Harold "Hal" Sharp (1927 – March 21, 2021) was an American
judoka
is an unarmed 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 Nipponica, "Judo"). ...
and author of books on
judo.
Personal life
Sharp was born in 1927.
[https://www.usjf.com/2018/02/harold-hal-sharp/] Sharp was deployed with the army in 1945 to Japan and learned about martial arts.
He attended Los Angeles State College.
Judo competition
He earned his first black belt from the Kodokan.
[ In Japan, he was assigned as being a body guard of Emperor Hirohito. He was a student of ]Takahiko Ishikawa
Takahiko Ishikawa (石川隆彦, ''Ishikawa Takahiko'', 1917–2008) was an All Japan Judo Champion. In the 1949 All-Japan Judo Championships Tahahiko fought Masahiko Kimura to a draw. In the following year he became the champion and subsequ ...
. He was the winner of the first Foreign Judo Championships in 1954.
Author
He co-authored ''The Sport of Judo'', ''Boys' Judo: Sport, Defense'', and ''The Techniques of Judo (Tuttle Martial Arts)''. These books sold over 250,000 copies. He served as a technical advisor for "Mrs Judo", a movie about Keiko Fukuda
was a Japanese American martial artist. She was the highest-ranked female judoka in history, holding the rank of 9th ''dan'' from the Kodokan (2006), and 10th ''dan'' from USA Judo (July 2011) and from the United States Judo Federation (USJF) (S ...
. He is a 10th dan in Judo, promoted by the Nanka Judo Yudanshakai on October 31, 2020. His final book was "The Road To Black Belt".
Judo career
Sharp had a number of Judo friends including that of Charles Palmer (judoka)
Charles Stuart William Palmer (born in Ealing, West London; 15 April 1930–17 August 2001), OBE was a British martial artist. Palmer was a judo instructor, President of the Budokwai, President of the British Judo Association (1961&ndash ...
[https://blackbeltmag.com/hal-sharp-judo] He also served as instructor for Star Trek's William Shatner.
Honors
Sharp was inducted into the USA Judo Hall of Fame in 2019. Sharp died on March 21, 2021.[http://www.nankajudo.com/the-life-of-harold-e-sharp-judo-icon-and-beloved-member-of-nanka-judo-yudanshakai/]
References
1927 births
2021 deaths
American male judoka
American judoka
{{US-judo-bio-stub