Speaker 1: Welcome to Spotlight Advanced. I'm Andrew Davis.
Speaker 2: And I'm Megan Nolette. Spotlight uses a special English method
Speaker 2: of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no
Speaker 2: matter where in the world they live.
Speaker 1: A small woman bows. She stands opposite a man. He
Speaker 1: is much larger than she is. They both stand on
Speaker 1: a large square mat. The woman wears a white shirt
Speaker 1: and white trousers. She has a red belt around her waist.
Speaker 1: The man steps towards her and holds her wrist. The
Speaker 1: small woman moves her body quickly. The man lands on
Speaker 1: the mat on his back. Up again, the woman flips
Speaker 1: him over onto the floor. How can such a small
Speaker 1: woman do this?
Speaker 2: This woman is an expert in judo. Judo is a
Speaker 2: martial art. It is a structured kind of fighting. People
Speaker 2: practice these styles of fighting as an art form. This
Speaker 2: little woman is one of the most famous judo experts.
Speaker 2: She is a sense a master teacher. Today's Spotlight is
Speaker 2: on sense kaiko fukuda.
Speaker 1: Judo began in Japan. It is a combat sport. In
Speaker 1: these sports, two people usually compete against each other. They
Speaker 1: take turns attacking and defending. But in judo people do
Speaker 1: not use violence. To win. Judo is based on using
Speaker 1: an attacker's violence against themselves. Experts in judo train for
Speaker 1: many years to learn to do this. They use special
Speaker 1: moves to throw opponents to the ground, and they also
Speaker 1: have to learn how to fall without getting hurt.
Speaker 2: Keiko Fukuda's family was very important in martial arts. Her
Speaker 2: grandfather taught a different sport called jiujutsu. One of his
Speaker 2: students was a man named Jigoro Kano. In eighteen eighty two,
Speaker 2: Kano created a new form of martial art from jujitsu.
Speaker 2: He named it judo. This means the gentle way in Japanese.
Speaker 1: The main idea of judo was that gentleness can control strength.
Speaker 1: Judo teaches that people can use less effort to get
Speaker 1: a greater result. Jigoro can wrote a book about judo.
Speaker 1: In it, he describes judo this way.
Speaker 3: Using force against a more powerful opponent will result in
Speaker 3: your defeat, but moving and avoiding your opponent attack will
Speaker 3: cause him to lose his balance. Then his power will
Speaker 3: be reduced and you will defeat him. This can apply
Speaker 3: even with differences in power, so it is possible for
Speaker 3: weaker people to beat much stronger ones.
Speaker 2: Kano's ideas were not just about combat. He believed practicing
Speaker 2: judo would focus a person's mind and body. A person
Speaker 2: could become skilled practicing judo, but they would also become
Speaker 2: a better person through its discipline. Judo's final goal is
Speaker 2: to improve society by improving its people.
Speaker 1: Being good at judo depends on skill and training. A
Speaker 1: person's size is not important. This was very good for Kiko.
Speaker 1: For Kuda, she was only one hundred and twenty five
Speaker 1: centimeters tall and she only weighed about forty five kilograms,
Speaker 1: but she became the most famous female judo expert in
Speaker 1: the world.
Speaker 2: Fukuda began her judo training in nineteen thirty four. At
Speaker 2: that time, Jigoro Kano started a new judo school for women.
Speaker 2: Fukuda explained what happened in the documentary film Missus Judo.
Speaker 4: I was twenty one years old at this time. Maws
Speaker 4: Kano said to me, we have a new women judo section,
Speaker 4: therefore please come. When I had that, there was nothing
Speaker 4: left to a question.
Speaker 1: Judo soon became the most important part of for Kuda's life.
Speaker 1: She practiced judo through many difficulties. At the time, Japan
Speaker 1: was fighting in World War II, Tokyo was very dangerous.
Speaker 1: Bombs often fell throughout the city. But for Kuda was
Speaker 1: determined to learn. She traveled across Tokyo every day to
Speaker 1: practice and teach judo.
