Just two years before her 100th birthday, Sensei Keiko Fukuda has become the first woman to achievea tenth-degree black belt—the highest rank in the martial art and combat sport Judo. Fukuda is now one of only four living people who’ve earned the tenth-degree (or dan) black belt. To put the accomplishment into better perspective, throughout history, only sixteen people have ever achieved this honor.
Only sixteen people, dang.
We wrote about the history of judo in UJ’s ENDLESSLY ENGROSSING – BR (page 337) just a couple years ago. It’s a really fascinating story. And not as old as one would think: This woman actually learned from the sport’s founder, Kano Jiguro.