Home - Furness Judo Academy

About us

A Tremendous and Dynamic Olympic and Paralympic Sport

Judo is a tremendous and dynamic combat sport that demands both physical prowess and great mental discipline. From a standing position, it involves techniques that allow you to lift and throw your opponents onto their backs. On the ground, it includes techniques that allow you to pin your opponents down to the ground, control them, and apply various choke holds or joint locks until submission.

Providing Judo for The Furness Community

Furness Judo Academy is part of DNA Judo group; one of only 3 organisations in the country with British Judo Association Elite Provider status.

Our academy first opened its doors on Thursday 2nd May 2024 with our Ulverston dojo – Sir John Barrow Primary School and we now offer a second weekly practice night starting on Monday 20th January 2025 at our Barrow dojo – Cambridge Primary School. We will be offering these weekly sessions for budding judoka of 4 years of age through to adults. We welcome judoka of any level, from complete beginners to established players.

Our mission is to make quality judo provision accessible to all and actively increase participation in the sport of judo by providing fun engaging sessions for all our members. It is also important to us to provide our members with growth opportunities through offering gradings, additional training, competitions & courses to help them develop their confidence and support our motto of ‘FAR BETTER TO DARE…’

Quality Coaching at an Affordable Price.

Our head coaches at Furness Judo Academy are 1st Degree Blackbelt Judokas, Evan Allan & Gary Bentley.

Evan, a national level judo fighter in his own right, is a fully qualified British Judo Association Level 1 coach and is currently in the process of completing his UKCC Level 2 Judo Coaching Award.

Gary is one of the original members of Furness Judo Club which unfortunately closed its doors during the COVID Pandemic. Gary’s wealth of experience and remarkable coaching lineage is also a fully qualified British Judo Association Level 1 coach and like Evan is currently in the process of completing his UKCC Level 2 Judo Coaching Award.

Like all our coaches at DNA Judo Ltd, Evan & Gary are both qualified in safeguarding children and first aid and are DBS checked.

Evan & Gary share our ethos & mission that judo is for all and they are driven to help our members to fulfil their potential in the sport.

See our membership costs below.

Membership costs

Our sessions are competitive in price with a blanket monthly mat fee for unlimited classes across all our age groups across all our dojos & academies. Visit www.dnajudo.co.uk to see a list of our academies.

‘Kano Kidz’ for 4-7 years only £25 a month

‘Junior Judo’ for 7 to 12 years at £30 a month

‘Academy Judo’ for 12 to 17 years at £35 a month

‘Senior Judo’ for 18+ years and above is just £40 per month.

To support families with multiple members we also offer a Family Membership Cap whereby a family with 2 or more club members will not pay anymore than £50 a month.

Furthermore you do not need to commit to buying a new kit straight away as we will lend you a suit for the first month of your membership so you’re sure judo is the sport for you!