Dick Hugh, at the age of 91, continues to contribute to judo. He attends the overwhelming majority of Shufu events. He still runs a judo club in Wilmington, Delaware. He has mentored hundreds of judo referees. Shufu believes that he would be an excellent addition to the USJF Hall of Fame.

Dick began teaching judo as the Chief Instructor of the Wilmington YMCA Judo Club in 1958. He has served as chairman of the Referee Development and Certification Committee of USJF. He is a USJF and Kodokan Shichidan, last promoted some 14 years ago in 2006. He has held a Class A Referee License from the IJF since 1976 – some 44 years! He has served as Chairman of the Rules Subcommittee and Referee Commission of USA Judo.

Studying to become a referee and ascend the referee ranks under Dick has never been for the faint of heart, and still isn’t. But he has generously shared his technical knowledge and experience with lower-ranked or beginning referees for the almost five decades; I have personally known him, and he still does. He encourages people to enter and rise through the referee ranks. He played key roles in my own path from National to IJF-B to IJF-A referee in the 1980s and 1990s. He ably led both the USJF and USA Judo referee commissions.

Shufu is a geographically large Yudanshakai. Although it no longer blankets the entire East Coast as it did when it was formed in 1953, it still has clubs from Maine to Mississippi and a few members in Texas. We have had to hold promotionals in “Shufu North” separately from the “Shufu Central” promotionals. It exemplifies Dick’s continuing commitment to judo that, as recently as last year, in his 90s, Dick traveled to Massachusetts to help with the Shufu North promotional.

I started judo sixty-seven years ago. On a Wednesday afternoon in January 1953 I enrolled in a sport judo class on Ramey Air Force Base in Puerto Rico while stationed there. The class was conducted by Sgt. Paddy McDonald and his assistant Sgt. Kajalahti. Sgt. McDonald just completed his judo and karate training at the Kodokan in Japan. They were instructors in the Physical Conditioning and Combative Measure Unit of the Strategic Air Command (SAC) of USAF. In August that year, a memorable event took place: the visit of the Kodokan team of judo and karate masters led by Kotani Sensei. I and my partner, George Maeda, did randori with them on stage. Before departure the team promoted us to the rank of sankyu each with a brown belt and a Kodokan membership.

Mr. Charles Yerkow was a sportswriter and a judoka who had written books in judo. He taught judo at the New York City Flushing YMCA. I contacted and visited him. From there I learned about and visited the New York Dojo with George Yoshida sensei and the Washington Judo Club at the Pentagon with Donn Draeger and Jimmy Takemori.

After being discharged in 1954, I studied chemical engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute under the GI Bill and started the VPI Judo Club. My first judo competition was in 1955. I and my roommate hitchhiked from Blacksburg, VA to Wayne, Pa to compete at the Valley Forge Military Academy.

After graduation in 1957, I went to work for the Esso Oil Company in Linden, NJ, and started the Elizabeth YMCA Judo Club. I also practiced judo at the New Brunswick YMCA Judo Club with Tim Dalton. In 1958 I received my shodan promotion and later that year I accepted a position with the Tidewater Oil Company in Delaware City, DE, and started the Wilmington YMCA Judo Club, where I was the instruction for over 30 years. I also initiated the Wilmington YMCA Judo Invitational Tournament which ran for over a decade.

Between 1958 and 1960, I traveled most weekends to practice at the Baltimore Judo Club with Kenzo Ueno Sensei, Lanny Miyamoto Sensei, and John Anderson on Saturdays and the Washington Judo Club on Sundays.

Because of injuries, I retired from active competition, but continued to teach and to randori. In fact I became assistant instructor for Ishikawa Judo in Philadelphia where I learned to play the game of go. I never got beyond the rank of yonkyu in go. At the urging of Dr. E.K. Kowai, I began attending Middle Atlantic AAU monthly meetings and national judo meetings.

In 1972, I was the tournament director for the Senior National Judo Championships held at the Temple University McGonigle Hall in Philadelphia. With the formation of USA Judo I was appointed rules subcommittee chairman and certified as national judge for nage-no-kata, katame-no-kata and ju-no-kata.

In 1976, I was certified as an IJF International Referee and nominated to referee at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, but because of the boycott I could not attend. In 1989 I refereed at the World Judo Championships in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.

I have been judo referee chairman of USA Judo and the USJF. In that position I implemented the current national referee certification and evaluation programs.

Today I am a shichidan of USJF and hold membership in all three national judo organizations – a requirement to serve the judo community. I am still active in assisting dojos and tournaments with advice and teaching.
Old soldiers never die they just fade away.