White Dragon Judo Club held their Senior Promotions session on November 29, 2011. This session featured Dan Raney, Rob Handshy and Shawn Greene. Rob Handshy has been studying judo for 15 months. He is a private class student of Sensei Demonn Smith. Rob is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioner, who originally started judo in order to improve his BJJ stand up game. Today, Rob’s abilities have improved ten fold in BJJ and Judo. Rob was promoted to Gokyu orange belt.

Shawn Greene bring extraordinary background to the sport of Judo. Fluent in Japanese, Shawn is also a black belt in Kenpo Karate. Shawn has worked diligently to improve his techniques in Judo. He is a good role model for the club’s junior students, especially for his daughter, standout junior judoka, Julia Greene. Shawn was also promoted to Gokyu orange belt.

Dan Raney has been practicing Judo for more than 25 years. He broke into the martial art after having a successful high school and collegiate wrestling career. Judo has been a national sport in Dan’s family. All of Dan’s children including his wife has practiced judo at one time or another. Dan is a prime example of preseverance and patience in the sport of Judo. He has dedicated a lot of time and service to the martial art. Dan is our newest black belt at the club. He was promoted to Shodan.

Judo has impacted these judoka’s lives on the mat and off the mat. These judokas are an asset to their families as well as our judo club. Congratulations to our senior class of 2011.

The largest judo tournament in the state of Missouri since 1970, the 1st Annual Gateway Invitational got underway on November 5, 2011. The tournament took place at the Overland Community Center in Overland, Missouri. Over 125 competitors turned out at this tournament with the Gateway Grand Championship trophy at stake. White Dragon Judo Club was the host judo club for this tournament. The club received assistance from volunteers, parents, and sponsors to make this tournament possible. Tournament director, Tracy Hangley worked countless hours insuring that the tournament ran like a fine tuned machine.

Tara Kuhne, took over the reigns as junior head coach for this tournament. Ian Kuhne fought his way to a gold medal in a tough division. Anthony Darevsky took silver in his perspective division. Isabella Whitener fought her way to a silver medal finish. Issac Valdez-Soto displayed the persistent relentless attack style of his grandfather, Derick Wellman. This young superstar looks to have a bright future in the sport of judo. Valdez-Soto’s efforts landed him a bronze medal. After a brief hiatus, Julia Greene showed that her skills had not diminished. She reeled in a silver medal. Clarissa Whitener scored silver in her divisions while Mackenzie Beaird grabbed the bronze. Rebecca Mandernach and Mackenzie Grob fought in the largest and the most talented junior division in the tournament. Although they did not medal, they showed undaunting skill and promise. They will be the ones to watch in 2012. In the boy’s junior division Age 9-10, 69 to 80lbs, Devin Busch left his opponents stunned. Despite losing his first match, Devin was determined and willed his way to a playoff match, the only one in the tournament. Busch won by ippon and walked away with the gold.

The men’s division saw the debut of two standout judokas from Korea. CheolHong Choi and Tae Young Choi rolled over the competition with flawless technique. CheolHong Choi displayed a brawling yet deliberate style of judo. He took home gold. Tae Young Choi was the judo player who stood out amongst all the competitors in the tournament. His soft technical style earned him the best technician award. T.Choi took gold in his division and qualified for the Grand Championship, in which he took bronze. Para-Olympic hopeful Adnan Gutic won silver in his division. Larry Lewis also took home a silver for his division. Eugene Hamilton settled for a bronze.

Demonn Smith was on fire for this tournament, going 6-1 on the day. Tom Kuhne, coach of the men’s judo team, had Smith make some adjustments before the tournament. The adjustments and Smith’s savvy play helped him to two gold medals and silver in the Grand Championships.

In the women’s division, nationally ranked judoka, Anna Feygina added a silver and a bronze medal to her medal case. Tiffany Polk showed off her freakish athleticism on her way to a gold medal finish in her weight class and a silver medal in the Grand Championships.

The 1st Annual Gateway Judo Invitational received great reviews from its peers. Preparations for next year’s tournament are underway. Next year’s tournament will be bigger and better and White Dragon Judo Club hopes to see you there.

It is that time of year. The Saint Louis Open Judo Championships got under way at Jefferson College in Hillsboro, Missouri. Nine judokas from White Dragon Judo Club competed in what is to be a U.S. Judo Senior Nationals qualifying tournament.

Tracy Hangley coached a junior team that had there work cut out for them in this tournament. Julia Greene and Anthony Darevsky moved up in age and weight divisions. Julia Greene showed no intimidation on her way to silver medal finish. Anthony Darevsky proved to be a tough opponent in a tough division. He was able to collect a bronze medal for his efforts.

