Judo in Singapore started as early as 1904 when a group of Japanese came together to form the first Judo Club in Singapore along Bras Basah Road. Within months of its founding, there were about 70 enthusiastic judokas under the Chief Instructor T. Akistima Sensei. 

Among the young judokas then was Gunji Koizumi who later went on to Liverpool, England and is now described as the founding father of English Judo. Singapore saw very little organized Judo activity during the Japanese Occupation (1942-1945). 

In the 1950s, Mr. Yeo Chiu Ong and a few other judo enthusiasts form the Singapore Judo Club (SJC). SJC was then part of the Judo Federation of Malaya which joined the Judo Union of Asia (JUA) during its formation in 1956. 

In 1965, following Singapore's independence, the Singapore Judo Federation was founded and its affiliation to both the JUA and International Judo Federation (IJF) was endorsed.