Severna Park Instructor Earns USA Judo Hall Of Fame Honors

At 88 years young, Edwin Takemori, highly accomplished in the judo discipline, is still an active judo instructor. Takemori, who earned his first black belt in 1957, is currently sensei of United States Naval Academy Judo Club, and in April at the United States Judo Federation’s 2024 Hall of Fame & Lifetime Achievement Awards banquet in Herndon, Virginia, Takemori accepted his HOF induction and Lifetime Achievement Award while surrounded by family and friends.

Takemori began his judo journey as a young boy. His elder brother of 10 years, James Takemori, was competing and teaching judo and felt that the discipline was imperative for a successful and meaningful life. Following the younger Takemori’s move to the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, his prolific judo career took off in the early 1950s at the Washington Judo Club, a club founded by his elder brother in the 1940s.

“My brother was not only highly skilled in judo, but he was a decorated World War II veteran. I looked up to him,” said Takemori of his brother, who died at age 89 in 2015 following an extensive and impressive list of military and judo accomplishments. “I am the kind of instructor that I am because of how he taught me to mentor,” Takemori added, recalling his brother’s seven-day-a-week practices and rigorous physical training, a practice he tries to maintain even now in his late 80s.

Takemori’s competitive career lasted from 1955 to 1980, but his greatest achievement may be his dedication to passing his extraordinary skill and talent to the world.

“Look, competing is great and, of course, you learn something from the experience,” said Takemori, who participated in the 1964 Olympic trials, “but competing is for yourself. What do you have when your competing days are over? My knowledge isn’t my own. It’s my duty to pass what I’ve learned on to others. Getting better, doing better every day, is what is most important.”

Of the many skills he’s mastered, the Ashi-Harai technique (how to safely throw a competitor) is one that led him to his wife of 62 years, Alice. A judo student in the Baltimore Judo Club, Alice was sent to the Washington Judo Club to learn the technique from Takemori. After a judo-related injury in 1959, Alice needed to further her instruction with a teacher who was skilled in sacrificial throws, so as not to be reinjured. Takemori became her man, on and off the mat.

“None of the men in my club wanted to throw a ‘girl,’ especially one with an injury,” Alice said with a laugh as she recalled their meeting. “Edwin didn’t have any problem doing that!”

In 1963, he opened his first judo club, the Goddard Judo Club, which would be the first of six he would go on to form. In 2001, he took over as the head coach of the United States Naval Academy Judo Club, a role he still holds today.

Although Takemori has earned numerous awards and accolades throughout his nearly life-long judo career, it’s his instructor and mentor roles he cherishes the most. He was a longtime referee and current member of the Shufu Board of Examiners and Board of Directors, a branch of the U.S. Judo Federation charged with maintaining and supporting the rules and standards of judo. Today, he still gets invited to watch judo matches to critique referees. His expertise as a referee earned him the title national referee emeritus.

“Being a referee made me a better competitor and a better instructor,” Takemori said. “Being experienced in all areas makes for a better judo person.”

In May of this year, Takemori was quoted by the U.S. Judo Foundation as saying, “The purpose of my instruction is to teach judo as a sport. Many people think the striking and kicking they see on TV is judo. It is not,” he said. “Children and most adults only study the sport aspects of judo, but judo is practiced by all ages and requires all types of players — competing and non-competing. (It’s important for) non-competing students (to have) an appreciation for those who do compete and gives an understanding of the commitment sport competition takes.”

Takemori has no plans to stop instructing judo. “They are going to have to pull me off the mat,” the senior expert said resolutely. “Every day, we can get better. Every day is a chance to learn something and be a better judo person. I cannot take this (experience and knowledge) with me. I have to pass it on.”

To learn more about judo and Edwin Takemori’s career, or to find a judo club, visit www.usjf.com.