Judo in Canada

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The Japanese martial art Judo has been practised in Canada for nearly a century. The first Judo dojo in Canada, Tai Iku Dojo, was established in Vancouver in 1924 by Shigetaka "Steve" Sasaki. Sasaki and his students opened several branch schools in British Columbia up until 1940, when all dojos were shut down by the government and their Japanese members forced into internment camps due to fears that Japanese-Canadians would act against Canada on behalf of Japan during the Second World War. After the War was over, the government encouaged internees to relocate, and many of Sasaski's students went on to establish their own dojos across Canada.[1]

The Canadian Kodokan Black Belt Association was incorporated in 1956 and recognized by the International Judo Federation in 1958. Now known as Judo Canada, it is the national governing body and a federation of associations in each of the ten provinces and three territories. Today, an estimated 30,000 Canadians participate in Judo programs in approximately 400 clubs across Canada.[2]

International competition

Medal record
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place Antoine Valois-Fortier 2012
Silver medal – second place Nicolas Gill 2000
Bronze medal – third place Nicolas Gill 1992
Bronze medal – third place Mark Berger 1984
Silver medal – second place Doug Rogers 1964
Paralympic Games
Bronze medal – third place Pier Morten 2000
Bronze medal – third place Pier Morten 1992
Bronze medal – third place Eddie Morten 1988
Bronze medal – third place Pier Morten 1988
World Judo Championships
Bronze medal – third place Nicolas Gill 1999
Bronze medal – third place Nicolas Gill 1995
Silver medal – second place Nicolas Gill 1993
Bronze medal – third place Kevin Doherty 1981
Bronze medal – third place Phil Takahashi 1981
Bronze medal – third place Doug Rogers 1965

Canadians have won five Olympic medals in Judo since it was added to the Summer games in 1964. Doug Rogers won silver in the +80 kg category in 1964, Mark Berger won bronze in the +95 kg category in 1984, Nicolas Gill won bronze in the 86 kg category in 1992 and silver in the 100 kg category in 2000, and Antoine Valois-Fortier won bronze in the -81 kg category in 2012 (a video of this match is available in the 'External links' section below). Sandra Greaves became the first woman to compete for Canada in Olympic Judo in 1988. The Canadian Judo team trains at the National Training Centre in Montreal under Gill's direction.[3]

Six medals have been awarded to Canadians at the World Judo Championships. Rogers won bronze in the +80 kg category in 1965, Phil Takahashi won bronze in the -60 kg category and Kevin Doherty won bronze in the -78 kg category in 1981, and Gill won silver in the 86 kg category in 1993, bronze in 1995, and bronze in 100 kg in 1999.

Canada's greatest success in international competition, however, has been at the Pan American Games, with a total of 76 medals ranging from gold to bronze awarded since 1967 (see 'Judo at the Pan American Games' for lists of the results).

Blind Judo

Canada has also been represented in international Judo competitions for the visually impaired, which are governed by the International Blind Sports Association. Eddie Morten won bronze in the 71 kg category at the 1988 Paralympics, and his brother Pier Morten won bronze in the 65 kg category in 1988, 71 kg category in 1992, and -73 kg category in 2000.[4][5] William Morgan won bronze at the International Blind Sports World Championships in 2006, and placed fifth in the 2004 and seventh in the 2008 Paralympics, where he was Canada's only competitor.[6] Justin Karn, Tim Rees, and Tony Walby will represent Canada in the 2012 Paralympics. Tom Thompson, head instructor at the Brantford Judo Club, has coached the national Judo team at the last three Paralympics.[7] A video of Morgan explaining Paralympic Judo is available in the 'External links' section below.

