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El Toro Judo Club has had a very long, respected and established presence in Orange County, California. Originally located at the El Toro Marine Corp Base, the club name and location was transferred to Laguna Niguel when the base was decommisioned in 1999. The name was passed to Kajita Sensei who, in honor and recognition of its history, carried the name on.   

Keith Chu (6th Dan)
Head Instructor



Keith began his judo training as a young lad in Liverpool,England. His diverse experience as a teacher and competitor provides El Toro students with high quality instruction. Keith is adynamic teacher with a fun and creative style that is a big hit with kids as well as adults.
Keith is USJF Master Gold Coach certified and his recent competitive successes include:
     U.S. Senior Nationals 2009 - Masters: 1st Place
     U.S. Open 2009 - Masters: 1st Place (Open Weight Division)
     U.S. Senior Nationals 2014 - Masters: 1st Place

Keith is the current President of Nanka Judo Yudanshakai (Southern California Black Belt Association) a position he has held two times before, and is the former 2nd Vice President of the United States Judo Federation. He is an active participant and is a life member in both of these organizations. 

Mike Crane (2nd Dan)
Instructor

Mike initially tried out Judo in 1966 while as a serving Marine in Okinawa, Japan. He trained on straw tatami and wore fireman tunics as his judogi. Mike spends a lot of his time studying judo and is very knowledgeable on all kinds of waza.
Mike is a lifetime member of the United States Judo Federation. 

John Cloughan (1st Dan)
Instructor

John is a long time member of El Toro Judo Club. He has a terrific attention to detail and is excellent in encouraging the best out of all the students. 

Bridget Chu (1st Kyu)
Assistant Instructor

Bridget has been practicing judo for over 15 years. She has competed at local and National level. She is also the secretary of the club.

Thomas Crane-Rauter  (3rd Kyu)
Assistant Instructor

Thomas began as a kid student with us, initially brought to the club by his Grandfather. Thomas has grown and is a great asset to the club.


Joseph Kajita (9th Dan)



Sensei Joseph Kajita was the figure head of the El Toro Judo Club and a great inspiration to us all. Sadly, he passed away on May 31, 2020 at the age of 89. He held the extremely prestigious rank of ninth dan (red belt) .

Please click on this link to visit our In Memory Page for Sensei Joe. 

In Memory

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