Judo in the United States however, the lecture had little effect on mainstream judo growth. The first American to actually study judo was Prof. Ladd from Yale University, in 1889. He trained at the Kodokan in Japan for about ten years; by 1908 about 13 Americans were training there. In 1919, Prof. John Dewey of Columbia University came to visit Prof. Ladd and Master Kano, many years later he took his knowledge back to Columbia and began the first U.S. college judo program. While some students were training in Japan there was some action in the U.S. Perhaps one of the most important figures in
Judo in the United States wrestling. Although Yoshiaki threw him time after time, Graft continued to get up. Finally, Yoshiaki decided that he would do mat work with Graft, since there seemed to be no end to the match. Yoshiaki got an armlock on Graft, but the wrestler would not give up. Yoshiaki kept up the pressure until Graft groaned as his arm came close to breaking. President Roosevelt was impressed and took judo lessons. After leaving office, he kept mats in his home. He studied judo for about a year, earning a brown belt. Through the help of the president, Yoshiaki taught judo at