Tsunejiro Tomita
|
Tomita Tsunejirō 富田 常次郎 |
|
|---|---|
Tomita Tsunejirō, the Guardian of the Kōdōkan.
|
|
| Born | Yamada Tsunejirō February 28, 1865 Numazu, Shizuoka, Japan |
| Died | January 13, 1937 (aged 71) |
| Native name | 富田 常次郎 |
| Nationality |
 Japan
|
| Style | Judo, Jujutsu |
| Teacher(s) | Kanō Jigorō |
| Rank | Judo: 7th Dan |
| Notable students | Mitsuyo Maeda |
Tomita Tsunejirō (富田 常次郎?, February 28, 1865 – January 13, 1937), born Yamada Tsunejirō (山田 常次郎?), was the earliest disciple of judo. His name appears in the first line of the enrollment book of the Kōdōkan. Tomita, together with Saigō Shirō, became the first in the history of judo to be awarded the rank of Shodan by the founder of judo, Kanō Jigorō, who established the ranking system that is now commonly used in various martial arts around the world. Tomita was known as one of the "Four Kings" of Kōdōkan judo for his victorious efforts in competing against jujitsu schools. He was awarded 7th dan upon his death on January 13, 1937.
As the earliest student at the Kodokan, Tomita was known as Tsunejiro Yamada. He was adopted by a family named Tomita and his name was therefore changed. He entered the Kodokan in June 1882 as an uchi deshi or live-in student at the recommendation Jigoro Kano's father. He became Kano's usual training partner. Although he was the least physically gifted of Kano's earlier studens, he was dedicated and strong-willed.
Tomita had his first match on behalf of Kodokan in 1884, when three fighters of the Yoshin-ryu jujutsu school named Matsugoro Okuda, Daihachi Ichikawa and Morikichi Otake came to challenge their members. As Kano was out at the moment, they only found Tomita training with Shiro Saigo and Sakujiro Yokoyama, but those decided to answer the challenge by themselves. The three Kodokan members defeated their opponents in respective matches, with Tomita throwing his adversary via tomoe nage and choking him out with gyaku-juji-jime. Kano was not pleased with their behavior when he found out, thinking they had shown themselves too eager to fight, but anyway their victories helped to increase Kodokan's renown in Japan.
...
Wikipedia