Kirkwood Judo Club Blog

Rocky Mountain State Games Results The Rocky Mountain State Games judo competition was held Saturday at the U.S. Air Force Academy Cadet Fieldhouse.  More than 100 athletes from 18 clubs competed in the event, including several top-ranked junior and senior players.   Ryan Reser (Security, Colo. / Olympic Training Center), a 2005 World Team member and two-time 2006 World Cup silver medalist at 73kg, fought up at 81kg and defeated each of his opponents by ippon (instant win), including a win over Kenny Hashimoto (Thornton, Colo. / Northglenn Judo), the #2-ranked senior in the 66kg division.   Heidi Moore (Englewood, Colo. / Denver Judo / +78kg), also a 2005 World Team member, won each of her three matches by ippon as well.  Moores victories included throwing 2005 Pan Am Masters Champion Jessica Lockfield (Denver, Colo. / Denver Judo) and pinning Jane Lock (Colorado Springs, Colo. / Olympic Training Center), the 2006 Collegiate Nationals silver medalist.   Kirk Hoffmann (Security, Colo. / Olympic Training Center), 2005 World Team member and Pan American bronze medalist, won an uncontested heavyweight division.    Senior Nationals bronze medalist Alexa Liddie (Colorado Springs, Colo. / Olympic Training Center) also won this weekend, taking gold in the teenage lightweight division.   Three visually impaired athletes were among the day’s top finishers.  Nicholas Silver (St. Louis, Mo. / U.S. Association of Blind Athletes) defeated able-bodied Logan Petro (Penrose, Colo. / Ganbare Judo) in the Men’s Novice Light Middleweight division.  Meanwhile, Adan Gutic (St. Louis, Mo. / Kirkwood Judo) and Michael Sapp (Detroit, Mich. / Saito Judo) were first and second, respectively, in the men’s novice middleweight division.

I am please to announce that this past weekends Open Workout at the
Kirkwood Judo Club was a great success.  We had 20 people on the mat,
including KJC Chief instructor Tom Kuhne, and not only was there lot's
to be learned, but a good time was had by all.

Congratulations to Sensei Derick Wellman, and all of the folks at the Wellman/White Dragon Judo Club. In the next few weeks not only will they have their new Karate Program up, and running, but they are also moving to a new bigger location.

The Grand Opening for the New Facility is scheduled for July 29th, and I wouldn't at all be surprised to see a lot of Kirkwood Judo Club faces in the crowd.

• White Dragon Martial Arts Grand Opening! 

On July 29th we will be having our dojo's Grand Opening!  This event will be huge, including a local club shiai judo competition, judo and karate exhibitions, and more! More info to come, stay posted!

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Ok, I have to admit it, I'm an not the kind of guy who reads every book he can get his hands on, and as proof of that I have a 20 gigabyte MP3 player installed in my car so that I can listen to Audiobooks as I drive.

Sad I know, but let's face it who has the time to read anymore?

Anyway that said I think it is noteworthy that in my limited reading I once came across a quote so profound that it not only is a part of my judo philosohy but is in fact a part of my every day life's philosophy as well  Check it out:

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt. "Citizenship in a Republic,"
Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910

I am please to announce that this past weekends Open Workout at the Kirkwood Judo Club was a great success.  We had 20 people on the mat, including KJC Chief instructor Tom Kuhne, and not only was there lot's to be learned, but a good time was had by all.

To get things started off I would like to thank Dave H., Strings, and KJC youth program member Jared for helping out with today's Demo for the University City H.S. Japanese Class.  This event has been a bigger and bigger every year, and the kids really appreciate seeing the combination of American life as influenced by Japanese culture.

Don't forget, Yes there will be an open workout this Friday night at the Kirkwood Judo Club. The schedule is the same as it is on most Friday nights: We get there at 7:30 pm., Dress Out, Warm up and party to the wee hours of the night.  With the North/South tournament only about 3 weeks away this is a great opportunity to step up your Randori to put the finishing touches on your readiness.

The Kirkwood Judo Club will also play host to a beginners and kids open workout on Saturday May 13th at 10:30 am. The purpose of the workout is of course to meet your family members from other area Dojo's as well as getting students who have not yet had a chance to compete ready for the next weekend's North South tournament. Students and instructors from the KJC, the Bellville Judo Club, and the Wellman/White Dragon Judo club are planning to attend, but we would love for  anyone else interested in this great training opportunity to let us know, and plan to attend.  If anyone is interested we may even stop at a local Pizza place for a little social training after the event.

The Saturday the 13th Open workout at the KJC will get started at 10:30 am and probably go till 12:30 or 1:00 pm depending on how everyone feels.

Finally don't forget that the North/South tournament is only about three weeks away, May 20th. I have already been in touch with members of the Tohkon Judo Club in Chicago, and the guys up there are all ready talking about coming to St. Louis to get back their trophy. Details for the event can be found below. In fact the word is that Fernado Saz of Tohkon is making it his business to come down and take another shot at Scott McCann who took the Bronze Medal out of his hands at last weekends 2006 Masters Championships held in conjunction with the Senior Nationals. I SMELL A REMATCH!!!

Well that's all today, or almost anyway. For anyone out there who would like to join us, Jana and I are hosting an informal party at our house starting at 3:00 pm. on Saturday May 6th (the Saturday after this one coming up). The event will be a pot luck event, so please bring some food and drink that you would like to share, and other than that simply come ready to have a good time.  If you are interested in attending please email me directly at webmaster@kirkwoodjudo.com, and I will send you a message that will contain my address and directions.

Have a great weekend, and I hope to see you all on the mat very soon.

Sincerely,

Russ Little
Gateway Judo Association www.gatewayjudo.org
Kirkwood Judo Club www.kirkwoodjudo.com
The JudoGi Store www.judogis.com
USJA Regional Coordinator

Tournaments

Well the boys had a much better day today in the Master's competition at the 2006 Senior Nationals in Houston.

Scott McCann finished the day with a Bronze, defeating Tohkon Judo's Fernando Saz in the third place finals to secure the Medal, in his Masters 81 Kg division.

Congratulations to Scott on his Bronze Medal finish, in his first ever Senior National Championships.

Demonn Smith finshed off of the medal stand but fought well in his Under 100 Kg. Masters division. Demonn look good today, with a good win in the second round.

Stay tuned for more details as they become available.

-Sempai Russ

Well it wasn't a great day for our two lads competing in the US Senior Nationals, in Houston.

Both Scott McCann, and Demonn Smith lost in the first round in their respective Seniors Divisions, and though both had tough competitors that went on to win their next matches, neither did well enough to advance the boys to the next round.

Both men will get a second chance to get in the win column when their Master division matches are contested.

-Sempai Russ