Sempai Judo Academy

Mr Jake Pursell is also a Nidan under Sensei Reinders at Sempai Judo. Mr. Pursell teaches smaller more private classes to law enforcement and veterans on implementing Judo into real life scenarios and applications specializing in law enforcement applications.

Sebastian Barber-Holmes is a Nidan with Sempai Judo. He started Judo with Sensei Reinders when he was a young kid and earned his Shodan in 2022. He currently teaches Monday evenings and is working towards his Sandan.

Come out and support these kids traveling to the Presidents Cup and Dallas Invitational which takes place in November. Two junior national judo tournaments back to back in one weekend. Kids are training really hard so please come support them!

Next up, Samantha Reinders. Ms Reinders is a Nidan and a National Level Coach. She currently is the juniors coach and runs the junior program at Sempai Judo Academy.

Mr Glenn Korban joined Sempai Judo after moving here from California. Mr. Korban trained under Sensei Gary Goltz where he earned his Shodan and achieved his Nidan through Reinders Sensei. Mr. Korban teaches Wednesday evenings.

Mr. Yamamoto started Judo in Tokyo where he earned his Shodan. Some years later he joined Sempai Judo with his two daughters and has been a vital part of our program. He's currently a Yodan in Judo, a certified Continental Coach through USA Judo. Mr Yamamoto is the current Kata coach for Team Sempai and helps coach at Jr National Tournaments.

Our head Sensei is Jason Reinders. Reinders Sensei is currently a Rokudan in Judo, an International Coach through USA Judo, and a Master Certified Rank Examiner. Reinders Sensei has over 34 years of experience in Judo with over 26 years of coaching and running Sempai Judo Academy.

With as many classes as we offer and the amount of newer students, it's time we introduce our instructors. Over the next couple weeks we are going to post each instructor and a short bio about them!

Had some black belt testing today at Sempai. Congrats to Emilie Burki on your promotion to Shodan, Logan Risser to Shodan, Tanner Hawkins to Nidan, and Kengo Minamino to Yodan!