On January 18^th, 2008, Gabrielle Drewes was named the 2007 Youth Student of the Year for United Studios of Self Defense in Livermore.  The Student of the Year awards are given annually to the youth and adult students who have displayed the greatest amount of growth not only as a martial artist, but also as an individual.  With so many qualified candidates, selecting only one is a task bordering on the impossible.

            During 2007, Gabrielle, who turned six years old just in December, displayed a tremendous amount of effort into achieving the rank of blue belt.  She started with USSD in November of 2005, a month before her fourth birthday.  In the two years she’s been training, Gabrielle has grown from a girl who was so shy she often had to be convinced to take a class, to being one of the leaders of the Livermore dojo, regardless of age.  Many of the adult students even talk about how she performs her various routines, how she spars, but more importantly, how she handles herself mentally in class.

            Gabrielle can be trusted to work with any student of any age or rank.  In her class of four to eight year olds, Gabrielle will often ask to work with a student taking their first or second class so she can help the new student learn the material, and especially at only six years old, she’s an amazingly gifted teacher.  She has helped several new students get acclimated to the school, and will often help those new students with tasks such as tying their belt, showing them how to bow, and explaining various rules of the school to them.

            On September 22^nd, 2007, Gabrielle tested, and passed a test that promoted her from purple to blue belt.  Gabrielle was a purple belt for over a year, showing a tremendous amount of patience to reach blue belt.  She has also shown amazing improvement in her stances, power, speed, and many other areas.  In October, she competed in a tournament where she placed 2^nd in sparring, and 4^th in her forms event, while competing against opponents much bigger and taller than she.  In her sparring class, she’s gained a reputation for being one of the toughest people to spar against, but yet knowing that they’re safe sparring her at the same time.

            Past winners of this award are Al Russell from 2005, and Nathan Coats from 2006.  Other finalists for the award this year were Max DeSantis, Michael Butterfield, Mattea Maroney, Kevin Taylor and Garren Weiss.

            For more information about the student of the year awards and other special events at United Studios, please call 925-449-1746