We grew what we called a very long tail of students, i.e., lots of beginner belts with few higher belts, i.e., brown, and black. It was great to see the growing number of students we had in our classes, broken out across all levels and kids in the first hour and non-beginners in the second. By helping cultivate our youth program we began establishing ourselves in the early days as an up-and-coming judo program serving the surrounding communities next to Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond, WA.įor a time in the first half of our existence, we'd seen many students come and go. We needed to establish and grow our kids' program which helped in getting new adults, i.e., parents onto the mats and joining in with their kids.
We learned early on that to continue to grow and maintain a solid student body across all age groups, we had to start with the young kids. While it's not an easy road to get students from white belt all the way through to their shodan, it is a rewarding experience for both the student and the sensei's. We at Emerald City Judo have experienced our fair share of awarding many students over our 22+ years through many kyu ranks, and for those that have persevered, their shodan. So how does a dojo help its students get there? You must be able to persevere throughout its journey just to achieve it.
Many will find it challenging, life changing and full of its own ups and downs.
The road to earning one's shodan in judo is one of the most rewarding things anyone can pursue. Senseis Greg Dean and Nelson Salazar presenting Amanda Rasolmoff her shodan promotion certificate. In legend: "It protects treasure, defends against famine and floods, and is filled with ancient wisdom and folklore," Rob Moses says.Įmerald City Judo Club’s Essay on Learnings Along the Way of the promotion process Trademark: dragon-tail kick, which is used to hit or sweep dragon claw, which positions the digits in a flatter orientation than does the tiger claw Training: drills to build explosive power Physical requirements: relaxed muscles, ability to switch from soft movements to hard movements Targets: any body part that can be grabbed the head, which is simultaneously grabbed and struck Strategy: uses quick, snapping kicks that hit with the blade of the foot uses the full fist and the forearms to strike may combine physical techniques of the other Shaolin animals Shaolin saying: "Dragon fist trains the spirit."Ĭharacteristics: strong, smart, deceptive, unpredictable includes traits of the other four Shaolin animals considered one of the two most powerful animals in Chinese astrology and the sign of the emperor In legend: "It dances with accuracy and control, and offers weightlessness to rise above crises," Rob Moses says. Trademark: crane beak, formed by bunching the thumb, index finger and middle finger together to strike with the fingertips Training: mobility-enhancing drills to develop the ability to maintain distance between oneself and the opponent, speed training, quick retraction of natural weapons, chi-development exercises Physical requirements: tall, long reach, ability to remain still for extended periods, good balance, concentration, minimal strength Targets: soft areas such as the eyes, throat, ears and heart sides of the head ribs Strategy: keeps the opponent at a distance and capitalizes on the length of the arms and legs, tends to strike with the very end of the natural weapons, attempts to overwhelm the enemy with rapid hand strikes, evades using circular movements
Brawlhalla is currently available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.Shaolin saying: "The spirit of the crane resides within the stillness."Ĭharacteristics: evasive, rarely offense-oriented, subtle, graceful Some of the previous Brawlhalla crossovers included various WWE superstars like The Rock and John Cena, as well as Lara Croft, Po from Kung Fu Panda, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Effect, an Emote based on Akuma’s Satsui no Hado victory pose, and avatars featuring Zangief, the Shadaloo emblem, a Hadoken, and an animated quarter-circle punch.īrawlhalla has had some neat crossovers over the years. Honda’s stage), as well as snagging a new Street Fighter-style K.O. Players can fight in a new map based on Suzaku Castle (Ryu’s classic stage), or get their hands on a Podium patterned after Kapukon Yu (E. So, pretty much Smash Bros' Stamina mode. In it, players are going to fight one-on-one with HP bars instead of the usual "hitting opponents off the screen". The first of which is a new game mode known as Street Brawl.
In addition to the collaboration event, the Street Fighter x Brawlhalla update will bring several new features to the platform fighter.