Yoshito Vince Tamura (July 25, 1929 – April 20, 2010) was a former international competitor in

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 ...

Judo career

Tamura represented the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in the first

Judo World Championships The World Judo Championships are the highest level of international judo competition, along with the Judo at the Summer Olympics, Olympic judo competition. The championships are held once every year (except the years when the Olympics take place ...

in 1956 and served as a referee in the 1964 Olympics for judo. Tamura won the 1954, 1956, and 1959 US National Judo Championships placing second and third in 1957 and 1958, respectively. He continued to compete into the 1970s. Tamura's brother Mas Tamura was promoted by Jigaro Kano to Yondan inspiring Tamura into judo. By the time he died in 2010, Vince Tamura was ranked 9th Dan.

Personal life

Tamura was a descendant of the Taira Clan, and served in the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

Combat Engineers of the First Cavalry Division during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, earning a

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

. He co-authored a book ''Common Sense Self Defense'' and was also an instructor of Heike-Ryu Jiu Jitsu. Tamura had a wife, Yuri, and two sons, Bob and David Tamura. Tamura was the youngest of 7 sons and 4 daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tamura, Vince 1929 births 2010 deaths Judoka trainers American male judoka United States Army personnel of the Korean War