CUTE LOLA ^_^

98-year-old woman becomes first woman

ever to earn Judo's highest-degree black belt

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.

Fukuda began practicing Judo in 1935 and is

the sole surviving student of its founder, Kano

Jiguro. At her teacher's urging, she learned English 

to help spread Judo internationally.

During a time when getting married, building 

a family, and becoming a housewife was the 

norm, Fukudo bucked tradition, opting out 

of marriage to pursue the martial art.

"All I did was Judo...this was my marriage,

" Fukudo reflected tearfully to the San Francisco

Chronicle. "This is when my life destiny was set.

I just never imagined how long this road would be."

She described the Jiguro’s school, known as the

Kodokan, as "old-fashioned and sexist about 

belts and ranks." In fact, an edict that prevented

women from achieving any higher than a

fifth-degree black belt kept Fukuda at that level

for thirty years. She was finally elevated to 

sixth dan in 1972 when a woman's division was

created.

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." 

Fukuda says

this kind of beauty is decidedly not external. 

"A compassionate soul is inner beauty," 

she explained to the paper. "I believe this is true

beauty...All my life this has been my dream."

Dream realized, the 98-year-old Sensei Keiko 

Fukuda continues to teach Judo three times a 

week at a woman's dojo.