Camp 2012 will be held August 3-5, 2012
at Berkeley H.S. in Berkeley, California
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle. It is being reprinted here with permission.
Sensei Keiko Fukuda - Judo Master
Meredith May
San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer
Sensei Keiko Fukuda, the highest-ranked woman in judo in the world at ninth degree, teaches hand techniques to her judo students at a women's dojo in Noe Valley.
Credit: Photo by Lance Iversen / The Chronicle
July 25, 2011 - Although she can no longer stand for very long, Sensei Keiko Fukuda, the highest-ranking woman in the world of judo, can still spot a misplaced thumb from across the room.
At 98, she is still teaching the Japanese martial art three times a week at a women's dojo in Noe Valley, giving pointers from a fold-out chair, wearing her gi - and the red belt that signals her superior rank.
She waves two students over who are practicing fending off a knife-wielding purse snatcher, using finesse and balance to harness power. Fukuda, her hands shaking slightly, holds their fingers and moves their thumbs into their palms. Better. She nods, and the students bow in gratitude before trying the move again.
"The kind of judo I teach is an old one, it comes from the samurais, and there aren't many of the older generation left who can teach these katas," Fukuda said through an interpreter.
Documentary filmmaker Yuriko Gamo Romer of San Francisco is capturing Fukuda's story of enduring war, discrimination, giving up marriage and leaving her family behind in Japan to devote herself to judo. Although several books have been written about Fukuda, including two autobiographies, this will be the first film, slated for an early 2012 release.
"First degree is black belt," said Romer, who first heard about Fukuda from a story in O Magazine. "When she was promoted to ninth degree, there were just three people, all men, at that level, and they all moved to 10th degree when she moved up. There's nothing above 10th degree."
Martial arts legacy
Fukuda is the only living student of judo's founder, Jigoro Kano, who opened his judo school, the Kodokan, in Tokyo, in 1882. Kano added a women's section to his school about 40 years later and invited Fukuda to train ...Read the full article in PAWMA News
Watch a trailer of the film "Be Strong, Be Gentle, Be Beautiful" at www.flyingcarp.net.
Over 100 attend 34th annual PAWMA Camp
Seattle Washington, Labor Day Weekend 2011
Photo by Karma Yoakem.
