Many of the faces have changed, and God knows that the address has changed over the years, but the Kirkwood Judo Club is largely the same club I fell in Love with almost 20 years ago. There is no place in St. Louis that I would rather spend my nights getting "upside down" with a few of my best friends.

That said there are a couple of truly great training opportunities coming up in the coming months, and if you have the opportunity, you really should try to take advatage of them.

The first is that starting Tuesday January 8, there will be a special training at the KJC from 9:00 to 10:30 am for those of us with non-traditional work schedules. What a great opportunity to Jump Start your morning, and your training goals for 2008. The class will be taught by me, and is guaranteed to happen for four weeks. However it could be expanded if the interest is there.

Another truly special training opportunity, available to our advanced students, hasn't presented itself in nearly 20 years. That is the opportunity to train with our Sensei's teacher, Sensei Paul Tanabe. After nearly a decade of trying to coax Tanabe Sensei out of retirement, he has finally agreed to share his vast knowledge with the current crop of students in the program.

You cand find Sensei Tanabe, and Sensei Kuhne on the mat most Monday nights from 7:30 till 9:00 pm. The class is open to all advanced Senior students, but any KJC student is invited to stop in and watch. I promise you that if you attend, your Judo will get better.

Hope to see you all on the mat real soon.

Sincerely,

Sempai Russ
Kirkwood Judo Club