Action from a training session.

There are not may people who have not heard of the phrase "The mysterious East". Until the turn of the century the eastern half of the world was indeed mysterious, having kept its secrets from the West for thousands of years.

During the last 70 to 80 years western technology has infiltrated these Eastern countries, who quickly caught on to the new ideas and have even surpassed the West in some aspects of technology, ample evidence of which can be seen by the great number of Japanese electronically items in our shops today.

The merging of Western and Eastern ideas has not been completely one-sided as we in the West have learnt a great deal from the oriental cultures and disciplines. One such culture is the martial arts of self-defence, one of the most popular being judo.

The judo system was developed from ju-jitsu by Jigoro Kano in Japan around 1885. He developed judo so that the harmful aspects of the martial arts could be rejected and their beneficial aspects to improve both mind and body could be learnt by everybody. Judo, in fact, means "gentle way". Judo rapidly caught on in the West and is not a major sport throughout the world.

Now, almost 100 years from its beginnings judo, and all the benefits it brings, has come to Carmarthen, thanks to the efforts of two people. Michael Edwards, a 36-year-old electronics engineer, of 3 Union Street, Carmarthen and Gwilym Vanderbrink, a 31-year-old builder, of 63 Sycamore Way, Carmarthen. They both learnt their judo in Llanelli and decided to start a Judo Club in Carmarthen about two years ago.

Their first problem was to find a suitable place in Carmarthen and eight months ago managed to find a disused building belonging to Carmarthen labour Club who game them permission for its use.

With the help of two other people who have put a lot of work into the running of the club - Mr Len Singer, a 25-year-old drey man, 29 Francis Terrace, Carmarthen, and Philip Harries, a 17-year-old apprentice plasterer, 2 Merlin Street - managed to make the building into a usable premises after four weeks of hard work. A small Judo mat was lent to the club by Trinity College and Carmarthen Judo Club was born. Word soon got around and there are now 34 adult and many children attend their own special classes.

All four of these men help in the teaching of judo to the different classes.

Michael Edwards, a brown belt, teaches the adult classes twice a week and he also trains in Llanelli Judo Club two or three times a week. Last year he managed to reach the third round of the National Open Championships, beating higher grades than himself.
He took up judo four years ago after a three-year illness. "After my illness" he says "I was looking for something to get me back to normal and I took up judo. Since then, thanks to judo training, life has become more successful and easier."

Mr. Edwards has never done any judo teaching before the start of Carmarthen Judo Club. He said: "Teaching was difficult at first and the teaching of just is a lot harder than one imagines. However, you meet different people from different walks of life and it helps you to judge people."

Despite his short teaching experience the excellent of it shows in the fat that three of the adult members were graded recently, including Philip Harris, now an orange belt, who had never done any judo before the formation of the club.

Mr. Edwards believes that there is a lot of talent in Carmarthen and his ambition is to make the Carmarthen club well known in judo competitive circles.
He has two sons and daughter who also practise judo.

Mr Gwilym Vanderbrink, who describes himself as "The think box behind the brains (referring to Michael Edwards)", is an orange belt and has been doing judo for three years. He does some of the teaching and puts a lot of hard work and gives up his spare time in helping to run and improve the club.

He says: "The greatest think I get out of Judo is the comradeship of the fellow members. His ambition, like most judo enthusiasts is to become a black belt.

Mr Len Singer, an orange belt, is living proof of how the discipline of judo can greatly improve a person's life.

Five years ago he was involved in a car accident and remained in hospital for two years. He took up judo to help him get back to normal. He said: "Judo has changed my way of life and the change of mental attitude in me has been unbelievable."

Mr. Singer teaches the children's classes and the female classes.

Once a quarter there is a competition for the adult members who contest for a trophy.

Most members agree however that judo starts as fun and turns into sheer enjoyment after a while and they can't seem to get enough of it.