George Kerr,
CBE
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(born 24 Aug 1937) is a
Scottish judo
is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...
expert.
In 1957, he won the gold medal in the
European Judo Championships
The European Judo Championships is the Judo European Championship organized by the European Judo Union. The 2015 and 2019 editions were held during the respective European Games. This is also expected for future editions of the European Games.
...
in Rotterdam. In 2002 he was named one of the inaugural members of the
Scottish Sports Hall of Fame
The Scottish Sports Hall of Fame is the national sports hall of fame of Scotland, set up in 2002. It is a joint project organised by sportscotland, the national governmental body for Scottish sport, and National Museums Scotland. It is also funded ...
. In 2001 he became president of the
British Judo Association
The British Judo Association (BJA) is the governing body for the Olympic Sport of Judo in the United Kingdom. In 2019 there were 35,000 members.
The BJA represents the United Kingdom internationally and is a member of the International Judo F ...
.
In 2010 he was awarded the grade ''10th
Dan
Dan or DAN may refer to:
People
* Dan (name), including a list of people with the name
** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark
* Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa
**Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoir ...
'' by the
International Judo Federation (IJF) for international services to judo. Having been preceded by Frenchman
Henri Courtine
Henri Courtine (11 May 1930 – 20 February 2021) was a French judoka.
Career
He studied with Mikinosuke Kawaishi, and his assistant, Shozo Awazu. He received a bronze medal at the 1956 World Judo Championships in Tokyo, shared with Anton Geesi ...
(2007) and followed by Japanese American Yoshihiro Uchida (2014) and Italian Franco Capelletti (2017), Kerr currently is one of only four living
IJF ''
jūdan''. He is the second Briton after
Charles Palmer Charles Palmer may refer to:
* Charles Palmer (1777–1851), Member of Parliament for Bath
* Sir Charles Palmer, 1st Baronet (1822–1907), English shipbuilder, businessman and Liberal Member of Parliament, 1874–1907
* Sir Charles Palmer, 2nd Ba ...
to have gained this rank in Judo. IJF judo dan rank awards are, however, not officially recognized by the Kodokan Judo Institute in Japan, and currently, Uchida (Kodokan 7th dan, 1983) and Courtine (Kodokan 6th dan, 1968) are the only IJF judan who concomitantly also hold a Kodokan judo rank of 6th dan or higher.
Kerr received an Honorary Doctorate from
Heriot-Watt University
Heriot-Watt University ( gd, Oilthigh Heriot-Watt) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and subsequently granted univ ...
in 2010
He was appointed
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(CBE) in the 2011
New Year Honours
The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...
.
Webb, McDowell and Catt on New Year Honours List
BBC Sport Website, page last updated 31 December 2010. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
He also received the Order of the Rising Sun
The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight ...
, Gold Rays with Rosette, in January 2011 after being named in Emperor Akihito's November 2010 honours list, due to his ongoing contribution to judo and to relations between the UK and judo's country of origin, Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
. Masataka Tarahara, Japan’s Consul-General
A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...
in Scotland, presented him in Edinburgh with Japan’s equivalent of a CBE.Peter Seisenbacher
Peter Seisenbacher (born 25 March 1960) is a judo coach and retired judoka from Austria.
Judo career
He competed in the middleweight category (−86 kg) at the 1980, 1984 and 1988 Olympics and won two gold medals, in 1984 and 1988. He al ...
, ''Modern Judo: Techniques of East and West'' (Crowood Press, 1991).
He now has a new special Edition Autobiography on sale called - My Journey to the 10th Dan. A limited number of 500 books are available with more standard finish books being available after the World championships in Sept. These are available from www.georgekerr10thdan.com
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerr, George
1937 births
Living people
Scottish male judoka
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 4th class