This is a list of highly notable judoka (judo practitioners).
A number of living judoka have been promoted to 10th dan by the Olympic Games-affiliated International Judo Federation. Some national (country) associations, continental unions and independent (often multi-style) bodies have also promoted judoka to 10th dan.
Only fifteen people have been promoted to 10th dan by the Kōdōkan. Twelve were promoted between 1935 and 1984. [3] The other three were promoted together on 8 January 2006. However, as of October 2022-end, all three of the 2006 promotion receivers are deceased. [4]
Judo is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport, and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally. Judo was created in 1882 by Kanō Jigorō as an eclectic martial art, distinguishing itself from its predecessors due to an emphasis on "randori" instead of kata alongside its removal of striking and weapon training elements. Judo rose to prominence for its dominance over established jujutsu schools in tournaments hosted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, resulting in its adoption as the department's primary martial art. A judo practitioner is called a "judoka", and the judo uniform is called "judogi".
Antonius Johannes Geesink was a Dutch 10th dan judoka. He was the first non-Japanese judoka to win gold at the World Judo Championships, a feat he accomplished in 1961 and 1965. He was also an Olympic Champion, having won gold at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Japan, and won a record 21 European Judo Championships during his career.
Keiko Fukuda was a Japanese-American martial artist. She was the highest-ranked female judoka in history, holding the rank of 9th dan from the Kodokan (2006), and 10th dan from USA Judo and from the United States Judo Federation (USJF), and was the last surviving student of Kanō Jigorō, founder of judo. She was a renowned pioneer of women's judo, and in 1972 together with her senpai Masako Noritomi (1913–1982) was one of the first two women promoted to 6th dan. In 2006, the Kodokan promoted Fukuda to 9th dan, making her the first woman to hold this rank from any recognized judo organization. She is also the first and, so far, only woman to have been promoted to 10th dan in judo, which occurred in 2011. After completing her formal education in Japan, Fukuda visited the United States to teach in the 1950s and 1960s, and eventually settled there. She continued to teach her art in the San Francisco Bay Area until her death in 2013.
The Kodokan Judo Institute (公益財団法人講道館), or Kōdōkan (講道館), is the headquarters of the worldwide judo community. The kōdōkan was founded in 1882 by Kanō Jigorō, the founder of judo, and is now an eight-story building in Tokyo.
Minoru Mochizuki was a Japanese martial artist who founded the dojo Yoseikan. He was a 10th dan in Aikido, 9th dan in Jujutsu, 8th dan in Iaido, 8th dan in Judo, 8th dan in Kobudo, 5th dan in Kendo, 5th dan in Karate, and a 5th dan in Jojutsu.
Charles Stuart William Palmer was a British martial artist. Palmer was a judo instructor, President of the Budokwai, President of the British Judo Association (1961–1985), President of the International Judo Federation (1965–1979) and Chairman of the British Olympic Association (1983–1988). Palmer was a judoka who attained the sport's highest rank of 10th dan black belt.
Yasuhiro Yamashita is a Japanese judoka. He currently works as an instructor or advisor for numerous organizations, including Tokai University, the International Judo Federation, and the All Japan Judo Federation. He retired from competitive judo on 17 June 1985 after a remarkable career where he won five gold medals in international competitions and marked 203 consecutive victories until his retirement where he went undefeated his entire career against non-Japanese wrestlers. He received the Japanese National Prize of Honor on 9 October 1984. He is considered by many to be the greatest judoka ever.
Kanō Jigorō was a Japanese judoka, educator, politician, and the founder of judo. Judo was one of the first Japanese martial arts to gain widespread international recognition, and the first to become an official Olympic sport. Pedagogical innovations attributed to Kanō include the use of black and white belts, and the introduction of dan ranking to show the relative ranking among members of a martial art style. Well-known mottoes attributed to Kanō include "maximum efficiency minimal effort" and "mutual welfare and benefit".
Yasuyuki Muneta is a Japanese judoka. He won two gold medals and a silver medal at the World Judo Championships.
Hitoshi Saito was a Japanese judoka who won two consecutive gold medals at the Olympic games.
Hirotaka Okada is a retired judoka who competed in the –78 kg and –86 kg divisions.
Shokichi Natsui was a Japanese judoka from the Akita Prefecture. He became the first world champion in judo, winning the title at the 1956 World Judo Championships in Tokyo, by beating Yoshihiko Yoshimatsu in the final. As there were no weight classes in the world championships until 1965, Natsui was the only champion in 1956.
Naoki Murata was an 8th dan Japanese judoka and author. He has written many books about judo. He was also the curator of the Kodokan Judo Museum in Tokyo.
In judo, improvement and understanding of the art is denoted by a system of rankings split into kyū and dan grades. These are indicated with various systems of coloured belts, with the black belt indicating a practitioner who has attained a certain level of competence.
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.
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.
Sumiyuki Kotani was a Japanese martial artist. He was a member of the 1932 Japanese Olympic wrestling team. He was one of the highest-ranked judoka, and was awarded a 10th dan in April 1984 by the Kodokan. He was for a long time the oldest 10th dan until Ichiro Abe was awarded the rank age of 83 years. Kotani studied at the Tokyo College of Education and studied judo directly under Jigoro Kano. As a young man, he was known to take on any challenges. Kotani was very active in promoting judo throughout the world and was the director of the international division at the Kodokan for many years. He was also a professor at Tokai University. He was the Kodokan's top representative and vice president of the All Japan Judo Federation. He died on October 19, 1991.
There are three main organizations that govern judo in the United States. The United States Judo Federation (USJF) started in 1952. The concentration of the USJF is on the east and west coasts, but also in Chicago and Hawaii. The United States Judo Association (USJA) was founded in 1968 as an extension of the Armed Forces Judo Association (AFJA) when it broke off from the USJF to focus on a more Americanized structure. The USJA is mostly concentrated in California and Florida, but also popular in the Midwest and Southeast. The United States Judo, Inc. (USJI), doing business as USA Judo, was founded in 1978 and has its headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It is slightly larger than the USJA and USJF, as they have crossover members from both of these organizations, since they are the designated national governing body of the USOC for the Olympics.
The Mixed Team tournament in Judo at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics was held on August 21 at the Longjiang Gymnasium.