Mon grades
Most of our junior judoka will be mon grades.
Mon grades are for ages 8 - 17 and provide a nicely structured way to learn the core techniques of judo. The syllabus is the same as for the adult "kyu" grades but the gradings are done in more bite-sized chunks, making the learning more accessible for the younger judo player.
All of the information on the Mon grading syllabus is covered at the British Judo website: https://www.britishjudo.org.uk/my-judo/grading/grades/mon/. There are also instructional videos to help you brush up on your understanding.
Whilst we encourage everyone to take an interest and understand what is required for their syllabus at home, practising the judo techniques themselves should only be done at the judo session under the watchful eye of a qualified coach.
The mon belts
For these grades, each time a grading is passed the judoka is awarded an extra stripe on their belt. The belts then progress in colour after each third stripe is earned.
The belt colours follow in the same order as the adult (kyu) belt system: Red, Yellow, Orange, Green, Blue and Brown. Links to the syllabus and grading videos are shown below.
Dont forget - only practise judo in the safety of your club.
Red belt (Mons 1 - 3)
The red belts are the start of your judo grading journey and you will already be learning throws and hold-downs. Click on the image alongside to see a poster of the grading syllabus and check out the grading videos here.
You will also need to know some basic judo terminology - check out our page here to see what you will need to know: Judo terminology.
Yellow belt (Mons 4 - 6)
You are starting to move beyond the basics now and build your skills. Yellow belts introduce some more techniques, including some of our coaches and competitors favourite throws.
Click on the image alongside to see a poster of the grading syllabus and check out the grading videos here.
Orange belt (Mons 7 - 8)
You are really progressing now. As well as introducing more techniques, orange belts are tested on their ability to combine techniques and to counter opponent techniques.
Click on the image alongside to see a poster of the grading syllabus and check out the grading videos here.
Green belt (Mons 9 - 11)
The green belt syllabus continues to introduce new throws and also, for the first time, armlocks. For this reason, we would generally recommend moving onto green belts only for our older juniors.
Click on the image alongside to see a poster of the grading syllabus and check out the grading videos here.
Blue belt (Mons 12 - 14)
Blue belts are our more advanced juniors and they continue to learn more advanced throws, arm locks and also introduce strangles. These are only ever practised by our older juniors under the strict supervision of one of our coaches.
Click on the image alongside to see a poster of the grading syllabus and check out the grading videos here.
Brown belt (Mons 15 - 17)
Brown belts are the most senior belts in the mon system. Once a junior judoka has completed the brown belt syllabus and are aged 15 or over, they can then move on to train for their black belt as part of the Dan grade.
Click on the image alongside to see a poster of the grading syllabus and check out the grading videos here.