JUDO NEWS

The First Annual USJF / USJA Junior Nationals At UC Irvine

Irvine,USA-This coming Saturday Jul 3rd and Sunday July 4th, Southern California Judo Association is hosting The First Annual USJF / USJA Junior National Judo Championships. Over 900 Juniors age between 8years old to 20years old boys and girls from all over the US and Canada will compete at the UC Irvine Bren Center.

C.Okawa from BunasawaKai

C.Baker from Gardena

Japan's Olympic and World Judo Champ Ryoko Tani Ran for Congress

Tokyo,Japan-6 time World and 2 time Olympic judo champ Ryoko Tani (formerly Ryoko Tamura) of Japan ran for the Japanese parliamentary election for congress on June 24th. She was running for Reveral Democratic Party, which took power over the regular Democratic Party last August, 2009. The 34 year old also announced that she will compete in the 2012 Olympic Games in England. (6/25 JPN)

IJF Sports Director F. Besson Died / 3 Local Californians: S. Okada, C. Fuertsch, G. Kakita Pass Away

Obituary:Paris, FRA- Francois Besson (FRA, 7th dan), the long time IJF (International Judo Federation) sports director died on Tuesday May 25th at the age of 63.
Three local Southern California Judo Organization (Nanka) officials passed away. Former Nanka president Shag Okada, 8th dan, passed away on May 13th. Also, 7th dan Chuck Fuertsch passed away on May 26th. He was working as a Nanka registration officer for long time. Finally, 7th dan George Kakita, a Sawtelle dojo instructor passed away on June 21st . (6/23 CA, USA)

USA Judo Adds Ju-Jitsu to National Tournaments

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) EIn an effort to help to continue to grow and promote judo and ju-jitsu in the United States, USA Judo recently announced that both gi and no-gi ju-jitsu divisions will be included in all national competitions.

The first ju-jitsu event will be held at the National Junior Olympic Championships in Gwinnett County, Ga. on July 24. This tournament will be open to all ages and all skill levels. Athletes will be able to find more information and register for the event on www.WorldGrapplingCircuit.com or www.USJudo.org.

USA Judo has expanded to include ju-jitsu under its auspices and the National Governing Body for the sport of judo will be known as USA Judo / Ju-Jitsu.

2010 Men's All Japan-Newcomer Takahashi Upsets Olympic Champion Suzuki

Kazuhiko Takahashi

Tokyo, Japan - The 2010 All Japan Judo Championships took place in Tokyo's Budokan Hall on April 29th with athletes competing in front of 12,000 spectators not just for titles but to represent Japan at the World Championships. Kazuhiko Takahashi, an unknown 25 year old Kokushikan University graduate, came from nowhere to defeat Athen's Olumpic gold medalist Keiji Suzuki in the quarterfinals in a huge upset. Takahashi faced Takamasa Anai in the semifinal match, and held last year's champion at bay with an aggressive judo style to win by 3-0 decision. Takahashi faced teammmate Hiroki Tachiyama (24 yrs old) in the final match and maintained his momentum. Although the 6'5", 300lb Tachiyama caught Takahashi with a sasae-tsuri-komi (lifting trip) throw in the middle of the match for a yuko point (1/4 point), Takahashi came back with a sharp osoto-gari (major outside clip) throw 4:43 into the match to tie the score. With 18 seconds left in the match, Tachiyama received a chui penalty, and Takahashi won his first All Japan Title and a spot on the world team.

