History of Texas Judo

It's beginning was much earlier. Roy H. "Pop" Moore, Sr. came to Texas in 1957 as chief official of the 2nd Air Force Judo Championships held in Austin. Pop's foster son was Emelio Bruno, who was in charge of combative measures, Judo, and physical fitness for the Strategic Air Command of the U.S. Air Force. Pop liked the city and Texans so much he decided to stay. In the late 1950's there were only a few clubs in Texas: Denton Jr. Optimist with Curley Freeman, Mose Woodson, and Tom Coyle; Geis/Landers in Houston with Karl Geis and Rick Landers, Ft Worth Judo Club with Sam Numajiri, and Austin Judo Club started by Pop Moore. From there the state Judo membership has grown to one of the largest in the U.S.

The initial organization was called the Southwestern U.S. Judo Association and encompassed the states of Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and New Mexico. The organization was taken from parts of the Rocky Mountain and Shufu Yudanshakais but did not have official sanction. In 1961 the Judo Black Belt Federation, the technical body for Judo in the U.S. under an agreement with the Amateur Athletic Union, approved the territory reduced to the state of Texas as the Texas Judo Black Belt Association. In the 1960's the organization grew to about 40 clubs with a total of over 1,000 members and conducted tournaments with so many competitors it took two days to complete them.

When the Amateur Sports Act was passed by Congress and signed into law in 1979, the national governing body for Judo in the U.S. became United States Judo, Inc. (USJI). The clubs in Texas met and decided to become a state organization member under the USJI. In 1980 the assets of Texas Judo Black Belt Federation were transferred to Texas Judo, Inc. and Texas Judo was approved by the USJI as one of the first state governing bodies.

Membership is confined to amateur judo clubs, to any individual who is an amateur athletes, coach, trainer, manager, administrator, or official active in the sport of judo. Individuals or organization who do not qualify for membership in the categories listed above may nevertheless be associated with, and recognized by, Texas Judo through its board of directors, by virtue of their current of past activities in the affairs of judo or of the corporation. As of April 1, 2001 Texas Judo is the second largest state organization with 884 members. There are 35 registered clubs, 74 certified coaches, 60 certified officials, and 27 active committees with a total of 120 committee members.

Texas Judo clubs have hosted seventeen national championships and currently have ten athletes who are recognized as U.S. Elite Athletes by their performance in national and international events. Each year presentations are made by Texas Judo to athletes who have done exceptionally well and are recognized as Texas All Star Athletes by the organization.

Each year Texas Judo hosts five state championships: Junior Olympics, Senior, College, High School, and Brown Belt. In addition, there are many annual events: Lone Star Classic, Mose Woodson Classic, Go Shibata Memorial, Kodokan Invitational, Houston Open, and Dallas Open. Texas athletes also compete in the Games of Texas hosed by the Texas Amateur Athletic Federation and the Texas Police Games. The current members of the Executive Committee of Texas Judo are: Gail Stolzenburg, president; Oliver Batchelor, vice president; Jeff LeForce, secretary; Jim Webb, treasurer; Nolan Fry, director of operations; Stan Wentz, director of development; Jim Irvine, director of membership; Jim Haynes, director of certification; and athletes representatives Kim Moser and Scott Olson.