17 Facts About Shiro Saigo

Shiro Saigo was one of the earliest disciples of Judo.

Shiro Saigo was one of the Kodokan Shitenno or Four Guardians of the Kodokan along with Yoshitsugu Yamashita, Sakujiro Yokoyama, and Tsunejiro Tomita.

Shiro Saigo was born on Feb 4,1866 in Aizuwakamatsu, in the Fukushima Prefecture of Japan, the third son of a samurai, Shida Sadajiro.

In 1882, Shiro Saigo moved to Tokyo and in August of that year, he enrolled at the Kodokan, becoming Jigoro Kano's second student.

Shiro Saigo was known as "Octopus Feet" for his ability to avoid losing his footing.

Shiro Saigo developed a personal technique called "yama arashi", possibly related to the modern judo technique of the same name, though according to Tsunejiro Tomita it was lost after his death.

Shiro Saigo was responsible for an early surge of popularity for Kodokan Judo, when he demonstrated its superiority by easily defeating a much larger opponent:.

Non-judo people in particular were most impressed at the spectacle of such a small man so easily throwing a much bigger opponent, so much so that Shiro Saigo's exploits induced many others to take up training in judo.

Similarly, Shiro Saigo fought on behalf of Kodokan in 1884, when three fighters of the Yoshin-ryu jujutsu school named Matsugoro Okuda, Daihachi Ichikawa and Morikichi Otake came to challenge their members.

Shiro Saigo defeated Okuda, throwing him down thrice before finishing him out with his yama arashi.

Shiro Saigo took part in the Kodokan-Totsuka rivalry, participating in the tournament between Kodokan and the Totsuka branch of Yoshin-ryu hosted by chief inspector Michitsune Mishima.

Shiro Saigo was sorted to fight Entaro Kochi, a much larger jujutsuka.

Shiro Saigo then tried to capitalize on with tomoe nage, which Entaro blocked and tried to come back with an osoto gari with no success.

Shiro Saigo fought against Shusaburo Sano, a Totsuka jujutsuka who was supposedly strong enough to bend iron rods with his arms and shatter thick boards with his fists.

In 1890, Shiro Saigo was forced to leave the Kodokan due to his involvement in a street brawl.

Shiro Saigo attacked many policemen who attempted to break it up, injuring some of them and even throwing some others into a nearby river, which got him in jail until Kano could get him out.

Shiro Saigo retired to Nagasaki, devoting the rest of his life to kyudo.