This lady is pretty inspirational. Makes a welcome change to a 10 year old 98th dan...

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/world-of-sport/article/64394/

Sensei Keiko Fukuda who dedicated much of her life to judo is the highest-ranked female judo practitioner in the world. Truly an amazing achievement!

OSU!!!

She's the same size as my Wife, I think I need to get her training too so she can become a JuDan too

My congratulations

OSU!!!

Shame it took so long though.. I imagine if she was a he the 10th dan would've come 20 years ago.

But regardless a very great achievement to study, practice and teach a martial art for over 70 years..

Something is wierd with this story. It is impressive and I don't mean to cast any doubt. Maybe at 98, she doesn't remember that well. But if she was promoted to 6th dan in 1972 and was 5th dan for 30 years prior, she would have been awarded it in 1942. Considering she had started in 1935, years earlier, it is highly unlikely that she rose to 5th dan in 7 years.

But my guess is she was probably stuck for 10-15 years, which must have been really lousy. But what an honor.

Hi Kakusiite

This actually is pretty common in Judo. People can move through the dan grades quite quickly. The Batusgun method of grading meant that students advance in Judo by winning Judo matches. In other words, if you beat a lot of people, you moved through the grades quickly. On the other hand, if you didn't win a lot of matches, it could take 10 years to get to 1st Dan.

One of the most famous Judoka of all time, Masahiko Kimura, was awarded his 4th Dan when he was a teenager. He'd only been doing Judo for 6 years at that point. He was by many accounts destroying his Judo peers at that time on the mat, so he got awarded the rank he deserved. They do something similar in Sumo.

IMO it's actually a pretty decent way to award rank. People get the grade they deserve more or less. If you're good enough, why not get the rank you deserve when you deserve it?

BTW there is no formal testing for Judo grades after 5th Dan usually. Anything past 5th Dan is awarded for services to Judo. I think there is a minimum waiting time but it's not like "You've been a 5th Dan for 6 years, here's your 6th Dan". I know a 6th Dan who's had his 6th Dan for 12 years and counting. He reckons he'll probably stay at that grade for the rest of his days as he hasn't done any more for Judo than he's always done (i.e. run a medium sized Judo club). He's not been a referee at the Olympics or coached the National team, for example. Stuff like that tends to get you in to the higher Dan grades in Judo.