Judo is a Japanese martial art, unarmed combat and an Olympic sport to play. It originated in Japan in 1882. The sport has really become widespread across the world. It’s mostly used in competitive tournaments. It was a modern form of jiu-jitsu (martial art). This led to the development of many other martial arts in other countries.
Judo involves defending and attacking the opponent. The main aim of the player is to apply pressure on the opponent’s arms, joints and neck in order to make him lose. The person who learns judo is called a judoka and this makes the name uniform a judoka.
Top 10 Greatest Judo players:
Judo tends to be a martial art. It is started to play in the Olympic games also. A somatotype person is required to play this game. The person should have high muscularity, low fat, and high power. The game is known for its spectacular throwing techniques.
The article contains information about the strongest and toughest athletes who have earned fame and name through their amazing records. The list contains the top 10 Judo players in the world. They are Hitoshi Saito, Wim Ruska, David Douillet, Teddy Riner, Ilias Iliadis, Masato Uchishiba, Anton Geesink, Tadahiro Nomura, Yasuhiro Yamashita, and Kano Jigoro. So Let’s discuss them in detail-
10. Hitoshi Saito:
Hitoshi Saito is a Japanese former artist. He was the coach of the Japanese Judo team in the 2004 summer Olympics. He receives two gold medals in the Olympic games. He won the gold medal in the 1983 World Judo championship. He won various gold medals in different divisions like heavy weight or open weight division.
His retirement made him the instructor at the All Japan judo federation and Kokushikhan university. he was given the Order of Rising Sun Award in 2015.
9. Wim Ruska:
A Dutch legend named Willem Ruska (Wim Ruska in short) is a former judo artist. He is one of the most dominant judo players in the world. He won two gold medals in the judo Olympics in 1972. He won five European titles in the 93kg category. He was the winner of the judo championship in 1967 and 1971. He was inducted into the Hall of fame of the International Judo Federation in 2013. He stands in ninth place on our list.
8. David Douillet:
David Douillet is a retired Judo martial artist. He belongs to French. He is also a political activist. He is one of the most decorated players among other players in all history. He won Olympic Gold medal in the 1996 Atlanta games. He played for the heavyweight division. He won 4 championship titles and one European title in his career.
He was a member of the secretary of state of French abroad nationals in 2011. He was also appointed Minister of sports in 2011.
7. Teddy Riner:
His full name was Teddy Pierre-Marie Riner. He was a French judo martial artist. He received seven Gold medals in the championship. He got two European titles in junior and senior divisions in 2006 and 2007. He received four gold medals in the European championship and one gold medal in the Olympic championship.
He was youngest champion in Rio de Janerio championship.He was awarded Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur In 2013.
6. Ilias Iliadis:
He is a Greek judo martial artist born in Georgia. He was a tough player from his childhood days. For half middleweight divisions, he received gold medals in 2004. He received the Judo championship in Tokyo in the 90kg category. He became a titleholder of the judo championship in 2011.
He is again a young player. He won the world championship in Russia also. He stands at the sixth position on the list.
5. Masato Uchishiba:
He was a Japanese player. He played so well that he started coaching classes at the Kyushu University of Nursing and there he teaches women’s club. But he was suspended from his duty due to sexual harassment in 2011.
He won two Olympic gold medals. He won the gold medal in Olympics in the 66kg category. He has played for every division and is a good player. This makes him stand in the fifth position on the list.
4. Anton Geesink:
Anton Geesink ‘s full name was Antonius Johannes “Anton” Geesink. He was a dutch judo martial artist. He won two times as a world championships. He received 21 European titles in his whole career. He was a 10-Dan judo artist. He received his first title in 1952. Summer Olympics was a very good time for him as his fans were very happy seeing him defeat his opponent. He died in 2010.
3. Tadahiro Nomura:
Tadahiro Nomura is a Japanese player . He is a very successful and famous judo player in the world. He won three Olympic gold medals consecutively in his active career. He won most of the tournaments for the extra lightweight division. He got his first gold medal in 1996.
He got the World Judo championship title in 1997. He also played in the 2004 Athens Olympic games. He is the best judo player in the 60kg class.
2. Yasuhiro Yamashita:
Yasuhiro Yamashita is a Japanese judo martial artist. He is an instructor at the International Judo federation. He is a member of various reputed firms including the All Japan Judo Federation and Tokai university. He received 203 victories between 1977 and 1985. He received the Olympic title in 1977 making him the youngest judo player among others.
He won 79 world championships. He was awarded the Japanese National Prize Of honor in 1984. This makes him stand in the second position on this list.
1. Kano Jigoro:
Kano Jigoro is the founder of Judo as considered by many of their fans. He is a Japanese martial artist. He introduced the black-and-white belt system in Judo. International Olympic Committee considers him the first Asian member of his club. He is the best player in judo all over the world.
He has received various medals and titles in his active career. He has the greatest number of fans than any other martial artist might have. He holds the first position in the list of greatest Judo players in the world.
Judo is a very popular self-defense game made for people. This legend tells us the about the glory of the game and the ways by which they achieved success in it. It’s definitely praise-worthy to know!