The origin of the club is inextricably linked with Jack Fielding so what better method to describe the early years than to quote Jack's reminiscences of these years as he recounted them for the 35th Anniversary souvenir booklet. As has been noted the club began formally with an inaugural meeting in early 1953 and the first official Annual General Meeting later that year, at which time the name of JudoKwai Christchurch was adopted. In 1955 it was decided to register the club as an Incorporated Society, and the name was changed to The Canterbury Amateur Judo Club (Incorporated), commonly referred to as CanAmJu.
In 1953-4 the club occupied a variety of premises in Orbell St, Cashel St, Petrie St and finally Gilby Street. In 1961 it was decided that a permanent home for the club with larger facilities was needed, and over the following couple of years a section was bought in London Street, a surplus building was purchased from Harewood Airport in 1963, moved to the site and fitted out during 1964 for the official opening in February 1965 as the club's own dojo. By 1974 the dojo buildings were starting to show their age, and when a deal was arranged with a developer for several times the original cost, the club was on the move again; first to the Highland Pipe Band rooms in Buchan Street in Febraury 1975, while the new dojo was built in its present location in Coleridge Street, and then to our new home in May 1975.
While the various meeting locations of the club are a significant part of the history, the real history of the club lies with its members, and over the years there have been many of them young and old. Feiko Sjoerds joined the club as a 2nd Dan in 1953 as a recent immigrant from the Netherlands where he had been a member of the Ken-Am-Ju club in Haarlem, and became the first Club Instructor. In the 1950s (before judo became an olympic sport) he was rated in the top 10 in the world. Later Graeme Spinks was to represent New Zealand twice at the Olympic Games and to gain a silver medal in the Commonwealth Games. Other members achieved lesser distinctions but ably represented the club and their country in various overseas competitions.
However, the real achievement of the club has been in the dozens of members who have attended training nights week after week, some going on to 2nd and subsequent Dan gradings, others just learning the basic disciplines of judo, but all participating in the life of the club and of judo in Christchurch, Canterbury and New Zealand.