Oliver Charlton

In total Oliver has over 25 years of experience in judo and thoroughly enjoys teaching. He is a patient and intuitive coach who has a great ability to identify and develop the core aspects of the techniques. Oliver focuses on developing technical proficiency over brute force, building on these fundamentals to result in a high standard of Judo.

Oliver began his judo career at a young age at a club based in Sawtry and demonstrated an intuitive proficiency for the sport. As a result Oliver rapidly progressed through the belt system and took part in various competitions throughout the surrounding areas, winning multiple trophies. This continued until he was awarded his 1st Kyu (brown Belt) at the age of 15, then again at the age of 17. Unfortunately, shortly after this point, complications resulted in the club closing down before he could earn his dan grade. This resulted in him taking an unplanned break from the sport for several years, however, he always kept his belt and a desire to return to the sport and earn his Dan grade.

After a chance encounter with another coach at a village fair, Oliver helped to form the Osprey Judo Club in 2012. He helped build the club from the ground up in order to pass on his knowledge and experience to the younger generation and also to have a local dojo to train in order to rebuild his skills and fitness to a sufficient level to earn his Dan grade.

Despite several setbacks, Oliver entered his Dan grade competition in September 2018 and after defeating his lineup was awarded his Dan grade "On-the-day" (this refers to sequentially defeating 5 opponents resulting in the grade being awarded without the additional points that would usually be required)