Harold "Hal" Sharp (1927 – March 21, 2021) was an American judoka and author of books on judo.
Personal life
Sharp was born in 1927.[1] Sharp was deployed with the army in 1945 to Japan and learned about martial arts.[2] He attended Los Angeles State College.[3]
Judo competition
He earned his first black belt from the Kodokan.[3] In Japan, he was assigned as being a body guard of Emperor Hirohito.[4] He was a student of Takahiko Ishikawa. He was the winner of the first Foreign Judo Championships in 1954.[2] He became captain of the 1955 US Goodwill Team.[5] Sharp though stated that the Captain was John Osaka and he was a member of the team.[6]
Author
He co-authored The Sport of Judo,[7]Boys' Judo: Sport, Defense,[8] and The Techniques of Judo (Tuttle Martial Arts).[9] These books sold over 250,000 copies.[1] He served as a technical advisor for "Mrs Judo", a movie about Keiko Fukuda.[10] He is a 10th dan in Judo, promoted by the Nanka Judo Yudanshakai on October 31, 2020. His final book was "The Road To Black Belt".
^ abInc, Active Interest Media (1 November 1964). "Black Belt". Active Interest Media, Inc. – via Google Books. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
^Sharp, Harold E.; Cook C Hadly JR (October 2011). Boys' Judo: Sport, Defense: Harold E. Sharp, Cook C. Hadly Jr., Bob Owen: 9781258128371: Amazon.com: Books. ISBN978-1258128371.
^The Techniques of Judo (Tuttle Martial Arts): Shinzo Takagaki, Harold E. Sharp: 0676251821123: Amazon.com: Books. ISBN0804821127.