The Judo Legend Katsuhiko Kashiwazaki

I was lucky enough in the early 2000’s to cross train in Judo.  After I received my blue belt in Jiu Jitsu I wanted to train more.  There were very few options in Vancouver so I made my way to Burnaby Judo Club.  It was a great place to train, lots of training partners and some really nice, and skilled coaches who cared.  Judo in BC is strongly connected to the Kodokan back in Japan.  The black belt test is actually a test that is to the Kodokan standard, so when I eventually tested in 2008 for my Judo shodan (1st Degree), I also opted to receive my certificate from the Kodokan also.  Over the next few weeks, I’d like to share some of the most amazing Judokas I had the privilege to either learn from, or through my study of Judo, hear about.  When it comes to Kashiwazaki, I was very excited to meet him, as I heard that he had some of the best ground grappling techniques in the history of Judo.  Here is a highlight video regard his style:

Enjoy!