Brazilian Santa Makes An Early Stop At Codella Christmas Party!

Last month the Codella Academy Family got together for our annual Christmas Party. The hosts, Mrs. Rita Codella and Prof. Mike Codella transformed our spacious facility into a casual and comfy winter wonderland. The team was in full force, accompanied by family and friends. It was great to see everyone mingling, catching up with one another, and in typical Codella fashion, busting each others chops! The laughs, positive energy and holiday spirit were palpable and flowing abundantly throughout the evening. I must give a huge shout out to one of the event's caterers, our very own Big Joe Terranova, for the delicious entrees he prepared!
Traditionally Prof. Codella will take the opportunity to promote a select few to their next rank at the annual event. That evening was particularly special because a whole platoon of our warriors were promoted! A total of 27 teammates were slapped with their new belts; the procession being kicked off by the Professor's son, and my favorite assistant coach, Santino Codella earning his green belt. In all, there were six brown belts, eleven purple belts and nine blue belts promoted. I truly believe that this unique graduation ceremony is a testament to the continual growth and  technical skill development of our fine academy; commencing with the exceptional quality of instruction imparted by our esteemed Professor and the hard charging, non slacking warriors that bring it day in and day out on the mats at Codella Academy. Undoubtedly, steel sharpens steel!

The belt recipients listed by rank and in alphabetical order are as follows:

Brown Belt- 1. Ramy Awad   2. Will Couchon    3. Mark Feliccia     4. Mike Katz
    
                    5. Joe Peteroy   6. Mike Sipolo

  Purple Belt- 1. Ashley Aston  2. Cesar Brenes    3. Bobby Brown    

                      4. Anton Lischenko   5. Albert Medina    6. Mike Mongelli   

                     7. John Norman    8. Sam Rivera   9. Nick Scianna   10. Dane St. Cyr  

                    11. Joe Terranova

 Blue Belt-    1. Mike Bartolo  2. Mike Cresci  3. Jose Fortuna   4. Dean Kiel
                                                                               
                     5. Jason Incardone  6. Eric Serrano  7. Scott Schulman 

                    8. George Sukkarieh     9. Anthony Tosca     

Green Belt-  Santino Codella         

Prof. Gerry Fajardo, Bobby, Prof. Mike Codella, Joe T. Nick. 

Eric, Jose, Scott, Anthony, Albert & Jason.

Will & Prof. Codella.

Anthony, Bobby, Joe P., Joe T., Mike Mongelli & Albert.

Big Al & Ramy.

Carl, Big Joe T. & Pete.

Hawaii Mike Sipolo & Prof. Codella

Anthony Tosca, Mike Katz, Prof. Codella, Mike Sipolo, John Norman, Mike Bartolo & Jimmy Kelly (rear)

Me and Prof.  Mike Codella

 Congratulations to all who were promoted! Now let's get back to the grind and work hard to achieve all of our BJJ goals!