Davis Judo Team

General Info

UC DAVIS 高潔なる勇士の家

The Davis Judo Team is a competitive UC Davis Sports Club. No prior experience is required to join. The will learn all the basics of Kodokan Judo which includes falling, ground fighting, throws, chokes and armbars. The team competes at most local judo tournaments and has a goal of winning Collegiate National Championships. The team placed 2nd in the nation at the 2009 Collegiate National Championships held in San Jose, California. The team attends joint workouts with other university teams and sponsors a university team tournament once a year. Many of it's members are exchange students who were formidable competitors in their home countries. If you are willing to invest the time and effort to be a competitor this is the class for you!

The Davis Judo Team meets at the Activities and Recreation Center on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8:00 PM to 10:00PM and on Saturday morning from 8:00 to 10:00AM.

About Us

The Few, the Proud, the UC Davis Judo Team Senpai The lean, mean, (and current) killing machine UC Davis Judo Team We are a group of Judo enthusiast people. Most of us are students from UC Davis. Beside having fun, practicing Judo enhances your stamina, strength, and coordination (like a dance). Our official practice times are above. Anyone who is interested is welcome to check it out. To prepare for the workout, judokas should try to drink more water during the day and get well hydrated before class time. Although we have water breaks (a.k.a. Huynh breaks as of 2005-12-20 02:15:31) during class, lots of drinking during class is not recommended. If you get bored in between practices like Tony did, Sensei HarryvKendall recommends that you do push-ups, and push-ups, and more push-ups. And if you are still bored, try the switches and hops. Push ups give you upper body strength for the grip fight. Switches enhance those hip motions for setting up the throws and the mat fights. Finally, doing hops gives you greater stamina and quicker hip movements. The Legends of Judo

THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF THE UC DAVIS JUDO CLUB IS http://sportclubs.ucdavis.edu/judo/

Constitution

As of April 2006, we are officially the UC Davis Judo Club. Our constitution is as follow UCD Judo Club Constitution.

Current Members

Click on the member name to see his/her stat. Click on the image to see the enlarged picture.

Harry Kendall Sensei Kai Kendall Derya Ozes a.k.a MONGOL Taishi Moriyama - Visiting Competitor Ibuki Okawa a.k.a. GIANT SLAYER - Visiting Competitor Shin-ichiro Nakano - Visiting Competitor

Matthew Favetti a.k.a. Grim Reaper Alex Chebotarev a.k.a. COOL HAND LUKE Adrien Petiteville a.k.a BOO BOO Travis McIntyre a.k.a POLAR BEAR

Anthony Batarse a.k.a. Sinbad Kevin Yoo a.k.a. POOH BEAR Renae Lewis Hideki Ikeda - Visiting Competitor Yousuke Kawase - Visiting Competitor

Greg Markman Jack Kelly a.k.a. HOBBIT Michael Owens a.k.a. SHAOLIN Evan Wong a.k.a. BUZZ LIGHTYEAR

Yuta Shiraki Keith Wong Alexa Hong a.k.a. Mighty Mouse Nigel Robinson Chae Woong Lim a.k.a. CRAZY YOUNG MAN

Graydon Griffin Shinsuke Koeda a.k.a. THE COLONEL Prithanjan Bhattacharya Leticia Magana Samar Syed a.k.a. MOMMA JUDO Bryan Overholser a.k.a. Humbolt Daniel McBride Hung PhamIsaac Alvarez

Joseph Valdes a.k.a. THE BEAST Grant Rose Darrion Yang Rui Ma Kelsea Nelson Michael Win Renzhi Hu ?? ??

Members Of Special Recognition

Kevin Nii There was once a founding member of the UC Davis Judo Club named Kevin Akio QuanHe Nii. He has graduated now and move on to other pursuits but his legacy lives on. Kevin was a quiet man who had strong opinions and beliefs but kept them to himself. He wasn't the most gifted athlete but was the hard worker who showed at every class, no matter how much in pain. Over the years Kevin achieved a level of performance few would have perceived him capable because of his dedication and determination. I watched Kevin every class and many times marveled at his tenacity. Kevin was the president of the UC Davis Sports Club for two years. We usually have a president serve for only one year but because of the lack of qualified people to lead the club I asked Kevin to do it another year. True to his nature, even though he had many other obligations, Kevin agreed to another year. If it were not for the sacrifice and dedication of Kevin this club would not be what it is today. Every quarter I will identify the person who best embodies the spirit and determination of Kevin Akio Quan Nii. There will be silent benefits bestowed.

