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{{Nihongo|'''Keiko Fukuda'''|福田 敬子|Fukuda Keiko|born April 12, 1913}} is the highest-ranked female [[judo]] practitioner in history, holding the rank of 9th ''[[Dan (rank)|dan]]'' from the [[Kodokan]] and the [[United States Judo Federation]] (USJF), and 10th ''dan'' from [[USA Judo]], and is the last surviving student of [[Kanō Jigorō]], founder of judo.<ref name="Sullivan2003">Sullivan, K. (2003): [http://www.judoinfo.com/fukuda.htm A lifetime of Judo: 90 year old Keiko Fukuda, the martial art's highest-ranked women (''sic''), still goes to the mat for her Bay Area students] Reproduced from the ''San Francisco Chronicle'' (October 17, 2003). Retrieved on April 25, 2010.</ref><ref name="Davis2009">Davis, S. (2009): [http://www.highinfatuation.com/blog/a-living-legend-judo-master-keiko-fukuda/ A living legend: Judo Master Keiko Fukuda] (July 14, 2009). Retrieved on April 24, 2010.</ref><ref name="TenguHouse2007">[http://tenguhouse.typepad.com/tengu_house/2007/12/keiko-fukuda.html Tengu House: Keiko Fukuda] (December 5, 2007). Retrieved on April 24, 2010.</ref><ref name="Hoppe1998">Hoppe, S. T. (1998): ''Sharp Spear, Crystal Mirror: Martial arts in women's lives'' (p. 266). Rochester, VT: Park Street Press. (ISBN 978-0-8928-1662-0)</ref><ref name="Takahashi2005">Takahashi, M. (2005): ''Mastering Judo'' (p. 33). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. (ISBN 978-0-7360-5099-9)</ref><ref name="Narimatsu2011">Narimatsu, K. (2011): [https://wp.usjudo.org/Files/Internal_Files/eLetter/2011/20110801fukudaarticle.pdf USA Judo promotes Professor Keiko Fukuda to 10th Dan!!!] (August 1, 2011). Retrieved on August 6, 2011.</ref><ref name="Ashley2011">Ashley, J. (2011): [http://shine.yahoo.com/event/vitality/98-year-old-woman-becomes-first-woman-ever-to-earn-judos-highest-degree-black-belt-2523297/ 98-year-old woman becomes first woman ever to earn Judo's highest-degree black belt] ''Shine'' (August 9, 2011). Retrieved on August 9, 2011.</ref> She is a renowned pioneer of women's judo, being the first woman promoted to 6th ''dan'' (''c.'' 1972), and later 9th ''dan'' (2006), by the Kodokan. She is also the first and, so far, only woman promoted to 10th ''dan'' in the art.<ref name="May2011">May, M. (2011): [http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-08-06/entertainment/29857527_1_degree-black-belt-judo-master-promotion Judo master makes 10th degree black belt] ''San Francisco Chronicle'' (August 6, 2011). Retrieved on August 10, 2011.</ref> After completing her formal education in Japan, Fukuda visited the United States of America to teach in the 1950s and 1960s, and eventually settled there. She continues to teach her art in the [[San Francisco Bay Area]].
{{Nihongo|'''Keiko Fukuda'''|福田 敬子|Fukuda Keiko|born April 12, 1913}} is the highest-ranked female [[judo]] practitioner in history, holding the rank of 9th ''[[Dan (rank)|dan]]'' from the [[Kodokan]] and the [[United States Judo Federation]] (USJF), and 10th ''dan'' from [[USA Judo]], and is the last surviving student of [[Kanō Jigorō]], founder of judo.<ref name="Sullivan2003">Sullivan, K. (2003): [http://www.judoinfo.com/fukuda.htm A lifetime of Judo: 90 year old Keiko Fukuda, the martial art's highest-ranked women (''sic''), still goes to the mat for her Bay Area students] Reproduced from the ''San Francisco Chronicle'' (October 17, 2003). Retrieved on April 25, 2010.</ref><ref name="Davis2009">Davis, S. (2009): [http://www.highinfatuation.com/blog/a-living-legend-judo-master-keiko-fukuda/ A living legend: Judo Master Keiko Fukuda] (July 14, 2009). Retrieved on April 24, 2010.</ref><ref name="TenguHouse2007">[http://tenguhouse.typepad.com/tengu_house/2007/12/keiko-fukuda.html Tengu House: Keiko Fukuda] (December 5, 2007). Retrieved on April 24, 2010.</ref><ref name="Hoppe1998">Hoppe, S. T. (1998): ''Sharp Spear, Crystal Mirror: Martial arts in women's lives'' (p. 266). Rochester, VT: Park Street Press. (ISBN 978-0-8928-1662-0)</ref><ref name="Takahashi2005">Takahashi, M. (2005): ''Mastering Judo'' (p. 33). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. (ISBN 978-0-7360-5099-9)</ref><ref name="Narimatsu2011">Narimatsu, K. (2011): [https://wp.usjudo.org/Files/Internal_Files/eLetter/2011/20110801fukudaarticle.pdf USA Judo promotes Professor Keiko Fukuda to 10th Dan!!!] (August 1, 2011). Retrieved on August 6, 2011.</ref><ref name="Ashley2011">Ashley, J. (2011): [http://shine.yahoo.com/event/vitality/98-year-old-woman-becomes-first-woman-ever-to-earn-judos-highest-degree-black-belt-2523297/ 98-year-old woman becomes first woman ever to earn Judo's highest-degree black belt] ''Shine'' (August 9, 2011). Retrieved on August 9, 2011.</ref> She is a renowned pioneer of women's judo, being the first woman promoted to 6th ''dan'' (''c.'' 1972), and later 9th ''dan'' (2001), by the Kodokan. She is also the first and, so far, only woman promoted to 10th ''dan'' in the art.<ref name="May2011">May, M. (2011): [http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-08-06/entertainment/29857527_1_degree-black-belt-judo-master-promotion Judo master makes 10th degree black belt] ''San Francisco Chronicle'' (August 6, 2011). Retrieved on August 10, 2011.</ref> After completing her formal education in Japan, Fukuda visited the United States of America to teach in the 1950s and 1960s, and eventually settled there. She continues to teach her art in the [[San Francisco Bay Area]].


