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 Brazil Judo at the 2012 Summer Games, signifying the continued vitality of the martial art in Brazil. Mitsuyo Maeda introduced Judo to Brazil in November of 1914. Maeda was a member of the Kodokan, and one of five of Judo’s top groundwork experts. Judo founder, Kanō Jigorō sent Maeda as something of an ambassador to broaden Judo practice on a worldwide level. Maeda introduced Judo, (designated ‘Kano Jiu-Jitsu’ in that period) to Carlos Gracie, the first of several in his family that would take up the sport and eventually mold it into Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, sometimes referred to as Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. After