Speaker 2: Fukuda gave up many things to do judo. She even
Speaker 2: chose not to have a husband and family. Fukuda knew
Speaker 2: that without a husband people would not give her as
Speaker 2: much respect. But she also knew that she could not
Speaker 2: do judo if she had a husband, so she made
Speaker 2: a very difficult choice. She said in an interview on
Speaker 2: judoinfo dot com.
Speaker 4: Judo is my lifetime partner. Judo is my family. Anyway
Speaker 4: I go, students are very nice to me. I have
Speaker 4: family all over the world.
Speaker 1: There were also other difficulties for women in judo. For
Speaker 1: many years, women could not move up to the higher
Speaker 1: levels of judo. Judo levels are called dans. Students wear
Speaker 1: different colored cloth belts around their waists. Each color represents
Speaker 1: for a different level of ability.
Speaker 2: The highest level belt color is black. There are ten
Speaker 2: degrees or dans. In the black belt. Very few people
Speaker 2: reach the tenth level. Less than forty people have achieved
Speaker 2: this rank. To be a tenth day, a person must
Speaker 2: do more than be good in judo skills, they must
Speaker 2: give something to the art form of judo. This could
Speaker 2: be teaching students or writing a book.
Speaker 1: When Fakuda was training, the Judo Institute had some different
Speaker 1: rules for women. Women could not go higher than the
Speaker 1: fifth dan. By this time, Kiko for Kuda was one
Speaker 1: of the greatest experts in judo. She knew it was
Speaker 1: not fair that she could not move to a higher dan,
Speaker 1: but Fakuda continued to practice judo. She became a sense
Speaker 1: a master teacher. She wrote books and taught around the world.
Speaker 2: In nineteen sixty six, Fukuda was in California in the
Speaker 2: United States. People at Mills College saw her judo demistration
Speaker 2: and they quickly offered her a teaching job. Fukuda took
Speaker 2: this position and moved to the US. Later, she opened
Speaker 2: her own judo school in California. Fukuda taught there for
Speaker 2: over forty years. She encouraged people who did judo. She
Speaker 2: especially inspired young women. Fukuda also continued to travel around
Speaker 2: the world. She did this even when she grew older.
Speaker 2: In the film Missus Judo, Fukuda told this story.
Speaker 4: I went to France to teach judo. People gave us
Speaker 4: from all over the country, but I heard they were
Speaker 4: not sure about what a navy old woman could offer.
Speaker 4: Dave became sure when I showed them all forty throwing techniques.
Speaker 1: Fakuda sense also led a movement for women in judo.
Speaker 1: They wanted to be able to reach the higher dans.
Speaker 1: In nineteen seventy four, the Judo Institute changed the rules.
Speaker 1: Now women had no limits in judo. Over time, for
Speaker 1: Kuda moved up to the ninth Dan. Then, in twenty eleven,
Speaker 1: for Kuda's dream came true. USA Judo awarded her the
Speaker 1: tenth Dan. She was ninety eight years old.
Speaker 2: For many years, she continued to teach judo three times
Speaker 2: each week, host an annual judo competition, and teach at
Speaker 2: the Joshi Judo Camp until her death at age ninety nine.
Speaker 2: She lived with her personal motto, well, be strong, be gentle,
Speaker 2: be beautiful in mind, body and spirit.
Speaker 1: Do you practice martial arts? Have you seen people practice judo?
Speaker 1: You can leave a comment on our website at www
Speaker 1: dot Spotlight English dot com. You can also find us
Speaker 1: on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter and x.
Speaker 2: The writers of this program were Rina dam and Dan Chrisman.
Speaker 2: The producer was Michio Ozaki. The voices you heard were
Speaker 2: from the United Kingdom and the United States. All quotes
Speaker 2: were adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight. This
Speaker 2: program is called Fukuda Sense Strong and Gentle.
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Speaker 1: We hope you can join us again for the next
Speaker 1: Spotlight program. Goodbye Dull Day through Time