Larry Keith
DFCC Founder and Sensei
Larry W. Keith Jr. was born in Roseburg Oregon in 1969. In 1982, Larry began his study of martial arts with Moo Duk Kwan, under Gerald Stine in downtown Roseburg. Through the years Larry continued to study under various instructors in various arts, including Shotokan Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Muay Thai, Russian Sambo and Jiu-jitsu.
By 1989 Larry had earned black belts in Tae Kwon Do and Karate. In Spring of 1990 he met Kodokan Judo instructors, Yuzo Kato and Duane Alexenko at Umpqua Community College. Larry continued to practice other styles of martial arts, but he fell in love with Kodokan Judo. In 1995 Larry devoted himself almost exclusively to the study of Kodokan Judo and the grappling arts. Larry would work graveyard shifts, rotating relief shifts and suffer through split days off in order to never miss practice. Very often, Larry and fellow judoka, Kenneth Lane would arrive to class an hour early in order to get in extra practice time. Many times they would practice to exhaustion, sometimes to the point of vomiting or passing out. All along Kato Sensei would remind them that they would never survive in Japan. There were also many days in which after class was over, Larry would stay to grapple wrestlers and martial artists from other facilities to get as much experience as possible.
In 1997 assistant instructor, Duane Alexenko retired and Larry became Kato Sensei's assistant.Larry served as assistant instructor until 2002 when the college closed down the long running Judo program. Kato Sensei moved away and encouraged Keith Sensei to open a dojo and continue teaching Judo in Roseburg.
Over his many years of training and teaching, Keith Sensei has developed a deep understanding of martial arts strategies. His open mindedness and willingness to share this knowledge are his greatest gifts.
Being a rather large person at 6’2” and weighing over 230 lbs, Larry has worked very hard to be a technician rather than a brute. In 1999, the founder of Shen Wu, Timothy Cartmell credited Larry as being the smoothest Judoka he had ever grappled. This is quite a compliment, coming from a Brazilian Jiu-jitsu champion.
In 2000 while teaching at U.C.C., Keith Sensei met judo student, Olga Yemelyanova. Olga was an exchange student from Russia. In 2001, Larry proposed to Olga. Later that same year, Larry traveled to Russia to meet Olga's family. While there, Keith Sensei was asked to do a Judo seminar for students of Valery Maximovich Gerisimov in Yakutsk, Russia. The Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) has for centuries been a grappling people. They were very receptive and eager to learn Keith Sensei's methods.
In April of 2002, Larry and Olga were married. In September of that same year, Umpqua Community College ended their Judo program and Kato Sensei moved to Vancouver Washington. In November of 2002, Keith Sensei opened Larry Keith's Dynamic Judo and Grappling in downtown Roseburg. This would later become Dynamic Full Contact Club.
Gerasimov Sensei and other instructors were impressed enough with the 2001 seminar to petition to the Russian Judo and Sambo Federation to invite Keith Sensei to help train and coach the Republic of Sakha Judo team for the 3rd International Sports Games of Asia in 2004. Keith Sensei accepted the invitation and along with several of eastern Russia’s top Judo and Sambo instructors coached the team to victory. He also had the honor of serving on the referee board of directors for this three day international tournament.
While in Russia for the International Games of Asia, Keith Sensei met Anatoly Panayev, the Far East Russian MMA champion, and was asked to do a seminar for the Polar Bear Fight Club (the largest mixed martial arts school in the Republic of Sakha). The seminar was a smashing success and Keith Sensei is now the official submission grappling instructor for Panayev and the Polar Bear Sports Club in Yakutsk, Russia.
Larry and Olga returned to the U.S. in September of 2004. In January of 2005, they re-opened Dynamic Full Contact Club at 1520 NE Stephens in Roseburg and have since moved to 2666 NE Stephens. DFCC has continued to grow in members and good reputation. Larry Keith's training methods have produced many of the Northwest's most respected Judo, Jiu-jitsu, Sub-wrestling, and MMA athletes.
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