Judo
The San Jose State judo program was established in 1937 for the Police Studies Department. In 1940, sophomore biology major Yosh Uchida was hired as the student-coach. The program was disbanded during World War II, and reestablished in 1946 upon Uchida's return to the college.
In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Uchida and University of California, Berkeley coach Henry Stone established rules to allow their students to compete with each other, including a weight class system. Uchida and Stone convinced the Amateur Athletic Union to sanction judo as a sport, and San José State hosted the first AAU national championship in 1953.
In 1962, the Spartans won the first National Collegiate Judo Championship. They would continue to dominate the event to the present day, winning their 45th national championship in 2012.
In 2005, alumnus and coach Mike Swain announced the establishment of the Swain Scholarship, the first full athletic scholarship in judo at an American university. In 2008, the SJSU judo program was named one of six National Training Sites by USA Judo.
Notable SJSU Judoka
- Yosh Uchida, head coach 1964 United States Olympic Judo Team
- Ben Nighthorse Campbell, gold medalist, 1963 Pan American Games
- Gerardo Padilla, gold medalist, 1979 and 1983 Pan American Games
- Bobby Berland, silver medalist, 1984 Olympic Games
- Kevin Asano, silver medalist, 1988 Olympic Games
- Mike Swain, bronze medalist, 1988 Olympic Games; gold medalist, 1987 World Championships (first American male to win World Championships); head coach, 1996 U.S. Olympic judo team
- Joe Wanang, gold medalist, 1991 Pan American Games
- Marti Malloy, bronze medalist, 2012 Olympic Games
Read more about this topic: San Jose State Spartans