He has taught at the club for ten years. His assistant, Isao Wada, is also a 5th degree black belt, and a twelve year veteran with the club. On a typical practice night, there will be seven or eight black belt instructors for the 40 practitioners on the mats. At a five to one ratio, there is plenty of individual attention. The longevity of the instructors, in terms of years with the club has guaranteed continuity and a certain amount of solidarity.
Students also stay a long time.
They just keep coming back year after year. Most of the members of the Gardena Judo Club are of Japanese extraction, though not all. The prodigy, Ramon Rivera, obviously is not. This is true for most of the members of clubs like the one in Gardena. Ikeda, for example was born in Hawaii of Japanese parents.