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 3, Number 4 dated July/August 1991. Dr. Sachio Ashida was one of Dr. Andre Merrill's Senseis. Dr. Ashida is an IJF-"A" Referee and was the 1976 US Olympic Judo Coach. This is only a very small part of what Dr. Ashida has done.] [Editor's note: Dr. Andre' Merrill contributed the following article written by Dr. Sachio Ashida, 8th Dan.] A Brief History of Judo in the United States by Dr. Sachio Ashida, Kodokan Hachidan (8th Degree Black Belt) Judo originated in Japan, in 1882, when its founder, Professor Jigoro Kano opened his first practice hall, the Kodokan Judo Dojo. The first contact made by the United States with true Judo was in 1889 when Professor Kano lectured on the educational value of Judo before a group of Foreign dignitaries. There were several Americans at the lecture but the contact with Judo was very slight, mostly of an informational nature with no practicing Judoists. The first American who seriously studied Judo at the Kodokan was Professor Ladd of Yale University. He went to the Kodokan in 1889. Professor Ladd studied Judo theory and techniques and acquired Nage, Katame, and Atemi wazas. He also acquired Koshiki-no-kata from Professor Kano. The number of American visitors at the Kodokan did not rise immediately after Professor Ladd's first incursion. Professor Dewey of Columbia University later went to the Kodokan to observe and receive an introduction to Judo. Professor Dewey discussed the nature of Kodokan Judo with Professor Kano, but it is not clear if he was instrumental in setting up a Judo program at Columbia. In 1902, Professor Yoshiaki Yamashita came to this country to teach Kodokan Judo. He and his wife stayed in this country for 7 years teaching Judo at the White House, Naval and Army Academies, and Harvard University. Professor Yamashita's pioneering efforts brought him many distinguished students, the most famous being Theodore Roosevelt. President Roosevelt's son was also his student, as was the grandson of Robert E. Lee. Mrs. Yamashita also taught Judo. Her most notable student was Mrs. Wordsworth. In 1903, Professor Shumeshiro Tomita came to this country representing the Kodokan. He was instrumental in furthering Judo not only in Japan but also in the United States. Professor Tomita also stayed in this country for 7 years and taught Judo at Princeton and Columbia Universities. By 1908, a total of 13 American students were studying Judo at the Kodokan. In 1909, the Kodokan officially became a foundation and two years later the Japanese Government recognized the Judo Teachers' Training Department. In 1922, the Kodokan Dan grade holders (black-belt holders) organized the Kodokan Black Belt Association (Yudanshakai) and set up the Judo Medical Research Society in 1932. When Professor Kano called Judo "a way of human development understandable by people all over the world," he was attempting to formulate an idea to organize an Internal Judo Federation. By 1912, Professor Kano had more than 9 trips abroad to create interest in Judo. By this time, many westerners, mostly sailors and merchant seamen, were training at the Kodokan. Books on Judo in foreign languages were being printed. Thus before the outbreak of World War I, Judo dojos had been set up in the United States, Great Britain, France, Canada, and India as well as in Russia, China, and Korea. In 1935, Professor Kano received the Ashi Prize for "outstanding contributors in the field of art, science and sports." Three years later he went to an International Olympic Council meeting in Cairo and succeeded in getting Tokyo nominated for the site of the 1940 Olympics, at which Judo to be included as one of the events for the first time. It turned out to be Professor Kano's crowning achievement ... although a cataclysmic World War II was to force its postponement for another quarter of a century. On his way home from that momentous conference on the board the SS Hikawa Maru on the 4th of May 1938, Professor Kano died from pneumonia at the age of 78. By 1952 there were over 66 nations throughout the world playing Judo and the International Judo Federation was founded with Mr. Resei Kano, son of Professor Kano, as its first President.