Who is the best female judoka ever?

Answer 1

If the Wikipedia article is reliable, that would be Keiko Fukuda; past the 7th Dan rank, within Judo circles such practitioners can not be beaten, their skill is well beyond even younger people who actively compete. The reason 6th dans and above do not compete is not because of their age, so much as the fact that their skill is so high, it would not be fair to the younger competitors. For an example of the difference in skill between a well trained "old warrior" and a "cub," here is a Masahiko Kimura video; http://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=BVE82gH-v-g You can't make accusations that the younger guy is "taking it easy" on Kimura, although 60, he's still tough looking and looks like he can take a beating, and the younger guy obviously wasn't holding back. The younger guy was manhandled, and Kimura made it look easy because in Japanese Martial Arts terminology, Kimura is a "grown tiger," whereas the younger black belt is still just a "tiger cub." Or was, when that video was filmed. This view is not unique to Japan, it is indeed imported from China; in the world of Chinese martial arts, few people have the potential to be a "tiger." Some men are full grown tigers, while younger men who have completed their training are still just tiger cubs. Indeed; the way Kimura manhandled that guy, he did it as easily as a grown lion would toy with a cub.