This September nine CUJC members travelled to Helsinki, Finland for the 36th anniversary of the Marburg-Helsinki-Cambridge judo exchange. The trip was an excellent balance of training, socialising and experiencing local culture, but this did make for an exhausting week. The Helsinki, Marburg and Cambridge coaches took it in turn to take the sessions, so that everyone saw something new. Each session allowed time for randori and the range of abilities meant that everyone had plenty of chances to fight players of a similar ability.

Local culture involved giving Finnish Baseball a try, hiking around a beautiful lake, and a karaoke night. CUJC members seemed to take to the sauna culture particularly well. In the evenings pub-crawls and parties ensured that everyone got to know each other. The welcoming atmosphere of the trip ensured the newbies and veterans alike had a great time, and hopefully even more players will get involved next year when it is Cambridge’s turn to host.

– Megan Sørensen

Exchange Participants

“Some new and beautiful experiences, some old and lovely ones too. Good friends, good judo and good fun!”
– Nick Palmer, Coach