The Sport of Judo was introduced to Alberta on a formal level in 1943. At the time, Mr Yoshio Katsuta commenced to teach the sport in Raymond. Later, Mr Katsuta was assisted by Mr Yoshio Senda. After the cessation of hostilities of the Second World War, both these gentlemen travelled extensively throughout the Province giving demonstrations and promoting the Sport.
In 1954 Mr Mutsuhiro (Hiro) Kanashiro moved to Calgary. At the time there may have been a club operated by Glen Pridmore, and known as the Porcupine Judo Club. The club did not last for very long and Mr Pridmore began to teach Judo through extension courses offered by the Calgary School Board.
In 1957, Mr Kanashiro opened a Club in the basement of 129C - 8th Avenue SE, an area now occupied by the Glenbow Museum. There was no other Judo Club in operation at the time. The Dojo was a very small space in a building owned by the auctioneer, Bob Smithens. The rent was low since Mr Smithens son was a member of the Club at the time. The area included a dressing room and 17 tatami. The workout area was 18' by 27'. In time, we expanded to 27 mats. The tatami were on a very unforgiving and unyielding concrete floor. The breakfalls had to be excellent. The building was scheduled for demolition and in 1971 we found a new location.
The new space was on the second floor at 320 - 10 Street NW. The floor was not made of concrete and provided for much softer landings. We stayed in this space for 10 years. When required to leave we had difficulty finding space due to rental costs.
A former Hiro=s judoka was a teacher at Mount Royal College and for a time ran Judo classes at the College. The space he used was called the Awrestling pit@ and was a large circular area filled with wrestling mats just outside of the main gymnasium. It was not ideal for Judo because of the mats and the location, but it was all that we could afford at the time. Our tatami mats went into storage and we moved there in 1981. The area had a negative effect on the club membership and our numbers began to diminish. It was imperative that we find a better and more permanent location.
The opportunity came in 1983. One of our Club members had a friend who was the director of the Hillhurst-Sunnyside Community Association. The building is at 1320 - 5th Avenue NW. After a couple of meetings we rented some space behind the gymnasium in a second floor loft. It was small, cramped and difficult to access, but we could lay down our tatami mats. Subsequently, we moved out of that loft into the gymnasium proper and thereafter to a separate room in the complex. These last moves required that we put down and pick up the mats at the end of each evenings practice.
While we were at this last location, our Sensei Hiro Kanashiro, passed away (1986). We determined that we would need additional funds to keep the Dojo going and decided to take advantage of the charity casino funding that was available to non profit organizations. Up until this point in time (1986), Hiro had operated the Club on a non profit basis (as it is done today) and if the treasury was short, he made it up from his own pocket. We managed to build up our treasury at this location, and began to look for a location where we could, once again, lay down the mats on a permanent basis with a proper sub floor.
In 1993 we managed to find some excellent space at a very reasonable cost at a building located at 2323 - 32nd Avenue NE. The space was on the second floor but over a storage area so that no one would be disturbed by the constant sound of breakfalls. The renovations, including the shock absorbing sub floor and new mats were acquired with the assistance of funding from Sport Alberta and the Saddledome Amateur Sports Fund. Over the course of time, the Calgary economy improved and the rent for this location was getting quite high. We decided to look for a permanent location that would include ownership of the premises by the Club. The membership was increasing, interest rates for loans were low and we had acquired substantial funds from our ability to take part in charity casinos.
In 2004 we found a location at 114/115, 1919 - 27 Avenue NE. It is a condominium warehouse type building. We bought it with a grant from the Alberta Lottery Community Enhancement Program, a mortgage from the Royal Bank and did the renovations with a second mortgage funded through seven of our Club and alumni members.
With this last move, we have a legacy to leave to the Club members. We are grateful for the continued assistance that we receive from the City of Calgary.
We have come a long way since 1957. Our Club is the oldest continuously operating martial arts club in Calgary. We are a non profit group and all of our instructors teach the sport on a voluntary basis.
Judo is a sport practiced in 189 countries and is second only to soccer in participating countries. It is an Olympic Sport (since 1964) and is also included in the Pan American Games, World Police and Fire Games and World University Games, Alberta Winter Games and Canada Winter Games.