The first award was difficult because of so many qualified candidates. Derya Ozes with her silent determination and will to succeed. Travis McIntyre with his never say give approach and his quiet pursuit of perfection. Abel Hernandez with his quiet progress to perfection. But one stands out more than all others. He does no win very often but is always willing to fight the toughest of them all. He takes fall after fall and never complains but returns with his silent dignity and demands another round regardless of the outcome.

Michael Owens is the first winner of the Kevin Akio Quan Nii Award of Silent Dignity. The dignity and Bushido he displays cannot go unnoticed.

I am honored to know you.

December, 2011 - Tiff Ho is the recipient of the Kevin Akio Quan Nii Award of Silent Dignity. It was not an easy path to first place at the CCSF tournament this year. Tiff never missed a class whether sick or healthy and worked hard always. Not the most gifted athlete on the mat, Tiff always made it up in hard work and grit. UCD is a better team because of her.

Rocco Lucero In the summer of 2006, I was invited to Davis to consider beginning a judo program. I asked the ARC to allowed me to have a summer program before making a decision. Considering the non urban, uncosmopolitan environment of Davis I was concerned with the type of student I would find here. That first class resolved all the issues. The room was overflowing with people and the quality of athlete was impressive. Towards the end of class, myself and three others I had brought with me lined up and offered to do randori with any takers. All was going fine, you now know what fighting a beginner is like, until this rock looking kid stepped up. We bowed and he immediately stepped in, picked me up and slammed me to the mats. I got up smiling that I'm going to kill you smile and proceeded to dismember him but noticed the quality of movement and natural strength. Rocco went on in the years that followed to be the smoothest, prettiest thrower in the dojo; arguably in the country. This award is named after Rocco Lucero; the man of silk.

There are many in the club who have impressive technique. Calvin Diep and his O guruma and Osoto gari. Kevin Yoo with his Ippon Seonage and Seoi Otoshi. Derya and her Kouchi gari. But one person stands out for his beginning mastery of the art. Travis McIntyre had to switch from right hand to left because of an injured knee. He has developed a Harai goshi that has earned him a Directorship in the Redemption Through Harai goshi club. And his other techniques are almost equally as impressive. From a skinny, sagging, binge drinking crack addict to the honorable, powerful man's man he now is; Travis McIntyre, a.k.a. Polar Bear (or butt cheeks if you catch him sagging) is the winner of the Rocco Lucero Best Technique Award.

December, 2011 - Matthew Favetti is the recipient of the Rocco Lucero Best Technique Award. Matt has become popular around the tournament circuit for his left side Osoto Gari, tomoe-nage and De-ashi Bari. Matt works hard to develop his techniques unlike the original man of silk who was just born to do judo but the end result is the same; beauty and power. UCD is a better team because of him.

[Derya Ozes]

