Naoki Murata (1949-2020), a great authority on judo, said this of Jigoro Kano: “Professor Kano’s educational policies reflected his deep-rooted deference for his country and its traditions. Judo was developed by him as a vehicle for people to consolidate both their minds and bodies, thereby becoming ‘robust citizens’ able to play a positive role in the improvement of society. Kano was a forward-thinking educator of the highest caliber. Judo is practiced around the world as a popular sport, but the higher educational principles promoted by Kano should not be ignored in the pursuit of winning medals.” Judging from Murata’s comments here, it seems clear that Kano wished judoka to become ‘literate’ beings as well as skilled in the execution of judo techniques.

Professor Naoki Murata, a Kodokan 8th dan, was born in Saitama Prefecture in 1949. He graduated from Tokyo Kyoiku University in 1973. A prolific writer of essays and several well-researched books on judo, he served as Curator of the Kodokan Judo Institute Museum. He was also highly active as an administrator and served on several committees dealing with Budo affairs.

It was in the year 1999 that I first met Murata-sensei when working on my first book on Jigoro Kano: The Father of Judo. I was fortunate to have had interesting discussions with Murata in the intervening years, often over lunch following my visits to the Kodokan Library.

Murata had this to say of Professor Jigoro Kano: “Kano’s educational policies reflected his deep-rooted deference for his country and its traditions. Judo was developed by him as a vehicle for people to consolidate their minds and bodies, thereby becoming ‘robust citizens’ able to play a positive role in the improvement of society. Kano was a forward-thinking educator of the highest caliber. Judo is practiced around the world as a popular sport, but the higher educational principles promoted by Kano should not be ignored in the pursuit of winning medals.”

Brian N. Watson

Tokyo

27 October 2020

Nanka Judo Grassroots Winter Nationals

Online registration for this year’s Grassroots Winter Nationals opens as soon as next week on Smoothcomp.

For the first time this year, the Winter Nationals will be held on two days, Saturday & Sunday 3-4 December at the Felix Center on the campus of Azusa Pacific University. The granddaddy of all Judo tournaments in Southern California, the attendance over

IJF World Championships Veterans

Here is Lee Pasteris’ & Fred Dagdagan’s exquisite Ju no Kata performance at last week’s IJF World Championships Veterans in Krakow, Poland. It is about nine minutes long.

Here is an article reviewing this championships.

Nanka Fall Labor Day Clinic

Here is a video collage produced by Luchia Torro about the Darcel Yandzi training camp that Nanka hosted over Labor Day weekend, 3-5 September. 

Mark your calendars and plan for these events

Kata Practice

Osugi Sensei will host kata practice at Anaconda Academy from 9:30-12:00 pm.

Saturday 1 October

Saturday 15 October

Saturday 29 October

Little Kids’ class resumes in October

We will re-start our Little Kids’ class beginning on Wednesday 5 October. The half-hour classes run from 5:15-5:45 pm, right before our Juniors’ class. The class is designed for 4–6-year-olds to begin their Judo journey. The classes incorporate games, tumbling, rolling, animal exercises, tug ‘o war, like the ones in our Juniors’ class. The purpose of this class is to prepare these young ones for our Juniors’ class and train them in the different exercises and follow instructions. More information will be available next week. If you are interested, please reply to this email with your child’s name, age, and the reason why you would like them to participate in this class.

For our Seniors, the Hollywood Scrimmage IV is on Sunday 16 October.

5th Annual “Fight for the Cure” All Women’s Charity Judo Tournament, 23 October, Norco, CA

Hands-on Police Judo Workshop

Here’s a reminder for the Nanka Hands-on Police Judo Workshop on 27-28 October. Share this with your law enforcement friends and relatives.

Day before Halloween Hike Sunday 30 October

Special Clinics from Flavio Canto & Daria Bilodid

In collaboration with CJ Judo in San Jose, CA, Orange County Judo Training Center in Garden Grove, and Shimeru Judo in Lake Elsinore, CA, they have planned special clinics with elite Judokas conducting kids and adults clinics in late October and in January 2023.

Flavio Canto-Saturday 29 October @ 10:00 am (kids, $50) & 1:00 pm (adults, $75)

Daria Bilodid-Saturday 21 January @ 10:00 am (kids, $50) & 1:00 pm (adults, $75)

Flavio Canto was the 2004 Olympic Brazilian Bronze medalist at 81 kg, He is known for his Newaza prowess, and his Canto strangle.

Daria Bilodid was the 2020 Olympic Ukrainian Bronze medalist at 48 kg, She was also a two-time World Champion in 2018 & 2019.
We will see more of her on the international circuit as she will be only 22 next month.

It is an inspirational opportunity moment to meet some of the world’s best.

Shimeru Judo

17600 Collier Ave., Unit D129

Lake Elsinore, CA 92530

DEVELOPMENT NEWS – FALL 2022 SHORAI

After a long hiatus, here’s the Fall 2022 Shorai Practice Schedule!  These sessions are focusing on preparing for the Quebec Open, Infantile Pan Am, and Nanka Winter Nationals.   If you are planning on competing in any of these tournaments at the end of the year, come on out and get some extra training in!  All the host dojos have top-of-the-line Senseis, so it’s well worth attending!  The next Shorai practice is scheduled for SUNDAY (10/15) @ San Gabriel Judo Dojo.  

Oct. 15 (Saturday) – San Gabriel Judo Dojo, 11 am to 2 pm

Club Address: 5019 Encinita Ave, Temple City, CA 91780

Oct. 29 (Saturday) – Guerreros Judo Club (PENDING)

             Club Address:  501 Glendora Ave, La Puente CA 91744

Nov. 12 (Saturday) – San Fernando Valley Judo Club, 2 pm to 5 pm

Club Address: 12953 Branford St., Pacoima, CA  61331

Nov. 29 (FRIDAY) – Special “TURKEY BUSTER” Shorai @ Norwalk Judo Dojo, 5 pm to 8 pm

              Club Address: 14615 S. Gridley Rd. Norwalk, CA 90651

The Shorai Program offers more competitive training and workouts for our more competitive and elite athletes within Nanka. Shorai means “Future” in Japanese.

IJF World Championships 2022

Watch the global elite vie for the title of World Champion held on 6-13 October in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. You may watch the competition live from Tashkent or watch YouTube highlights later.

Since we have been working on Tsuri Komi Goshi, Uchimata/Harai Goshi, here is a Kodokan video demonstrating Uchimata by Kosei Inoue, 2000 Olympian Gold medalist and two-time World Champion.