==Early life==
==Early life==

Revision as of 21:44, 10 February 2012

Template:Japanese name

Keiko Fukuda
Born (1913-04-12) April 12, 1913 (age 111)
Tokyo, Japan
ResidenceSan Francisco, California, USA
StyleJudo
Teacher(s)Kanō Jigorō, Kyuzo Mifune
Rank10th dan judo (USA Judo), 9th dan judo (Kodokan, US Judo Federation)
Notable school(s)Soko Joshi Judo Club
Websitehttp://www.sokojoshijudo.com/

Keiko Fukuda (福田 敬子, Fukuda Keiko, born April 12, 1913) is the highest-ranked female judo practitioner in history, holding the rank of 9th dan from the Kodokan and the United States Judo Federation (USJF), and 10th dan from USA Judo, and is the last surviving student of Kanō Jigorō, founder of judo.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] She is a renowned pioneer of women's judo, being the first woman promoted to 6th dan (c. 1972), and later 9th dan (2001), by the Kodokan. She is also the first and, so far, only woman promoted to 10th dan in the art.[8] After completing her formal education in Japan, Fukuda visited the United States of America to teach in the 1950s and 1960s, and eventually settled there. She continues to teach her art in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Early life

Fukuda was born on April 12, 1913, in Tokyo, Japan.[2][9] Her father died when she was very young.[1] As a youth, she learned the arts of calligraphy, flower arrangement, and the tea ceremony; typical pursuits for a woman in Japan at that time.[1] Despite her conventional upbringing, Fukuda felt close to judo through memories of her grandfather, and one day went with her mother to watch a judo training session.[1] A few months later, she decided to begin training for herself.[1] Her mother and brother supported this decision, but her uncle was opposed to the idea.[1] Her mother and brother had thought that Fukuda would eventually marry one of the judo practitioners, but she never married, instead becoming a judo expert herself.[1]

