Officer Advances to Orange Belt

From Left to Right - Connor Essery, Sensei Ryan Suhr

On March 25th, Officer Connor Essery of the Des Moines Police Department tested for and received the rank of gokyu, earning his orange belt.  This promotion comes five  months after his initial promotion to rokkyu in November of 2025. 

Conner is a frequent attendee of Monday and Wednesday adult judo classes, and occasionally stays for fundamentals classes as well.  He takes a structured, thought out and longitudinal approach to his study of Judo.  For example, after discovering he was having difficulty determining which techniques to use during randori, Connor made a weekly list of techniques to work on, limiting himself to approximately five throws each week, with only a few throws changing each weak in his schedule.  This approach not only eases the burden of the decision making process, it also forces him to work on each technique to learn its application, and overall makes the learning process less burdensome.  He can frequently be seen training with Adam Thompson.

As his training has progressed Conner has moved away from O-Soto-Gari, and become more fond of Tai-Otoshi, particularly the version he learned from Sensei Chaye Thompson in Fundamentals Class.  He’s also picked up a liking for head-roll Juji-Gatame.

OFFICER RANKS UP

From left to right - Conner Essery, Sensei Suhr, Jake Kane

On October 8th, 2025, Connor Essery, an officer with the Des Moines Police Department, earned his first promotion, becoming rokkyu and receiving his yellow belt.  Connor came to judo from a background in Brazillian Jujitsu, where he is a third stripe white belt (equivalent to a judo green belt in their ability with newaza).  Connor’s interest in understanding the roots and origins of BJJ, and in developing his upright game, led him to begin studying Judo.

Connor has been rapidly improving his upright game, particularly with his favorite throw, O-Soto-Gari.  That being said, his ground game still exceeds his upright, with his favorite submission being sankaku-jime. Conner most frequently attends Monday and Wednesday classes, staying late to to attend the fundamentals classes as well.

Off the mat, Conner engages in horseback riding and spending time with his wife.