There is Monday Night Football and at White Dragon Judo Club there is Monday Night Judo. This Monday night was a special night. More than 20 judokas were on that mat to learn some practical judo techniques. This Monday’s class was ran by Eugene Hamilton. Hamilton showed some basic newaza techniques that would help even a beginner in the martial art. The class was also highlighted by Glen Trotter’s demonstration of sumi gaeshi. The judo club also witness the promotion of Lilly Coln to yellow belt. Lilly has been practicing judo for about 5 months now. Attending practice with her big brother Sam, judo did not come easy for the young judoka. Throughout these 5 months Lilly Coln has learned the true meaning of discipline and hard work. Although she has a long way to go, the young judoka is poised and ready for the journey. Hey are you ready for the journey? The classes are growing each week yet there is plenty of room. Your first class is free and you are guaranteed a good workout. So come on out and we’ll see you on the mat.

The annual 2014 Irwin Cohen Memorial Judo Tournament got underway at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois on November 9, 2014. Over 280 contestants participated in this tournament. Andrew Lazarz coached a skilled veteran team ready for success. Anna Feygina fought up in weight class at 63kg. Feygina enter a huge young talent pool. She fought hard but lost a heartbreaker in her first match. Feygina rallied in her remaining matches but was unable to get to the medal round. Current national champion Adnan Gutic was in typical gold medal form when he competed in the 81kg category. The White Dragon judo standout was a stubborn adversary as all of his match went the full time limit. Gutic pulled out some hard fought victories but he also failed to make the medal round. Amber Jones fought at 57kg and showed tremendous game but did not medal in this tournament. Eugene Hamilton collected his third medal of the year with a 3rd place finish in the Master’s division.

Randy Pierce was the special guest instructor for judo class on Wednesday, October 22, 2014. Sensei Pierce has assisted White Dragon Judo Club with good instruction for their referees, tournament coordinators, and judokas. Pierce has been in judo for over 50 years. The Rokudan has competed in over 2000 judo matches and has over 1000 victories. For Wednesday’s class, Sensei Pierce demonstrated one of his favorite techniques. Harai goshi or hip sweep is a technique that Sensei Pierce often won a majority of his judo matches. In Wednesday’s practice,  demonstrated the fundamentals of the throw. He also showed crafty and practical combinations to the technique. He also displayed his secrets to the success of the judo technique. It was a fun class and everyone picked up some good judo instruction.

The 4th annual Gateway Judo Tournament took place on October 11, 2014 at the Overland Community Center in Overland, Missouri. White Dragon Judo Club hosted this tournament. The competitor turnout had doubled from last year. Tournament director, Derick Wellman, made some suttle adjustments to make the tournament more efficient and enjoyable. Dan Dillon and Louis Paez were the official coaches for Team White Dragon. In the junior divisions, Korbin McNabb and Sean Butler took on heavy opposition and took silver. Devin Busch was relentless with his attacks and found a way to win. He took second place in his category. Jeric Gumahin took bronze in his division. Issac Valdez De Soto collected his second gold of the year with a splendid performance. Anthony Darevesky was the junior MVP of the tournament. He won gold in his category. This was his first gold medal of the year. In Senior womens division, Marissa Arndt dominated with her patented drop seoinage to win gold. In the Senior men category, Jay Baker shook off the mat rust and managed to win a bronze medal. Anthony Weeks persistence worked well for him to get a bronze. Eric Fink was awesome in his second appearance in shiai competition. He placed second in his division. Bat Unur “The Batman” Erdenebayar scored his second consecutive gold medal with some solid groundwork. In the Masters division, Eugene Hamilton won his second consecutive Gateway Masters gold with a beautiful harai goshi in the final. Adnan Gutic was the overall MVP of the tournament. He displayed great technique in this tournament, throwing two of his opponents with tomonage. Gutic went 8-1 on the day, taking gold at 81kg and silver in the open weight category.

The 2014 AAU Midwest Freestyle Judo Championships took place at the Kansas City North Community Center in Kansas City, Missouri on September 27, 2014. This is the first year that Team White Dragon had participated in an AAU sanctioned tournament. The AAU Freestyle judo rules are slightly different from the typical USJA/USA judo tournament rules. Simply the AAU Freestyle judo coincides with the Kodokan judo rules of the past. The living legend Randy Pierce joined the White Dragon coaching staff for this tournament. He assisted head coach Derick Wellman with coaching responsibilities. In the junior category, Devin Busch took silver in his weight class. Isaac Valdez de Soto and Anthony Darevsky took bronze in their perspective divisions. Korbin McNabb took gold for his second consecutive tournament going 3-0 on the day. In the senior category, Eugene Hamilton face some tough and talented opposition and took 3rd. Anthony Weeks fought excellent in his division and took the bronze in his weight class. In the Masters division, Louis Paez made his tournament debut a valued one. He took silver in his category. The MVP of the day was Dan Dillon. “Submission Dan” displayed textbook technical judo especially on the ground. He won all of his matches by submission on his way to the gold medal. No doubt about it, Team White Dragon ruled the mat in this tournament.

