A Brief History of Akitas

AKITAS
Ichiban!

The Akitas Judo Clubs were founded in September 1985 by Peter Hutchins, then a first Dan, and his wife Fay. The inspiration for the clubs had been a set of self-defence classes that Peter had run for ladies in the summer term of that year. It was clear that there was a demand for this sort of class and so Peter jumped at the chance to take over judo clubs at Beauchamps School, Timberlog and Chaffords.

In the very early days the club was taught on borrowed mats and had just six members, but just one year later the Hutchins family made a big commitment to the project. They raised a family loan to purchase a set of jigsaw mats and to cover three months advance rent at a new venue. The new venue was St. Andrews's church hall in Wickford where one of the clubs has remained ever since. The return on that commitment was speedy and considerable. The club soon took off with thirty juniors attending each night and a sizeable waiting list all eager to join. The years that followed saw a number of successes at competitions with a dozen or so of the members regularly taking gold at the various judo events. This new found confidence led to trips to Europe with the club taking teams to compete in France, Belgium and Holland.

At one time Peter had three clubs at different halls and this led to the strange position where members of the three sister clubs were fighting each other at competitions because the organisers had not realised the relationship. As a consequence the three clubs were given a group name, they were known as the Akitas Clubs. A parent who had researched the famous Akitas dogs of Japan suggested the name. He considered the name particularly appropriate since the dogs are renowned for their strength and gentleness, a combination that sits well with Jigoro Kano's original conception for the sport of Judo.

The club has produced some fine judoka including three female junior black belts, Kiely Makepeace, Dawn Butler and Gayle Tooley, as well as one male junior black belt, Adam Hutchins. Adam has since achieved a senior second Dan, while his sister Jenny and brother Ricky have both achieved first Dan. At least ten other members have achieved Dan grade level over the years and Peter has assisted several others in preparing for second and third Dan examinations. Michael Donno and Mark Kelsey achieved second and third Dan's respectively with the help of Akitas Judo Clubs.

We have been very fortunate to work with some instructors of distinction, namely Dave Bevan, Junji Kokubo, Steve Blower, and Mark Kelsey. Junji's visit from Japan is most memorable as he introduced a punishing warm up regime!

The last word goes to Kiely Makepeace who attended a course at Bromfords Sports Centre, run by Mike Ilott, where she became the only junior member of BJC (MAC) to earn a coaching award, which was at club level.

Peter has become heavily involved in working with schools throughout Essex and we are seeing a steady stream of youngsters continuing to find the challenge they are looking for in the sport of judo. Akitas Judo Clubs are looking to the future with a sense of pride and optimism.

As a step forward, the next big move was to the BJA, thus ensuring that all Judoka attending Akitas have the maximum support and opportunities within Judo.

Peter and his wife have now moved to Spain, but an exciting new era of the club saw the move to Southend, under the guidance of the clubs new Sensei, Adam Hutchins, 3rd Dan.