Midway Judo Club 1068 South Robert Street, West Saint Paul, MN 55118

"Best place for families and whoever wants to learn judo"

"Absolutely love the place. Highly recommend it."

"I started at Midway Judo Club in January 2011 without any previous martial arts experience. Although the learning curve can be steep, Midway does a fantastic job of easing beginners into the sport. During the first couple of courses you become comfortable taking falls, and learning basic throws. The sensei's ensure that you're ready to mix in with the rest of the group before you begin sparring. Judo is a tough sport, and the workouts at Midway are extremely demanding (even the warm-ups can be difficult for beginners). But, the entire club treats each other like family - they push each other, while maintaining safety as a top priority. After moving to the west coast, I've had the opportunity to visit other judo clubs, and have found that the training, value (financial & otherwise), and camaraderie you will find at Midway is unmatched."

"I found Midway Judo Club a few months ago, when I decided to start regularly doing judo again after about a seven-year hiatus. Everyone's been very welcoming, and there was none of the posturing you sometimes encounter when joining a club as a black belt. It's a good community and I enjoy everyone's company just as much as I do practicing judo at the club. It's a great club for both experienced players and newbies alike. The format of the lessons is fairly traditional, i.e., warm ups, uchi komi, nage komi, technique of the day, and randori. But there's a separate section for newbies to learn the basics. And there are players of a variety of builds, which is great for smaller players like me who tend to have a harder time finding similarly built people to practice with. There are also quite a number of families with small children, if you're thinking of bringing yours along with you. The apparently storied club is taught by a few senior black belts and a 6th dan black belt, Cary Yamanaka, who is the head coach. Some of them, including Sensei Yamanaka's sons, even started out at the club as white belts, and the hallways are decorated with photos of club members, often in winning poses after competitions, from decades past. One of the members who grew up practicing at the club, Max Kafka, was a two-time US Junior National Champion and now trains under Jimmy Pedro with the USA Judo National Team. Being a nonprofit club, dues are quite reasonable. They are $40 for students, $50 for adults, and $60 for families, monthly. The dues go mainly toward building maintenance costs; the coaches, who are volunteers, refuse to take a cut of it. They are, admirably enough, dedicated judokas pursuing and promoting their passion for judo."