Kirkwood Judo Club Blog

Well, the training is over and all there is left to do is compete. This week hundreds of competitors from around the United States will converge on San Diego California to participate in this years US Senior Nationals and Masters Judo Championships. The Kirkwood contingent was noticeably small this year, as we only sent one competitor. Derick Wellman will carry the mantle for our favorite dojo this year, competing in the under 100 kg weight class of the Masters 35-39 division. Derick has trained hard this year, and I am certain that he will do well. Derick will be joined by, and coached on site by our own Chief instructor Tom Kuhne. On behalf of the Dojo I would like to wish Derick, and all of our friends from Judo Clubs across the country good luck in the years most prestigious domestic tournament.

There was another Demo with the Freestyle wrestlers at Hazelwood West High School on Thursday night, and it was about as good as it gets. What sensei wouldn't enjoy teaching 30 plus incredible athletes, all eager to learn? All told we shared our love of Judo with almost 100 young men and women this weekend, and that is something that you can all be proud of.

In one hour me and my two assistants Stephen Cole, and Darryl Martino both former wrestlers, were able to teach four throwing techniques all with multiple variations, in addition to Break falls. The best part is after our Demo was over the boys went to their corners to wrestle, and we were seeing the techniques that we had just shown all over the place. It was truly a beautiful thing.

We received high praise from the coaches, and the students, and handed out quite a few Free Month Certificates. Don't be surprised if we have a few wrestlers in our midst this summer.

Hope to see you all on the mat very soon.

Sincerely,

-Sempai Russ
Kirkwood Judo Club

My sincere thanks to everyone who participated in Yesterday's (Wednesday April 21st) Judo Demonstration for the University City High School Japanese Class. We had a much bigger class this year, than two years ago including 48 kids, and 2 adults. I dare say we definitely fulfilled our club mandate to share Judo with our community. At the end of the Demo more than two dozen students requested the special flyer which was offered for anyone wanting to train starting in May.

A special thanks goes out to Masaki, Blair, James, Antje, Mike (Strings), and Stephen Cole. These guys either took off of work, or otherwise rearranged their schedules to be there which is a testament to the kind of people that train at the Kirkwood Judo Club.

On a special Note: Congratulations to Strings, and Steve for becoming the newest Orange Belts in the club. The two men were given a special "Pop Quiz Style Test" in front of 49 spectators, and the rest of the class. They both did exceptionally well, and I am proud to sign off on their new rank.

More demo's for High School students are coming up. If you can help please let me know, by writing me at webmaster@kirkwoodjudo.com.

Hope to see you all on the mat very soon.

Sincerely,

-Sempai Russ
Kirkwood Judo Club

We had a great Wednesday night workout tonight. The class was not too big, we had seven, so that meant there was plenty of mat time for everyone.

We gave Derick plenty of extra attention, so that he can lose the last few pounds needed to get ready for the Senior Nationals coming up in a couple of weeks. He actually kind of got lucky. He had to fight the line, and there were mostly light and middle weights there tonight. The same night a week ago the average weight was over 200 pounds.

There will definitely be an open workout this coming Friday night so I hope you will all attend. The schedule is the same as almost every Friday night. We show up, warm up, and dance until the wee hours of the night.

There is also the Area-wide Open Workout this coming weekend. The time is Sunday afternoon from 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm. Kids will be there for about the first 90 minutes and the rest of the time will be devoted to the older crowd, which means there will be lots of Randori. I Hope you all can attend. The location is the Three Rivers Aikido Dojo at 7403 Manchester in Maplewood. If you know where our dojo is, Three Rivers is right around the corner on Manchester.

There will also be a Referee's clinic on Sunday morning. The time for that is 10:00 am till Noon. The clinic will feature up and coming National Referee Randy Pierce. This will be a great opportunity to learn the latest rules, and requirements for those who would like to test for their local, regional, and then later National referee certificates. The location for this even is the Kirkwood Judo Club dojo at 2714 Sutton Ave. in Maplewood. We hope that you can attend.

Finally don't forget that next Wednesday morning there will be a demonstration for one of the local high schools, at the dojo from 9:00 am till about 10:30 am. Your assistance would be greatly appreciated. Please contact me via email at webmaster@kirkwoodjudo.com if you are able to help out.

