The Washington times., 1938-01-20
Kudo, Jiu Jitsu Star,
To Show Art at Arena
DaViSCOurt,
Nipponese
Meet
By FRANK BUCK" ONEILL

tangled its summons to action
Over the snow.coated wire cam
the low toned voice of Joe Turner
grand mahout of the pachyderm
who moan anc grunt and trumpe
in the ring at turner's Arena
Man and boy there have beer
some gooo wlestlers in this coun
try, and Joe Turner ranked with
the good 'uns.
There was George Bothner. whC
inch for inch and ounce for ounce
was oue OF the greatest in all time
There vas Harvey Parker, the
little demon" of New England
John Little, Martin Ludeke, Mike
Yokel, and many others. Turner
ranked with those men. and that's
about all we need say Of him.
I'VE are bringing in Kimar
Kudo, a brown belt man from the
Kano scnool of Judo in Tokyo,
Turner said. The color Of the
belt in Judo is a badge of rank
The white belt is the lowest grade.
worn by students. Then they ad
vance through the black belt class
and through the brown belt divi
sion. The brown belt is the fifth
class, and the men in that class
are very proficient. Kudo is meet.
ing Dick Oaviscourt, once a rival
for Stranger Lewis, Joe Stecher
and The rest "
And so they are bringing in a
Judo man of the fifth class!
HERE WAS REAL JUDO
The announcement awakened q
haunting nostalgia for the Far
East. and the hall of judo that
perched high in the Rokko Hills
behind Kobe. Flashes Of brown
skinned boys in white Jackets
whirling in combat before the
somber-faced judges and teachers
of the muscle science passed be-
fore the eyes.
The venerable DR.. Kano, silver
haired master of the art, super
vised the presentation. The young
generation, now grown to mans
estate. many, perhaps. on the war.
torn soil of China, learned the
NipponeSe style of self defense.
There had been an tnterlude
when your agent conducted the
business affairs of japanese judo
wrestler. Before that there was
a pleasant meeting with DR.. Kano
in the New York Athletic Club. So
when we arrived in Kobe, it was
natural that Kano's book on judo
should attract my interest. .
DO you know Kano, SAM"
asked the japanese host Of Kobe'S
Oriental Hotel.
would you be pleased to attend
the exhibitions of judo?" he asked
after being assured that we had
met Kano.
NO HOLDS BARRED
So on a gray Sunday afternoon
we motored to the temple. There
a flag-draped able adorned with
flowers was placed at the ringSide.
Four chairs were provided. Our
host and another NipponeSe rap
idly described the scene that de-
veloped before us.
The lid was off. Knife men
were disarmed; bludgeons taken
from bandits" and the efficiency
of judo demonstrated by boys
whose eyes gliStened with excite
ment in the mad evolutions OF
battle.
KANO EXPLAINS ART
Over tea and cakes the vener-
able Keno told the story of the
art; explained that it was taught
to overcome violent attack upon
the body. Together scenes at the
New York Athletic Club were lived
again, and the hospitality shown
to Kano at that time by a great
organization, was amply repaid
by him to an American.
And so they are bringing in
Kudo to demonstrate his art. If
he is half as good as Manhachi
Oishi, or Higashi, the sensation Of
the wrestling ring Is years ago.
he will be good. But he has some
thing to sustain, for his prede-
cesSors were great in their art.
BOYS STRIVE TO PLEASE
On the groan and grunt pro-
gram tonight Jim LondoS, the gor-
geous Greek. will meet Dr.. Murphy
who is named "Dropkick." They
say that the good medico kicks
out his rivals and does not bother
about pinning them to the can.
vas. For long time now the writer
has mourned the decadence of the
once glorious sport of catch as
catch can wrestling. The kicking
and punching is not wrestling
But they tell me that the public
yawnS when straight graphing is
presented.
Wherefore. no doubt. LondoS
will grunt and groan along with
the other humpty dumptys Of the
arena. and DR.. Murphy will dem
onstrate his drop kicking speciality
which incidentally is a fragrant
foul under the strict interpreta
ton of wrestling rules. But every
body will be happy. and so will ]
If Kudo is a real master of the
art of judo.