Three years ago, a very unusual and intense girl of 19 walked into the dojo to give judo a try. She left without showing much interest but returned days later. While running backwards I stumbled on her feet so I stopped the class and lectured her on moving out of the way and looking out for others. We began running again and I again ran up on her feet but this time tripped and broke my foot. As I yelled and ranted at her I thought for certain she would leave and never return. The next class, she came into the back room, where I was wrapping my foot and quietly apologized for not moving. Through my anger I could see tears forming in her eyes. She asked if I would allow her to take the class again and I croaked out a yes: something in the look in her eyes was so demanding i had no choice. She left the room more distant than when she entered and over the following weeks became more reclusive than before. One night we decided to have tournament competitions and all the women of the dojo swore they would drive out the reclusive one. When I called for women in the center the strange girl quickly volunteered and ran to the center of the mat. Everyone was startled and challengers quickly ran to the center to be the first to fight and defeat her. I, too, thought she would be defeated and never return. Upon yelling hijame, they both grasped gis and the other girl attached with osoto gari. The strange one stopped the attack in the last moment before success, and with a loud grunt, aaaarrrggggggg, she turned the momentum and threw the other girl with the force of a black belt. The strange one looked me in the eyes with the force of a bull and quickly scanned the room for other opponents. It was then, that I saw, for the first time, the warrior she was to become. This strange girl would time and again win first place in every tournament. White, green and then brown belt. Opponents grew so fearsome of her, they would cry when they saw her name on their pool sheets. I personally witnessed opponents approach her after the tournaments and declare she was the strongest person they had ever met. In 2008, while planning for Collegiate Nationals in Wisconsin, the strange one approached me and declared, "I have no money to go but will do fund raising to pay my way." No one had ever done a successful fundraising for the UC Davis Judo team. The strange one came back after a few days and gave me the name and number of a person at the games center at the MU. I called and discovered we were given the first ever games center fundraiser in which all games were free and we paid the first $1, 200 dollars to the house and kept the rest. We raised over $1,600 dollars in one night and were on our way to Nationals. I was approached by the strange one and in a whisper she stated that the cost of a blue gi was too much for her budget and would I be willing to purchase it from the funds we made from the fundraiser. I was humiliated that she had to ask. I immediately gave the funds for the blue gi and for the first time saw a smile indicating the strange one was not strange at all. I had just failed to see what judo meant to her. What the UC Davis team represented to her life. We didn't get to go to Nationals that year , for many sordid reasons, but the lessons were not lost. And then, that fateful day in March of 2009, in San Jose, at Collegiate National Championships. After surveying the field of contestants I didn't think she stood a chance. But after so many tournaments I knew to not doubt her. She walked by me and stated, unequivocally, "this shit is mine" and stomped off to glare and stretch. I sat on the side of the mat for her last fight and watched the bruiser walk to the center. Derya stomped out like she owned the place. A quick Hijame and Derya ran across the mat and slammed her down. No score. After going out of bounds, she did it again and again no score. I'm raving mad but more shocked that none of the referees protest. Again they stand them up and Derya quickly steps in again and slams her opponent to the mat. "Ippon" the referee finally yells. Derya Ozes, in the span of two years, becomes Collegiate National Champion.

Derya Ozes has become the spiritual leader of our team for many reasons. It is with a heavy heart that we wish her well in her new adventures in life that require her to return to her homeland of Turkey. This award is in honor of her accomplishments in the short time we have known her. For her fierce desire to be the best, her work ethic unmatched by any and her fearless pursuit of victory, the first Derya Ozes Living Legend Award has been awarded to Derya Ozes. How appropriate Derya is the first recipient of an award bearing her name.

THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR AWARD [Taishi Gi] [Taishi Moriyama]

"Is this judo" was the question that stopped me dead in my conversation that late evening in June, 2011. i looked up to see a smiling kid with a gi under his arm and smiled broadly because I knew he was our new summer high ranking Judo student from another land. "Shodan?" i responded, anxious to know how lucky we were. "Sandan" he shouted with a wider smile that made my heart skip a beat. So began the powerful story of Taishi Moriyama with the UC Davis Judo Club. There was an immediate impact on the training habits of the club. Between drills, when everyone else was catching their breath, Taishi would either run in place, lifting his knees high into the air, or squat as low as possible, holding his weight as if suspended from the ceiling. Or, he would often do double of everything by doing his set of exercises and then do them again when it was his partners turn. Soon, all who could were imitating Taishi and all who couldn't tried.

Taishi refused to tap and expected everyone to fight equally as hard. What a new strong spirit he brought to the club. At his going away party, Taishi announced he would be leaving his gi and his special obi with the UC Davis team ( a bar he and other judoka use to frequent in Japan was a favorite of the local Yakuza. They liked the Judo people and would often challenge them to fights. His obi was a present from the Yakuza and when you get the chance to see it you'll appreciate the quality of the gift he has left us).

After each tournament, someone maybe awarded the Ultimate Warrior title. They will be presented with the Taishi Moriyama gi for safe keeping.

