The History of Santa Rosa Judo Club

 

Origins: (2001)

The history of Santa Rosa Judo Club spans more than a century of Judo instruction, connecting the club to the Kodokan and to many of the individuals who shaped American Judo.

 

Santa Rosa Judo Clubs story begins at the turn of the millenium; when Coach Terry Kelly, USJA Master Rank Examiner and Nanadan (7th Degree Black Belt) was still running the Judo program at the Santa Rosa Junior College Judo Club. Coach Kelly was a student of Philip S. Porter, one of the principal founders and later President of the United States Judo Association (USJA). Porter was among the most influential figures in American Judo, serving as founder and director of the National Judo Institute (NJI) in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he developed coaching systems, educational programs, and technical standards that shaped generations of American Judoka.

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Porter studied under Walter Todd, one of the earliest Americans to train at the Kodokan in Tokyo following World War II. Todd; who was a student of Kyuzo Mifune, Kodokan Judan (10th Dan), one of the greatest exponents of Judo barring its founder, Jigoro Kano. who Mifune was a direct student of; Kano and is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most important figures in all martial arts history. Through Coach Kelly, the students that would form Santa Rosa Judo Club would inherit an instructional lineage that traces directly to the Kodokan as well as the origins of modern American Judo.

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Coach Kelly also played a formative role within the National Judo Institute alongside Philip Porter and many of Porter's senior students, helping support the development and transmission of the NJI's instructional methodology and competitive philosophy. Guided by the Institute's enduring motto, "Let It Begin Here," the NJI emphasized technical excellence, leadership, instructor development, and service—principles that remain foundational to Santa Rosa Judo Club today.

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Between 2001 and 2007, a dedicated group of athletes trained together under Coach Kelly at the now defuct Santa Rosa Junior College Judo Program. Among them were Bryan Hacke, Rebecca "Becca" Hacke, Matt Blankenheim, Joe Sapp, Amy Carlisle, Constance "Cookie" Keating, and Ben Keating. During these formative years, the group developed the core fundamental basic technical skills that would become the cornerstone of the future club.

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Ronin: (2007)

In 2007, Coach Kelly relocated to Texas, bringing an end to the Santa Rosa Junior College Judo Club as it had existed under his leadership. Although a Judo course can still be found at the Santa Rosa Junior College it is no longer formatted as it once was. 

 

Coach Kelly's departure marked the beginning of a new chapter. The original training group dispersed, carrying with them the instructional philosophy and core foundation they had developed together.

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Matt Blankenheim founded Seika Ryu Judo Club, continuing to teach and promote Judo in Sonoma County.

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Joe Sapp relocated to the Los Angeles area in late 2007, where he continued his Judo training before returning to Sonoma County in late 2012. In January 2013, he established Next Level Judo in Sebastopol, California. The club relocated to the Finley Community Center in Santa Rosa in February 2015, where it continued to grow and would eventually become the organizational seed of what is now Santa Rosa Judo Club.

 

In April 2018, after observing the successful continuation of the United States Coast Guard Two Rock Judo Club under the leadership of Constance and Ben Keating, Coach Sapp entrusted operation of Next Level Judo to them.

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Meanwhile, in 2008, Bryan Hacke and Becca Hacke assumed head coaching responsibilities for the United States Coast Guard Two Rock Judo Club in Petaluma. The club had originally been established by former Santa Rosa Junior College Judo Club student and United States Coast Guard member Jose Collazo. Bryan and Becca successfully led the program until 2013, when, following the birth of their second child, they entrusted leadership of the club to Cookie and Ben Keating. Under the Keatings' leadership, the club continued to thrive, preserving another important branch of the Santa Rosa Junior College Judo legacy.

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Cookie Keating returned to Sonoma County in 2010 after training in San Diego, while Ben Keating returned from Hawaii in 2011, where he had continued his Judo education.

 

Amy Carlisle remained active in regional Judo instruction through 2011, continuing to contribute to the development of athletes and the local Judo community.

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Although these programs operated independently for many years, they remained connected through their shared origins under Coach Terry Kelly and the instructional philosophy inherited from the National Judo Institute.

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Kintsugi: (2021)

In 2021, following the COVID-19 pandemic, the founding instructors reunited. Bryan Hacke, Rebecca "Becca" Hacke, Matt Blankenheim, Joe Sapp, Amy Carlisle, Constance "Cookie" Keating, and Ben Keating came together once again, combining more than two decades of collective experience to establish Santa Rosa Judo Club as a unified organization.

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Rather than creating an entirely new dojo, the founders reunited the original Santa Rosa Junior College training group under a single banner, preserving the instructional traditions established under Coach Terry Kelly while building a modern club for future generations.

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Today, Santa Rosa Judo Club stands as the continuation of an instructional lineage extending from Jigoro Kano through Kyuzo Mifune, Walter Todd, Philip Porter, and Terry Kelly. It also represents the reunion of a group of athletes whose shared history, developed over two decades, has been dedicated to preserving the traditions of Kodokan Judo while fostering technical excellence, mutual welfare and benefit, lifelong learning, and service to the community.

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"Let It Begin Here."
— National Judo Institute