CHP tournament
Saturday 13 our team competed at the CHP 11 99 Broderick Crawford tournament, it was awesome to see that much progress accomplished in three months.
The program we developed for the first three months of this year was focused on the Tsukuri (preparatory moves for throws) and the kusushi (off balance) and our judokas did a great job at showing what they learned. We are going to end the first period with our monthly competition on March 27Th, and the visit of Sensei AnnMarie De Mars and Olympic bronce medal Ronda Rousey.
The Second part of the program started on March 10 and will end on May 26Th with our participation on the California State Championships in San Francisco. Where we are planning to bring the gold with all our athletes, we know it'll take dedication and hard work, so if you are not practicing on the regular bases and want to go and win, I suggest you to come and practice with us.
Finally, the winners at the CHP event are:
Micaiah Hankins: Gold
Joseph Queller: Second Place
Erick Flores: Gold
Tylor Vn Baaren: Second Place
Edward Flores: Gold
Joel Padilla: Second Place
Efrain Flores: Gold
Ebony Flores: Gold
Jerry Lara: Third Place
End of the year winter camp
This event was held on Dec 29Th and 30Th 2009 and we went with 6 judokas. More than 100 judokas were present and made of this camp one of the best events of the year.
We got to learn so much from all those expert senseis, who focus this camp on Ashi waza, (foot techniques). We practice all kind of sweeps techniques for 2 days. Some of the students were exausted at the end of the second day but they got to do randory, play games and meet new judokas, we learned some exercises that all our judokas are going to get benefit from at our next classes. We can only thank the USJA and congratulate them for a really good camp.
Winter Nationals 2009
Last Sunday we have the opportunity to compete at the Winter Nationals, it was great to see our Judokas give it all on the mat, as usual they show lots of progress and made us very proud.
The big surprise was Noah who combined really nice techniques and lots of courage to win his division in a very exciting final, as well as his brother Jared who won all his matches by ippon being invencible at the heavy weight novice division.
Also, as we expected Micaiah won the 23kg division fighting 5 matches and winning them all by Ippon.
And the newest member of the team, Joel Padilla. He fought so good that he score some of the fastest Ippons of the tournament winnin his division too. Ebony flores fought extremely good against girls heavier and more experienced than her. She won 2 matches one by choking a purple belt and the other one by throwing a orange belt. She got third place.
Erick won 2 matches against really good competitors from Kodokan and Mojica judo club, but unfortunately lost the fight for first place. He placed 3Rd
As well as Samantha who lost her first match due to the lack of experience and the second match due to some mistakes from the referees.
Others that made little mistakes too, were our great judokas Efren and Edward, and those mistakes cost them the medals, They were winning really hard matches but they ended placing 4Th.
Other members of the Academy competing from the Adult class were Kendall Reusing who got First place, Congratulations! and Sensei Noel who place fifth.
Congratulations to all our judokas you guys fought so good, you made us very proud. And we had lots of fun watching you
Mojica tournament and Nanka Practice
Hi Judo family:
This weekend was a really exciting and bussy weekend for our young competitors. On Sat we had the Nanka practice at Gardena Judo club. It was pretty good to see so many young judokas learning from more then 15 different masters, from tachi waza(standing) to ne waza (mat work) to judo rules and regulation. It was very productive specially for our Jiu Jitsu players who still are having difficulties on transitioning from judo to jiu Jitsu and viceversa.
On Sunday we had the MOJICA TOURNAMENT. Lots of good competitors, we had a team visiting from Mexico and judokas from the best dojos in southern California. It was one of the best tournament we had so far.
Efren, Edward and Ebony, they all competed on the advance division and they did an awesome job; Efren got 3rd place losing the match for second place in a really good and close fight.
Edward Got First place!!! He beat all orange, green and blue belts on his division by Ippon and he perform one of the best Ippons of the event. He really showed he is an orange belt. Good Job Edward!!!
Ebony had to fight 5 times against very experienced judokas, loosing the first place against competitor from Mojica Brandy by penalties, she threw Brandy by Yuko but it wasn't enough to win the match. Since the competitors were tide in points for the second place they had to fight again and Ebony beat the girl she lost against on the first round but lost against the girl from Gardena she beat by Ippon on the first round.
Joel is an example of what focusing and paying attention in class can do for you on the mat.
He used what we learned last week in class (O uchi gary) to beat all his opponents by Ippon winning First Place too!!! Joel fought really good and I received lots of complements for his still new judo skills. Congratulations Joel
Noah fought very good but having to be one of the first, anxiety and stress took over and he couldn't place first, he placed third.
Tylor fought extremely good for been Mojica's the first time he was exposed to a judo competition. He fought 4 times winning his firts match by Ippon, but some mistakes due to the inexperience keept him from winning firts place. he placed 4Th.
Sammy and Micaiah didn't have any problems winning their divisions beating their opponents in less than a minute each, by Ippon.
Finally Jared who started a little rough trying to make the transition from wrestling to judo, but he at the end he got it, he fought 5 times.At the end when he was more comfortable with his judo skills he threw one of the best o goshies of the day Winning FIRTS PLACE on his division too. Congratulations Jared.
