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
British Judo Council British Judo Council The British Judo Council (BJC) is a membership organisation and a governing body for Judo in the United Kingdom. In 1955 Kenshiro Abbe, then a 7th dan Japanese judoka and the highest ranked judoka outside Japan, was invited to Britain on a two year contract to teach Judo at the London Judo Society, a Judo School in South London. Abbe parted ways with the LJS in the following year and started his own school for Judo. He formed the British Judo Council in 1958, soon being joined by another high-ranked Japanese judoka living in Britain, Masutaro Otani.