Central Coast awards prizes each year if candidates of sufficient merit are identified. Member clubs should keep careful track of their judoka’s competition record as well as character and behavior to determine their eligibility. Club heads are encouraged to submit their members for these awards!
Kikuchi Memorial Spirit Award
Don “Moon” Kikuchi was the head instructor of the San Jose Buddhist Judo Club for 40 years.
He won the first National Amateur Athletic Union’s (A.A.U.) 180-pound Championship in 1953, held in San Jose, and attained a seventh-degree black belt (shichidan) in 1988.
Don served as chairman of the Board of Examiners for the United States Judo Federation and also president of California Judo Inc. as well as Central Coast Judo Association. He passed away in 1992.
This award is given annually to a Cenco judoka who exemplifies the spirit of judo in both character and competition. There should be a good competition record, but the candidate should also understand and demonstrate the concepts of jita kyoei and seiryoku zenyo both on the mat and off. Other criteria are:
- Must be a full-time student in good standing at a Cenco member club
- Currently active in judo
- High school age or below
To nominate your judoka, fill out the form and bring it to the fall Central Coast promotional meeting, or email it to Mallory Kato.
Kikuchi Memorial Spirit Award nomination form (PDF)
Past Winners of the Kikuchi Memorial Spirit Award
- 1994: Megan Williams – Albany YMCA (now Hanabi)
- 1995: Tyson Maeda – San Jose Buddhist
- 1996: Renee Howard – San Jose Buddhist
- 1997: David Knudsen – Cupertino Judo
- 1998: Kevin Chen – Cupertino Judo
- 1999: Ori Kawahara – San Jose Buddhist
- 2000: Mallory Kato – San Jose Buddhist
- 2001: Matthew Dias – San Jose Buddhist
- 2002: Charles Hung – Cupertino Judo
- 2003: Kimberly Knudsen – Cupertino Judo
- 2004:
- Sam Kang – Cupertino Judo
- Jason Louie – San Jose Buddhist
- 2005:
- Eric Nakagawa – San Jose Buddhist
- Wesley Thomas – Palo Alto Judo
- Winston Wey – Cupertino Judo
- 2006: Wesley Thomas – Palo Alto Judo
- 2007: Ryan Oshima – Palo Alto Judo
- 2008:
- Kristyna N. Smith – Alameda Small Circle Judo Jujitsu
- Matthew Dong – San Jose Buddhist
- 2009:
- Anne Suzuki – San Jose Buddhist
- Victor Wong – Cupertino Judo
- 2010: Sophia Swain – San Jose Buddhist
- 2012: Erika Mihalca – DeLeon Judo
- 2013: Corbin Balitactac – Palo Alto Judo
- 2014:
- Dara Woo – Cupertino Judo
- Daniel Woo – San Jose Buddhist
- 2015:
- Satoshi Ueda – Cupertino Judo
- Akiko Balitactac – Palo Alto Judo
Outstanding Judoka
Central Coast gives these awards for best competitor in eight categories. There is a male and female award for each of the following:
- Junior (under 13 years old)
- Intermediate (13-16 years old)
- Senior (17 and older, Non-International)
- Senior (17 and older, International)
The competition year goes from September 1st to August 31st, and the criteria is straightforward, with points awarded for each tournament win. Please submit your judoka by filling out the form and bringing it to the fall promotional meeting, or by sending it to Vaughn Imada.