It was a good day for White Dragon Judo Club at the 2017 Senior Nationals. With 5 fighters and the excellent coaches Dave Burke, Derick Wellman, and the legendary Randy Pierce, the club was well represented. Byron Helmrich had some impressive performances, hitting an awesome foot sweep in his first match and earning a silver medal in the brown belt 66kg weight class. Adnan Gutic fought in the longest match of the day, with 25 minutes of total mat time in his first fight. He finally won when his incredible conditioning proved too much for his opponent, allowing him to score a throw. Immediately after, he maintained his lockdown on the 81kg visually impaired weight class, moving straight into further matches and dominating the opposition with superior ground fighting. He took home a gold medal. Jay Baker entered a tough division, being the only non-black belt in the pool. Despite this, he fought hard in some very competitive and thrilling matches, displaying a defensive agility not before seen by the skilled fighter. BE Bryan Enlow had his work cut out for him, fighting in the open weight category, ages 30 to 50. He fought a strategic game, using his gripping and O Soto Gari to control his opponents, battling his way to a bronze medal. Philipp Vojta got off to a slow start but fought his way to a bronze medal, dominating his opponent in his final match of the day with an Ippon Seoi Nage, moving straight into a choke. Overall, Team White Dragon made great improvement since the previous year, with most of the competitors either moving into more difficult divisions, or placing higher than they had done previously.

The 2017 Indiana State Judo Championships took place on April 8, 2017 at Jay County High School in Portland, Indiana. The tournament was officiated by the legendary Randy Pierce, Derick Wellman and BE Bryan Enlow. Team White Dragon was led by team captain Demonn Smith. The junior division featured the Fajors trio. Dina Fajors got off to a slow start but finished strong to take a bronze medal in her division. Big sister Saba Fajors went 3-1 on the day and took silver. Manareldeen Fajors was in a tough weight class at this tournament. Manare’s talents shined to win a bronze medal. In the senior divisions, Jay Baker had a solid tournament and got a silver medal. Byron Helmrich pulled off a couple of upset victories on his way to a silver medal showing. Demonn Smith took bronze in the veteran heavyweight category. Phillip Vojta was the MVP of the tournament. Vojta had his best performance of the year winning gold in two division.

White Dragon Judo Club held an open workout on March 31, 2017. This unique open workout was held in the morning at 9 am. The judo workout featured Gustav Terro de Amaral. Gustav is from Sweden. The Sandan has competed internationally in Judo for more than 20 years. Currently he is touring the United States sharing his knowledge of the martial art. In the workout, De Amaral shared a modified version of Ouchigari with the students. The savvy veteran displayed his great kumi kata techniques. He concluded his judo tutorial with a counter to drop seoinage and a newaza turnover. The students were nothing short of enlightened and inspired by his enthusiasm.

The 2017 Konjo Dojo Judo Championships took place at the Hillsboro Intermediate School in Hillboro, Missouri on April 1, 2017. The tournament director for the event was the legendary Randy Pierce. Randy Pierce, Bryan Enlow and Derick Wellman officiated this regional event. For the second consecutive year EG3 Eugene Hamilton was the head coach of Team White Dragon. In the junior division, Alex Halon was making his second consecutive appearance at this tournament. He fought splendid and continued to show improvement in his matches. Fred Heidmann scored a second place finish going 3-1 on the day. Dina Fajors made significant progress in her sixth tournament. She place second in her division. Trevor Judge performed well in his shiai debut. The third generation grappler displayed enormous potential winning 2nd place in this tournament. Mason Moore also made his shiai debut. Mason displayed excellent technique for a judoka at his level. He won second place for his efforts. “THE CAM” Cameron Duffield was superior to his opposition. “THE CAM” went undefeated for the second consecutive time in this event. Warrior Princess Saba Fajors showed her dominant kumi kata was no match. She took first in her category. Manareldeen Fajors made his 7th consecutive first place finish of the year. Derek Clardy is beginning to make a name for himself in the senior division. He placed first in his second successive tournament. Bryron Helmrich took second in his weight class. In the veterans divisions, Demonn Smith was third amongst a talented heavyweight division. Ryan Morrow took second in his second tournament back from retirement. Jay Baker’s game is surging. Baker maintained the element of surprise and took 1st with a great Ouchigari in the final. The MVP of this tournament was Philip Vojta. The rising star won 2nd in middleweight division and took the Open division by storm. He won first place with a thunderous left seoinage in the final.