Public service

Three judoka have been awarded Membership in the Order of Canada, the country's second highest civilian honour of merit, for outstanding contributions to their communities through Judo: James Driscoll of Belleville, Ontario (1978), Yuzuru Kojima of Richmond, British Columbia (1983), and Yoshio Senda of Lethbridge, Alberta (2007).[8][9][10]

Four judoka are members of the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame: Doug Rogers as an athlete (1973), and Frank Hatashita (1974), Yoshio Senda (1977), and Shigetaka Sasaki (1986) as 'builders' (officials, administrators, and volunteers).[11]

Two Canadians have been decorated by the Emperor of Japan with the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold Rays with Rosette, in recognition of their service in improving the status of Japanese-Canadians through their lifelong commitment to the promotion and development of Judo in Canada: Masao Takahashi (2002) and Yuzuru Kojima (2011).[12][13]

Popular culture

Television and film

In 1956 the CBC information television program Tabloid broadcast an episode titled "From foe to friend: Japanese culture in Canada". The episode covers several different elements of Japanese culture, and includes a Judo demonstration by Frank Hatashita and his daughter Patsy Yuriko Hatashita. A video of the full episode is available in the 'External links' section below.

Doug Rogers is the subject of a short documentary by the National Film Board of Canada, Judoka (1965), filmed after he won silver in Tokyo. It shows his intensive training under the famous Masahiko Kimura (widely considered one of the greatest judoka of all time, and best known outside of Judo for defeating Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu founder Hélio Gracie), and glimpses of Rogers' life in Japan.[14]

Public life

One of Canada's most famous judoka is former Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau. Trudeau began practising Judo sometime in the mid-1950s when he was in his mid-thirties, and by the end of the decade he was ranked ik-kyū (brown belt). Later, when he travelled to Japan as Prime Minister, he was promoted to sho-dan (first-degree black belt) by the Kodokan, and then promoted to ni-dan (second-degree black belt) by Masao Takahashi in Ottawa before leaving office. Trudeau began the night of his famous 'walk in the snow' before announcing his retirement in 1984 by going to Judo with his sons.[15]

See also

References

  1. ^ "History of Judo in Canada". Vernon Judo Club Website. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  2. ^ "The History of Judo". Judo Canada Website. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  3. ^ "Contact Us". Judo Canada Website. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  4. ^ "Eddie Morten". Canadian Paralympic Committee website. Retrieved 27 August 2012.
  5. ^ "Pier Morten". Canadian Paralympic Committee website. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  6. ^ "William Morgan". Newmarket Budokan Judo Club Website. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  7. ^ Tapper, Josh (19 July 2012). "London 2012: Blind Canadian judo champ Justin Karn fights for respect". The Toronto Star. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  8. ^ "Order of Canada – James B. Driscoll". The Governor General of Canada Website. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  9. ^ "Order of Canada – Yuzuru Kojima". The Governor General of Canada Website. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  10. ^ "Order of Canada – Yoshio Senda". The Governor General of Canada Website. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  11. ^ "Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame". Canadian Olympic Committee Website. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  12. ^ Takahashi, Masao (2005). Mastering Judo. Windsor, Ontario: Human Kinetics. p. 213. ISBN 073605099X. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ "British Columbian Awarded Japan's Prestigious Order of the Rising Sun". Consulate-General of Japan Vancouver website. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  14. ^ "Judoka". National Film Board of Canada Collection Catalogue. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  15. ^ Nurse, Paul. "Pierre Trudeau and Judo?" (PDF). The Gentle Way (Volume 6, Issue 4). Judo Ontario. Retrieved 1 August 2012.

Further reading

  • Leyshon, Glynn A. (1998). Judoka: the history of Judo in Canada. Gloucester, Ontario: Judo Canada. ISBN 1894165004. Official history published by Judo Canada.
  • Svinth, Joseph R. (2003). Getting a Grip: Judo in the Nikkei Communities of the Pacific Northwest, 1900-1950. Electronic Journals of Martial Arts and Sciences. ISBN 0-9689673-0-2. Includes a chapter on Judo in British Columbia.

External links

Video

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