[kodokanjudo]

In Kazuzo Kudo's classic books Dinamic Judo (1&2) the foreword says that the author was the last living student of Kano Sensei (d. 1968), Kotani Sensei also was said to have been Kano's personal student (d.1984), and Fukuda Sensei is also said to have been Kano's personal student.
There seems to be some conflicting information here as to who was Kano's last living student...
Does anyone know for sure?

[LsmJudoka04]

It's kinda hard to tell for sure, but I'd say Fukuda Sensei.

[kodokanjudo]

Best I can tell, Kano by the early twenties, had passed the every day teaching responsability to his high dan students while he travelled and took care of his other educational responsabilities. He would probably teach some of the dan grade classes and did lectures when time would allow, but he had other instructors in charge of the yoshi (women's) judo section of the Kodokan and probably came in from time to time to do a class himself, but does that make Keiko Fukuda direct student of Kano?
Years ago, Phil Porter did clinics and seminars all over the country for the USJA and I attended some of them. Does that make me Porter's direct student?
Being there when Kano did a few classes make one his direct student?

[Cichorei Kano]

kodokanjudo, on Apr 7 2006, 10:42 AM, said:

Best I can tell, Kano by the early twenties, had passed the every day teaching responsability to his high dan students while he travelled and took care of his other educational responsabilities. He would probably teach some of the dan grade classes and did lectures when time would allow, but he had other instructors in charge of the yoshi (women's) judo section of the Kodokan and probably came in from time to time to do a class himself, but does that make Keiko Fukuda direct student of Kano?
Years ago, Phil Porter did clinics and seminars all over the country for the USJA and I attended some of them. Does that make me Porter's direct student?
Being there when Kano did a few classes make one his direct student?

Yes, I don't think that Fukuda Keiko was Kano's "personal student" and certainly not an "uchi deshi". On the other hand, I think it was more than having just a couple of classes with Kano. Obviously there was a connection between the Fukuda family and the Kano Jigoro, and Kano shihan had visited the Fukuda home, as Fukuda-sensei describes in both of her books. Kano-shihan was also the one asking Keiko to join the Kodokan, but we are talking 1935, when Kano had just three years more to live. Kano had quit doing randori at a relatively young age, and to the best of my knowledge (this sounds more disrespectful as it is intended), and similarly to what you are suggeting, Kano was mostly involved in traveling, political and official matters, writing, and other responsibilities of a person with such high social class involvement. Occasionally he would give a lecture, demonstrate a movement from a kata or similar. Even in Kano's only book, published in 1931, he is already no longer demonstrating techniques himself, except for here and there a a movement that can be performed with relatively little physical effort (for example, gyaku juji-jime), the 8 directions of kuzushi and ju-no-kata. Most day-to-day practice was under guidance of other instructors, many not very well known anymore, and under supervision of one of the great judan such as Mifune and Samura. That being said, I think we can all see that even if your have had classes from certain great personalities only a couple of times in your life, it would still make you one of their students. I can vividly remember a couple of people in my life whose skill, insight and level was so exceptional and who touched my heart to such extent during the few times that I worked with them that I have absorbed crucial parts of their wisdom and skills in what I practice today. Surely, we all have little doubt that Kano-shihan must have been someone who left a lasting impact on those who were fortunate enough not only to have met him but also to have been taught by him.

There are of course important differences with Kudo. Let's not ignore that Kudo was a man in a man's world. Doesn't Kano himself write somewhere about how he favors that women too do judo, but not randori as it is ... not suited for women ...

In the West, Kudo is most known because of the two excellent books that circulate for a decent amount of dollars on the secondhand market, but Kudo wrote or cooperated to many more books than just these two. Kudo was thus prominently present on the Japanese "judo market". Interestingly, almost all books in which Kudo appears are of high level. He co-authored together with, and performed as the uke to Yamashita in their classical 1931 book, and I believe he also is the uke and co-author to Mifune in Itsutsu-no-kata and various other techniques in Mifune's multi-volume Japanese book work on judo.

I think that the position and impact of a male of Kudo's quality and rank in pre-1970 Japan cannot fairly be compared to the much less attention given to the joshi-bu in those years. Names of famous judoist were already known all over the globe: Geesink, Inokuma, Okano, all men. As we know, it was also not in Japan but in Western Europe and people such as Rusty Kanokogi and others who emerged as strong females showing that they were pretty darn good at randori. Fukuda sensei's impact on the world was in those years likely greater outside Japan than in Japan. By her many journeys all over the world to spread judo particularly to females, and particularly the value of kata to both males and females, and by doing so in a modest way and without bulking muscles she left and continues to leave a strong impression on those who met her. It is clear that she is a living treasure, someone from the past who teaches a pure judo that is rarely found anymore these days, a style of judo that evokes remniscences of Kano-shihan and the Kodokan joshi-bu. But for the same two reasons there are thus also differences between the judo of Kudo, which too came from Kano and Mifune, but obviously was not reflecting the joshi bu.

This post has been edited by Cichorei Kano: 08 April 2006 - 05:59 AM

[kodokanjudo]

By my calculations, Kudo was born in @1890, Kotani was born in 1903 and Fukuda was born in 1913 (ninety years old in 2003). By 1920 Kudo was 30 years old, Kotani was 17 years old and Fukuda was only 7 years old. From this evidence it seams that both Kotani and Fukuda were both too young to have been Kano's direct students and that leaves Kudo as the only one that was old enough to have been there when Kano was still teaching at the Kodokan, as a matter of fact, he was 22 when Kano started traveling for the IOC. Plenty of time to have gotten direct judo instruction from Kano himself.

[Cichorei Kano]

kodokanjudo, on Apr 8 2006, 08:53 AM, said:

By my calculations, Kudo was born in @1890, Kotani was born in 1903 and Fukuda was born in 1913 (ninety years old in 2003). By 1920 Kudo was 30 years old, Kotani was 17 years old and Fukuda was only 7 years old. From this evidence it seams that both Kotani and Fukuda were both too young to have been Kano's direct students and that leaves Kudo as the only one that was old enough to have been there when Kano was still teaching at the Kodokan, as a matter of fact, he was 22 when Kano started traveling for the IOC. Plenty of time to have gotten direct judo instruction from Kano himself.

Note that Kotani did travel with Kano on various occasions, hence he must have been exposed to important issues on judo theory during many, many hours off the tatami. I think in all fairness we may call Kotani a direct student of Kano.

[kodokanjudo]

No doubt that Kotani got some direct instruction from Kano and so did Fukuda. But a few months worth of instruction, like in Kotani's case, how about Yamashita, Mifune, Isogai, Samura, Nagaoka and all of the other full time instructors at the Kodokan where Kotani did 99% of his judo learning?
Is one of them his real instructor?
Again, I spent many hours on the mats with Porter Sensei, does that make him my instructor?
As a contemporary of Mifune, Kudo did spend thousands of hours on the mat with Kano.