Henri Bernard Gauthier (12 January 1926 – 7 August 1987) was a
judo practitioner involved in the creation of the Pan-American Judo Union. He served as the first president of the Canadian Judo Federation from 1949 until 1960. He introduced the formation of several judo leagues for the expansion of judo throughout the Canada and abroad. He maintained continuous liaison with the
International Judo Federation and the affiliated national delegations for the purpose of exchanging on technical and administrative matters.
Background
In 1951, Gauthier represented the interests of Judo at the First Canadian Sports conference held in
Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
. He served as a member of the executive board of the Canadian Sports council from 1952-54. He held the positions of secretary and treasury for the Canadian Amateur Sports from 1951-55. He was the Canadian delegate to the first International Judo Federation congress in 1956. Mr Gauthier held the position of Vice-President for the PJU in 1952-54.
As a competitor and
team captain, he participated in the First
Pan American Championship A Pan American Championship is a top level international sports competition between athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs in the Americas. Typically these championships are recurring, the most ...
in
Havana in 1952. He participated in the Argentina Championship in 1955 and he was the Canadian delegate to the First World Judo Championships in
Tokyo in 1956. In the course of his teaching, several of his students achieved national competition ranking.
Gauthier taught judo and
self-defense techniques to members of the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the
military police, The
Royal Canadian Air Force, the
Salvation Army
Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...
, the municipal
police forces, the
University of Ottawa Physical Education Department, the Prison and Penitentiary guards and at private civilian
dojo
A is a hall or place for immersive learning or meditation. This is traditionally in the field of martial arts, but has been seen increasingly in other fields, such as meditation and software development. The term literally means "place of the ...
s in Canada and the
United States. Gauthier was also founder of the first known Judo club in Canada catering to the blind.
In 1965, Gauthier made three judo and self-defense films in collaboration with the National Film Board and the Canadian Penitentiary authorities. He designed and maintained several Judo newsletters and Pan-Canadian bulletins for several years. He also organized and participated in over 200 public demonstrations, tournaments and championships towards the emancipation of Judo in Canada. The
National Film Board of Canada produced a
video clip
Video clips refer to mostly short videos, most of the time called memes, which are short videos of silly jokes and funny clips, most of the time coming from movies or any entertainment videos such as YouTube. The term is also used more loosely to ...
of his achievements in 1954 under the title: Judo Jinks.
Awards and honors
In 1954, he was awarded the Gil-O Julien trophy for the best
French-Canadian
French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fr ...
athlete in Ontario-Québec. Judo-Québec made him a member of its Hall of Fame as a pioneer in 1990. In June 2007, he was posthumously inducted into the Pan-American Judo Union Hall of Fame.
Publications
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See also
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Judo in Quebec
The Japanese martial art and combat sport judo has been practised in the Canadian province of Quebec since 1946.
History
Judo was introduced to Canada in the early twentieth century by Japanese migrants, and was limited to British Columbi ...
*
Judo in Canada
The Japanese martial art and combat sport judo has been practised in Canada for over a century. The first long-term judo dojo in Canada, Tai Iku Dojo, was established by a Japanese immigrant named Shigetaka Sasaki, Shigetaka "Steve" Sasaki in Van ...
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List of Canadian judoka
This is a list of prominent Canadian judoka, including members of the Judo Canada Hall of Fame, lifetime members of Judo Canada, ''kōdansha'' (high ''dan''-holders), all participants in the Olympics, Paralympics, and World Judo Championships, a ...
References
Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gauthier, Henri Bernard
1926 births
1987 deaths
Canadian male judoka