Because of their performance two weeks ago at the Cal State Games Judo Championships in San Diego, we proudly presented our following members with new belt promotions last Friday.

Felipe Millan-Yellow

Maurice Chagar-Yellow

Felipe, 6-years-old, and Maurice, 7-years-old, have only been with us, eight and five months, respectively, consistently showing up for practice, slowly maturing, and listening at times. Their Yellow belts has given them motivation to better their Judo.

The Juniors were witness to one of their instructors being acknowledged. One of our newest Black Belt instructors, Yazmin Bojaca-Bott, was awarded her Nidan, 2nd degree Black Belt certificate. She assists with our Juniors’ class on Fridays and is a welcomed addition to our instructor and coaching staff. A Shodan originally from LA Tenri Judo Dojo, Yazmin now makes Sawtelle Judo home for her.

On Monday, we promoted long-time Junior member, Ian Zhang, to Green Belt. Ian started Judo in October 2018 as then a six-year-old with our Dojo and was one of the few who remained with us through our COVID/ZOOM days. Although he lives in Altadena and practices at San Gabriel Judo Club, he remains a loyal member of Sawtelle Judo, making it a point to practice one night a week with us.

In our Seniors’ class, Osugi Sensei promoted Miska Kajanus to Sankyu, 3rd rank Brown Belt, after his outstanding performance at the Cal State Games quickly finishing off his opponents with his left-handed Uchimata.

Again, congratulations to everyone for your well-deserved promotions.