2012 has been a rebuilding year for the Quad City Judo and Fitness team. Originally started
back in 1982 under Ray Terronez, now Head Sensei, QCJF has found new ownership from Terronez’s nephew, Marty Oliva and re-opened its doors this past August. With the explosion of MMA still going strong today, Oliva stresses that Judo can be taken by anyone, not just those looking to step into the cage. “Sometimes the mother or father will tell me that their kid is getting bullied and they want them to learn some self-defense,” explained Oliva. “Some people want to do a Martial Art but don’t want to get punched or kicked in the face.” The word Judo means “gentle way” in Japanese and that is something that Oliva stresses to his students. “We do not tolerate anyone going out into the community to use what we have taught them,” said Oliva. “It’s quite a while until we teach anyone the more advanced moves.” As with any other extra circular activity in school, education is top on the list of expectations to be on the Judo team. “I was excited to hear recently that one of our students got an award in class for being respectful and being a role model in class,” said Oliva. “I would have to say that is because of what he has learned in Judo.” Another core value of Judo that QCJF teaches is discipline, which students can take out and use in their daily lives and not just in the dojo. “At most jobs you have a goal that you have to reach and in Judo it’s the next highest belt,” said Oliva. “You have to have a high level of discipline for both things.” For the Judo community there was no better example of someone achieving a lifelong goal than USA’s Kayla Harrison, who won a gold medal in Judo this past August at the 2012 London Summer Olympics. “We have her picture up in our dojo,” said Oliva. “When you look at who benefits from Judo the most, it’s the female students that learn self-defense techniques and that can go a long way for them.” Something that Oliva also talked about was for people to visit the National Collegiate Judo Association website (www.ncjajudo.com) or the United States Judo Federation website (www.usjf.com) and learn about scholarships that are given to high school students who practice Judo. For more information about Quad City Judo and Fitness please contact owner Marty Oliva at 309-798-4544 or stop in to QCJF located at Southpark Mall. Hours of operation are, Tuesday, 5pm-6pm, Thursday, 5pm-7pm and Saturday, 3pm-430pm.
Facebook Comments
