DeLeon Judo Club logo DeLeon Judo Club

About DeLeon Judo Club

A small non-profit dojo, run by volunteers who love judo and want to pass it on.

Sensei Henry laughing on the mat in his gi and red-and-white belt, with fellow black belts talking beside him

Our history

Two head instructors, and generations of Petaluma students in between.

1970

The year Jim Santiago DeLeon founded the club

2007

The year Sensei Henry took over

Jim Santiago DeLeon founded this club in January 1970, and Petaluma has been its home ever since. He led it for thirty-seven years and trained national and international competitors along the way. Plenty of Petaluma kids came up through his classes in that time, and some of them are still here, teaching the next group.

Jim retired in 2007, and Sensei Henry Kaku took over as head instructor. Sensei Henry holds a Kodokan black belt and placed in the top four at many national competitions. Off the mat he's a credentialed teacher who has taught math and worked as a high school counselor.

In 2008 the club produced its first Jr. National Champion, and Sensei Davin earned his black belt here at age 20. More Jr. National Champions followed in 2009 and 2010. Today students of every age train together, and many of them go on to teach here. Sensei Henry is still our head instructor, with over 50 years in judo behind him.

Our philosophy

Archival black-and-white photo of Jigoro Kano in dark formal dress, standing beside two women in white gi practising a hold, with large calligraphy on the wall behind them

柔道

Judo, the gentle way

Our mission is to teach our students not only the physical skills of judo, but its philosophy and traditions.

Judo, or "the gentle way," is a martial art developed by Dr. Jigoro Kano. It works through leverage, balance and movement, and it uses an opponent's own power and weight against them.

Its main principles are maximum efficiency and mutual welfare and benefit. Maximum efficiency teaches the judoka, or student, to use the least physical strength necessary to throw an opponent, through proper technique and timing.

Mutual welfare and benefit comes from Dr. Kano's belief that judo could help a person become a better member of society. He felt the personal discipline judo teaches would extend into daily life and help the judoka become a more productive member of society.

We introduce students to judo as a lifetime pursuit, a skilled art requiring infinite perfecting. By teaching traditional etiquette and the Japanese names of the techniques, we also introduce our members to the sport's cultural roots.

For many of us, a judo dojo is a place of stability and community, where people watch out for you, in and out of the dojo.

精力善用

Seiryoku Zenyo

Maximum efficiency

Use the least strength necessary, and let timing do the work.

A student in an orange belt throwing a partner in a green belt onto a red mat while instructors and young students watch

自他共栄

Jita Kyoei

Mutual welfare and benefit

You can't learn alone, so you look after your partner.

Our teachers grew up here.

Sensei Davin started here at age 5 in 1992, and others followed the same path from white belt to teaching.

  • Sensei Henry smiling on the blue mats while students practise behind him

    Sensei Henry Kaku

    6th dan, head instructor

  • Sensei Davin in a white gi with the DeLeon Judo Club patch, standing outdoors in sunglasses and looking into the distance

    Sensei Davin Tillman

    5th dan, assistant head instructor

Other black belts help out and hold clinics. Guest instructors from other judo schools and disciplines come through too.

Meet our instructors
Sensei Henry demonstrating on the blue mat as a student in a blue belt holds him from behind with an arm around his neck, while other students watch

A volunteer non-profit

We're a 501(c)(3) non-profit, and our instructors, officers and directors are all volunteers. That lets us teach people from all walks of life.

Class fees are collected by the City of Petaluma Parks & Recreation Department. They pay for mat time, equipment and insurance, and they keep the program affordable for Petaluma families. Households with more than one student get a family discount, and donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

Our students have become national champions, black belts and teachers, on the mat and off it. One earned a master's in education at Harvard, then came back to teach.

Non-profit disclosures

Our community

This town has been home since day one, and our families keep coming back.

  • Students in white gis and their families posing for a group photo on blue mats

    Local families

    Parents, kids and neighbors share the same mat.

  • Class group photo on blue mats, with children in white gi seated in front and black belts standing behind

    Parks & Rec

    Registration runs through the City of Petaluma.

  • A club table with a DeLeon Judo Club banner, set with cakes, as an instructor stands behind it

    Club life

    We turn out together for local events and tournaments.

Our affiliations

CENCO, the Central Coast Judo Association, is our yudanshakai. Two of our senseis help lead it.

That connects us with some of the best dojos in the Bay Area, including fellow CENCO clubs Soko Joshi, San Jose Buddhist and Palo Alto Judo.

What that means for a student.

We're not an independent school with our own system. We teach Kodokan judo, the judo that comes from the school Jigoro Kano opened in Tokyo in 1882, and we belong to the national organizations that govern it in the United States. The USJF certifies our students' kyu and dan rank, and USA Judo is the National Governing Body for the sport.

So the rank you earn here is certified and portable.

It's recognized at any judo club in the country and by clubs abroad, and your instructors are ranked through the same system. If you want to compete, you can enter sanctioned tournaments up to the national championships. Competition is never required.

CENCO is where that rank is examined. Its Board of Examiners sets and oversees rank standards across the member clubs, and Sensei Henry chairs it. Its Board of Managers runs the association's tournaments, clinics and business, and Sensei Davin is its president. Our students learn the standard they'll be examined against from the people who help set it.

One practical note for new families. Membership in a national organization is separate from your Parks & Rec class registration. It's generally needed before a promotion or a tournament, not before your first class. Your instructors will tell you when and how to sign up.

Fifty-six years of judo in Petaluma.

Register via Parks & Rec See the schedule

Generations of Petaluma families learned to fall down and get back up here.