The Iowa State Martial Arts Club has a shining star within its judo section of the organization.

Kendra Kehrli will represent the United States in the World University Games in Taipei, Taiwan, in August. She will train in the Olympic Training Center with past and future Olympic athletes for five months before she leaves for her matches.

She will face former judo Olympians at the University World Games. If she is successful in Taiwan, she would be eligible for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. This is the first time that a member of the club has ever been recognized nationally.

“This is a dream come true. I am representing the United States in judo — who can say that?” Kehrli said. “I know I have a lot of support from not only my family, but also my second family within the judo club.”

Judo, translated from Japanese as “The Gentle Way,” is a martial art that emphasizes using the opponent’s balance and momentum against them to achieve powerful throws with minimum effort. Judo has become the world’s most widely practiced martial art, with more than 100 countries under its belt.

Kehrli, Iowa State Martial Arts Club president, is a black belt in judo and has been training at Iowa State for three years since joining during the second semester of her freshman year.

“Freshman year, I lived in [Wallace and Wilson halls], and I felt so distant from the campus because in high school, I played four different sports, so I always had something to do in my free time,” Kehrli said. “My favorite sport in high school was wrestling, but wrestling in college as a girl was different than in high school.

“I talked to my dad about transferring from Iowa State, but he told me to stick with it and to try the judo club. That has been the best decision of my life. I do not know where I would be if I didn’t make that decision.”

Kehrli practices her Judo with her teammates six days each week, only taking Saturday off to either mentor the team or train by herself.

“In judo practice, we focus on our partner, we do not want to hurt them or ourselves,” Kehrli said. “The key to judo is learning the technique of the sport. You do not need to be a superstar athlete. Judo brings nations together … The motto for the club is maximum efficiency, minimal effort.”

Kehrli has won four consecutive Judo national championships — the first was when she was a green belt, which is the third kyu stage. This stage is three belts away from the elite black belt — or in the Japanese language, “Dan belt.” The past three years, Kehrli has won the black belt elite division. She also came back as a champion for the Midwest Regionals in Illinois this year, a first for the club.

A big key to her success is her training, which she said she does three times per day. While this may seem extreme to some, she said this level of training is required to be an international athlete.

“Each week I have six different opportunities to train,” Kehrli said. “Beyond actual practice, I work out with the ROTC classes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. If I am not doing judo or training for judo, I am usually studying on my next opponents with my coach, who has been doing judo for 40 years, or working on my double major, which is animal science and business.”

Many of the martial arts members look up to Kehrli. Junior Ben Dralle, who has been a member of the club since his freshman year, had only positive things to say about Kehrli.

“Kendra is a leader to the club, she is humble, and takes her role very seriously,” Dralle said. “I know that she will do a great job representing the USA. Even though there is a lack of women in the sport of judo, she does not let that affect her. Even some of the boys are scared to go up against her because she is just that dominant.”

Kehrli’s coach, Soeren Prell, who teaches physics at Iowa State, has been doing judo for 45 years.

“Kendra puts a lot of responsibility on herself, she is extremely talented, she is the most reliable president that the club has had,” Prell said. “She organizes team trips, she is a three-time club president, she is the club captain and is an amazing leader to her teammates.”