Judo in Canada Sasaki's students went on to establish their own dojos across Canada. The Canadian Kodokan Black Belt Association was incorporated in 1956 and recognized by the International Judo Federation in 1958. Now known as Judo Canada, it is the national governing body and a federation of associations in each of the ten provinces and three territories. Today, an estimated 30,000 Canadians participate in Judo programs in approximately 400 clubs across Canada. Judo uses a hierarchical ranking system divided into "kyū" and "dan" grades that its founder, Jigoro Kano, adapted from the ranking system for the traditional board game Go. "Kyū" grades
Judo in Canada (2011), Raymond Damblant (2012), and Hiroshi Nakamura (2012). Eleven Canadians are ranked "hachidan" (eighth dan), twenty-seven are ranked "shichidan" (seventh dan), and approximately 85 others are ranked "rokudan" (sixth dan). The names of the ninth and eighth "dan" holders are listed in the tables to the right. A typographic dagger () follows the names of those who are deceased. A registry of approximately 5000 black belts ranked "shodan" (first "dan") to "hachidan" (eighth "dan") in the years 1946–1997 is included in Glynn Leyshon's book "Judoka: a history of Judo in Canada". Canadians have won five Olympic medals in Judo since