News
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/29/11: Jeff Johnson has a fine sankyu test and is now a brown
belt! Congratulations, Jeff.
Shinzen Kai is proud to be the sponsor of
Camp Kodenkan Midwest 2011, Sept. 16-19. Click on
the link to see our flyer.
7/26/2011: Adam Smith and Stephen Hawley passed their blue belt (gokyu) tests
with flying colors. Congrats!
2/15/2011: Alex Meyer passed her Blue Belt (gokyu) test! Congratulations for a well earned promotion.
1/28/2011: Nate Hill and Melissa Ranum each passed their shodan
exams in Thornton, Ill. Terrific job!
9/24/2010: Brant Lander, looking pallid and drenched in sweat,
struggled through sickness to pass his ikkyu exam, a fine demonstration of shin.
9/17/2010: Tom Thiel passed his shodan exam at Camp Kodenkan
Midwest in Duluth! Way to go, Tom. The examiners had plenty of compliments.
7/30/2010: Dan Browning passes his yondan exam in Bufflo, NY. Thanks to the
examiners, Senior Prof. Tom Ball and Profs. Tom Ryan and Tom Hill, and special
thanks to sensei Ward Melenich and Sohn Wehseler for helping me take this step.
5/4/2010: They just keep coming! Monique Roerdink Lander crossed
the mat today to join the ranks of brown belters with a fine sankyu exam!
4/13/2010: Nate Hill and Melissa Ranum kicked it on their ikkyu exams. Congratulations are in order!
4/6/2010: Help! We're running out of white belts. Jeff Severson did a nice job on his gokyu test today, and Dan Buck did a nice job on his yonkyu test. Congratulations to both.
3/27/2010: Congratulations to Brant Lander for passing his nikyu test on his 30th birthday!
3/13/2010: Congratulations to Jeff Johnson who did quite well on his yonkyu exam! And Monique and Brant are back!
2/13/2010: Dan Pederson kicked it on his shodan exam!
Congratulations, Daniel-san.
1/5/2010: Congratulations to Nate Hill and Melissa Ranum on
passing their nikyu exams!
12/1/2009: Tom Thiel had a fine Ikkyu (first brown) test today. And his wife got to watch!
11/7/2009: Gina Fiore had a fine green belt (yonkyu) exam! We're sorry she's moving to Switzerland.
10/9/2009: Juha Nyman passed his shodan exam and awaits approval from the Board of Professors of the American Judo & Jujitsu Federation to be recognized as a black belt. Congratulations!
7/21/2009: Dan Buck passed his gokyu exam, coming back strong from a broken foot! And Melissa Ranum and Nate Hill became our newest brown belts, passing their sankyu tests in exemplary fashion! Congratulations to all.
5/5/2009: Congratulations to Jeff Johnson and Gina Fiore on passing their gokyu exams!
5/3/2009: The teens' class (ages 12-17, actually) resumes May 3,
2009. Still charging just $10/month. Classes are from 4-5 p.m., but we can
extend them if necessary.
4/19/2009: A hearty yahoo! for Melissa Ranum and Nate Hill, who
took 2nd and 3rd places, respectively, in the senior yonkyu division of the AJJF
National Freestyle Contest in Costa Mesa, Calif.
12/2/2008: Congratulations to Chad Snyder for passing his yonkyu test with his usual panache!
11/29/2008: Tom Thiel did an excellent job on his nikyu test today!
11/22/2008: Monique Roerdkink, Nate Hill and Melissa Ranum passed their yonkyu (green belts) exams without a hitch. Congratulations to all.
6/10/2008: Nate Hill and Melissa Ranum did a fine job on their gokyu (blue belt) exams today. Melissa bravely did a no-hand sutemi that she wasn't expecting. Although she bounced off her head, she remained composed and performed admirably in her test. Nate showed beautiful zanshin, reminding us why form is as important as substance. Congratulations to both of you.
6/7/2008: Dan Pederson passed his Ikkyu test today in fine form. Juha Nyman served as his uke. And Ward Melenich sensei was on hand to evaluate and promote Dan. A great day!
5/27/2008: Chad Snyder passed his gokyu test today after years of dedicated training. Great job, Chad.
5/10/2008: Juha Nyman earned his nikyu today! A terrific exam, Juha, congratulations. Now, for ikkyu.
4/12/2008: With the promotion of Brant Lander to sankyu, Shinzen Kai now has FIVE brown belts (plus a couple who've gone astray). Congratulations, Brant!
3/22/2008: Monique Roerdink passed her gokyu exam, and showed
her excellent kicking forms to boot!
1/26/2008: Tom Thiel passed his sankyu (brown belt) test in top
form.
10/7/2007: Elsa Browning, Jarrett Kleitz and Ben Meyer all passed their Kukyu exam! Great job!
7/15/2007: Our first kids' class included Elsa Browning, Jarrett
Kleitz and Ben Meyer. Congratulations!
5/12/2007: Frank Ginsbach passed his gokyu exam before leaving for India for a
year to study. Congratulations!
12/1/2006 - Update: We had our first class in the new dojo, and
we had a surprise visit from Sensei Ward Melenich! Juha was back on the mat
after an extended absence! Ward, Dan B. Dan P., Fedja, Juha, Brant and Chad
attended. And Frank, a new student, gave us a try. Unfortunately, we missed Tom
and Brandon. But we'll keep the lights on for them. Kuroinukan dojo sent us two
gifts: An escape from a turtle-up turnover into sankaku gatame (Tom's favorite
ne waza); and an escape from kami shiho gatame.
