Features / Judo
Adaptive Judo: A masterclass in inclusion
Inclusion is a common word in the everyday vernacular. Wherever you go, it is a core tenet of any organisation’s values and goals, often bundled up with diversity.
It is a crucial part of ensuring all voices are heard and are involved equally.
Furthermore, it is embedded in legislation since the Equality Act 2010 became law, ensuring equality, diversity and inclusivity across various aspects of life are promoted as well as protected.
is needed now More than ever
But much more could still be done. Athlete, public speaker and advocate Rowan Kinsella believes we are yet to reach “true inclusion”.
In fact, Rowan says he hates the current definition of inclusion, as he sees the work around inclusion only being done up to what is legally required. “Inclusion should be about thriving and having positive experiences,” he says.
Leading GB’s medal wins across Europe – credit: Rowan Kinsella
If anybody knows what inclusion looks like, it’s Rowan. His experience is shaped through lived experience of having cerebral palsy, dyslexia and dyspraxia.
But his lens on life has truly been coloured by his career in adaptive judo. A sport that is open to all, with competitors being matched based on where they fit on five levels of skill and ability, adjustment is key.
A five-time national medalist and a five-time international medalist, his strength as demonstrated through his career, is testament to not only his own capabilities but the potential for others who are neurodiverse or disabled.
But he thinks that limitations are being placed preemptively based on other people’s presumptions of what is possible. Rowan is a great example of how neurodivergence and disability is not a one-size-fits-all.
He trains in a mainstream setting, visiting training camps around the world. Some of his sparring peers are Olympians. “The thing I love about judo is you meet so many different characters, nationalities, a range of backgrounds and it’s very inclusive like that.
“That’s why when I talk about inclusion I can’t help but go back to judo, because I think it’s such a great example of inclusion done well. With sport, the best way to get better is to train with better people.”
While he trains at a high level now, one thing he struggled with when he was younger was accepting he was adaptive.
He explains: “I’d be fighting someone and my brain will instinctually see the moment to attack, but then because of my brain delay, my body is missing that.
When it first happened it put me out for a good couple of months, because it was so frustrating, because in Judo, that reaction time makes all the difference.
“It took me a while to accept, to go ‘this is who I am’, and I own it now.
“Over the last year, I became so relaxed about it, I don’t even think about it.”
When he got his black belt, it was because as someone else put it ‘you keep getting battered, but you keep getting up, you keep going again and you always have a smile on your face.’
Rowan has been an advocate for inclusion in sport for several years – photo: Rowan Kinsella
Looking at where Rowan is now and with his positive outlook on life, it is hard to believe that before the success, his passion came out of seeking a “safe space” away from years of sustained bullying.
While bullying is commonplace, the lifelong impacts on kids and parents can never be underestimated. When he tells me that he was singled out as an easy target because of his disability, it’s disheartening to know despite progress in attitudes, that this is still happening.
He went to a school in Bristol, but is keen to emphasise that it is a chronic issue throughout the UK, caused by underfunding. He returns to his earlier sentiment: “Knowing I had judo, that safe space, it kept me going.”
As well as judo, Rowan is making a positive impact in his role as an equity, diversity & inclusion administrator at the University of Bristol.
He tells me people ask him what he will do when his job isn’t needed and he says “that day won’t ever come sadly, because it’s a continual journey”.
In the adaptive judo scene, while thriving in Bristol he says it’s only just starting to take over Europe in recent years.
The European Judo Union (EJU) hosted the Get Together Tour in 2024, which gave athletes the chance to fight in a number of rounds across countries including Croatia, with further matches announced for 2025.
“For the first time athletes like me can go compete and train for something in our own right. For years been watching friends get EJU medals, and then he finally got to go and do it in his own right.”
Above all, it gives them an opportunity to showcase the sport further than ever before.
Speaking on team GB’s influence on Europe he says: “GB is so far ahead of it, because when a referee becomes an official, their training includes adaptive judo. One thing we are finding, in other countries where they haven’t heard that much, when we’re competing, we are having an impact over there.”
Ultimately, the long-term goal is the Paralympics. While judo is already in the Paralympics, it is specifically only for those with a visual impairment.
But talk that there is due to be a showcase of the sport in 2032 is quiet encouragement that Rowan may be able to head to that showcase occasion as a coach.
In Bristol, Rowan is looking forward to organising the Bradley Stoke Judo Club’s third charity sparring event in July.
Returning to where it all began for Rowan, the event is in memory of the club’s founder, president and the man Rowan affectionately calls his sensei of ten years, Steve Westlake.
The event has raised £700 over the years and hopes to fundraise £1000 this time for the Brandon Trust.
This article is taken from the March/April 2025 Bristol24/7 magazine
Main photo: Bradley Stoke Judo Club
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