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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.
Vincent Grifo is a Canadian judoka who represented Canada in the 1969 World Judo Championships in the -80 kg category. He also coached the Canadian Olympic judo team in 1984, was an Olympic referee in 1980, 1988, and 1992, was President of Judo Canada from 2008-2012, and was added to the Judo Canada Hall of Fame in 2005. He is currently the technical director at the Club de judo Métropolitain in Montreal, Quebec, which he founded in 1968.
Hiroshi Nakamura is a Japanese 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. 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. In 2023, he was awarded the Order of Sport, marking his induction into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. Nakamura trains future Olympians at the Shidokan Judo Club, a training club that he opened in 1973.
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.
Minoru "Frank" Hatashita was the first Canadian judoka to achieve the rank of hachidan and was deeply involved in the development and promotion of Judo in Canada. He was the President of the Canadian Kodokan Black Belt Association for 18 years, President of the Pan-American Judo Union, Vice-President of the International Judo Federation, and Doug Rogers' coach at the 1964 Summer Olympics, where Rogers won silver. Hatashita was inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 1975 and the Judo Canada Hall of Fame in 1996.
Yves M. LeGal is a French and Canadian judoka and retired professor of surgery who is considered the 'Father of Judo in Newfoundland and Labrador' for his work in developing and promoting judo in the province after moving there in 1968. He was Director of University Judo for Judo Canada, coached the Canadian University Judo Team, founded and served as President of the Newfoundland and Labrador Judo Association, and was inducted into the Sport Newfoundland and Labrador Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Judo Canada Hall of Fame in 2003. He also played a major role in the development of judo in Saskatchewan, serving as the chief instructor at six clubs and training 22 students to shodan in the province from 1953 to 1968. Since retirement from Memorial University LeGal has moved to Vancouver Island and serves as an instructor at the Nanaimo Judo Club.
Goki Uemura is a Canadian judoka who represented Canada in the 1973 World Judo Championships in the -70 kg category. He is one of just seventeen Canadian judoka to achieve the rank of hachidan and co-founded the Shin Bu Kan Judo Club in Etobicoke, Ontario in 1982, which later relocated in Mississauga, Ontario and is now also known as the Mississauga Judo Club.
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.
Glynn Arthur Leyshon was a Canadian wrestler and university professor who played a significant role in the development of wrestling in Canada. As a wrestler himself, Leyshon won the Ontario–Quebec University Wrestling Championships in 1953 and 1954, but his most noteworthy contributions to wrestling are in organizing and coaching. He organized and established rules for high school wrestling in Ontario, founded the London–Western Wrestling Club, co-founded the Ontario Wrestling Officials Association, founded and served as President of the Canadian Amateur Wrestling Association, and was the Athletic Director of the University of Western Ontario. Leyshon also coached Western's wrestling team from 1964–1980 and the Canadian national wrestling team from 1966–80. He was meant to be 1976 Olympic coach but was unable to accept the role because he could not secure a leave of absence from his university position in time, and was named the 1980 Olympic coach but Canada boycotted the 1980 Olympic Games in protest of the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan. Leyshon is a member of the Western Mustangs Sports Hall of Fame, the London Sports Hall of Fame, and the Canadian Amateur Wrestling Hall of Fame.
The Japanese martial art and combat sport judo has been practised in the Canadian province of British Columbia since the early 1900s, and it was the only place in the country where judo was practised prior to the Second World War. 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 British Columbia or emigrate to Japan. Some returned to the Pacific coast after 1949, but most found new homes in other provinces. Those that did return, many of whom were fishermen, worked hard to rebuild the community that they had lost, and today there are about 50 judo clubs throughout the province.
The Japanese martial art and combat sport judo has been practised in the Canadian province of New Brunswick since 1955.
The Japanese martial art and combat sport judo has been practised in the Canadian province of Ontario since 1942.
The Japanese martial art and combat sport judo has been practised in the Canadian province of Quebec since 1946.
The Japanese martial art and combat sport judo has been practised in the Canadian province of Alberta since 1943.
The Japanese martial art and combat sport judo has been practised in the Canadian province of Manitoba since the 1940s.
Andrzej Sądej is a Polish and Canadian judoka who competed as a member of the Polish national judo team and has played a major role in the development of high-level judo in Canada. He coached the Canadian national judo team from 1990–96, has held a wide variety of administrative positions at Judo Canada including Sports Director and Executive Director since 1998, and has coached the Canadian Paralympic team since 2014.
References
- ↑ Gill, Nicolas; Leyshon, Glynn (2019). Judoka: The History of Judo in Canada (Second ed.). Montreal: Marcel Broquet. p. 116.
- ↑ "Hiroshi Nakamura and Raymond Damblant promoted to Kudan by Judo Canada". Judo Canada. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
- ↑ "Raymond Damblant: "Judo in Canada has evolved"". International Judo Federation. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
- ↑ Gill, Nicolas; Leyshon, Glynn (2019). Judoka: The History of Judo in Canada (Second ed.). Montreal: Marcel Broquet. pp. 116–17.
