10 actors who were judoka

Judo has been popular with entertainers, artists, and actors, including...

1. James Cagney
2. Sonny Chiba
3. George Harris
4. Lucille Ball
5. Melanie Chisholm (Sporty Spice)
6. Ed Parker
7. Gene LeBell
8. Ronda Rousey
9. Chuck Norris
10. Peter Sellers

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Patrick Parker
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First 10 Judo 10th dans

First ten men to ever be promoted to 10th dan rank in Judo

1. Yamashita, Yoshitugu (1865-1935) Promoted 10th Dan 1935
2. Isogai, Hajime (1871-1947) Promoted 10th Dan 1937
3. Nagaoka, Hidekazu (1876-1952) Promoted 10th Dan 1937
4. Mifune, Kyuzo (1883-1965) Promoted 10th Dan 1945
5. Iizuka, Kunisaburo (1875-1958) Promoted 10th Dan 1946
6. Samura, Kaichiro (1880-1964) Promoted 10th Dan 1948
7. Tabata, Shotaro (1884-1950) Promoted 10th Dan 1948
8. Okano, Kotaro (1885-1967) Promoted 10th Dan 1967
9. Shoriki, Matsutaro (1885-1969) Promoted 10th Dan 1969
10. Nakano, Shozo (1888-1977) Promoted 10th Dan 1977

Although all of these men were Jigoro Kano's contemps, only the first three made Judan during Kano's lifetime.  Since 1977 there have been several notable promotions to the rank of Judan.  There were, of course, many notable judoka who never reached 10th dan.

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Patrick Parker
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Ten grappling arts from around the world

There are pretty much as many different forms of grappling arts and sports as there are people who like to grapple.  Here are ten of the many.

1. Judo
2. Aikido
3. Japanese jujutsu
4. Brazillian jiujitsu
5. Glima
6. Greco-Roman wrestling
7. Freestyle wrestling
8. Shuai jiao
9. Malla-yuddha
10. Sambo

But even with all this variety, there are only so many ways that one human can effectively twist or throw or crush another human, so you are bound to see interesting similarities.


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Patrick Parker
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10 politicians who were judoka

Judo has been a popular pastime for politicians and political leaders all over the world for the last century, including...

1. Theodore Roosevelt (United States)
2. Angela Merkel (Germany)
3. Pierre Trudeau (Canada)
4. Vladimir Putin (Russia)
5. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (Colorado)
6. Ulla Werbrouck (Belgium)
7. William Hague (United Kingdom)
8. Albert II (Monaco)
9. Battulga Khaltmaa (Mongolia)
10. Curtis LeMay (United States)

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Patrick Parker
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10 judoka with superpowers I want to develop in myself

We all have our tokuiwaza, our special techniques or abilities or attributes.  Here are 10 martial artists whose special sparks I want to develop within myself.

1. Nick Lowry's okuriashibarai and ability to gather a community around the dojo
2. Kyuzo Mifune's outstanding effortless floating counters
3. Bob Rea's empty jacket feel
4. Karl Geis' amazing tewaza
5. Zdenek Matl's gentle but relentless control throughout techniques
6. Chad Morrison's vigorous, active teaching style
7. Pat Little's positive, encouraging, empowering teaching style
8. Dr. John Kirby's amazing ability to translate theory in the dojo to functional ability in shiai.
9. J.W. Bode's ability to apply fundamentals to self-defense situations
10. Eric Pearson's off-the-hook creativity and synthesis
11. (I know I can't count) Tokio Hirano's ability to create a rhythm in uke then insert techniques into that rhythm.
12. (11 and 12 are lagniappe) Henry Copeland's ability to use kuzushi to make a fast opponent slow down to manageable speed indefinitely.

When I manage to steal all these masters' superpowers, no one will ever be able to stop me! Mwahaha!

Seriously though, I know that in order to do the things they can do, I have to do the things they have done.  Sounds like a few decades worth of material to keep me occupied.


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Patrick Parker
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Top 13 lame excuses

I've been on a martial arts sabbatical for the past couple of years.
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Before relaunching my classes a couple of months ago I hadn't done anything remotely martial in two years.  I had a host of reasons - really lame rationalizations or B.S. excuses, including...

1. I am mostly doing it for my kids but they would rather do other things.
2. I can't afford it.
3. Judo and aikido make my joints hurt.
4. As I'm getting older I am getting fatter and more sluggish.
5. I am trying to deal with depression.
6. I'm not making any progress.
7. One of my teachers died and another one retired.
8. I am super-busy with community service.
9. My job is keeping me distracted.
10. I can't find many students or partners to play with me.
11. I have gotten into other activities, like hiking and mountain climbing.
12. I figure to retire and leave this area in a few years anyway.
13. I'm not really any good at judo anyway so what business do I have teaching?

So, when you give me some B.S. about quitting your practice and I smile thinly or raise an eyebrow, it's not just that I've heard that same stale excuse before - It's probably one of the same lame excuses that I've tried to use on myself a few times.
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It didn't work when I tried to convince myself to quit that way, and I am a lot more convincing than you are, so give it a rest and just go practice.



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Patrick Parker
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10 most successful throwing techniques

According to Uchida, Wilson, & Fujiwara the most popular winning throwing techniques at the All Japan High School Championships for 10 years (1962-1971) included...

1. uchimata
2. seoinage
3. osotogari
4. ouchigari
5. haraigoshi
6. taiotoshi
7. tsurikomigoshi
8. kosotogari
9. harai makikomi
10. osoto otoshi

Make of this what you will.

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____________________
Patrick Parker
www.mokurendojo.com