2010 German Grand Prix- Japanes Women's Team Dominate Again. US Harrison wins Bronze

Tomoko Fukumi (-48kg)

Dusseldorf - Dusseldorf hosted its first German Grand Prix Judo Championships as 355 players participated in the one of the toughest international invitationals. Phillips Hall was sold out as it welcomed athletes from 45 countries and spectators for the two day tournament on . On the first day, two Japanese women, Tomoko Fukumi (-48kg) and Kaori Matsumoto (-57kg) won gold for an early lead in the medal count. The men's division was dominated by Mongolians Tsagaanbaatar Hashbaatar (-66kg, 2009 world champion ) and Sainjargal Nyam-Ochir who both took gold. On day two, former world champion Keiji Suzuki (+100kg) fell a little short of a gold medal, but other Japanese players stepped up to the challenge. All Japan champion Takamasa Anai (-100kg) and Yuya Yoshida (-90kg) captured gold medals, bringing the Japanese men to the top in terms of medals with two gold and two silver. In the women's divisions, Japan won two more gold medals from Mina Watanabe (-70kg) and Megumi Tachimoto (+78kg) for a total of 4 gold, 2 silver, and 1 bronze to dominate the women's divisions. Germany was second in the medals with two gold from Claudia Malzahn (-63kg) and Heide Wollert (-78kg) as well as two bronze. Malzahn (26 yrs old) returned to competition by winning the title after a four year absence recovering from a knee injury. American Kayla Harrison (-78kg) finished in 3rd place after receiving a penalty for false attack in her semifinal match against Japan's silver medalist, Ruika Sato. IJF World circuit tournaments award ranking points to athletes as well as US$100,000 for medal winners.

2010 Paris Grand Slam- Japanese Women Dominate With Four Golds, Korean Men Lead With Two Gold. Travis Stevens (-81kg, US) Wins Bronze.

Paris, FRA- The 2010 Paris Grand Slam Judo Championships were held at Bercy stadium on February 6-7. The stadium was packed with 10,000 spectators who came to watch over 384 players from 55 countries and cheer on their favorite athletes. The first day of competition saw the Japanese women dominate their weight divisions by capturing three of four gold medals. 2009 world champion Misato Nakamura (-52kg) defeated Ana Carrascosa (Spain) with a kesa gatame pin to capture the first gold. Emi Yamagishi faced teammate Tomoki Fukumi in the -48kg semi-final match. Yamanishi followed up her surprise 2009 world championship title by defeating Fukumi in the semi-finals with a osoto-gari throw during golden score overtime. This half point victory advanced her to the finals to face 2009 world bronze medalist and veteran athlete Frederique Jossinet (FRA). Yamanishi won Japan's second gold medal by throwing Jossinet with uchimata for a quarter point during gold score overtime. Newcomer Kaori Matsumoto (-57kg) won Japan's third gold medal in an upset win against 2009 world champion Margane Ribout. Matsumoto's juji-gatame arm bar led to a full point victory that demonstrated Japan's depth. Akari Ogata (-78kg) captured the fourth women's gold medal for Japan on the second day. IN the semi-final match, she won by penalty against Lucie Louette (FRA), and defeated teammate Sayaka Anai with a kosoto-gari foot block for a full point win. Koread led the men's divisions with two gold medals from 2009 world champion Ki-Chan Wang (-73kg) and Joo-Jin Kim (-66kg), with Kim defeating 2009 world champion Tsagaanbaatar Hashbaatar (MON). Teddy Riner (+100kg), the French judo star and world champion, captured the only gold for France by defeating Grim Vujisters of Holland.

Former IJF Presidents Park Yong-Sung found dead

Former IJF Presidents

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA EThe former chairman of South Korea's oldest conglomerate, the Doosan Group, was found dead Wednesday in an apparent suicide, the latest in a string of high-profile South Koreans taking their own lives. "We presume Park Yong-oh killed himself and we are investigating the case," said Cho Hun-joo, an official at a police station near Park's home in Seoul where his body was found. Cho said a suicide note was found, though he gave no details. Another official said that there was a mark around Park's neck and a necktie was found near his body, which he said also led police to believe the death was a suicide. South Korean media reported that Park was under stress due to financial difficulties at a new construction firm he headed. The company has no relations with Doosan. Repeated calls to the construction company went unanswered.(11/03)

