Wednesday, March 31, 2004
Two photos from the Emerson Family YMCA Judo tournament
Left to Right Sempai Russ Little, Competitor Masaki Ueda, Sensei Tom Kuhne |
Two out of three aint bad. The 2nd and 3rd place winners in this division are from our satellite kids program at Scott A.F.B. |
If you haven't had a chance to share the mat with Kirkwood Judo Club team member Masaki Ueda. Masaki, a Nidan in Judo, and his wife have been visiting with us since this past Fall while Masaki has done some advanced training at Washington University's Business School. In the short time that Masaki has trained with us he has proven himself to be quite the accomplished Judoka, and a fearless competitor. He regularly trains with men two times his on weight and never complains. Yet, when given the opportunity to train with younger less experienced players Masaki is as kind and humble as anyone I have had the pleasure to train with. He truly embodies all of the qualities that make for not only a good Judoka, but also a good person.
For those of you under 140 pounds, who are wanting to train with this extremely high caliber Judo Black Belt you had better hurry. He will only be with us until sometime in May.
Don't forget the Next Area-Wide Open Workout is scheduled for Sunday April 18th. See our website for full details. www.kirkwoodjudo.com/events.html
Juniors Continue to get it done in Puerto Rico
Kenny Hashimoto (Colorado) took top honors in the Men's 60 kg division, winning three matches by Ippon along the way.
Garry St Leger (New York) won the 73kg division and his twin brother Harry St Leger dominated to win the 81 kg group.
Katherine Ensler (Oklahoma) was the clear champion at 57 kg and scored with Ippons in three of her four matches.
Ronda Rousey (California) took only 81 seconds to dispose of her three opponents enroute to winning the Gold medal at 63kg.
Tomoyo Yoshinaga (Illinois), Jonathan Fuller (Texas) and Johnathan Lambert (North Carolina) each scored a Silver medal.
Shawn Wright (Florida) finished with a Bronze and Anna Palmer closed the day with a fifth place finish.
The US Team won all of the special awards.
Harry St Leger and Ronda Rousey received the Male and Female "Ippon Trophy"" for the throw of the day.
Ronda and Harry also received the outstanding Female and Male Judoka awards.
The US Team finished second in the overall standings to perennial powerhouse Brazil.
The success at this event was contributed to by the obvious strong efforts of our athletes and, also, by the collective efforts of our Staff and parents.
Special thanks to Humberto Lopez, to our "mentor program" staff of Jhonny Prado, Lanny Clarke and Doug Payne, and to Curtis Ensler who was always there to volunteer his help with anything we needed. Many parents were in attendance and their presence was IMPORTANT to our athletes and to the Team. Thanks to all.
Jim Hrbek
Head Coach
We here at the Kirkwood Judo Club would like to convey a special congratulations to Tomoyo Yoshinaga, who received the bulk of her training at our sister club in Chicago, the Tohkon Judo Club. She has trained had for as long as I can remember, and it is nice to see her having this kind of international success.
It looks like it is going to be hard work to find someone who can beat her in the North/South Tournament Team Competition coming up in May. :)
-Russ, KJC
Sunday, March 28, 2004
Great Tournament This Weekend.
Congratulations to everyone who participated in this past weekends Emerson Family YMCA Judo tournament in North St. Louis, County. The tournament was easily twice the size of the one a couple of months ago, and I am pleased to see the number of people taking advantage of the opportunity is growing.
I would like to give a special congratulations to our own competitors Trevor, Caroline,
Hannah, and Masaki, for their hard work and dedication. They each placed in their divisions, and gained a lot of experience and knowledge along the way.
The next tournament on the schedule is the North/South Tournament coming up on
May 8th. I expect three or four times as many competitors from Kirkwood to participate in that one, and I am certain that everyone will do their best to keep the name Kirkwood Judo Club
synonymous with The Best Place to Train in St. Louis.
Hope to see you all on the mat real soon.
-Sempai Russ
Saturday, March 27, 2004
Awesome Friday Night Workout lastnight
Last nights Kirkwood Judo Club Friday Night Fights was off the hook. About 10 hearty souls showed up for the weekly event, and that doesn't include the 10 spectators. Well 11 spectators if you count the dog.
It was great to see the Virtue brothers make their all too not often enough pilgrimage to the Tatami, and though neither had trained in Judo in a while, their youth, enthusiasm, wrestling ability, and did I mention youth, made them more than able to hold their own against some of St. Louis' best Judoka.
It was also great to see Darryl again after his four month hiatus from Judo. Darryl is the assistant wrestling coach at MICDS, and the recently ended wrestling season kept him of the mat for awhile, but we are glad to have him back.
It was also great to see Dosier the Tuesday night new guy among the spectators. It was very cool to see a guy who had only been to two workouts himself so excited about the prospect of doing Randori. I am certain that, that gleam in his eyes will translate into full on Judo addiction before you know it.
Well a great time was had by all, so why don't we get together next week, and do it again.
Hope to see you all on the mat reel soon.
-Sempai Russ
The Juniors are getting it done in Puerto Rico
CAROLINA, Puerto Rico (March 27, 2004) - Four Americans collected medals Friday at the Pan American Juvenile (Birth year 1988-1989) Judo Championships in Carolina, Puerto Rico.
Bobby Lee (Pennsylvania) dropped a match by yuko against the Brazilian to finish with a Silver in the -73kg division.
Chris Vera (Florida) outlasted D. Mozdzen (Canada) to win a Bronze at 60kg.
Brittni Bradford (Florida) scored a Silver medal in the 70+kg division and Robert Agler (Pennsylvania) picked up a bronze in the Boys heavyweights.
The second day of competition will feature athletes born in 1985-1987. The US Team includes Kenny Hashimoto, Bobby Yamashita, Garry St Leger, Harry St Leger, Shawn Wright, Jonathan Fuller and Johnathan Lambert on the Men's side and, for the Women, Ann Shiraishi, Anna Palmer, Katherine Ensler, Ronda Rousey and Tomoyo Yoshinaga.
Submitted by Jim Hrbek, Head Coach
Congratulations to the Juniors
-Sempai Russ
Friday, March 26, 2004
Next Open Workout Confirmed
Thursday, March 25, 2004
Tournament This weekend
Don't forget that there is a rare (for this area) Sunday morning tournament coming up this weekend.
The Sunday March 28th tournament is being put on by Sensei Eiko Shepherd, and the Emerson Family YMCA which is located next to Florissant Valley Community College in North County. For more details visit
www.kirkwoodjudo.com/events.html.
This should prove to be a good tune up tournament for those of you getting ready
for the upcoming North/South tournament.
Speaking of the North/South Tournament I received the official flyer in the mail yesterday. The tournament which will be held on Saturday May 8th, has a new venue for this year. The 20th Annual North/South Open Judo Tournament will be held at the Belleville Sportsplex - 2346 Mascoutah Ave in Belleville IL. Visit the events page of the Kirkwood Judo Club for full details.
Hope to see you all on the mat real soon.
-Sempai Russ
Kirkwood Judo Club
