RIP: Rena ‘Rusty’ Kanokogi was a Judo Pioneer
Posted In: Hall of Fame, Martial Arts, RIP, Women
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Rena “Rusty” Kanokogi once had to disguise herself as a man to compete in judo. She died Saturday after a three-year battle with leukemia according to AP reports.
Many of us know, some can imagine how hard it would be for a woman to become a professional fighter and be taken seriously in decades past. Every person or article on this blog is not directly related to speedbagging. Sometimes news is just news. Props to Rena “Rusty” Kanokogi. Kanokogi was definitely a fighter.
Kanokogi helped create the first Women’s World Judo Championships in 1980 in New York City, mortgaging her home to cover the costs. She coached the U.S. Olympic women’s judo team in Seoul in 1988.
She was born Rena Glickman in 1935 in Brooklyn, near Coney Island. She learned judo from someone in the neighborhood, but her attempts to compete in the city’s judo clubs were met with resistance.
Here’s an article about a reward she received a few months back in France.
Instead of flowers, the family has asked that donations be made to the Rusty Kanokogi Fund for the Advancement of Women’s Judo, administered by the Women’s Sports Foundation.