Hope to see you all on the mat really soon.

-Sempai Russ

No I don't know this girl, but this was way too cool to not be acknowledged...

LEILANI AKIYAMA ,From JOHN HOLM`S U.S.JUDO TRAINING CENTER in RENTON,WASHINGTON Won 1st PLACE in the 118 LBS division at the NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP for GIRLS.March 28,2004. LEILANI had four matchs ,WON ALL WITH A JUDO THROW AND PINNED EACH ONE. Contest Was Held At LAKE ORION, MICHIGAN. The week before she WON 1st PLACE at the NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL JUDO CHAMPIONSHIPS in MIAMI, FL. IS She is the ONLY HIGH SCHOOL GIRL to do this

So the next time someone tells you that you throw like  a girl, say "Yes I do," and Thank them.

-Sempai Russ

Exciting news for all of you would be Judo Referees out there.

On the morning of April 18th, there will be a Referees Clinic hosted by the Kirkwood Judo Club, featuring special presenter Randy Pierce. The clinic will give coaches a chance to learn or brush up on the new rules implementations now in place, and will give those wishing to get started on their way up the Refereeing ladder a chance to learn the secrets and requirements needed to progress up to the National level.

Most of you know Randy, but for those who may not, Randy is a 6th Dan in Judo, a National Referee and long time competitor who has refereed at the Senior Nationals and just about every regional tournament imaginable. He also had a chance to get his feet wet at an international competition last year when he was invited to referee at the World Masters Championships in Japan.

The schedule for the Referee Clinic is 10:00 am till Noon, and it will take place at the Kirkwood Judo Club Dojo located at 2714 Sutton in Maplewood. That will give us an approximately one hour break before we switch gears and take the short walk across the street for the Area-wide Open Judo Workout to be held at the Three Rivers Aikido Dojo, which will start at 1:00 pm.

So now more than ever there should be no reason that we don't see you on the mat on April 18th.

-Sempai Russ

We are in the midst of two weeks of the best workouts so far this year. It all started when the Virtue boys Ben and Daniel showed up for the Monday night workout last week. That brought the number on the mat that night to 10, and after our normal warm-ups and drills we had some rounds of Randori which rivaled some of our Friday night workouts. It was a blast, but we were just getting started.

Wednesday night we had almost as many on the mat (nine) yet with three missing from the Monday group, including the absence of the Virtues, it seemed like a much different group. That night was a little more drill and instruction focused, but what still resonates in my mind were the calisthenics. My legs ached for two day from the squats, duck walks, hops, etc. However it was a familiar pain, and one that strangely enough I enjoyed.

After an awesome Friday night, the Virtues were back, and an enjoyable Sunday tournament, we were back and training this past Monday. Again we had two unexpected visitors, but this time it was none other than Shane Wiggand, and David Young. Once again our number was 10, and once again we had an awesome combination of prep, and Randori. Oh yeah, we even had a visit from Hakim. Although I suppose neither he nor Stephen Cole was happy about the visit. Stephen because he injured himself while training with Hakim, and Hakim because while he was inside training, his car was stolen. I'm told that everything worked out OK though, he got his car back the next day and only had to replace the radio. Ironic isn't it that Stephen works for a company that sell among other things car stereos. 

I couldn't wait to see what would happen on Wednesday, and I wasn't disappointed. Daniel the younger Virtue, and James from SWIC showed up and once again the balance of drills, instruction, and Randori where just like we like it. In other words lots and lots of Randori. After about 5 rounds fatigue reared its ugly head, and we were having trouble maintaining three groups. That the big difference between having 10 and having only 8. When you have 10 or more there are just much more opportunities to rest

I can't wait to see what will happen tomorrow night at the Friday Night Fights. Shane and David Young are suppose to be there again, but these are exciting times, and just about anyone could show up. After all, the North/South Tournament is coming up on May 8th, and we all want to be in shape for that.

Will you be there? Well I guess that's a story for another day.

Hope to see you all on the mat real soon.

-Russ
Kirkwood Judo Club