In Memoriam
The American Judo and Jujitsu Federation remembers and honors its ohana who have passed.
Read more about their lives and contributions
Danzan Ryu Founder
AJJF Founders
AJJF Professors
Additional Honored Ohana
Have an update, additional information or new entry? Contact us at kiaiecho@ajjf.org.
Danzan Ryu Founder
Professor Henry Seishiro Okazaki
Henry S. Okazaki was born in Japan on January 28, 1890. He moved to Hawaii as a teenager and, at the age of 16, learned he had tuberculosis. Through hard training in the martial arts, Okazaki recovered completely and vowed to dedicate his life to propagating Jujitsu and Judo. During the years 1927-28 Okazaki developed a complete, integrated martial arts system: Danzan Ryu Jujitsu.
AJJF Founders
Professor John Cahill
Born just after the turn of the twentieth century in Hawaii, John K. Cahill was active in sports at a very early age. Around 1934, when he was 27 years old, John joined Master Okazaki’s classes at the Kodenkan in Honolulu, Hawaii. Read more
Professor Francis Merlin "Bud" Estes
This article is entitled “Uncle Bud,” and not “Professor Estes” as he was known to anyone reading this, because I am his nephew, Burl Estes, and that is how I knew him. Tenth Degree Black Belt Francis Merlin Estes was, and always will be, simply Uncle Bud to me. Read more
Professor Ray L. Law
Ray and Marie Law touched the hearts and minds of many thousands of people in the 30 years they actively taught Kodenkan Danzan Ryu Jujitsu in Oakland, California. Read more
Professor Richard Rickerts
Richard (Dick) Peter Rickerts was born in Petaluma, California, on July 18, 1906. He joined the Coast Guard and was stationed in Hawaii where, in 1929, he met and began to study with Master Okazaki. Read more
AJJF Professors
The three most recent memorials are show below. Link here to view all memorials for AJJF Professors.
Professor Kerry Sego In Memoriam
Professor Kerry Sego AJJF Professor 2025 1958 - July 25, 2025 Professor Kerry Sego began her jujitsu journey at the Santa Clarita Valley School of Jujitsu with Prof. Kevin Colton in September 2001, at the young age of 43. She earned her Shodan in 2007, Nidan in 2009,...
Professor Tom Ball Memorial Kiai Echo Issue
The 2025 AJJF Convention Issue of the Kiai Echo is available now! This issue was made in honor of our late Senior Professor, Tom Ball. Big thanks to everyone who helped make this issue a reality in order to honor this great man. The PDF version can be...
Senior Professor Tom Ball In Memoriam
Senior Professor Tom Ball AJJF Professor 1967 September 5, 1939 – February 8, 2025 Senior Professor Tom Ball began jujitsu in 1957 with Shodan Bud Odam who was teaching just a few miles from his home. That summer, as a Yonkyu he trained weekly with Professor James...
Additional Honored Ohana
The three most recent memorials are show below. Link here to view all memorials for additional honored ohana.
John Gussman Passes
John Gussman Coach John Gussman began the study of Kodokan judo in 1962 with Frank Hubbard Sensei in Dearborn, MI. He competed on a national level until 1978. Since that time, he has coached and trained judo competitors on the national and international level. He...
Memorial in Honor of Sensei Jess Green – by Sensei Conor Witham
The AJJF lost one of their most beloved yudanshas this year. Most of you know him because he was a 50 Year Club inductee at the last convention and was always teaching the AJJF youth at camps and conventions. I’m talking about my Sensei, Jess Green. Sensei Jess was...
A Tribute to Skip Maxfield
A Tribute to Skip Maxfield By Sean Hummer The AJJF has lost one of our Ohana, Sensei Skip Maxfield of the Nibukikan dojo in Chico, CA. He left us Saturday, May 1st at approximately 2pm. To those of you who never had the good fortune to meet him or know him well, I...