Judo Boy

Author: John Ball
Pub: 1964 by Duell, Sloan and Pearce
Pages: 154
Ranking:
Out of Print

This is one of the very few fictional books that cover Judo. This one is a story, written at the level of a Junior High School or High School student. John Ball is an accomplished author however, and the book is very readable and interesting story of a teenager who takes up Judo to be able to defend himself. The setting for the story is the San Fernando Judo Club, CA, which is still operating. Although out-of-print, so many libraries owned this that it's relatively easy to locate a copy of it. Worth reading.

		Contents

 Author's Note                vii
 About the Language of Judo    xi
 1. Encounter in the Park       3
 2. Mark Takahashi              7
 3. Shiai                      17
 4. Modern Knighthood          25
 5. On the Big Mat             35
 6. Evidence                   47
 7. First Blood                59
 8. Portrait of a Sensei       71
 9. Victory and Defeat         81
10. Third in the World         91
11. Demonstration             103
12. April 15                  115
13. Moment of Truth           131

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Judo Boy is an adventure story based on this traditional, exciting, and newly popular sport. While it includes much of the Judo discipline and describes the training methods used, it makes no attempt to instruct the reader in the art. Those looking for how-to-do-it information will find a number of good books in print. Among these the author highly recom- mends Boys' Judo by II. E. Sharp and C. C. Hadly, Jr. (Burton Publishing Co., Los Angeles), both for the authoritative text and the delightful illustrations.

Judo boy is the standard international term for any student of the art below the brown belt level. All beginners are called Judo boys.

Those who may feel that the Judo dojo (school) described herein is too good to be true might be interested to know that it really exists. So also do many of the people who appear in this story. The author would like to express his great apprecia- tion to the San Fernando Valley Judo Club, to its officers, and to its outstanding faculty of black belt instructors for their un- stinting co-operation and help. Gentlemen, arigato.

The author is particularly grateful to the great American judoist and teacher, Master Sego Murakami, for his gracious permission to write him into the story.

JOHN BALL, JR. Encino, California