Word: judoka
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Dates: during 1952-1952
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...jujitsu. Since Kano's time, the judo cult has spread to all corners of the globe. The first judo club was formed in Britain in 1918, in France in 1938. After the war, judo boomed. France, center of the European cult, now has 150,000 judo wrestlers (called judoka) in 500 clubs, and the International Judo Federation now includes ten European nations...
...Judoka consider themselves head & shoulders above ordinary grunt & groaners. One haughty English contestant spoke up for all judoka last week: "Judo is a clean, honest sport, an art, physical poetry, not a childish theatrical exhibition...
...Look!" After the championships last week there was one theatrical exhibition that made even judoka shudder. As a finale to the tournament, Japan's little (5 ft. 6 in., 165 lbs.) Shozo Awazu, currently coaching in France, took on ten of the contestants one after another...
...ringside Frenchman, swigging cognac against the cold, covered his eyes as Awazu let loose the first of his shrieking "Yeeeeooowwhhs!" "God, I can't look," shuddered the ringsider. "Tell me if he eats them too." Awazu, a sixth-dan judoka,* did not go that far, but he tossed the ten contestants in just 15 minutes without even raising a sweat...
...week Japan (with more than 1,000,000 judo athletes) joined the federation and Risei Kano, son of judo's founder, became the new president. *In judo hierarchy, contestants are graded by an intricate system. Novices wear white belts. Then, through about two years' training, the novice judoka progresses through yellow, orange, green, blue and brown belts. From brown to the coveted black takes another year. There are ten grades of black belt, starting with first dan (i.e., grade). Sixth dan is the highest competitive rank. Higher dans are reserved for judo masters. No European ranks higher than...