high schools first and ask the person in charge whether you can train together with them. Granted If you have some experience in judo. If you know nothing about judo and starting from 0 it is less likely but you can still ask. If you do good you can even compete in national level in competitions in Taiwan representing the club. Because those clubs are funded mainly by their schools in most cases they’re free.
To start with, I know Tai-Da Shi-da has their own judo clubs.
Personally, I won’t join those paid clubs. Aside from the money, their level of judo is rather low packed with beginners so you won’t get much progress