Florida Judo Ki no Fuda's Judo History Column

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[Website Editor's note: This article ran in the paper newsletter Volume 2, Number 5 dated July 1990.] Judo Dojo in the White House Perhaps you didn't know that the introduction of Judo to the United States involved the President himself. This little story tells how it all happened. Judo techniques probably first arrived in this country during the late 1800's with Japanese immigrants, many of whom were brought over as laborers. It was about this time that some of the oldest Judo schools in our country were founded: the Shobu Kan and Shunyo Kan in Hawaii and the Rafu Dojo in Los Angeles. The "official" introduction of Judo to the United States came in 1904 during a coast-to-coast promotional tour by Dr. Jigoro Kano, the founder of Judo. During a demonstration on this tour in Washington D.C., the President, Theodore Roosevelt, was in the audience. The President was an avid sportsman who took particular interesting in boxing and participated in weekly wrestling matches. The President was fascinated by what he saw and within a week, had a section of the White House converted into a dojo. He hired as his instructor, Yoshiaki Yamashita, one of Dr. Kano's most able students, and began instruction three times a week. Sensei Yamashita grew concerned over the President's great enthusiasm in practice. As one writer put it after a particularly heavy workout, "Roosevelt was very heavy and very impetutous and it cost the poor Professor many bruisings, much worry and infinite pains during Theodore's rushes to avoid laming the President of the United States." Roosevelt's persistance paid off and he was eventually awarded a brown belt.