The senior team, coached by Tom Kuhne, saw the debut of Alonzo Bussello. The Peruvian standout displayed an aggresive style of Judo with an exceptional ground game. Bussello took silver in an exciting division. Adnan Gutic made a spectacular return from the Olympic Training Center in Colorado. He fought a grueling gold medal match but was able to pull out the victory. Larry Lewis added a gold medal to his resume. Gene Hamilton continues to improve with a silver medal finish. Anna Feygina punches her ticket to senior judo nationals with dominant gold medal finish. The Russian judoka went undefeated on the day winning all of her match by ippon.

The Masters division featured Dan Rainey, who also was a referee in the junior division. Rainey executed a beautiful ura nage which was the deciding factor in him earning a silver medal on the day. Demonn Smith qualified for the senior nationals with a gold medal performance. The savvy veteran continues show that he can get better with age.

White Dragon Judo Club held their junior promotions session on September 29, 2011. Although the students were nervous, the young judokas performed well. The students displayed their mastery of the judo techniques taught to them on a weekly basis. Our students are slowly learning that hard work, dedication, practice and preseverance leads to positive results. Congratulations to the fall Class of 2011:  Clarissa Whitener, Bella Whitener, Rebecca Mandernach, Julia Greene, Mackenzie Beaird, and Karlee Beaird.

Bonnie Korte, multiple time Judo champion, gave a Judo clinic at White Dragon Judo Club on September 24, 2011. There was a wide turnout to see the two time British Open champion give instruction. The Saint Louis, Missouri native is well respected in the international and American Judo community.

Bonnie Korte was a judoka ahead of her time. Ms. Korte was one of the top female judokas in the world. This was at a time when female judo was not given the recognition that men’s judo was given. Bonnie Korte is an 11 time Judo national champion, 2 time British Open champion, and a Pan American gold medalist.
Ms. Korte is a tai otoshi specialist so it was only appropriate that she taught that technique. She stressed the basics and finer points of the technique. The 8th dan black belt talked about set ups, combinations, grips, movement and angles of the technique. Ms. Korte also covered the dynamics of newaza.

The clinic received good reviews from its participants. The judokas noted Ms. Korte’s ability to breakdown concepts and techniques. Others viewed first hand Korte’s passion for teaching Judo. White Dragon Judo Club is eternally grateful to Sensei Korte for her time and instruction.

A small team from White Dragon Judo Club traveled to Pendleton, Indiana for the Americas Cup Judo Championships. Led by Derick Wellman and Tom Kuhne the judo team turned out an exceptional performance. Dan Rainey and Eugene Hamilton fought very well in their divisions but were not able to place. Anna Feygina was the judoka of the day. She exhibited flawless technique winning all of her matches by ippon. To go with her gold medal, Anna placed in the newaza division. Feygina is becoming a force to be dealt with at every tournament that she competes in.

Show Me State Games Judo tournament took place on July 23, 2011 in Columbia, Missouri. Although a small young team attended this tournament, White Dragon Judo Club did not cease to impress its critics. The junior team was coached by Traci Hangley. Anthony Dravesky fought up a division in age and weight. He managed to win bronze in impressive fashion. The star of the day goes to the rookie Kiara Ware. Ms. Ware has been in judo for only a short time. The young judoka left it all out on the mat and pulled off an upset. She took gold in her very first tournament. Kiara is an example of how hard work produces great results.

The AAU Judo Nationals took place on August 14, 2011 at the Wisconsin State Fair in West Allis, Wisconsin. This is the third time that White Dragon Judo Club has sent a team to compete in this tournament. The team was led by Derek Wellman, who placed third in the Master heavyweight division. Gene Hamilton fought hard in his third AAU National appearance but was unable to place in this tournament. There is no determination of when and where the 2012 AAU Nationals will be. But rest assured there will be judokas from White Dragon Judo Club poised for success.

The NFL has Monday Night Football. White Dragon Judo Club has Friday Night Judo. This is an open Randori session intended to improve the judokas overall judo skills. White Dragon Judo Club will have this session once a month. The fun starts on Friday, September 30, 2011 at 7:00pm. Be there!!!

The Japanese Festival was held at the Saint Louis Botanical Gardens from September 2-5, 2011. Every year White Dragon Judo Club has a judo demonstration during festival. The intent is to expose the martial art of Judo to the Saint Louis Community. Many people came to this event to see the throws, pins and armbars which is involved in this Olympic sport. Kids from all over the Saint Louis area wanted to see what Judo was all about. It was a fun festival. If you missed the Judo demonstration, don’t worry, Judo will be apart of the festivities next year.