Rank in Judo are ranked in ascending numerical order. The ninth ("kudan") and tenth degree black belt ("jūdan") and, theoretically, those higher, have no formal requirements. Only 15 individuals have been promoted to the rank of Kōdōkan 10th dan. On January 6, 2006, three individuals were promoted to this rank simultaneously: Daigo Toshirō, Ichirō Abe, and Ōsawa Yoshimi. This is the most ever at the same time, and the first in 22 years. No one has ever been promoted to a rank higher than 10th "dan", but in theory the Judo rank system is not limited to 10 degrees of black belt. The
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