2009 JR.WORLD JUDO CHAMPIONSHIPS

Paris, France - The 2009 Jr. World Judo Championships were held over four days at Paris' Coubertin Gymnasium. From October 22 to 25, 278 men and 190 women from 68 countries represented their countries. This tournament was a test run for the new IJF tournament rules which are proposed for 2010. For example, the referee commission is changing shiai rules so that a competitor cannot directly apply double or single leg takedowns (morote gari) or fireman carry throw (kata guruma). Japan, Korea, and some European countries took advantage of this rule change, but countries like Mongolia, Cuba, Russia, and Georgia had a hard time adapting because they depend heavily on these techniques. As a result, Japan won 8 gold medals, 1 silver, and 5 bronze to completely dominate the tournament. France finished with 4 medals, and Ukraine, Korea, Brazil, and Hungary all captured 3 medals each. Although the rule change is highly controversial, it was intended to bring back traditional judo competition. (10/25/09, France)

Mongolian World Champ Competes At US Open International Judo Championships

Mongolian World Champ

San Jose, CA - The 2009 US Open International Judo Championships were held September 24-25 at San Jose's McEnery Convention Center. The highlight of the tournament was 2009 World Champion Hashbaatar Tsagaanbaatar (-66kg) from Mongolia who competed in the -73kg division and defeated Venezuelan Ludwing Delgado with a powerful morotegari (double leg takedown) for a full point win and the title. The upcoming Venezuelan national team took two gold medals with Ricardo Valderrama (-66kg) and Isis Barreto (-63kg). Former Japanese -100kg top contender Tokuzou Takahashi captured his first US Open title over Carlos Santiago of Puerto Rico with an okurieri-jime choke. Last year, Takahashi fail to win gold in two divisions and ended up with second in the -100kg and open divisions. American Kayla Harrison defeated Venezuelan Keivi Pinto with a sankaku gatame (triangle pin) for the women's -78kg title. (9/25/09,San Jose)

2009 WORLD JUDO CHAMPIONSHIPS- Japan Men's Team Wins No Gold for the First Time Since 1956

Rotterdam, Netherlands - The 2009 World Judo Championships were held at the Ahoy Indoor Hall August 26th - 30th. Japan, with the world's best men's team, ended up with their worst record ever. For the first time since 1956, the men failed to win any gold medals, but the women's team captured 3 gold medals to maintain the lead in the overall gold medal count. -48kg Tomoko Fukumi, -52kg Misato Nakamura and -63kg Toshie Ueno are all relatively new players at the international level. Fukumi spent many years in the shadow of 7-time World & Olympic champ Ryouko Tani. Toshie Ueno is the younger sister of former -70kg Olympic champion Masae Ueno. Korea and France followed Japan with two gold medals each. In the men's division, 2007 world champion (-73kg) Wan Kim-Chun and new comer (-90kg) Lee Kyu-Won from Korea won gold. 2007 world champion (+100kg) Teddy Riner failed to win Olympic gold in Beijing, but captured his 2nd World title. Along with Morgane Ribout (-57kg), these two French judoka also won gold medals. At this world championships, the gold medals were spread out over nine other countries as well. Colombia's Yuri Alvear captured her country's first world judo gold which was big news for the South American country.(8/31)

Obituaries- US/ Canada & Local-

Yoshi Senda, a 9th dan Canadian judo pioneer, passed away after a long battle with cancer on September 9th. Senda was the head instructor for the University Lethbridge and Kyodokan Dojo (Contact 780-492-9350). Jiro Morishita, the head instructor at the Los Angeles Tenri judo dojo, passed away on August 30th after losing a battle that he fought against cancer for many years. His funeral was held on September 12th at Dendo-cho in East LA. (Contact 323-261-3379). Mrs Sumiko Imamura (Mr. Haruo Imamura's wife) passed away on August 24th a day after an auto accident which occurred while returning home after the Golden State judo championships at the Pomona fair grounds (Contact 559-222-8813).

