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 Canada (brown belt). Later, when he travelled to Japan as Prime Minister, he was promoted to "sho-dan" (first-degree black belt) by the Kodokan, and then promoted to "ni-dan" (second-degree black belt) by Masao Takahashi in Ottawa before leaving office. Trudeau began the night of his famous 'walk in the snow' before announcing his retirement in 1984 by going to Judo with his sons. Other Canadian politicians and their families have also been associated with Judo. The children of Trudeau's successor in office, Brian Mulroney, also practised at the Takahashi Dojo, and Judo Canada has presented two honorary black belts to Members