FAQ
WHERE IS ZENITH LOCATED AND DO THEY TRAVEL TO TEAMS?
Zenith are willing to travel within the Melbourne Metropolitan Area.
Zenith uses Bangs Dojo as its primary training facility for the more advanced levels of the "Judo For" program. However we have several working relationships with other venues around metropolitan Melbourne that offer similar training facilities. Bangs Dojo is also the primary training facility for our regular Takedown Class.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?
A one hour "Judo For" team session can cost as little a $7.50 per athlete.*
Takedown Class has a set rate of $15.00 for a 1.5 hour class.**
Personal Training rates will be set when the service becomes fully active.
*If any part of the "Judo For" program is conducted at Caulfield Dojo or our other affiliates an additional cost for hire of venue facilities will be charged. These costs are determined by the venues and not Zenith Sports Services.There is no additional cost for the hire of Bangs Dojo.
**Takedown Class club visits can be organised - prices negotiated at inquiry.
WHAT DOES ZENITH RECOMMEND?
Zenith recommends utilizing our "Judo For" program during a teams pre-season. Usually it takes up to 5 sessions to ensure that the skills introduced are fully understood by players. Teams often then choose to organize between 1 - 2 review sessions during the season.
WHEN AND HOW DID ZENITH BEGIN?
Not yet named Zenith, we began in late 2005 when approached by Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) Soccer Coach Ian Greener to assist the VIS Men's Soccer program. Our initial job was to provide training that would allow the U/15 and U/16 grade athletes not be intimidated and physically dominated whilst playing in the Victorian U/21 Premier League. From there, a strong four year association with the VIS Soccer program formed until the elite development program moved from the VIS to the Football Federation of Victoria (FFV).
During that four year association Zenith found its name and created a program, initially named the Zenith Program (now known as "Judo For"). The program which was intially created to meet a specifc need of the VIS began to grow as there were more skills that could be addressed via our expertise. Soon we were able to offer the VIS balance and movement concepts that would promote ball retention, right down to exercises that would assist athletes with increasing their overall co-ordination.
On further review of our program we found that it is suitable to many sports, like Australian Rules Football. In 2009 Zenith began working with the Western Bulldogs Football Club in a very basic capacity for only a few weeks during the season and training memebers of the group in tackling drills during mid season. Zenith provided a pre-season program to the Western Bulldogs in 2010, where a group of 9, including Josh Hill, Andrejs Everitt, Liam Jones, Ayce Cordy, Jarrad Grant and Jordon Roughead were taught tackling, use of core strength and 1-1 positional dominance.
Since the begining of 2010 the interest in our service has grown greatly and continues to grow steadily. Our clientele range from the elite to "grass roots" clubs and teams either looking for the edge over their opposition or to develop their players and offer them something that may assist them achieve their dreams.
We never thought that it would grow into what it has, and we cannot wait to see just what it may actually become.
DO YOU HAVE A "WORKING WITH CHILDREN CHECK"?
Yes. Head trainer Malcolm Bangs holds a "Working With Children Check" for both volunteer and employment criteria.
WHAT EXPERIENCE DOES THE TRAINER HAVE?
Zenith owner and Head trainer Malcolm Bangs is a 1st Dan Judo Blackbelt (Shodan) trained and coached by Arthur Moorshead 8th Dan, and Gabor Szabo 4th Dan. Malcolm had a consistant top 5 national ranking for the U/81kg class as well as national and international training and competition experience. Having trained and competed in countries and places such as Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), Japan, England, Canada, United States, New Caledonia, New Zealand and Kazakhstan. Malcolm is also a 2 time Olympic training partner with the Australian Olympic Judo Team (2004 - Athens, 2008 - Beijing). His role as Olympic Training Partner was to assist athletes like Maria Pekli, Andrew Collett, Catherine Arlove, Carly Dickson, Janelle Shepherd, Mark Anthony and Daniel Kelly with their tournament preparation as a fight training partner.
Malcolm has assisted coaching at the his home club of Caulfield and has also been a mat side coach for Judo competitors competing at state and national level as well as the 2005 Oceania Judo World Cup Tournament. Aside from Judo, Malcolm has been cross sport training/coaching since late 2005. Just some of the teams that Malcolm has trained since this time have been the Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) Mens Soccer, Western Bulldogs Football Club and the Western Jets Football Club. Malcolm has also regularly demonstrated and taught specific judo throws to Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu athletes to assist their takedown skills in competition.
When or if needed, Malcolm has and can call on the assistance of extremely qualified Judo athletes with sub-elite and elite back grounds ranging from the National Talent Identification Scheme (NTIDS), to Olympians. Zenith ensures that all instruction given to groups is supplied by highly experienced people who understand the core concepts of Judo and how to relate them to the specificied sport being trained.
In 2010 Malcolm established his own permanent training facility 'Bangs Dojo' in Ferntree Gully. It is a permanently laid mat area with sprung floor ideal for throwing and grappling based training.