15 Facts About Yokoyama Sakujiro

Yokoyama Sakujiro, was one of the earliest disciples of Kano Jigoro.

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

Yokoyama Sakujiro trained in Tenjin Shin'yo-ryu jujutsu under Keitaro Inoue in the Yushima Tenjin dojo, as well as Kito-ryu under Tomiharu Mikami, all since his childhood.

Yokoyama Sakujiro later joined the police in Yamagata prefecture and possibly became a student of Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu of Takeda Sokaku for a time.

Yokoyama Sakujiro was known for his large size, violent fighting style and will to train and fight anytime.

When he was not training at the dojo, Yokoyama Sakujiro was outside swinging around a heavy tetsubo in order to increase his strength, and he was said to carry always a thick rope in his attire, which he would use to drag and move rocks and logs he found in the road.

Yokoyama Sakujiro's favourite throw was referred as "tengu nage," a name come from another of his nicknames, "Tengu", which was given by several superstitious porters when he beat them for disrespecting him in Hakone.

Yokoyama Sakujiro was an infamously harsh trainer who often attacked students without warning, telling them that they should watch in all times as if they were in the dojo.

Yokoyama Sakujiro fought on behalf of the Kodokan for the first time in 1886, when he was a part of the Kodokan team which fought the school Yoshin-ryu in the Kodokan-Totsuka rivalry.

Similarly, Hansuke remained on one knee on the ground challenging him to grapple, knowing Yokoyama Sakujiro was superior on the stand-up.

Yokoyama Sakujiro later wrote that he thought he was going to die during the bout.

In 1894, Yokoyama met Hansuke Nakamura again a rematch of their 1886 encounter, and this time Sakujiro defeated him.

Yokoyama Sakujiro was awarded the seventh grade in October 1904, which was the highest dan in judo at the time.

Yokoyama Sakujiro avoided unnecessary roughness, but in less than a minute he had them all down with a succession of swift blows.

Yokoyama Sakujiro admitted that their object had been to extort money from us by intimidation.