Lindsay resident Sam Imoto may be 80 years old, but he's still active in teaching judo.
Judo is a martial art that emphasizes grappling techniques and throws. Jigoro Kano founded the sport in 1882 in Japan, and it has been an Olympic sport since 1964. Imoto, who has been teaching judo at the Visalia YMCA since 1963, first learned the art while in a Japanese internment camp in Poston, Ariz. After entering the camp as a 15-year-old freshman in high school, he spent three years there (1942-45) and earned a high school degree before being drafted into the U.S. Army.
After a three-year stint in the Army, Imoto moved back to Lindsay, where he was born.
In 1958, he was asked to teach a judo club but didn't feel comfortable teaching it by himself.
"I was more or less a novice," Imoto said.
"They asked me to teach, but I told them I was not an instructor."
He became one, though, aided by an instructor from Fresno who made it a point to check in on Imoto once a month.
Now Imoto can't get away from teaching judo.
"It is something I enjoy doing," he said. "I want to be able to pass it on to anybody that joins the club."
Imoto earned his first-degree black belt in the '60s. Today he's a seventh-degree black belt.
Imoto, who worked as a probation officer, still teaches judo to others in the profession.
He said he teaches them self-defense techniques like wrist-locks and take-downs.
But he teaches kids something different.
"We converted into a sport so we can compete," he said.
"I teach kids throwing techniques and grappling. ... The discipline comes before anything else.
The kids learn a lot about respect. They learn to respect each other and their teachers."
Imoto added that he doesn't teach the kids wrist-lock or submissions because he doesn't want them hurting each other.
Imoto says he has thought about taking a break from judo.
But he doesn't think it will happen anytime soon.
"They won't let me quit," he said.The reporter can be reached at dmarquez@visalia.gannett.com.
Fonte: Visalia Times-Delta - Visalia, CA, USA
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