kodokan
Tipping Off March Madness With The Week In Review
“Variety is the spice of life.”
I am trying to live up to that saying by posting about different topics that relate to martial arts or not. Anyway ….
In case you were too busy being busy, here’s what you missed:
Bulgarian Greco-Roman Wrestler Is Big In Japan: The David Beckham Of Sumo
It Happened In 1935 … Sarah Mayer, First Non-Japanese Female Judo Black Belt
The Question Is: “Honestly, Are You Really Prepared To Fight If You Have To?”
With ‘The Sensei ‘, She’s Creating Buzz In The Movie Industry And Let’s Just Face It … With A Name Like Lee Inosanto, She’s Got To Be Good
What Goes Up, Must Come Down. With This Guy, Things Appear To Be A Bit Different. Thai Action Movie Star Tony Jaa Defies The Law Of Physics.
There you have it: The Week In Review At TheMartialArtsReporter.com
Have a great Sunday!
I will be reporting again from here tomorrow.
Sarah Mayer, First Non-Japanese Female Judo Black Belt
The same year that Amelia Earhart flew from Honolulu to Oakland Ca (non-stop, of course), driving tests were introduced in Great Britain and Parker Brothers launched their game of Monopoly, the martial art of Judo awarded its first black belt to a non-Japanese female judoka.
This all happened in 1935!
Sarah Mayer started Judo in London, England at the Budokwai, which had been founded by Gunji Koizumi in 1918.
She visited Japan in the 1930′s and studied at the birthplace of Judo, better known as ‘Kodokan’.
Later she went on to study at the Kyoto Butokukai, which had been established in 1890 and was led by founder Jigoro Kano’s representatives, for about 2 years.
On March 1, 1935 the Japanese Times bore the headline “Foreign Woman wins Shodan at the Butokukai”.
To Sarah Mayer’s surprise, she was offered this rank on February 27, 1935 and was the first non-Japanese woman in the world to be awarded black belt rank in Kodokan Judo.
She returned the same year to Britain and practiced at the Budokwai for a while before setting up her own dojo in her home in Burgh Heath.
The Highest Ranking Female Judoka In The World
As you know by now, it is always a pleasure for me to post something interesting and inspirational about and for female martial artists.
Today we continue our tradition and this a big one!
Our featured female martial artist, Keiko Fukuda, was born in 1913 in Tokyo, Japan.
It wasn’t until 1935 that she actually started practicing the martial art of judo at the age of 21. Look at those dates again and be amazed like I am.
At that time, Japan and many other industrialized countries were still deeply affected by The Great Depression that started in 1929 and continued for many even until the end of World War II in 1945.
I don’t consider myself a Japanology expert, but I am pretty sure that Japanese women weren’t necessarily encouraged to pursue a martial arts career in the 1930s.
Keiko Fukuda was even exceptional in those days by flat-out rejecting an arranged marriage to do just that after being being invited to study judo by its founder Jigoro Kano himself in the newly created women’s division!
Kano had been a Jujutsu student of her grandfather, Fukuda Hachinosuke, who at one time had been a samurai.
Amazingly, today Keiko Fukuda is the last living pupil of Kano.
Empowering and inspring women about the kata (forms) of Kodokan judo, Keiko Fukuda published the instructional book Born for the Mat in 1973.
In 2001, the United States Judo Federation awarded her a rare red belt for her lifelong contribution to judo.
It was in January 2006 that the Kodokan Judo Institute also awarded her the 9th degree black belt (9th dan).
Keiko Fukuda is currently the only woman in the world to hold a 9th degree black belt from any recognized judo organization.
At the time of writing this post, Keiko Fukuda is close to 97 and I bet some of you are thinking that she probably spends her days just sitting at home in front of the TV watching The Price Is Right or whatever.
Nothing could be further from the truth, because she still teaches at the Soko Joshi Judo Club in the Noe valley district of San Francisco, California as well as at the annual Joshi Judo Camp, a camp she founded in 1974 to give women judoka an opportunity to train together.
Gentle, Strong, Beautiful, she is judo pioneer, Keiko Fukuda, the highest ranking female judoka in the world.
I am dedicating today’s post to all female martial artists. Past, current and future.
Masahiko Kimura, The Best Judoka Ever?
Can you believe this?
Even though I trained in judo for a brief period quite a long time ago, it wasn’t until I started doing research on Gracie Jiu-Jitsu and even rolling around on the mat for a short while that I became familiar with the term ‘Kimura’. And even then I thought it was just some technique that could really hurt you or your opponent, depending on who’s on the receiving end of it.
Well, after digging a bit deeper, I too finally saw the light! Man, I must have been living under a rock or something.
Masahiko Kimura (1917-1993) is considered by many the greatest Judoka to ever live. He stood 5’6″ (170 cm) tall and weighed 185 pounds (84kg).
Kimura became the youngest ever 5th-degree black belt when he was just 18 and by the time he reached the age of 29 he was a 7th dan.
In 1937, Kimura did something very remarkable: He won the All-Japan Championship and remained undefeated for the next 13 years in matches held throughout Japan.
But what he accomplished later in life on the international stage really cemented the legend of Kimura.
In 1951, he defeated Brazil’s Helio Gracie, a legend in his own right, who publicly said that he thought nobody in the world could defeat Kimura.
At age 42, Kimura faced a much bigger and younger opponent by the name of Waldemar Santana, who he even battled to a draw.
Kimura’s prime came before judo was an Olympic event, but in his senior years he trained a number of notable Olympian judokas, including Canada’s Doug Rogers, who won silver in the 1964 Tokyo Summer Games.
As far as I could find out, Kimura was never awarded beyond 7th dan and based on so many reports I am left to believe that Japanese judo officials were not quite amused with Kimura’s career moves from judo into professional wrestling.
What I find intriguing is how a guy like him standing at 5’6″ (170 cm) and weighing 185 pounds (84kg) could beat countless taller, heavier and at times way younger and faster opponents.
Kimura’s success is based on San Bai Ro Rioku. On this premise, Kimura did 300 pushups everyday in High School. While attending university he increased that number to 500.
After his first victory, Kimura decided to start doing 1,000 non-stop pushups to ensure future victories. As you can assume, doing pushups was just a small part of Kimura’s regimen. During his prime, he practiced 4 times a day, at least 6 hours every day. He trained at Taku-Shoku University, Local Clubs, Kodokan, and Police Academies.
Quite often he would practice against a tree, always at midnight. During one instance, Wushi-Zima, a two time champion, heard a commotion in the nearby woods. When he checked out the noise it turned out to be Kimura doing uchikomi against a tree. For better understanding of uchikomi: You actually practice a throw, where you take your opponent to the point just before he is thrown.
And coming full circle: So, what actually is a ‘Kimura’?
The Kimura lock is one of the most important submission holds in Jiu-Jitsu and other grappling styles. At times it referred to as hammerlock, chicken wing or ude-garami. Whatever you prefer, it is a very powerful and versatile attack. And wherever you see grapplers competing, you can be sure to see the Kimura lock used to submit opponents and win fights.
Le me know if you think that Masahiko Kimura is the best judoka ever.
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