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Nov 8, 2012

"You cannot dream yourself into a character: you must hammer and forge yourself into one." --Henry David Thoreau

98-Year-Old Woman Earns Judo's Highest Honor

"Is earning a black belt on your life list? Then this elderly woman in San Francisco just might be your ultimate hero. Just two years before her 100th birthday, Sensei Keiko Fukuda has become the first woman to achieve a tenth-degree black belt-the highest rank in the martial art and combat sport Judo. Fukuda is now one of only four living people who've earned the tenth-degree (or dan) black belt. To put the accomplishment into better perspective, throughout history, only sixteen people have ever achieved this honor...Fukodo said she approached Judo and her life with the intent to "be gentle, kind and beautiful, yet firm and strong, both mentally and physically.""