When Escape is Not an Option

It is time for the free annual women's self-defense seminar. Feb 9th 2020. See you there!

As of December 2019 the Karate-Jujitsu youth class will be the family class. Adults can join and train side by side with the youth in the same time slot at the same price per student. Several parents indicated they would be signing up right away. We are looking forward to the opportunity to share our martial system with more adults.

Professor Don Cross held his second Danzan Ryu jujitsu black belt seminar last weekend (June 29th 2019) at the Emerald Dragon Dojo. Last November (2018) had a good turnout but this one included all of the November crowd and a few extra. The black belts and instructors attending came from the Los Angeles area, Portland and Olympia Washington. It is pretty amazing watching the high level of skill presented by the senior level instructors that attend. They are constantly looking to improve or augment all of their techniques by making an effort to discuss and train alternative approaches and explore variations. One statement Prof Cross has mentioned several times is the DZR organization firmly believes the jujitsu performed today is superior to the original jujitsu the professors learned in their youth.

The free River Road Park 2019 self-defense seminar was a big hit. We had a record 49 participants. We managed the group with 2 Master instructors, 3 instructors and 3 assistants.

Self Defense tommorow at the River Road Park prairie road annex (Gymnastics NW). We have 59 registered participants. We expect at least 40 will show up. Sensei DeHart started this event in 2005 and this is definitely the highest registration count. We have jujitsu, karate and taekwondo instructors and their students to help bring the event to life. We always have a lot of fun and the participants come away feeling empowered.

We are scheduled to hold our annual women's self-defense seminar on Sunday, Feb 10th 2019, from noon to 4:30(ish). Hope to see returning participants as well as new people. As usual we are making minor changes to better transmit various self-defense concepts and methods. See you there!

Youth karate/jujitsu class May 2018. The class size has nearly doubled over the summer. Looking forward to having several young colored belts in the next few years.

The Emerald Dragon Dojo experienced our first Jujitsu Black Belt test. Tim M. tested for over 4-hours and performed more that 100 Jujitsu techniques. He also performed the Kata Seisan in honor of the karate Sensei in attendance (Sensei DeHart and Sensei Hulegaard). Professor Cross invited some of the senior dojo students to observe and two Black Belts of Danzan-Ryu Jujitsu as Tim's partners (uke's). Tim impressed all present. Tim's next step is to take the formal exam from the AJJF (American Judo and Jujitsu Federation) in mid August. Professor Cross is a senior instructor in the AJJF and will be at the promotion but not evaluating Tim. Good luck to our friend Tim M.

Our Feb 2018 seminar went very well. Attended and taught by myself, Professor Don Cross of Danzan-Ryu Jujitsu and Master John Camp of Bailey's Traditional Taekwondo College.

Join us for a Free Self-defense Seminar, Sunday, February 11th, 2018. River Road Park has sponsored this event since 2005. The Karate, Jujitsu and Taekwondo instructors of the Gymnastics Northwest Martial Arts Center present a four hour seminar to learn practical self-defense techniques and self-protection strategies. The event is specifically designed for women but is just as useful to men and children. Pre-register at 541-688-8955.

Starting September 5th, 2017, Professor Don Cross of Danzan-Ryu Jujitsu joins the Karate and Self-defense class that has been continuously meeting every Tuesday and Thursday evening since 2001. We are merging into a jointly taught Jujitsu and Karate class. A youth class designed for ages 7 to 13 meets from 6:30pm to 7:15. The adults class, for ages 14 and up, follows immediately after at 7:15 and ends at 8:30. By adopting and modifying the Fundamentals Course from the Danzan-Ryu Jujitsu curriculum the student will learn both art forms simultaneously for the first year or so. At that point the student can declare which program to pursue for advanced colored belt ranking. Students can also chose to pursue ranking in both Karate and Jujitsu. Shorin-Ryu Karate Sensei Dave DeHart, Kenjitsu and Karate Sensei David Hulegaard, and Professor Cross will share teaching duties and facility space.

On July 20th 2017 Garrett Obie (kneeling in front) was promoted to Shodan/Black Belt 1st Degree in Karate. Garrett’s instructors standing right to left are Professor Don Cross, Hachidan-8th Degree Danzan-Ryu Jujitsu, Sensei Dave DeHart, Sandan-3rd Degree Shorin-Ryu Karate, and Sensei David Hulegaard, Nidan-2nd Degree Karate and Nidan Kenjitsu (Japanese Sword).