Ju Jitsu

When fresher's fair came along at the end of fresher's week in my first year, I was overwhelmed with the choice of societies and clubs to join. I joined some ridiculous ones, but was adamant to join a sports society which would get me fitter, introduce me to new people, and that I would enjoy doing.  The sport I settled on was Ju Jitsu, so I signed up to Aston Jitsu Club (a bit different to you traditional sports clubs). There were other martial arts there too, including tae kwon do, karate, thai boxing, kick-boxing, and boxing.

Ju Jitsu is a martial art which derives its methods from the ancient art of the samurai. It is based largely upon the idea of using minimum effort for maximum effect in self defence situations. Once I had heard that at the fresher's fair in my first year, I thought it sounded pretty cool. I turned up to the first session, which was free, and there was a bit of teaching after a short warm up, and the session was rounded up with what I could only describe at the time as an immense display of leaping and diving around the room, over or around one another, and generally looking awesome flying through the air! From that point on I was sold. I signed up and haven't looked back since.

We train 2 times a week, on a Monday and Wednesday evening to start with, with the chance to train on Saturdays when we progress to the higher grades. It took very little time to get into the swing of things and in a short time (a mere matter of hours) I had already learned some practical techniques for defending myself, met loads of new people, and felt I was well on track at improving my fitness level. At the end of each term there is a grading, which is sort of like an examination of your knowledge and ability in Jitsu. This sounds quite daunting, but once you've done the first one, you realise it is all just about showing off what you've learnt to the person grading you. The basic progression through the belt system is one of the things to help keep you motivated and moving forward within the martial art.
There are multiple national and regional competitions and training sessions, as Jitsu is a national system of clubs run under the same ideals. These gatherings are an awesome experience, where hundreds of Jitsukas get together to show each other their stuff, and compete for various medals and awards. Our sensei, in fact, was national champion not too long ago!

The other good thing about Jitsu is that it has encouraged me to boost my fitness further to help improve my technique. I now go to the gym once or twice a week, and occasionally go jogging too. The gym I use is part of the halls I live in near to the university, but most people favour the university gym which is supremely kitted out with decent kit that would rival any city gym. The other good thing is that student get discounted memberships to join, and can choose either on or off peak membership depending on budget, and when in the day they wish to go. There is also a chance to get a gym and swim membership, which allows you to use the swimming pool at the gym, which is the oldest functioning indoor pool in the country! The woodcock sports centre, where the gym, martial arts and pool are all based is the main centre for sports, housing also the snooker tables, aerobics, yoga and spin classes, full basketball court, netball, badminton, table tennis and loads of other indoor activities. However, the university also has a large off-campus sports field used for rugby, hockey, football and most other outdoor sports. There is also the gem sports hall with another basketball court and indoor climbing wall. So needless to say, if you are only to do sports activities in your own time at the uni's facilities, there is a huge choice!

I would have to say, with all things considered, that the training is merely half of what we do. The best thing I can say about the club, as is true with most societies and sports clubs, is the social life that accompanies it. Literally, once or more a week, every week there was some sort of event. Whether it was the pub, a club, bowling, laser quest, a curry at the famous Manzils, or just popping to Gosta Green (the local scream pub) after training to chill out, rehydrate (then often dehydrate again with alcohol), and chat about training or whatever else. Through these social events, I made some of the best friends I've had, whom I now live with and spent most of my time with. We often look back and think, "What would life be like if we hadn't joined Jitsu?" and we're all sure we made the right choice 2 years ago at the fresher's fair.