UNUSUAL SURPRISE PROMOTION SHATTERS LONGEST WHITE BELT RECORD

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

On October 8th, 2025, at a class with only four students in attendance, a spectacle occurred in the form of a promotion.  Jake Kane, the individual being promoted, entered the Des Moines Judo Academy a white belt, only to leave as Sankyu, a brown belt.  This amazing promotion, which over the novice ranks of yellow, orange and green belt, was Jake’s first, since he began training in Judo in 2006.  Jake has not been able to training continuously, often having lengthy stretches of inactivity and time away from the dojo, but has always been greeted with open arms and a mix for familiar and new faces across the 19 years he’s been training.  Upon being promoted, he beat the previous record, held by Jason Maluilo (commonly called “Muscle Jason”) by approximately 18 years and 3 months.

Having trained extensively across several major revisions in rules, Jake is familiar with a number of Kodokan techniques no longer commonly taught due to their prohibition at tournament.  During unstructured training time he can be found practicing many of these techniques, such as Morote-Gari (“both hands reaping,” judo’s unique take on the double leg takedown), Kuchiki taoshi (“dead tree drop,” judo’s version of the single leg takedown), and Kibisu-Gaeshi (“heel trip reversal,” which wrestler’s know as an ankle pick).  As befitting someone promoted to brown belt, Jake is also familiar with moves which are still tournament legal, including his favorite throw, seoi-nage.

Off the mat, Jake enjoys spending time with his wife and four kids.