And congratulations to all of you I am very proud of you.... WE ARE GOING FOR THE GOLD AT THE WINTER NATIONALS!!!
Thanks to all the parents, firends and family that came to help us.
November Calendar
Last Saturday we had a great time at the El Cerrito Library, the Judo Demo went wonderful, people were really impress with what we do and we had some kids wanted to try next week. Thank you very much to all of you that show up and help, you guys are awesome, we will post some pictures later.
The Winter Nationsls are aroud the corner and with only 10 practices left on the calendar we can not miss a class. We also had planned some classes at other dojos like, Gary Goltz and Gardena, those practices are recomended but they are not mandatory. However, JUDOKAS THAT WANT TO COMPETE AT THIS EVENT MUST MAKE 90% OF THE CLASSES FOR THIS MONTH and compete at the Mojica Fall tournament.
The Winter Nationals is a very important event and the judo level is very high and we would like everybody to compete and off course we would like all our judokas to win, but we also want to be well prepared and make sure that everyone is in good shape to compete, we don't want nobody to get hurt. (In judo only practice can help us grow and get better). So if you think that you have what it takes to compete at the Nationals don't miss a practice or the Mojica Tournament.
We are having a Nanka Shorai practice at the Gardena Judo Club on Sat Nov 14Th too, we highly recomend to come to this practice, it is fun and you will have the chance to practice with lots of kids from different dojos. (Again, these practices are not mandatory but they are great help).
If you have any questions about the Mojica tournament or the Winter Nationals go to our webside and check the registration forms and dates or feel free to call or talk to your instructor after class.
Thanks again parents for all you do for these group for your effort and understanding.
Junior Belts Promotions
We saw a big improvement in our judokas last Monday, when more than 10 of them took their test for Yellow and Orange belts.
Some of the Katas were really good, others needed more practice but all of them show a big improvement on their judo skills.
The purpose of the test is primarily to encourage the students to practice the other side of judo; "The Katas". Sometimes judokas get wrap up into the competition side of judo and they start mixing different styles of fighting forgetting what judo really means: "The gentle way".
What people often don't realized, is that the kata is where the judoka proves his real power. It takes lots of strength to control ones body, uke's body and on top of that make the technique look easy and nice. We believe that everybody can fight and throw somebody if the situation forze him to do it, but can everybody throw a person without fighting and make it look nice, clean and effortless?
That's what separates a judoka from a fighter.
We are pleased to present to you our new orange and yellow belts;
-Andrew Alfelor: Stripe Yellow belt
- Hunter Peck: Stripe Yellow belt
- Ethan Alfelor: Yellow belt
- Noah Stephens: Yellow belt
- Samantha Mendoza: Yellow belt
- Paulina Mendoza: Yellow belt
- Jared Stephens: Yellow belt
- Joe Mendoza: Yellow belt
- Efren Flores: Orange belt
- Edward Flores: Orange belt
Thanks for your support,
Kohaku Judo Academy
Dr Z tournament
Last Saturday was a very productive day we went to the Dr Z tournament with 12 judokas that represented our Academy like true champions. Over 25 clubs came and about 135 judokas competed.
For those that are not familiar with Kohaku's history, last year we participated with 2 judokas and they both got second place. This year we not only came with more than double of the competitors but The Academy got 5 gold medals 2 second places and one third earning the Second place over all 25 clubs.
It was very rewarding to see our Academy grow big and strong and seeing our judokas just reach the next level and even though some of our team members didn't place I think it was a really good experience for those who came along.
We saw our Yellow belts defeating blue, orange and green belts. Our white belts fought like advanced judokas. Though some were out weighed they did exceptionally well depite the uneven odds. I am so proud of them and eagerly wait to see the growth over the next year.
Congartulations to
Micaiah Hankins: Gold medal
Erick Flores: Gold Medal
Edward Flores: Gold Medal
Efren Flores: Gold medal
Jered Stephens: Gold Medal
Noah Stephens: Second place
Ebony Flores: Second place
Andrew Alfelor: Third Place
Ethan Alfelor: 5Th
Joel Padilla: 4Th
Matthew Kim: 5th
Jonathan Nguyen: 5Th
West covina Novice Tournament
Last Sunday our judokas competed at the West Covina Novice tournament, they did an excellent job. Eric fought 5 matches winning every single one by Ippon (instant win), which shows how much he has grown in judo. Ebony did a fantastic job in the Ne waza and Ethan, Edward and Efren show an excellent standing technique too. Jerry competed winning the bronze medal.
Congratulations to:
- Eric Flores: 1st place
- Edward Flores: 1st place
- Ebony Flores: 1st place
- Efren Flores: 1st place
- Ethan Alfelor: 3Rd place
- Jerry Lara: 3Rd place
Nanka Fall Tournament
Kohaku judo dojo was represented very well at the Nanka fall tournament, our judokas showed that good practice and perseverance pay-off.
Congratulations to:
Samantha Mendoza: Gold Medal 
Paulina Mendoza: Bronze medal
Micaiah Hankins: Gold Medal
Nikkei Games Judo Championships
We had a great time at the Nikkei Games, specially because our judokas competed very good showing very nice techniques.
Congratulations to
Erick Flores Gold Medal
Edward Flores Gold medal
Ebony Flores silver medal