Fukuda's grandfather, Fukuda Hachinosuke, had been a samurai and master of Tenjin Shinyō-ryū jujutsu, and he had taught that art to Kanō Jigorō, founder of judo and head of the Kodokan.[2][5][10][11][12] Kanō had studied under three jujutsu masters before founding judo, and Fukuda's grandfather had been the first of these men.[13] Kanō had taught female students as early as 1893 (Sueko Ashiya), and had formally opened the joshi-bu (women's section) of the Kodokan in 1926.[10][14] He personally invited the young Fukuda to study judo—an unusual gesture for that time—as a mark of respect for her grandfather.[3][15] She began training in judo in 1935, as one of only 24 women training at the Kodokan.[2][3][10] Apart from instruction by judo's founder, Fukuda also learned from Kyuzo Mifune.[10]

Judo career

Fukuda has taught judo in San Francisco for most of her life

Fukuda, standing at only 4' 11" (150 cm) and weighing less than 100 lb. (45 kg), became a judo instructor in 1937.[11][13] She also earned a degree in Japanese literature from Showa Women's University.[10][11] In 1953, she was promoted to the rank of 5th dan in judo.[16] She traveled to the USA later that year, at the invitation of a judo club in Oakland, California, and stayed for almost two years before returning to Japan.[1] Fukuda next traveled to the US in 1966, giving seminars in California.[1] At that time, she was one of only four women in the world ranked at 5th dan in judo, and was one of only two female instructors at the Kodokan (the other being Masako Noritomi, also ranked 5th dan).[13] In 1966, she demonstrated her art at Mills College, and the institution immediately offered her a teaching position; she accepted, and taught there from 1967 to 1978.[1][10][15][17]

During this time, Fukuda lived at the Noe Valley home of one of her students, Shelley Fernandez, and taught judo there in addition to her teaching at the college.[1] When the class sizes grew, she shifted the classes to the Sokoji Zen Buddhist temple in the Japantown, San Francisco.[1][10][15] She named her school the Soko Joshi Judo Club.[1] Having settled in the San Francisco Bay Area, Fukuda gave up her Japanese citizenship to become a US citizen.[1]

Around 1972, following a letter campaign against the rule prohibiting women from being promoted higher than 5th dan, Fukuda became the first woman promoted to 6th dan by the Kodokan.[6][7][10][14] In 1973, she published Born for the Mat: A Kodokan kata textbook for women, an instructional book for women about the kata (patterns) of Kodokan judo.[10][15][18] In 1974, she established the annual Joshi Judo Camp to give female judo practitioners the opportunity to train together.[11] That year, she was one of only three women in the world ranked 6th dan in judo.[10]

In 1990, Fukuda was awarded Japan's Order of the Sacred Treasure, 4th Class (Gold Rays with Rosette), and the United States Judo Incorporated (USJI) Henry Stone Lifetime Contribution to American Judo Award.[1][11] In 2004, she published Ju-No-Kata: A Kodokan textbook, revised and expanded from Born for the Mat, a pictorial guide for performing Ju-no-kata, one of the seven Kodokan kata.[19] Fukuda has served as a technical adviser for US Women's Judo and the USJI Kata Judges' Certification Sub-committee.[11] She has also served as a National Kata Judge, and was a faculty member of the USJI National Teachers’ Institute, a member of the USJF Promotion Committee, and a member of the USJF and USJI Women’s Sub-committee.[11]

Fukuda holds the rank of 9th dan, the second-highest in judo, from two organizations,[1] and in July 2011 received the rank of 10th dan from a third organization.[6] In 2001, she was awarded a rare red belt (marking 9th dan rank) in judo by the USJF for her lifelong contribution to the art.[1][3] On January 8, 2006, at its annual New Year's Kagami Biraki celebration, the Kodokan promoted Fukuda to the rank of 9th dan—the first time it had awarded this rank to a woman.[20][21][22] On July 28, 2011, the promotion board of USA Judo awarded Fukuda the rank of 10th dan.[6][7]

