Personal information | |
---|---|
Born | Tokyo, Japan | June 22, 1942
Sport | |
Country | Canada |
Sport | Judo |
Rank | Kudan (9th dan) |
Club | Shidokan |
Hiroshi Nakamura CM (born 22 June 1942) is a Japanese and Canadian judoka, one of only five Canadian judoka to achieve the rank of Kudan (9th dan), and has been deeply involved in the development of Canadian Judo. He has coached the Olympic judo team five times, was inducted into the Judo Canada Hall of Fame in 1998, was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 2013, and was inducted into the Canadian Olympic Committee Hall of Fame in 2019. [1] [2] [3] In 2023, he was awarded the Order of Sport, marking his induction into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. [4] [5] Nakamura trains future Olympians at the Shidokan Judo Club, a training club that he opened in 1973. [5]
Alfred Harold Douglas Rogers was a Canadian Olympic competitor in judo, and the first Canadian to win an Olympic medal in the sport. He was an honoured member in the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame. His best results were a silver medal in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and a gold medal at the Pan American Games, in 1967. He was a student of Masahiko Kimura.
Nicolas Gill is a Canadian judoka who competed at four consecutive Olympic Games. He is a two-time Olympic medalist, receiving a bronze in the middleweight (86 kg) division at his inaugural Olympiad in Barcelona. He received a silver medal in the men's half-heavyweight (100 kg) division at the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics.
Keith Morgan is a retired judoka from Canada, who competed in four consecutive Summer Olympics, and won four medals at the Pan American Games.
Kelita Zupancic is a judoka from Canada. Zupancic won gold medals for Canada at the 2010, 2013 and 2015 Pan Am judo championships.
Karen Valerie Briggs MBE is a British retired judoka. Internationally active throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Briggs was a multiple World (four-time) and European (five-time) champion, represented Great Britain at the 1992 Olympic Games, and won gold for England at the 1990 Commonwealth Games. She is a member of the IJF Hall of Fame, and recognised as one of the most successful British and female judoka of all time.
Mark Berger is a Ukrainian-born Canadian judoka. He won the gold medal in the men's heavyweight judo event at the 1983 Pan American Games and a bronze medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics. He also competed in sambo, winning silver at the 1988 World Championships.
The Japanese martial art and combat sport judo has been practised in Canada for over a century. The first long-term judo dojo in Canada, Tai Iku Dojo, was established by a Japanese immigrant named Shigetaka "Steve" Sasaki in Vancouver in 1924. Sasaki and his students opened several branch schools in British Columbia and even trained RCMP officers until 1942, when Japanese Canadians were expelled from the Pacific coast and either interned or forced to move elsewhere in Canada due to fears that they were a threat to the country after Japan entered the Second World War. When the war was over, the government gave interned Japanese Canadians two options: resettle in Canada outside of the 'Japanese exclusion zone' or emigrate to Japan.
Hugh Raymond Takahashi is a wrestler, judoka, coach, lecturer, and author who represented Canada in wrestling at the 1976 and 1984 Summer Olympic Games, the 1982 and 1983 Wrestling World Championships, the 1978 and 1982 Commonwealth Games, and the 1983 Pan-American Games. Takahashi won gold in the Flyweight division at the Commonwealth Games, and placed fourth at his second Olympic Games. He holds 16 Canadian national wrestling titles and was inducted into the Canadian Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1991. He is also ranked san-dan in the Japanese martial art Judo, the son of noted Canadian judoka Masao Takahashi and June Takahashi, and the brother of fellow Olympian Phil Takahashi and Olympic coach Tina Takahashi.
Shigetaka "Steve" Sasaki was a Japanese and Canadian judoka who founded the first judo club in Canada and is considered the 'Father of Canadian Judo'. After establishing the Tai Iku Dojo in Vancouver in 1924, Sasaki and his students opened several branch schools in British Columbia and also trained RCMP officers until 1942, when Japanese Canadians were expelled from the Pacific coast and either interned or forced to move elsewhere in Canada due to fears that they were a threat to the country after Japan entered the Second World War. When the war was over, the government required interned Japanese Canadians to either resettle in Canada outside of British Columbia's 'Japanese exclusion zone' or emigrate to Japan.
Sagi Aharon Muki is an Israeli Olympic and former world champion half-middleweight judoka. Muki is the 2019 World Champion. He also won the 2015 and 2018 European championships. In the mixed team event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Muki was a member of the Israeli team that won the bronze medal.
Christa Deguchi is a Japanese-born Canadian judoka. She is the reigning Olympic champion in the women's 57 kg event, after winning gold at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Her victory made her the first ever Canadian to win gold in judo at the Olympics.
Jessica Klimkait is a Canadian Judoka who competes in the women's 57 kg category. In 2021 she became Canada's second judo world champion, defeating Momo Tamaoki of Japan in the women's lightweight (57 kg) final at the championships in Budapest, Hungary; the win also qualified her for the Tokyo Olympic Games. She won one of the bronze medals in the women's 57 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Priscilla Gagné is a partially blind Canadian judoka. She won a silver medal at the 2020 Summer Paralympics.
Raymond Damblant is a French and Canadian judoka, one of only five Canadian judoka to achieve the rank of kudan, and has been deeply involved in the development of Canadian Judo, especially in Quebec. He has refereed at three Olympics and six World Judo Championships, coached the Canadian judo team on multiple occasions, held multiple positions on Judo Canada's executive committee, served as the founding President of Judo Quebec, and was inducted into the Judo Canada Hall of Fame in 1996.
Yeiji "Lanky" Inouye was a Canadian judoka, is one of only five Canadian judoka to achieve the rank of Kudan, and was deeply involved in the development of judo in Canada. He was President of Judo British Columbia, Coach for the 1969 Canadian World Judo Championships team, Chairman of the National Grading Board, inducted into the Judo Canada Hall of Fame in 2001, and inducted into the Victoria Hall of Fame in 2018. Inouye co-founded the Victoria Judo Club in 1957.
Yuzuru "Jim" Kojima is a Canadian judoka who has been deeply involved in the development of Canadian Judo, and was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1983 and decorated with the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette in 2011 for his efforts. He has been the President of Judo Canada, Director of the International Judo Federation Referee Commission, Chair of the 1993 World Judo Championships in Hamilton, Ontario, and was inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame in 2023.
Mamoru "Moe" Oye is a Canadian judoka, one of only five Canadian judoka to achieve the rank of kudan, and has been deeply involved in the development of Canadian Judo, especially in Manitoba. He has served as President of Judo Manitoba and Vice-President of Judo Canada, coached Olympic competitors Mark Berger, Ewan Beaton, and Niki Jenkins, and was inducted into the Judo Canada Hall of Fame in 1996 and the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 2000. He was promoted to kudan in January 2021.
Carl "Dutchie" Schell was a Canadian judoka who played a significant role in the development of judo in Canada, especially New Brunswick. Schell established the first judo club in New Brunswick at the Saint John YMCA in 1958, then co-founded the Shimpokai Judo Club with Harry Thomas, John Crawford, Doug Kearns, and Ken Meeting in Saint John in 1959. He also founded the New Brunswick Kodokan Black Belt Association in 1961, served as its President and in other executive roles, served as Atlantic vice-president of Judo Canada, and coached the New Brunswick judo team. Schell was inducted into the Saint John Sports Hall of Fame in 2000, the Judo Canada Hall of Fame in 2003, and the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.