New Ballymena ju jitsu venue proves major success

The centre, based at Woodside Industrial Estate, was packed to capacity with top coaches from the UK, Matthew Rinaldi and Master Brian Truby, flying over to take an advanced Adult Black belt course on the Friday night, national Black belt gradings on the Saturday, and both adult’s and children’s courses on the Sunday.

Little did they know, the showers had only been fitted in the centre two hours previous to the start time of the first course!

The centre has been set up as a community interest company, and David and Anne Toney, who are heading up the project, have been overwhelmed at the response from local people offering assistance.

With only two weeks to refurb the unit in time for these events, all members of Ballymena Ju-Jitsu club, and parents of members worked flat out to make the centre fit for purpose.

David Toney, Senior Coach for the club said: “Anne and I want to say a big thank-you to all who helped make this possible, we couldn’t have done it without them!”

Anne added: “We’d also like to thank the new management team of Monkey Business, who kindly allowed our members to use their café facility.’

Work at the dojo doesn’t stop here. They are looking for funding to enable them to develop facilities further. The top floor will be rented out to a strength and conditioning coach to bring in much needed rent, however this space was packed with visitors at the weekend and so the club needs to find a way to divide the space in the main area to allow for a larger reception area.

Thankfully the good weather permitted guests of students and parents to picnic outside. There is a small patch of wasteland at the back of the centre and so the club have decided to make this into a garden/barbecue area for future events.

Any offers from the local community, be it donations of cash, unwanted garden furniture or your time/expertise will be gratefully received.

There are over 250 local kids currently involved who stand to benefit, and with the opportunity now to expand their classes, the Dojo expects to be recruiting many more come September.

You can follow progress of the centre and find out how to join at: www.facebook.com/thedojo.WJJ Email [email protected]