Later life

Fukuda still teaches judo three times each week, hosts the annual Fukuda Invitational Kata Championships, and teaches at the annual Joshi Judo Camp.[1][11][23] She has established the Keiko Fukuda Judo Scholarship to encourage and enable women to continue their formal training in the art.[24] Apart from teaching in the USA, she has also taught in Australia, Canada, France, Norway, and the Philippines.[11] Fukuda's personal motto is: "Be gentle, kind, and beautiful, yet firm and strong, both mentally and physically."[1][5]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Sullivan, K. (2003): A lifetime of Judo: 90 year old Keiko Fukuda, the martial art's highest-ranked women (sic), still goes to the mat for her Bay Area students Reproduced from the San Francisco Chronicle (October 17, 2003). Retrieved on April 25, 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d Davis, S. (2009): A living legend: Judo Master Keiko Fukuda (July 14, 2009). Retrieved on April 24, 2010.
  3. ^ a b c d Tengu House: Keiko Fukuda (December 5, 2007). Retrieved on April 24, 2010.
  4. ^ Hoppe, S. T. (1998): Sharp Spear, Crystal Mirror: Martial arts in women's lives (p. 266). Rochester, VT: Park Street Press. (ISBN 978-0-8928-1662-0)
  5. ^ a b c Takahashi, M. (2005): Mastering Judo (p. 33). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. (ISBN 978-0-7360-5099-9)
  6. ^ a b c d Narimatsu, K. (2011): USA Judo promotes Professor Keiko Fukuda to 10th Dan!!! (August 1, 2011). Retrieved on August 6, 2011.
  7. ^ a b c Ashley, J. (2011): 98-year-old woman becomes first woman ever to earn Judo's highest-degree black belt Shine (August 9, 2011). Retrieved on August 9, 2011.
  8. ^ May, M. (2011): Judo master makes 10th degree black belt San Francisco Chronicle (August 6, 2011). Retrieved on August 10, 2011.
  9. ^ Sidney, J. (2003): The Warrior's Path: Wisdom from contemporary martial arts masters. Boston, MA: Shambhala Publications. (ISBN 978-1-5903-0074-9)
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Johnson, G. (1974): "A single reed that bends gracefully in the wind." Black Belt, 12(6):28–33.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i Joshi Judo: 2010 Joshi Camp (2010). Retrieved on April 25, 2010.
  12. ^ Cavalcanti, K. (c. 1998): The history of Kodokan Judo Retrieved on April 25, 2010.
  13. ^ a b c De Leonardis, A. (1966): "The weaker (?) sex is organizing: A world leader in woman's (sic) judo takes a knowing look at some of the surprising things that lady judokas are up to these days." Black Belt, 4(11):40–45.
  14. ^ a b Walsh, D. (2009): Martial arts heroines (May 8, 2009). Retrieved on April 25, 2010.
  15. ^ a b c d Anonymous (1974): "PSJA women host Keiko Fukuda." Black Belt, 12(4):13.
  16. ^ McCabe-Cardoza, M. (1996): A woman's guide to martial arts: How to choose and get started in a discipline (p. 28). Woodstock, NY: Overlook Press. (ISBN 978-0-8795-1670-3)
  17. ^ Mills College: Four Mills women featured in Wise Talk, Wild Women (May 1, 2007). Retrieved on April 25, 2010.
  18. ^ Best Judo Book Reviews: Born for the mat – A Kodokan kata textbook for women (July 18, 2009). Retrieved on April 25, 2010.
  19. ^ Fukuda, K. (2004): Ju-No-Kata: A Kodokan textbook, revised and expanded from Born for the Mat. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books. (ISBN 978-1-5564-3504-1)
  20. ^ United States Judo Federation: Kodokan announces high Dan promotions! (January 13, 2006). Retrieved on April 25, 2010.
  21. ^ Shakesville: Keiko Fukuda – Be strong, be gentle, be beautiful (November 13, 2009). Retrieved on April 25, 2010.
  22. ^ National Women's Martial Arts Federation: Keiko Fukuda Retrieved on April 25, 2010.
  23. ^ Joshi Judo: Fukuda Invitational Kata Championships (2009). Retrieved on April 25, 2010.
  24. ^ United States Judo Federation: Keiko Fukuda Judo Scholarship Retrieved on April 25, 2010.

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