It is a long road to winning medals but competitive judo is for the individual for whom team games are not as satisfying as being wholly responsible for your success. There are mini-mon competitions for beginners and then ‘open’ competitions which may take you to leisure centres up and down the country for possibly two matches of three minutes. A certain amount of dedication is required and the ability to learn to lose before you can win.

Perhaps it’s a referee or a table judge you’d like to be having studied the sport in a recreational manner and you want to contribute more.