January, 2012 Walter Lam has informed the club that due to his impending graduation this spring, this will be his last quarter training. We are struggling to imagine a UCD Judo club class without Walter Lam. He has been a permanent figure in the club for three years and in that time has gone from a skinny kid afraid of the dark to one of the fiercest fighters this club has ever known. Every tournament Walter walks onto the mat and faces the best and win or lose, he returned to the dojo and continued training for the next fight. No matter what happened, we knew the sun was going to rise, birds were going to fly and Walter was going to be at class. Due to the transient nature of our time here four to five years is the most we get to spend with each other. Walter has taken advantage of his time with us and we recognize his achievement in awarding him the gi of Taishi Moriyama and the title of ULTIMATE WARRIOR. [Ultimate Warrior] May, 2013 [Ultimate Warrior]

FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTORS

The UC Davis Judo Club is honored to have past members who care enough to offer financial support to our struggling warriors. All uniform, travel and tournament costs are borne by the members and their families. We bow deeply and offer thanks to those who have reached into their pockets and offered help to our quest.

"SAGE" Minh Huynh Yota Tsuge - Visiting Instructor Jin Yamada

Past Members

Click on the member name to see his/her stat. Click on the image to see the enlarged picture. Naoki Imamura - Visiting Competitor Lawrence Yanogaijo Tony Alcutt - Assistant Coach Roman Kazantsev Darain Thomas - Assistant Coach Amy Anderson Alan Kim a.k.a SAMSON Jay Kim Vincent Hua

Megan Cox Meredith Bruch a.k.a. SQUEAKY Louman Cheung Matthew Rathbun Tyana Stiegler Nick Lupien Edward Galbavy

Bryce Sullivan

Francesca Lewis-Hatheway Elizabeth Sanchez Laurita Siu Graham Roggli Nick Benson James Eugenia Jing Hua a.k.a. ASHANTI WARRIOR Nile Celaya

_ Hudson Gerardo Sandoval Sake Brandon Ho Tom LA Natalie Pang Carinne Mara Cook a.k.a. FENCE

Nikki Gempf Tony Tran Han Lwin Andrew Zajicek Min Yuen (Mandy) Ng Charley Robinton Mark Wells Omar Elmossalamy Victor Valdes

Alexie Carmouche Erika Solis Helen Wang _ Karen Nguyen Lam Le June-June Shih Ceanne Ha

Anthony Chacon Julian Madison a.k.a. WRESTLER Milton Pham Erik Tong Jonathon Yee David Lavine Finneus Fly a.k.a. RANGER Mo Jo Safdie Jose Gouyonnet a.k.a CUBA

_ _ Wendy Mora Sifu Daniel Quincy Robert Edwards a.k.a. PRINCE Josh Guinn David Pham a.k.a SPARKLES John Edwards Alec Boyd

Alexander Martinez a.k.a. FIREMAN Cecilia Whitworth a.k.a. GRAPEFRUIT Bogdan Shevchenko Enrique Ybarra Calvin Diep a.k.a. Charizard Ashkon Mohebi a.k.a TOE Travis Shuler a.k.a STANK LEG Clinton Kwan Chun Ngan Vincent Li a.k.a. Big Red

Terence Woo a.k.a. Twooooo Tiffany Ho a.k.a. Iron Maiden Abel Hernandez Alex Marquez Joey Fong Santiago Benitez David Le Cuong Vu John Cowley

James Mendoza Edgar Lopez Nikko Reynoso Olivia Nguyen Kimberly Jenks Jenna Barry Dawn Chumley Jonathan Su Parker Temple

Yiran Li Gurpreet Dhillon a.k.a. Punjabi Julie Ha a.k.a. Tattoo Teng Her Minah Kim Justin Tong Jarett Smith Jake Ewald searching1

searching 2 Darren Hentschel Christian Lansky a.k.a. PLAGUE & PESTILENCE Sophia Gente a.k.a. LONG ONE Walter Lam a.k.a. THOR Kelli Jocoy a.k.a. TWISTED SISTER Oyang Teng Simon Chen a.k.a. DRUNKEN MASTER Roger Parks a.k.a. KODIAK

