was a Japanese judoka and professional wrestler who is widely considered one of the greatest judoka of all time. He won the All-Japan Judo Championships three times in a row for the first time in history and had never lost a judo match from 1936 to 1950. An author said," In the history of judo, no one is the strongest before Kimura and no one is the strongest after Kimura." He has often been described as the strongest judoka in history. In submission grappling, the reverse ude-garami arm lock is often called the "Kimura", due to his famous victory over Gracie jiu-jitsu founder Hélio Gracie. In the Japanese professional wrestling world, he is known for the controversial match he had with Rikidōzan. Biography Kimura was born on September 10, 1917, in Kumamoto, Japan. Masahiko Kimura began training Judo at age of 9 and was promoted to yondan (4th dan) at the age of 15 after six years of Judo. He had defeated six opponents (who were all 3rd and 4th dan) in a row. In 1935 at age 18 he became the youngest ever godan (5th degree black belt) when he defeated eight consecutive opponents at Kodokan (headquarters for the main governing body of Judo). Kimura's remarkable success can in part be attributed to his fanatical training regimen, managed by his teacher, Tatsukuma Ushijima. Kimura reportedly lost only four judo matches in his lifetime, all occurring in 1935. He considered quitting judo after those losses, but through the encouragement of friends he began training again. He consistently practiced the leg throw osoto gari (large outer reap) against a tree. Daily randori or sparring sessions at Tokyo Police and Kodokan dōjōs resulted in numerous opponents suffering from concussions and losing consciousness. Many opponents asked Kimura not to use his osoto gari. At the height of his career, Kimura's training involved a thousand push-ups and nine-hours practice every day. He was promoted to 7th dan at age 30, a rank that was frozen after disputes with Kodokan over becoming a professional wrestler, refusing to return the All Japan Judo Championship flag, and issuing dan ranks while in Brazil. Kimura also entered Karate in his pursuit of martial arts, believing that karate would strengthen his hands. First, he trained what today is known as Shotokan Karate under its founder Gichin Funakoshi for two years, but eventually switched to training Goju-Ryu Karate under So-Nei