Long Training Pair Promoted Together
From Left to Right - Adisa, Jae, Sensei Formaro, Sensei Suhr, Olivia
Under the USJA ranking system, under which the Des Moines Judo Academy operates, attaining the brown belt is a momentous occasion for several reasons. Not only does it take years of study and dedication, it also serves as the delineating line between a novice and advanced student, with most tournaments only allowing those under brown belt to compete in novice divisions.
Monday June 9th, 2025, Adisa Ganic and Olivia McBee crossed this rubicon together when they were promoted to Sankyu. The actual testing took place over the week prior, with the ceremony being conducted on the Monday to allow for the reverence due such an occasion. The two young women began their journey into Judo together in approximately March of 2023, when they were the first two regular students in the Monday & Wednesday classes conducted by Sensei Suhr. For months they were the primary, if not only, students in the now popular class time. The two have supported each other through countless hours of training, promotions, injuries, and numerous tournaments, to arrive at this point.
Olivia, with Sensei Formaro and Sensei Suhr
Olivia, normally called “Liv” keeps a busy scheduled between work, frequent trips to visit her significant other, whom is finished technical school, crafting, training, and helping teach Des Moines Judo Academy’s children’s classes. Though its rare to see now, due to an earlier injury, Liv has cultivated a great drop tai-otoshi. Liv shines brightest in ground where, were weeks of drills following a leg injury have resulted in masterful skill at shime-waza or “choking techniques.” Her hadaka-jime, commonly known as the rear naked choke, is excellent. However, her ability to work her arms past nearly any defense for “nami-juji-jime” (normal cross collar choke) and gyaku-juji-jime (reverse cross collar choke), often before her opponent realizes they’re in danger, is a marvel of the elegant interaction of technique maximizing on a natural advantage, and desmonstration of Seiryoku Zenyo.
Adisa, with Sensei Formaro and Sensei Suhr
Adisa, keeps a similarly busy schedule, maintaining employment, continuing her education, spending time with her significant other at his school, and training. Adisa’s work learning Sensei Parkhill’s “sticky foot” method ko-soto-gari shows, with the attack often serving as her lead in, and consistently forcing a defensive response from her opponent. She often finishes matches with her swift tai-otoshi, launching near instantly at well chosen moments, which has brought her several wins at tournament, where she has consistently brought home medals. Lately she has been seen working on expanding her foot sweep arsenal.
An African proverb states “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” Congratulations to both young women on coming this far, and we’re excited to see how far they go!
Far Travelling Pair Promoted Together
From Right to Left - Sensei Pohl, Ian Schaff, Jon Milliedge, Sensei Hilleshiem
Ian and Jon, regulars at Saturday open mats, have taken the next step on their journey into the Way of Gentleness, by being promoted to “gokyu” or orange belt. The duo normally spend several hours every Saturday developing their skills from approximately 9:30 AM until the open mat host is done the day or events demand they yield (usually around 12:40 PM), so they can work master what they learn training with each other during weekday. On May 3rd, 2025, they chose to forego training to instead demonstrate what they’ve learned in the pursuit of recognition of their hard won skills. Testing was overseen by Sensei Hilleshiem and Sensei Pohl, who determined the two passed muster, while a few stragglers looked on.
Ian, a student of jujitsu, bujinkan, and kali-silat in addition to Judo. As to be expected his “newaza” or “ground fighting” (the portion of combat that takes place after one or more of the combatants has fallen to the ground) is more developed than his “nage waza” or throwing techniques, he not only demonstrated competence with the required number of throws, but demonstrated an affinity for tai-otoshi, o-goshi, and uchi-mata. When not training, Ian enjoys tabletop roleplaying games, making mead, hunting, and spending time with his beloved dog.
Jon, a judoka with an MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) and wrestling background, who also cross trains in jujitsu and bujinkan, has a more robust standing game of the pair, despite Ian having a better flare for technical details. Jon also posses boundless positivity and enthusiasm, which makes long training sessions go by and the blink of an eye. While his foot sweeps won him gold and silver in the Governor’s Cup earlier this year, and even earned praise from Sensei Parkhill, Jon chose to instead show off his o-soto-gari, ippon seoi-nage, and tani-otoshi, all of which he’s been drilling endlessly since March. When off the mat, Jon spends most of his time with his family, being married and a father.
Brown Belt Promotion for Long-Standing Member
From Left to Right- Sensei Suhr, Romnick Pamatmat
On December 9, 2024, Romnick Pamatmat tested for and received his first brown belt rank of “sankyu.” Most judo organizations consider the brown belt to the tipping point where you are no longer considered a beginner, and no longer eligible able to participate in the novice division of competition. Attaining the rank is typically requires years of study and practice, as well as demonstrating mastery over several techniques, and competence with several more. The testing is also academic, requiring knowledge of the history of judo and Japanese terminology.
Romnick is a regularly attending member of the Academy and inspiration; not only finding time for health, training, and fitness, but also to raise his three children, all while keeping his wife (and the light of his life) smiling. On the mat, Romnick is a quick and dexterous opponent, frequently darting in and out of gripping range to make lightning fast attacks, most notable drop tai-otoshi, and seoi-nage.
His promotion is well deserved, and this author looks forward to seeing him develop through the ranks remaining between him and the first degree black belt or “sho-dan.”