The Olympic sport of judo is on the rise with the British Judo Association announcing record membership figures this week.

The figures published by the British Judo Association, for the year September 2009 to September 2010, illustrate an increase in both junior and +16 years judo participants in England.

As the National Governing Body for the sport in Britain, the Association has achieved a significant increase in junior membership with 47.5% clubs increasing their youngest ranks.

Overall junior membership has grown nearly 10% rising from 15,325 to 16,561 in the last 12 months.

There has also been a noted increase in participants aged over 16 years, with the number of members in England in this age group rising by 9.2%.

42.5% of British Judo’s clubs have increased their +16 members through a number of initiatives made possible thanks to the Association’s Sport England Whole Sport Plan.

The Association hopes to further build those exposed to the sport in this age group through the recently introduced Judo Fit, a new fitness class to music which can be performed by people all ages and fitness levels. The initiative aims to encourage a wider audience into the sport.

The new class will see the Olympic sport’s free-flowing patterns and movements will be performed to music as part of a high-energy cardiovascular workout.

Additionally, clubs have been supported through personalised marketing resources and a regional news service that have enabled them to promote themselves in their local communities.

The figures released come a month after a Government study, published by the Department for Education, revealed that judo is now being offered at 13 percent of schools, compared to 8 percent in 2003/04.

Schools currently host judo through the British Judo Association’s Enjoy Judo programme which sees British Judo coaches deliver tailored classes through breakfast clubs, curricular activity, lunch time and after school classes.

They also work in conjunction with British Judo’s School 2 Dojo programme which is supported by Sport England. The programme establishes strong ties between schools and a local judo club which provides an outlet for pupils, who have been equipped with the fundamentals, to practice the sport to a higher level. The programme has 600 schools linked with neighbouring judo clubs.

British Judo, which has adopted the motto of ‘judo for all’, has members ranging from five to 85 years of age.

The British Judo Association’s Chief Executive Officer, Scott McCarthy, said, “The indications are very positive that we are improving both the number of those entering the sport as well as our retention rates. We have built a system to support engagement and interactivity through our clubs as well as schools with the support of Sport England. We very much look forward to that system delivering improved growth figures for the foreseeable future.”