Río Santiago – Last Saturday, the “150th Anniversary Cup” Judo Tournament was held at the Naval Military School (ESNM) in which different sports institutions participated.
The sporting event was organized by the Naval School and its faculty headed by Professor Fernando Yuma, who said: “I am very proud to be able to celebrate 150 years through a judo tournament, which has so much meaning for the Argentine Navy.”
The activity featured the participation of the representative judo team of the ESNM, the Argentina Intercollegiate Judo Federation, and the presence of Uruguayan judokas stood out.
24 institutions and more than 400 athletes took part in the tournament, who competed in the different categories. The Intercollegiate Judo Federation carried out the control of the tournament. On the other hand, the visiting public had the opportunity to tour the facilities and learn about the history of the training institute for future Navy officers.
From the Naval Military School they highlighted the importance of judo, highlighting its value for the history of the institution.
Judo and the Argentine Army
It was at the beginning of the 20th century when our country saw the urgent need to have a martial art that would train sailors in hand-to-hand combat and self-defense techniques.
For this reason, the then Commander of the frigate ARA “President Sarmiento” was entrusted to analyze what could be the best discipline to satisfy this need during his visit to Japan.
It was thus that when witnessing a judo training, he did not hesitate and quickly hired sensei Yoshio Ogata, a direct disciple of Master Gigoro Kano (creator of judo).
This fact allowed the Argentine Navy to be the architect of the landing of judo in the Argentine Republic.
