Judo
Welcome to Soko Joshi Judo Source: a California judo club (modified)
Judo is excellent for self-defense självförsvar. It is also good for the health. You gain confidence självförtroende while developing utvecklande the mind sinnet, medvetande, body, and spirit ande through genom exercise and discipline. Also included are philosophical lessons (how to think about the world).
The ultimate aim yttersta mål of judo practice is to improve oneself both physically and mentally förbättra sig själv fysiskt och mentalt — in order to better society.
The club’s head instructor (teacher) was Master Keiko Fukuda until her passing at the age of 99 on February 9, 2013. Fukuda was the highest ranking woman in the world of judo. She was the last surviving överlevande student of Dr. Kano, the founder grundare of Judo. Her grandfather was a jujitsu master.
The club’s instructors (called sensei) trained under Fukuda. They are well-versed in her judo techniques and theory.
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 Be Strong, Be Gentle, Be Beautiful - Keiko Fukuda |
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All instructors and assistant instructors at Soko Joshi Judo Club were directly trained by Master Keiko Fukuda.
Sensei mästare Keiko Fukuda (April 12, 1913 – February 9, 2013) began studying the art of judo in Japan in 1935. She was the last living student of Dr. Jigoro Kano, the founder of judo. Her grandfather, Fukuda Hachinosuke, was a samurai master. Fukuda Sensei always emphasized proper form to achieve maximum efficiency in executing judo techniques. She also emphasized the life lessons which judo teaches us such as perseverance, determination and dedication; mental and spiritual focus; and thoughtfulness for others (Jita Kyoei meaning mutual welfare and benefit). Her motto was: Be Strong, Be Gentle, Be Beautiful in Mind, Body, and Spirit. At the age of 98, she achieved 10th degree, the highest rank that can be achieved in judo. This promotion is historic. She is the first woman to receive this rank in judo history and the first person in the United States to be promoted to this rank.
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That she received this accolade only in 2011, when she was 98, was probably due to her gender; she had been promoted to 5th dan in 1953, and in old age reflected: “They decided women didn’t need any better ranks than fifth degree. I was fifth degree for 30 years.”
Standing 4ft 10in tall and weighing less than 100lb, Keiko Fukuda took up judo in her native Japan when she was in her early twenties having been schooled in the traditional arts of calligraphy, flower arrangement and the intricacies of the tea ceremony.
Instead of marrying, however, she devoted herself to her martial art and in the 1960s moved to the United States, becoming a revered teacher of judo in California. She eventually took American citizenship.
Keiko Fukuda was born in Tokyo on April 12 1913. Her grandfather, Hachinosuke Fukuda, was a member of the samurai class and had taught ju-jitsu to Jigoro Kano, who founded Japanese judo at his school in Tokyo, the Kodokan, in 1882.
Keiko Fukuda enrolled at the Kodokan in 1935, shortly after Kano had inaugurated classes for women, and was one of only two dozen girls in the school. She also took a degree in Japanese Literature at Showa Women’s University.
By 1953 she was a 5th dan, and in that year was invited to teach at a judo club in Oakland, California. She stayed for two years, then returned to her homeland. In 1966 she was asked back to California, where she was offered a job teaching at Mills College, Oakland, a post she filled from 1967 to 1978.
Meanwhile, Keiko Fukuda established her Soko Joshi Judo Club for women practitioners, which continues to this day in San Francisco. She also taught in Australia, Canada, France, Norway and the Philippines, and is widely credited with the creation of more opportunities for women wishing to practise judo.
In 2006, the Kodokan in Tokyo — the headquarters of the worldwide judo community — awarded her the 9th dan, the first time it had bestowed this rank on a woman. The award in 2011 of 10th dan, however, was not from the Kodokan but from USA Judo, the national governing body in America.
Keiko Fukuda, who received Japan’s Order of the Sacred Treasure in 1990, was the subject of a documentary entitled Mrs Judo: Be Strong, Be Gentle, Be Beautiful.
She published two textbooks: Born for the Mat (1973) and Ju-No-Kata (2005).
Keiko Fukuda, born April 12 1913, died February 10 2013
