Disciplines · Judo Fact Sheet

Judo was comparatively unknown in Malta until the 1950’s and then the little Judo that was practiced was more a discipline than a sport. In fact, it was practiced by the services alongside with Karate and jujitsu.

The small group of servicemen that practiced this sport often allowed civilians to join them in training. One such serviceman, Mr. Ernest Gainy, allowed Joe Caruana to join one of these classes in 1970; as Black Belt 1st Dan, Joe Caruana called the first informal Judo Committee at the Zabbar Physical Culture Club. Two students of Joe Caruana, Tony Tanti and Envic Galea opened three other Judo Clubs in 1971: Zebbug Judo Club, Royal University Judo Club and MCAST Polytechnic Judo Club.

In 1973 the first National Championships were organized at the Malta Hilton, which had become and was to remain the official Headquarters of the Association. The winner of the Open Category was declared National Champion. These are organized every year.

The progress of Judo in Malta was mainly due to the assistance of the British Forces, especially the 41 Commando Group who were to become very important in the MJA development. They assisted technically, and helped with competition officials and equipment. However, the biggest help, which moulded the character of Maltese Judo, came from the Italian Judo Federation. This started with the intervention of Dott. Maurizio Genolini, who happened to be also Vice President of the E.J.U. and Aw. Cerachini, President of the Italian Federation.

Italian assistance became a reality when two Judokas were accepted for a four-month course at the Italian Judo Academy, which until 1984 has been the only testing body for the MJA for grading to 1st Dan (Black Belt). The assistance from the Italian Judo Federation was openly given every time the MJA requested it.

After several friendlies with Italian, English and other foreign teams (national and regional), the MJA started competing internationally in the Mediterranean Games in Split in 1979, here the MJA registered the highest achievement with Godfrey Bezzina finished 4th. This result remained the highest result in these Games until 1995, when Malta won a Bronze Medal in Shooting. In 1983, Laurie Pace placed seventh in the World Championships.

Judo had always attracted children and most Judokas join at a very young age. Judo was also particularly popular in schools and youth centers however Instructors taught the sport in the same manner as adults introducing games to keep the young Judokas interested and improve their skills. After studying the subject in detail, in 1991, the MJA launched the Star Award Scheme, “Playing Judo” later to develop under the passionate leadership of Chris Busuttil (Youth Development Officer MJA) into the very popular Dragon Espoir. Therefore Judo became one of the few sports in Malta to have a fully developed programme for children.
After the success of Judo in the Malta Games in 1993, where the Judokas won one Gold, one Silver and four bronzes, the Malta Olympic Committee, embarked on a professional training programme in conjunction with some federations. One of these Federations was the MJA. The MJA committed itself completely to this scheme with excellent results. This scheme involved the hiring of a professional Russian Coach and submitting the athletes to periodical tests at the Olympic Sports Clinic.

In 1995 the MOC accepted to send seven Judokas to the sixth edition of the Games of the Small States of Europe and out of the Maltese Contingent of 150 athletes Judo was the winner of six medals out of the twelve won by the Maltese Contingent, with the only Gold for Malta won by Jackie Xuereb in the 52 Kg Category. Six athletes out of seven won a medal.

In 1997, the MJA listed 8 athletes for the Iceland Games. In Iceland, the MJA made a record for Malta when the National Anthem was played 3 times in a day when John Zammit, Jackie Xuereb and Kamilla Peter won Gold medals while Laurie Pace, Jason Trevisan and Philip Camilleri won Silver and Silvano Cristauro and the young Alexia Mallia won Bronze. This placed Malta first in the Judo events. At the Games of the Small States of Europe hosted in San Marino in 2001, Judokas managed to obtain two Gold, two Silver, and four Bronze Medals.

Local Competitions:
Ranking CompetitionMaltacom Intl. Judo OpenNational CompetitionsPromotion Cups (for children)

International Competitions:
Island Games, EYOD, EJU, World, European, Games of the Small States of Europe, Commonwealth Games

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