The 30th annual North/South Judo Tournament got underway at the Family Sportplex in Belleville, Illinois on Saturday, May 17,2014. Dan Raney coached the junior and senior squads this year as all members medaled for a second consecutive year. Dan Raney was also selected to the South judo squad in the team competition. In the team competition,The North triumphed over the South team to maintain the rights to the coveted North South team trophy. The juniors saw Devin Busch compete against a stacked weight class and pull out a silver medal. Anthony Darevsky and Sean Butler took bronze in their perspective categories. Korbin McNabb was the junior MVP of tournament taking his first gold of his brief but promising judo career. In the senior division, Anthony Weeks placed second. Jay Baker got his third consecutive gold medal of the year with some solid play. Marissa Arndt followed up her US National’s performance with a gold medal in her division. Bat Unur “The Batman” Erdenebayer won a decisive gold medal in his Team White Dragon debut. In the master’s category, Eugene Hamilton made the best of his master’s debut with a second place finish. Demonn Smith took silver in the super heavyweight weight class. Dan Raney made good use of his submission style judo with a gold medal showing.

This year’s USA Judo Senior National Championships were held in Reno, Nevada on May 3, 2014. Eugene Hamilton was called on to coach a small but dominant White Dragon Team. Marissa Arndt took silver in her category. Adnan Gutic took home his second consecutive Visually Impaired National Championship. Both judokas qualify for the ISBA Judo World Championships in September.

The Osage Center in Cape Girardeau, Missouri was the new venue for the Konjo Judo Championships. The event took place on April 12, 2014. Team White Dragon was led by coaches Dan Dillon and Eugene Hamilton. Derick Wellman assisted with the officiating. In the junior division, Devin Busch fought a talented class of judokas in route to a silver medal finish. Sean Butler went 3-1 on the day and finished 2nd. Issac Valdez de Soto showed signs of improvement in a big way by taking gold in his category. Jay Baker had the throw of the tournament in the senior division. He scored gold. Demonn Smith went 8-2 and took silver in the masters and senior categories. Eugene Hamiltion took bronze in his weight class. White Dragon’s visually impaired judokas shined most at this tournament. Marissa Ardnt solidified first with an awesome drop seoinage in the gold medal match. Adnan Gutic, US Visually Impaired National Champion, was MVP of the tournament. He scored gold in all 3 of the divisions that he competed in. An awesome performance from Team White Dragon.

The 41st Frayser Judo Open Invitational got underway at the Ed Rice Community Center in Memphis, Tennessee on March 29, 2014. Dan Raney was a player coach for this tournament. Raney competed in the Master’s division and took 3rd. Chad Muhammad fought well for his first tournament. He took home a silver medal. Demonn Smith went 4-0 on the day, collecting two gold medals in his weight category.

The first Friendship Tournament of the year was held at White Dragon Judo Club on March 15, 2014. The Friendship Tournament was created to bring dojos from around the Saint Louis area together to participate in competition. The tournament is set for the junior judokas and judokas who have never competed before. It is an opportunity for the juniors to apply the techniques that they practiced. They learn the rules of competition judo. They also get to meet other judokas from all over the Saint Louis area. The tournament has been going on for quite some time now and it continues to spread the martial art of judo and goodwill.

February 22, 2014 was the date. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was the place for this year’s Collegiate Midwest Championships. Derick Wellman coached a team of two as Team White Dragon made its first appearance at this tournament. Jay Baker fought an excellent tournament. He executed a crafty gameplan of constant movement and attack on his way to his first gold medal of his career. Marisa Ardnt made her tournament debut with a silver medal finish in the 57kg female category.

The Winter Whoop Up took place at White Dragon Judo Club on February 19, 2014. This unique event has been going on for 3 years now. The event was a blast this year. A number of dojos in the Saint Louis area participated in this event this year. This meant more challenges and more matches. The rules are simple. You can challenge anyone in the dojo. The judoka who scores the most ippons and yukos during the allotted time wins. If you missed this event, don’t worry, the Summer Smackdown is just around the corner. So, get in the action and get on the mat!

Members of White Dragon Judo Club were in attendance for the open judo workout at Missouri Martial Arts on February 15, 2014. These are one of many workouts in the area that are conducted in preparation for this year’s national judo tournament. The workout was intense, as usual, starting with a brief warm up, then instruction, completing the workout with a lot of randori. Many judokas came out of this workout stronger and better. There will be more open judo workouts in the Saint Louis area in the near future. So stayed tuned.

The White Dragon National Training Camp took place on February 6, 2014. This 4 day training camp is directed to members who are tuning up for this year’s national judo tournament. There was a lot of judo knowledge thrown around this weekend. Most of this knowledge is directed towards competition judo. It was a great training camp where judokas gained a lot of knowledge and got a great workout.

The Hollis Park Judo Invitational got underway in Mapleton, Illinois on January 26, 2014. Derick Wellman and Randy Pierce officiated the event, while Dan Raney coached both junior and senior teams. In the junior division, Anthony Darevsky started off the year with a bronze medal finish. Devin Busch took silver in his division. In the senior division, Anthony Weeks displayed a nice uchimata on his way to a silver medal finish. Jay Baker to bronze at 81kg. Dan Raney fought well in the Master’s division finishing the day undefeated and a gold medal around his neck.