Benny C.R. Bray a.k.a. BLACK BEAR Nguyen Le a.k.a. YODA Galvin Emesibe a.k.a. BATMAN Eugeñe Arai a.k.a. GARDENA Ulysses Jimenez a.k.a. ULY Chris Hart Black Gi Kalina Swanson Kevin Leung

Daniel Finn a.k.a. COUNT SHIME Gregory Galiza de Leon Daniel Way Michael Ye Patrick Ancheta Jason Lam HyeIn Olivia Choi Nicholas Le Evan Forman

Christian Hernandez Daniel Torrecampo Emily Geesling Yiru Sun Chuong Khong Daniel Tang Lisa Hoang Keane Chukwuneta Elisa Heida

Chelsey Schnider Evan Zou Steven Dong

Tournaments and Events

San Jose Buddhist - Feb. 2010

Albany Invitation Oct 2006

Lawrence

East Bay Invitational Sept 2006

The competitors Rocco 1st & MVP Charley 2nd Karen 2nd Kevin 3rd Erika 3rd Minh 3rd Lam-Honorable Mention JuneJune-Honorable Mention

Yota Tsuge of NAIST visit

Yota Tsuge - Visiting Instructor At The Restaurant A Dangerous Trio Yota & Rocco

San Jose Buddhist Tournament February 2006

San Jose Buddhist Tournament 2006 San Jose Buddhist Tournament 2006 Andrew and Han Andrew on the Medal Stand Andrew prepared with the menancing smile Contemplation of Warrior Deeds

Coaches eating before the fights Han getting his medal Han grew weary of the wait It's nice to have friends. Janine and Han Warming Up Janine Flexes

Nick - the solitary warrior Nick looking good Remy doing a special job Sensei with the crews Thanks Rocco for attending Warriors - Han and the others

The City College of SF Tournament December 2005

'''CCSF Tournament Information''': This is our first tournament as the Davis Judo Team. Considering our first time, we did pretty well. Most of us won medals from the individual competition. We also won first place for the white belt team competition. Thanks go to our Sensei and everyone's hard work and dedications. We are looking forward to the next tournament. CCSF Tournament Team Champions Minh Prays For Success While Nick Stirs The Juices Rocco Prepares The Choke Just Because

Thanks for Being There Mandy Janine Preparing For Battle Fruits of Success In The Company of Judoka

Welcome to the Comments Section For The UC Davis Judo Club. Feel free to add any comments or questions that you have :

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2011-02-19 23:56:39 Is the club affiliated with the ARC, or does it just use the space for practice? Are there any fees or requirements (uniform, experience) if an individual wants to drop in one day and check it out? —ChantalRam

2011-03-15 09:14:05 @Chantal Ram- The club is a UC Davis Sports Club and as the ARC is a UC Davis facility- I feel it is an affiliate. There are club dues and you are required to buy a gi should you plan to join. However, the 1st couple of days or so, feel free to drop in and work out! Please come see us Spring Quarter-we thrive on new blood, no prior judo experience required! —KelliJocoy

2011-07-18 03:33:45 Jesus zer look at yer photo fer Christ sakes...

—StevenDaubert

Better but now it looks like someone yelled "NO SMILING" at you

2012-05-10 22:33:54 Do you need to be a student to join the practice? As stated, there are club dues, how does it work? Charge per class or month fee? —PuiyukSin

2012-08-11 11:22:03 are there any practices going on in the summer? —johnald

2014-09-23 08:02:25 Judo is not for everyone. You will not learn false fraternity/sorority values here.

You will value hard work, discipline, respect, and strength. Real SAMURAI values that are actively practiced EVERY DAY in the dojo.

The Sensei sees strength in people that they don't even see themselves.

I can personally attest, because my entire life changed as a result of this program. I came in as a weak, lost child and out a physical and intellectual monster, ready to lay down my wrath on the world.

However, it must be stressed that this program IS not for everyone. If you value drinking to the point of vomiting,playing video games all day, and degrading women, then don't step one foot into the dojo.

Because the dojo is a place of honor.

My name is Nicholas Le, and my life has changed as a result of this program.

The real question is, can you do it too? —NicholasLe

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