Danny Alessandro (Judo Dan) started judo at the young age of 8.

His competitive career lasted throughout his entire childhood and spilled right through his teens and into young adulthood. From a young age, he earned black belt status, became a BJA National Champion and represented Team GB at the Cadet European Championships along with various other international tournaments. The main reason for his success as a judoka was the commitment that came from his father, as a result he wanted nothing more than to prove to his father that he was capable of the things that he later went on to achieve.

​

As time passed, he became a father himself and took a step back from the sport. Naturally, his focus turned to his daughter and the parental duties that this involved. Then, almost 7 years later, he was introduced to Marc Preston, the founder of Destination Judo and from here Danny’s coaching career began. Danny started off by coaching 6 different clubs under the Destination Judo model, all of which he still runs today. His time working for Destination Judo was invaluable, he not only grew as a coach but also grew as a person. He’s now a proud father of 2 daughters with another baby girl on the way.

​

During the Coronavirus Pandemic, Danny saw an opportunity to rebrand his clubs and embark on a lifelong dream of his which was to have his very own business running clubs in the local community.
Danny had quite naturally built up a rapport with many of the children he taught within primary schools, he always introduced himself as Dan but for some reason they called him Judo Dan, so as time passed the name stuck hence the new company name “The Judo Dan Academy”