Monday, September 15, 2014, members of White Dragon Judo Club participated in a seminar on bullying with the Mighty Kids Ministry of Peoples Community Christian Church in Jennings, Missouri. The Mighty Kids Ministry is a youth group of kids between the ages of 3-8 years. Demonn Smith, sempai at White Dragon Judo Club, talked about the dangers of bullying and taught a few simple judo related self defense techniques. The kids were enlightened and had a lot of fun during the seminar. If you would like to know more about judo and self defense classes, feel free to checkout our website and Facebook pages. We look forward to hearing from you and we will see you on the mat.

The ISBA Judo World Championships took place at the USA Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado on September 4-5, 2014. Team White Dragon came poised and ready for what is to be the most highly anticipated tournament of the year. The team is coached by Eugene Hamilton. Hamilton has dedicated countless hours of time and practice to develop these judo players into world class competitors. Over 25 countries were represented at this international tournament. This judo competition is the first qualifying event for the 2016 Paralympic Games. Adnan Gutic, the two time reigning U.S. visually impaired national champion, got off to a slow start in the 81kg category. He picked up the pace in his second match, winning it via pin. Gutic fell just short of placing in this competition losing his last match by shido. Marissa Arndt has come a long way to make an appearance at her first international competition. All the prayers and training paid off for this Wisconsin native. Arndt faced a talented 57kg bracket. Though she did not medal in this competition, the young judoka can take this experience as fuel to make another World Championship run. No doubt about it, these judokas will be training hard for next year’s World Championships and will not come home without a medal.

Deborah Fergus and Randy Pierce were special guest instructors for our Tuesday, June 17, 2014 judo practice. Both judokas have devoted countless hours to the development of judo in the United States and abroad. Fergus, a Yondan in judo, started judo at Northern Michigan University in 1970. Throughout the years Fergus has acquired a priceless knowledge of judo from a number of teachers. A fiery judo competitor, Fergus has medaled in several international competition.  Fergus is also a national judo referee and has coordinated numerous tournaments and camps. She founded the All Women’s Judo Championship and the Fight Like a Girl judo camp which is held every year. She started her first dojo in 1990 in Gladstone, Michigan. She currently teaches judo at the Southside judo club in Portage, Michigan. Rokudan Randy Pierce has been in judo for more than 50 years. A Missouri judo legend, Pierce has competed in over 2000 judo matches and has over 1000 victories. Since retiring from competition, Pierce is a current national referee and has coordinated numerous referee clinics and judo tournaments. During the night’s judo practice, the special instructors taught the judo technique kata guruma (shoulder wheel). Both instructors were very precise in their instruction, stressing good mechanics and technique. The class was fun and quite practical for most of our students. Their will be more classes like this throughout the year. So get your judogi and we will see you on the mat.

The North American Grappling Association (NAGA) returned to Saint Louis, Missouri on June 14, 2014. The University of Missouri Saint Louis was once again the venue for this submission style grappling tournament. NAGA is the world’s largest grappling tournament circuit. If you want to test your judo, this is one of the places to go. Adnan Gutic was the lone White Dragon member to compete at this competition. After a disappointing performance at the 2014 Tohkon Classsic, Gutic bounced back with a gold medal display in the gi and no gi categories. Gutic was very aggressive and dominated his opponents throughout the match. With the ISBA Judo World Championship looming, Gutic looks poised for success. Photo courtesy of Drew Peterson

It was a tough day at the Oak Lawn Community Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois. The Tohkon Classic took place on June 7, 2014. Eugene Hamilton and Jay Baker fought in the largest division of the tournament. Both started off well winning their initial matches but they were unable to make it to the quarterfinal. Female phenom Marissa Ardnt fought very well in her category but fell short of medaling. Reigning national champion, Adnan Gutic, did not do as well as predicted. He did not medal in this tournament. Dan Raney was the lone member of Team White Dragon to bring home a medal. He encountered a tough master’s division and manage to win second place. Photo courtesy of Felix Lanier.