12/1/2006 - We're moving again. We're joining Aikido of Minnesota at its new
dojo. 710 N. Snelling Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55104. We'll be working out Tuesday
evenings, 7:15 p.m.-9:15 p.m., and Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. AJJF membership
is required.
6/17/2006 - After living as ronin for a couple of months, we moved into The
Shuharikan Dojo, 235 W. 7th St., St. Paul. What a great space!
4/15/2006 - Congratulations to Fedja Kecman on passing his sankyu test!
12/31/2005 - The first workout in the new dojo. Sensei Browning
and Dan Pederson were the only diehards on New Year's Eve! It was a fun workout,
followed by lunch and cervezas at El Loro.
12/18/2005 - Shinzen Kai hosted the second Minnesota Quarterly Danzan Ryu
clinic. The theme was Yawara with movement: Aiki movements for jujitsuka. We had
several guests from Aikido of
Minnesota who joined in the four-hour seminar led by Sensei Browning.
05/31/2005 - Eric Mader skipped over gokyu and yonkyu and passed
his sankyu exam with flying colors, despite having pulled a muscle in his
abdomen just before class.
03/08/2005 - Congratulations to Fedja Kecman for his excellent performance on
his Yonkyu (green belt) exam!
01/11/2005 - Congratulations to Dan Pederson for his promotion to Nikkyu Rank!
11/12/2004 - Congratulations to Brandon Johnson for his promotion to Sankyu
Rank!
04/14/2004 - Congratulations to Fedja Kecman for his excellent performance on
his gokyu (blue belt) exam!
06/11/2003 - Congratulations to Brandon Johnson for his promotion to Yonkyu
Rank!
05/27/2003 - Congratulations to Dan Pederson and Juha Nyman for their promotion
to Sankyu Rank!
03/28/2003 - 03/30/2003 - Dan Pederson and Dan Browning attend the AJJF National
Convention in San Ramon, Calif. Also attending were Ward, Sohn, Randy and Leah
from Duluth. Browning was promoted to sandan at the convention, despite
completely dislocating a finger in the middle of his test (he finished the
technique). Sohn was promoted to yodan. And Randy was promoted to shodan.
02/09/2002 - Feb. 9, 2003 - Dan Pederson was promoted to Yonkyu. Way to go Dan!
11/29/2002 - Kim Husband was promoted to Gokyu. Great job, Kim.
05/21/2002 - Congratulations to Aaron for his promotion to Sankyu Rank! - Pic #1
- Pic #2 - Congratulatory Throws (3mb) - DiVX Version
04/22/2002 - Midwest Judo & Jujitsu is sponsoring a very special 20th Annual
Camp Kodenkan Midwest this year on July 26, 27, 28, 2002 (Fri p.m. to Sun
afternoon) in Chicagoland. For more information see
www.midwestjujitsu.org
04/17/2002 - Ward Melenich, Sensei of Kuroinukan in Duluth, taught a special two
hour seminar on mat work and shime waza. Included among the favorites was the
dreaded Udo choke, named after Quellmalz Udo, a famous German judoka.
03/11/2002 - At the 54th annual AJJF Convention, sensei Dan Browning was named
editor of the Kiai Echo, the quarterly journal of the American Judo and Jujitsu
Federation. Ward Melenich, sensei of Kuroinukan in Duluth, was named publisher.
Dan Browning also competed in the nidan division of the national AJJF Freestyle
Contest.
03/11/2002 - Sensei Dan Browning attended the 54th annual AJJF Convention.
02/18/2002 - Dan Pederson and Sensei Dan Browning attended the annual Duluth
Winter Clinic. Prof. Geoff Lane led the clinic, which had a theme of "zanshin."
Prof. Lane brought his extensive knowledge of freestyle jujutsu to Minnesota,
preparing Shinzen Kai for the first statewide freestyle contest. Stay tuned...
02/02/2002 - Sensei Dan Browning and webmaster Juha Nyman were certified for
taping techniques at the Duluth Clinic Feb. 2.
01/16/2002 - Ken Johnson and Sensei Dan Browning competed Jan. 16 in the annual
Minnesota Jujutsu Kata Contest. Each won their divisions, though they had no
competitors.
01/13/2002 - Congratulations to Dan for his promotion to Gokyu Rank!
01/11/2002 - The 54th Annual AJJF Convention is coming!
March 8-10, 2002
John Ascagua's Nugget
Sparks, Nevada (next to Reno)
Hosted by High Sierra Jujitsu
For more information click here
12/23/2001 - Congratulations to Ken for his promotion to Gokyu Rank!
12/04/2001 - The following AJJF sanctioned events are coming up:
- All MN AJJF Kata Contest
January 16th, 2002 7-9pm at The Kuroinukan (No pre-registration required)
- AJJF Taping Clinic
February 2nd, 2002 10-4pm at The Kuroinukan (Register before 30th on January to
Ward Melenich)
- Duluth Winter Clinic
February 15-18th (President's Day Weekend), 2002 at The Kuroinukan (Register
before 25th on January to Ward Melenich
11/27/2001 - New Shinzenkai website Opened, welcome!