It was a special night on August 7, 2013. Derick Wellman, owner of White Dragon Judo Club, was promoted to the rank of Yodan. Derick’s dedication to judo is relentless. He has been in judo for 40 years. He started training in judo under Chuck Rothman. Sensei Wellman has competed in numerous judo tournaments and has been successful in all of them. He started White Dragon Judo Club in 2002 and the club is currently the largest judo dojo in the state of Missouri. He has coached a number of judo players to national championships, notably Adnan Gutic. Despite his demanding schedule, Derick still gives his 210% to this martial art and his community. Congratulations Sensei Derick Wellman.

The Rabo Adikwu judo clinic was conducted at White Dragon Judo Club on July 20, 2013. The clinic was split into two sessions. The first session covered technique. Despite his strong Nigerian accent, Sensei Adikwu’s instruction was simple and easy to understand. He stressed good newaza combined with a strong tachi waza game. The junior judokas had a lot of fun and learned a lot at the same time. The second session was directed towards advance students and ended with a long randori segment. In this session, Sensei Adikwu demonstrated his strong kumi kata that applied to today’s competition judo. In conclusion, everyone got a great workout and improved their judo game significantly through Sensei Adikwu’s instruction.

White Dragon Judo Club was more than happy to promote Alonso Bussalleu and Gregory Gordon to Sankyu on June 27, 2013. Alonso Bussalleu is from Peru, where he started his judo journey and has been practicing judo for 4 years. He is currently a biology student at the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL). Gregory Gordon has been in judo for 3 years. He is a member of the United States Marine Corp. Gregory made a statement at the 2013 Tennessee State Judo Championship with a 1st place finish in his division. Both judokas have shown vast improvement in their judo and you will more than likely see them at the upcoming judo competitions this year. Congratulations to our recently promoted judokas.

The 2013 USJA/USJF Junior National Judo Championships got underway at Robert Morris University on July 6, 2013. Coaching his 7th Junior Nationals, Derick Wellman brought a talented trio of judokas to Moon, Pennsylvania to challenge the future of USA Judo. In the middleweight division, Devin Busch displayed an crafty strategy but fell short of scoring a medal. Anthony Darevsky fought in the heavyweight category. Anthony got off to a good start by winning his first contest but lost a hard fought match in the semifinal which eliminated him from medal contention. Koreyon Harris competed against the super heavies and was not taken lightly. Koreyon scored a silver medal making him the first junior judoka to medal for White Dragon Judo Club in 4 years.

The annual Tohkon Classic took place on June 1, 2013 at the Oak Lawn Community Pavillion  in Chicago, Illinois. Derick Wellman brought Team White Dragon into this tournament with heavy momentum. Curtis “CJ” Wright continued his comeback journey with an awesome 3rd place finish. Issac Valdez Soto took bronze in the junior boys 5-6 heavyweight division. Anthony Darevsky endured a tough well skilled division. He went 3-1 on the day and took silver. White Dragon junior National team member Devin Busch scored his second consecutive gold medal in recent months. In the senior bracket, Anthony Weeks continues to improve despite facing an overwhelming opposition. He placed 4th. Adnan Gutic had an terrific day going 5-1 with silver medal showing. In the masters division Demonn Smith took 5th in the heavyweight category followed up with a 4th place showing in the open division. Dan Raney was most impressive going 3-1 on the day and taking silver in his division.

The 29th North/South Judo Tournament took place at the Family Sportplex in Belleville, Illinois. Master’s judokas Dan Raney and Demonn Smith were selected to the South judo squad in the team competition. The North squad pulled out a close match against the South to keep the coveted trophy on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River. Derick Wellman coached a very talented group as all members of his team medaled. Issac Valdez De Soto looked exceptional in his matches and continues to get better. He took silver in his division. Connor Ross made his tournament debut with a promising third place finish. Junior Nationals bound Anthony Darevsky took silver for the second consecutive year. Koreyon Harris fought hard to a silver medal finish. Julia Greene made her long awaited return to the mat worth the wait. Julia displayed a relentless attack against a talented competition pool. The talented judoka did not waver as she took gold in her pool. A much improved Devin Busch scored gold when he won his gold medal match by yuko score.
In the seniors division, Jay Baker displayed vast improvement in his judo game. He showed off some good ashiwaza on his way to a second place finish. Dan Raney executed ura nage and scored gold at 100-KG. Demonn Smith anchored Team White Dragon with a bronze medal showing in the Master’s division and a silver medal at 90KG.

June 6, 2013 was a special night as White Dragon Judo Club promoted two young judokas to Shodan. Eugene Hamilton and judo standout Adnan Gutic were promoted to Shodan. Both passed their tests with flying colors. Eugene Hamilton has been in judo for 6 years. Eugene has dedicated himself to frequent practice and unconditional service to the sport of judo. Eugene has had the experience of practicing judo internationally which has made him a formidable shiai player. Adnan Gutic is currently a reigning visually impaired national champion. Adnan is a fierce competitor and a great teacher. Next month he will be competing in the IBSA Pan American Championship in Colorado Springs. Congratulations to over achieving judokas.

There was no room for the weary as Team White Dragon traveled to Cape Girardeau, Missouri for the Konjo Spring Judo Championships. Derick Wellman was assisted with an experience coaching staff who were more than willing to push for success from their judokas. The juniors saw the reemergence of Curtis “CJ” Wright. The young judoka showed off his superior athleticism on his way to a 3rd place showing. Anthony Darevsky got a silver medal in tough division. Sean Butler continues to improve his game. He had a thunderous ogoshi in his match that solidified the silver for his division. Jordan Ashen fought in his second Konjo Championships. He took third in his category. Koreyon Harris scored gold via pin. In his gold medal match, he was able to score a yuko with a soto makikomi attempt and finished the match with a solid pin. Devin Busch got a well earned gold medal in his category. His gold medal match went to gold score. He endured a grueling match winning by yuko.
The senior division was met with the debut of Anthony Weeks. Weeks showed a lot of potential and took third in his division. Demonn Smith went 6-2 on the day taking silver in the masters and seniors heavyweight divisions.

Anna Feygina took silver in the 57kg female category at the 2013 Irwin Cohen Memorial Judo Tournament in Lincolnshire, Illinois. Coached by Andrew Lazarz, Anna dominated her opponent with superior kumi kata and slick ashi waza. The nationally ranked judoka went 2-1 on the day.

Team White Dragon made its way to the 2013 USA Judo Senior National Championships in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The USA Judo superstars were in full attendance and Team White Dragon was more than up to the challenge. Derick Wellman was coaching his 13th USA Judo nationals under the White Dragon logo. He had the job of coaching against some top level talent. Eugene Hamilton fought well in the brown belt division but was unable to medal. Demonn Smith encountered some heavy opposition in the Masters divisions in his 3rd US Judo Nationals. It was a tough day for Smith as he failed to crack the awards podium. Anna Feygina fought an excellent nationals and placed 5th for the second successive year. Adnan Gutic was one of the superstars of the tournament. Adnan fought in the visually impaired and the brown belt divisions. Gutic displayed some awesome newaza and won most of his matches via pin. Adnan took silver in the 81kg brown belt division and gold in the 81kg visually impaired category. With a 1st place finish in 81kg visually impaired, Adnan Gutic has a chance to make the USA Paralympic team for 2016 in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.