About

WHAT IS JUDO ?
Judo is derived from Jujutsu. It was created by Professor Jigoro Kano who was born in Japan on October 28, 1860 and who died May 4, 1938 after a lifetime of promoting Judo. Mastering several styles of jujutsu including Kito-Ryu and Tenjin-Shinyo Ryu in his youth he began to develop his own system based on modern sports principles. In 1882 he founded the Kodokan Judo Institute in Tokyo where he began teaching and which still is the international authority for Judo.The name Judo was chosen because it means the "gentle or yielding way". Kano emphasized the larger educational value of training in attack and defense so that it could be a path or way of life that all people could participate in and benefit from. He eliminated some of the traditional jujutsu techniques and changed training methods so that most of the moves could be done with full force to create a decisive victory without injury. The popularity of Judo increased dramatically after a famous contest hosted by the Tokyo police in 1886 where the Judo team defeated the most well-known jujutsu school of the time. It then became a part of the Japanese physical education system and began its spread around the world. Dr. Kano, President of the University of Education, Tokyo, dedicated his life, studied these ancient martial art of Jujutsu and integrated what he considered to be the best of their techniques into what is now the modern sport of Judo.Judo is many things to different people. It is a fun sport, an art, a discipline, a recreational or social activity, a fitness program, a means of self-defense or combat, and a way of life. It is all of these and more.Judo was introduced into the Olympic Games in 1964 and is practiced by millions of people throughout the world today. People practice Judo to excel in competition, to stay in shape, to develop self-confidence, and for many other reasons. But most of all, people do Judo just for the fun of it.

About Chief Pride Judo Club

          Sensei Danny Rodriguez is a 4th Degree Black Belt(Yodan) and has been studying Judo since the age of 4. Along with his older brother Vincent, they learned Judo with Sensei Rene Massana at Carol City Judo in Miami. Sensei Danny won many Jr National Championships at a young age and learned  that hard work produces success. After taking a break from the sport he loves, he returned after marriage and children. He wanted his boys to learn the same discipline and work ethic that was instilled in him at a young age.

         After several years of training with various Judo Clubs and different Coaches with Sensei Danny always in the background, they built a solid foundation for the love of the Sport. 

         Then a move to the West Coast of Florida gave little choices of where to continue in the Sport they held dear to them. At 

that point Sensei Danny decided to go at it on his own and open his own Judo School.

On March 5th 2013 Chief Pride Judo opened its doors for the very first time.  2013 proved to be very successful for our Dojo and its Athletes. We finished the year with 5 Nationally Ranked Athletes, 7 State Champions and 1 Pan American gold Medalist.

         As we started 2014, we were hoping to have just as good a year as the previous. But to our surprise we actually had a better year!!!  We ended the year with 3 Pan American Team Members who brought home 1 Silver Medal and 1 4th place. 4 #1 Ranked in the USA , 7 Nationally Ranked and 10 State Champions. Also Sensei Danny was chosen by USA JUDO to be the Head  Coach for Team USA for the Infantile Pan American Team.

         As we headed into the end of 2015 we finished with 9 Nationally Ranked Athletes and 5 of those qualifying for the 2015 Pan American Games in Cordoba Argentina. We finished the Pan American Games with a Gold Medal and a Bronze Medal adding 2 more Pan American Champions to our group. We also had one of our athletes make the 2015 Jr World Team that competed in Bosnia. 

Jump forward to 2019... We have 2 Athletes make the Cadet World Team that competed in Almaty, Kazakhstan as well as 1 athlete compete in Romania.

We had 1 athlete win Gold in the 2019 Cadet Pan American Games in Cali, Colombia as well as 4 athletes that went to Mexico for Infantile Pan Am Games. They brought home a Gold, Silver and a Bronze!

Incredible results!!!