New Comer Takamasa Anai Captures All Japan Open Weight Title

Tokyo, Japan- The 2009 All Japan Judo Championships were held at the Budokan Hall on April 29th, the Showa Day holiday honoring the birthday of the former Emperor Hirohito. Satoshi Ishii, last year's champion, moved away from judo to MMA after winning the +100kg gold at the Beijing Olympics. At this openweight tournament, the All Japan Judo Federation hoped to find a +100kg successor to represent Japan at the World Championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Takamasa Anai, a 24 year old Tenri University graduate and at his first All Japans, fought through to the semifinals. There, Anai faced Keiji Suzuki (28 yrs), a three time All Japan champion and the gold medalist at the 2004 Olympics (+100kg). 28 seconds into the match, Anai threw Suzuki with a surpriseing seoi-nage (shoulder throw) to win with a decisive full point. Between Anai and the All Japan title was Yasuyuki Muneta, a veteran winner of two World Championships. The final match started with Muneta throwing Anai for a yuko (1/4 point) lead, but the younger Anai blocked Muneta's moves by attacking more aggressively, and Muneta received a shido penalty. Anai constantly attacked, limiting Muneta in what he could do and he got a second shido penalty which tied the score. With 30 seconds left to the match, even though Anai's barrage of attacks did not let up, he could not break the tie. Anai won by a 3-0 decision to become the 61st All Japan Champion. Two-time -66kg Olumpic champion, Masato Uchishiba was eliminated in the first round. Munet was selected to represent Japan as the +100kg contender at the 2009 World Championships. (4/29)

2009 USA Sr. Nationals In San Diego (CA. 4/17-18)

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Japan's Fukumi and Takai Capture Kano Cup Int'nl Titles

Tokyo, Japan- The Kano Cup International Judo Championships were held at the Yoyogi Gym on December 13 to 14. Tomoko Fukumi (23 yrs), aiming to represent Japan at -48kg at the next Olympics, won for the first time. Fukumi is the only player to beat world champion Ryoki Tani twice. In the +100kg men's division, Youhei Takai defeated Beijing Olympic silver medalist Tangriev (UZB) in the semi-finals on the way to beating 2007 world champion Yasuyuki Muneta in the finals to captured his first Kano Cup title. Keiji Suzuki moved down from the +100kg to -100kg division. Overall, Japan won 6 golds out of seven divisions for the men. Yuka Nishida (-52kg) and Kaoru Matsumoto (-56kg) also won gold, bringing the total to 3 golds in the women's divisions. The remaining gold medals were won by athletes from China, Russia, France, and Slovenia. -More US player's information available at: www.USJUDO.org (12/15)

2000 Sydney Olympic Gold Medalist Inoue Marries Higashihara

Tokyo - Kosei Inoue married fashion model Aki Higashihara (25yrs) on Oct 18th at the Teikoku Hotel in Tokyo. Around 350 guests came to celebrate the marriage of the 2000 Olympics gold medalist, including MMA fighter Akiyama, former rival Keiji Suzuki, Beijing Olympic gold medalist in swimming Kosuke Kitajima, Japanese baseball legend Shigeo Nagashima, as well as many actors. Kosei Inoue has said he will study English and coach in London for next two years, then he and his family will return to Japan (10/19)

All Japan Judo Federation EXPELS Beijing Olympic Gold Medalist Ishii

Tokyo: All Japan Judo Federation team head coach Kazuro Yoshimura (56yrs) announced today that Satoshi Ishii would be expelled from the Judo world for life. Ishii has made several surprising comments to the public after returning from the Beijing Olympics. Ishii's father was surprised at his son's decision to fight MMA, but at the same time he was unsatisfied at the All Japan Judo Federation's decision. Many MMA organizations are already maneuvering to try to sign Ishii.(10/06)

