8 Judo in Foreign Countreis

Now judo is done not only in Japan, but also all over the world. After the World War 2, International Judo League was founded and adopted as one of the Olympic Games, so judo began to spread all over the world at that time. Now the number of foreign countries which take part in International Judo League is more than 199. Judo is very popular in Brazil, Russia and Europe. In particular judo is done in France. The number of French judoka is five hundred thousand, in other hand the number of Japanese judoka is two hundred thousand, so judo is more popular in France than in Japan. Although foreign judokas are burlier than Japanese judoka, Japanese judoka had won many times in Olympic Games or other International Games. It is said that Japanese people have short legs or arms and this is advantageous in judo games because not only strength but also quickness or flexible is need to win in judo games. I think Antonius Johannes Geesink is one of the most famous foreign judoka in Japan.

He was born in Utrecht of Neitherland in 1934. When he was a judoka, his height was 198cm. He began to do judo when he was 14 years old  practiced judo in a judo team in his town after he graduated from his junior high school. He often went to Kodokan and Tenri University in Nara to practice judo. He progressed with his talent of judo rapidly as a judoka. He took part in The First World Judo Games which was held in Tokyo in 1956, kkbut he lost to Yoshihiko Yoshimatsu at semifinal. Two years later, he also took part in The Second World Judo Games, but he lost to Kimiyoshi Yamashiki at quarterfinal. Finally he took part in The Third World Judo Games in 1961 and won to Koji Sone, who got a championship in The Second World Judo Games. He is the first foreign judoka, who got the championship. He exploited muscle training and played many kinds of sports for judo training. This training style was very unique and novel in Japan at that time. In 1964 he took part in Tokyo Olympic Games as a foreign judoka of the open weight category and won to Akio Kaminaga in final. This event gave an impact to Japan or other countries and is the most famous in judo history.