Trevor Leggett
| Trevor Leggett | |
|---|---|
| Born |
22 August 1914 London, United Kingdom |
| Died | 2 August 2000 (aged 85) London, United Kingdom Stroke |
| Other names | T.P. |
| Style | Judo |
| Teacher(s) | Yukio Tani |
| Rank | 6th dan judo |
Trevor Pryce Leggett (22 August 1914 – 2 August 2000) was a British judo teacher, author, translator, and head of the BBC's Japanese Service for 24 years. He was one of the very first Europeans to study martial arts in Japan. Leggett served in the Ministry of Information during World War II. After the war, he taught judo at the Budokwai and worked in Japanese language services at the BBC. He held the title of Shihan, and the rank of 6th dan in judo from the Kodokan. Leggett helped introduce Japanese culture to the United Kingdom, and was honoured for this by being inducted into Japan's Order of the Sacred Treasure in 1984. He also produced many works on Eastern philosophy.
Leggett was born on 22 August 1914 in Brondesbury, northwestern London, in the United Kingdom. He was the third son of Ernest Lewis Leggett, a professional violinist who had come from a farming family, and Isobel Mabel Leggett (née Pryce), a nurse from an affluent Scottish family. E. Leggett had been a child prodigy, and was an orchestral leader under conductor Sir Thomas Beecham. Since his father did not approve of his interest in the martial arts, Leggett had to begin practising judo in secret. Sir Leslie Glass, recalling Leggett's account of his own youth, said that "Trevor was a tall, rather gangling figure. He told me he had been outsize at school and bullied. He had taken up judo to work out the resentment which had built up inside him" (p. 328).
Leggett joined the Budokwai in London in 1932, training primarily under Yukio Tani, who would have a profound influence on the young man. Biographers Anthony Dunne and Richard Bowen (2003) relate that on one occasion, Leggett "looked in at the Budokwai, but, feeling a bit off colour and deciding not to train, walked away. He met Tani who asked where he was going. Responding to the five feet three-inch Tani, Leggett said, 'Well, you know, I thought I'd give the training a miss tonight. I'm a bit off colour and a rest will do me good.' 'Now, Leggett San, if a man with evil intent rushes up to you in the street with a hammer, what are you going to say? I'm sorry but I don't feel too good. Can you attack me next week?' Leggett turned on his heel and went back to the Budokwai. It was incidents of this nature, and there were a number, which made a major contribution to his steely self-control and determination" (p. 325).
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