Japan Dominates Women's Divisions With 4 Golds, Harrison Wins Gold For US

Bangkok, Thailand - The Rajamangala Indoor Stadium in downtown Bangkok hosted the 14th World Junior Judo Championships. From October 23rd to 26th, fourteen Olympic categories were contested by 500 young athletes from 87 countries. On the first day, two female categories (-48kg, -52kg) were contested, as well as male +100kg, followed by female +57kg and +63kg, and male -90kg and -100kg on the second day. Four divisions were fought on October 25th: female -70kg and -78kg, male -81kg and -73kg. The last day of the tournament featured female +78kg, male -60kg and -66kg. Most of the current champions from all five continental Judo Unions competed in Thailand. Currently, the biggest star is Frenchman Teddy Riner, the current Senior World Champion (2007), Junior World Champion (2006) and Beijing Olympic Bronze medalist (2008). Riner kicked off four days of competition by defeating Japan's Masaru Momose for his second Junior World title. On day three, Won-Jung Kim won the -73kg gold medal for Korea, and Kayla Harrison won a gold medal for the United States in the -78kg division. Russia and France both took home two golds in men's divisions, while Japan dominated the women's divisions with four golds and was followed by Brazil with two. The surprise result was Japan failed to capture any gold medals in the men's divisions. Kayla Harrison's comments: "It is an awesome feeling to win this gold. Ronda Rousey (Olympic 2008 bronze medalist and former junior champion) is one of my mentors. I helped here during the preparation for Beijing and she was also always supporting me. We train in the same club with Jimmy Pedro (two-time Olympic bronze medalist)", says the 18-year old Harrison, planning the next steps in her career. "I look forward to the next year World Junior Championships, and also the Senior World Championships. And, of course, I will work hard to be in London 2012."

IJF Tries Out New Tournament Regulations

During the Junior World Championships held October 23rd to 26 in Bangkok, Thailand, the IJF Executive Committee members observed the results of three new suggestions for shiai regulations: the use of the entire mat (no matte), the exclusion of koka (the lowest judo score) and shortening the Golden Score to three minutes from five. Along with these changes, the athletes competed in a new pooling format, with repechage applying from quarterfinalists rather than semifinalists. More information available at: www.ijf.org

Gold Medalist Ishii Staying in Judo World

Tokyo: Beijing Olympic gold medalist Ishii held a press conference on October 7th to announce his plans to stay in the judo world. After All Japan Judo Federation decided to expel Ishii if he fought in a MMA fight, he decided to stay on the Kokushikan University judo team until he graduates. Ishii stated that finishing his schooling was important, and will hold off on plans to join the ranks of MMA fighters as he does not have the desire to teach or lead in the judo community. (10/07)

Beijing Olympic Judo Champ Ishii of Japan Announces Intent To Become Pro-Fighter

Tokyo: 2008 Beijing Olympic Judo gold medalist Satoshi Ishii (+220lb ) of Japan announced on Sept. 6 his decision to become a Pro MMA Fighter after the World judo team championships in Tokyo. After returning from Beijing, Ishii caused quite a stir among the Japan Judo Federation officials by saying at a press conference that he wanted to challenge MMA champion Fedor. Ishii started judo when he was at Seifu Jr High in Osaka, and continued till now as a student at Kokushikan University. He became the youngest All Japan Judo Champion in 2006 age at the age of 19. In 2007 he moved up to the +220lb division and captured both the Kano Cup and his second All Japan title. This year, Ishii beat Suzuki, the gold medalist at the Athens Olympics, at the All Japan. He also captured Olympic gold in Beijing. (10/06)

Beijing Heavyweight Champion Satoshi Ishii Wants to Challenge PRIDE and MMA Champion Fedor!

Satoshi Ishii returned to Japan August 17th after winning the heavyweight gold medal in Beijing. At a press conference at Tokyo's Narita Airport, Ishii announced "I want to go fight the strongest man in the world, wherever he is. Now I want to face Fedor." Does this mean Ishii wants to face the Russian MMA world champion and former Russian judo champion in a MMA fight or judo fight??? We will have to keep a close eye on Ishii's next moves

Ishii (JPN) Dominates +100kg, World Champ Riner Upset In Quarterfinals. China's Wen Tong Wins Women's +78kg

Day 7: In the +100kg division, Satoshi Ishii is the youngest All Japan title holder at 21 years of age, and is still a student at Kokushikan University. Read More Olympic Judo...

Read More Judo...