The short and the long of it...

 

The short:

Denver Dojo costs $45 per month.  You get unlimited access to dojo facilities, classes / workouts... Easy as that! 

Not a member? We require a $5 per visit mat fee from visitors after your first free visit each month...

 

The long:

Members: Without you and your monthly commitment, we have to try to supplement the rent, utility payments and other costs with donations from elsewhere.  Where? Not an easy task.  We think that the best answer is involved and committed members. 

Join the Denver Dojo, it's only:

Individual membership -  $45 a month, $128 a quarter, $251 for six months or $486 for the year...

Family of 2 membership - $70 a month, $200 a quarter, $390 for six months or $756 for the year...

Family of 3+ membership - $90 a month, $256 a quarter, $500 for six months or $972 for the year...

There is taking time and there is giving time.  In judo  in the beginning as players we take from our teachers and we take from our communities we take from our practice partners.  We improve as we learn  our judo and we grow as individuals.  Judo teaches us that we have to give back to our community along with all the taking we are doing.  So we start helping in the dojo, at events, maybe coaching, maybe refereeing, maybe carrying  mats... We figure out that we are a part of a society, we have a place in the judo community.  Pretty soon we are giving more than we are taking and it feels great. 

Soon as you can, you need to feel like a member of the dojo and support the dojo through membership dues and involvement in dojo activities...

A short story:    I took a lot during my beginning years in judo.  Ya, I started as a student at University and you do a lot of taking during those years, but I took a lot of years off and came back to judo the year I turned 40.  When I found judo again, I was hooked all over again. I just practiced and played the time went fast... day by day, week by week.  The judo was for me I was taking and I didn't feel selfish.  Someone could be helping the instructor with those kids, but there were only 90 minutes in a practice session and I might miss a round of randori... Somewhere along the way I started to throw some mats around and worked some at events at tables and as time keeper or score keeper.  But I loved to play. In the mid-west I got to go on the average to a shiai every other week all year long.  I was blessed with a teacher, Charlie Hooks.  Charlie and I went to a lot of events just the two of us. Charlie refereed and I played.  Judo people are fabulous on the whole, in a few short years I had friends in judo all over the state and in many surrounding states.  I had a little contest going with Randy Pierce, another judoka from St. Louis, to see who would get to 100 matches first each year.  In time I started to referee but still got to play my 100 matches a year...  I was living in Mishawaka, IN and worked out at two YMCA's and at the local university, all of of these programs were places where I "got" to help with the teaching. The clubs had a lot of  turnover and few skilled or talented members in each so when I found a group in Kalamazoo, MI at Southside Dojo who regularly put 5 or 6 black belts on the mat every time I went up there... I was in heaven.  I could only make it up to Kalamazoo on Sundays for the open mat workouts.  But these judoka had the same spirit that I had found in judo. They were skilled and worked hard and long.  I would ask "how can I help, is there a mat fee".  Always the answer was "don't worry about it".  After a while I kept asking and found out the monthly dues amount.   I was not sure why but I felt the need to support them by becoming a member of Southside Dojo.  I guess really wanted them to be a strong and sound organization.  They had done what I thought judo needed, they had built an organization of judoka who were working hard to support and promote judo.  Who would be there when I could get there to play with them...

I then had 4 dojos!  Felt like the luckiest guy on earth! 

I finally figured it out! You don't get things from the dojo.

You give all you can to help the best you can!

End

You find a dojo and support it as best you can if you like what the group is doing.  If you don't support it... it won't exist.

A dojo is not a shop or store, you don't get tangible goods every time you attend, check out at the counter and feel like you made a good purchase.

Pay per use... I wish it would work, but pay per use does not seem to be a viable solution, It is not paying the rent... 

You can not think of the dojo as a pay as you go enterprise, you will never get "your monies worth" from a dojo.  What you  get...  Depends on what you want? 

You get any and all classes offered at the dojo.

You get the best workout surface in town, tatami on floating floor.

You get to play with, learn from, and share with some of the best  players and coaches in the area...

You get to support our dojo and it's members in amateur national and international competition training.

Maximum efficiency - minimum effort, Mutual welfare and benefit.  The practice of attack and defense sharpens both our bodies and our minds for the rigors of everyday life! 

Making better people helps make the world a better place.

No catch, we are a group of like minded individuals trying to make a difference.

Join the membership as soon as you can and get involved and support the dojo's efforts.

I was thinking of a lot of incentive based things like members get this and that and visitors get less ...  I think this kind of tailored individualized system sets us up for the pay as you go mentality. 

We need committed members who love judo and want to do something special.

So there is no catch...

The old catch ... Here is the catch:

Firstly, we expect a commitment from you in studying Kodokan Judo at the Denver Dojo and Denver Judo Club.  You should want to be coming to judo practice only on days ending in the letter "Y". 

We need your commitment as a member of the dojo!  Even if you can   only make it to workout a few times a month.  If you can commit to amateur athletics and the goals of judo, development of mind and body, then you can become a member support the dojo as it supports our Olympic hopefuls...

Secondly, we understand that the traditional judo practice commitment is not for everyone and since we would still rather collect dues just one time per month rather than daily, your further incentive for becoming a monthly dues paying member is tournament support and promotion support from the club coaches and teachers.

The instructors  and coaches recommend members for and help members prepare for promotion testing up to and including the black belt ranks. For members who participate in tournaments the coaches work with you to prepare and support you with mat side coaching. 

The Denver Dojo charter is to support and train amateur athletes for national and international  competition.  Members will be  eligible for financial support when the dojo and club funds are directed for this type of support.

These perquisites are not available at the Denver Dojo / Denver Judo Club for "visitors paying the daily mat fee.

All of this said, we love visitors and want you to come as often as you can - join the dojo as soon as you can!

Some links:

What is Judo - Sport, Art, Action!

Denver Judo - one of the clubs working out at the Denver Dojo

Judocalendar.com - supported by Denver Dojo as  a service to the USA judo community

Southside Dojo - a great dojo in SW Michigan, USA, inspiration for Denver Dojo

Denver Dojo floating floor - the story of designing and building the floor at Denver Dojo

USA JUDO

USJF

USJA