Michigan State University was the site of the 2017 Michigan Open Senior and Junior Championships on March 19, 2017. Manareldeen Fajors was competing in his third tournament in two weeks. The junior lightweight division displayed some tough opposition for the young judoka. The gold medal match was a serious challenge for Manare as his opponent brought his A game. Manare countered with his own A game and won the match via osaekomi. Despite the win, the tournament was learning experience for the young judoka.

The 2017 Ohio State Judo Championships was held on March 18, 2017 in Lima, Ohio. Manareldeen Fajors dominated his competition winning his second consecutive state championship of the year. In the gold medal match Manare executed a superb morote seoinage on his opponent. Manareldeen has been nothing short of awesome. He has tallied up five straight gold medals so far this year.

The Loras Judo Club Shia Tournament got underway at the Graber Sports Center in Dubuque, Iowa on March 11, 2017. The tournament was well officiated by Yondan Sensei Derick Wellman and the legendary 7th dan Randy Pierce. Team White Dragon featured team captain Bryan Enlow and Jay Baker. In the veterans heavyweight category BE Bryan Enlow shook the dust off the judogi and fought a good semifinal on his way to a silver medal showing. Jay Baker collected his second consecutive gold of the year with some awesome newaza semifinal and the final.

The 44th Annual Frayser Judo Tournament took place at the Ed Rice Community Center in Memphis, Tennessee on March 11th, 2017. Team White Dragon placed third in the team competition. The Fajors family represented Team White Dragon. Dina Fajors won a bronze medal with exceptional judo spirit and play. Saba Fajors earned a gold medal by going undefeated on the day. The Warrior Princess clinched the gold with osaekomi in her finals match. Manareldeen Fajors fought up in weight class in this tournament. Despite some questionable officiating the young judokas still dominated his lane. Manareldeen continuously and relentlessly threw his opponent for wazari and eventually submitted his opponent with a shimewaza technique in the gold medal match.

The Kitokan Judo Tournament got underway at the James J. Eagan Center in Florissant, Missouri on March 4, 2017. The tournament was officiated by Yondan Derick Wellman and the legendary 7th dan Randy Pierce. Demonn Smith, Jay Baker and Dan Dillon were the designated coaches for Team White Dragon. The junior division featured the Fajors clan of Manareldeen, Saba, and Dina Fajors. Dina Fajors continues to improve as she collected her second medal in short judo career. Saba Fajors displayed a dominant kumi kata game that her opponent had no answer to. The Warrior Princess was on the war path scoring gold in her category. Manareldeen Fajors collected his third consecutive gold medal with an outstanding morote seoinage in his semi final and gold medal matches. The senior bracket featured Sam Coln making his second appearance at this tournament. Sam Coln took silver in very tough weight class. Taylor Brown scored bronze in her weight category. Phillip Vojta won silver going 4-1 on the day. Byron Helmrich had his work cut out for him in a talent rich bracket. He pulled out a silver medal. Josh Sisson won the gold in the lightweight division. Glenn Trotter got off to a meager start but finish strong with a gold medal in the middleweight class. Newcomer Derek Clardy scored his first gold medal going undefeated on the day. It was a busy day for the veteran Demonn Smith. He took bronze in his category. Adnan Gutic grinded through a tough veterans bracket to take another gold medal.

It is not unusual for judokas to cross train or compete in other martial arts. Olympic judo silver medalist Jason Morris was an All American wrestler at Syracuse University before he achieved judo greatness. Judo Olympians Dr. Rhadi Ferguson and Travis Stevens are Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belts respectively. The 2017 FUJI BJJ Missouri State Jiu-Jitsu Championships got underway on February 18, 2017 at Saint Charles West High School in Saint Charles, Missouri. Manareldeen Fajor was the lone representative for Team White Dragon with Demonn Smith as coach. The young judoka displayed a masterful takedown game which was too much for his opponent. Despite a late rally in the gold medal match, Fajor stayed focused and won his second consecutive BJJ Missouri State Jiu jitsu championship in the lightweight gi division. Other judo notables who represented their BJJ dojos were Bobbie Jo Ridenhour who practices BJJ for Gracie Humaita Saint Louis (JW Wright). She won silver in her category. Dennis Williams is a blue belt in BJJ under Gracie Humaita Saint Louis. He currently cross trains in Judo under Demonn Smith. He dominated his weight class to win gold. Former visually impaired judo national champion Adnan Gutic trains in BJJ under Bryan Guidry at North Broadway Jiu jitsu. Adnan took on a talent heavy division and made it look easy on his way to a gold medal in his division.