Who is the judo nomad ?
My goal is simple: bring judo to every country in the world.
I’m Julien, a French judo coach. I’ve been on the tatami since I was four years old — and somewhere along the way, judo stopped being just a sport and became the lens through which I see everything.
I grew up in Picardie, competed through my teens, then moved to Paris to study sport science at INSEP — the same institute that trains France’s Olympic athletes. I spent three years living in Japan, training at the source, and came back with a deeper understanding of what judo actually is: not just throws and groundwork, but a philosophy built on mutual benefit and maximum efficiency.
I coached at the Paris 2024 Olympics. I hold an IJF Level 1 certification and have taught for over 15 years at every level — from beginners to national team athletes.
Then COVID hit. Travel stopped. And I started asking: what if judo could travel instead?
That question became The Judo Nomad — a project to teach judo freely, across borders, to anyone willing to learn. Since then I’ve worked with more than 20 national teams across 61 countries, filming, coaching, and sharing everything along the way.
197 countries. That’s the goal. We’re not there yet — but we’re moving.
What is my story ?
I started judo at 4 in a small club in Picardie — Milly-sur-Thérain. At 14, I joined the regional performance team (Pôle Espoir Amiens) for four years, competing at department and regional level and picking up a few medals along the way.
I moved to Paris to study, training at some of the best clubs in the capital and at the National Center. I earned my bachelor’s in Sport Science and my Judo federation coaching qualification — then decided to take a year off and go to Japan, to train at the source. That one year became three, going back and forth between Tokyo and France. During that time I also completed my Master’s degree in Sport Science at INSEP, France’s Olympic training center.
There I worked alongside athletes who competed at Rio 2016. After graduating, I realized I was more drawn to teaching than competing — and that became my direction. Then COVID hit. The world stopped, and I spent two years building what would become The Judo Nomad.
Since then I’ve coached in 46 countries, working with more than 20 national teams — from complete beginners to Olympic-level athletes, across judo and other disciplines. The rest of the story is still being written.
