Neil Ohlenkamp
Judo Background
"It has been said that a person may have ten years of experience, or one year of experience repeated ten times."
--Yukiso Yamamoto
Mr. Ohlenkamp is widely recognized as a leader in the teaching and promotion of Judo. He holds a seventh degree black belt and has enjoyed teaching judo and jujutsu classes since 1973.
He was the Head Instructor of the Encino Judo Club for more than 30 years. He also volunteered as Head Judo Coach for the Braille Institute of America and the US Association of Blind Athletes. Mr. Ohlenkamp was Head Coach of the U.S. Visually Impaired Judo Teams at the 1988 Paralympic Games and two World Championships. He is proud of the Gold Medal earned by one of his students at the World Championships in The Netherlands where he served as the Coach of the U.S. Judo Team. He also served as the U.S. Representative to the International Blind Sports Association Judo Technical Committee and was instrumental in creating the international rules for visually impaired judo competition.
Mr. Ohlenkamp has been certified by the United States Judo Association (USJA) as an instructor, referee, rank examiner, national coach, and coaching instructor. He served on the USJA Board of Directors. He has a Bachelor's Degree in Child Development.
As a pioneer in promoting judo online, Mr. Ohlenkamp created Judo LLC to provide free information about judo. He created the Judo Information Site at JudoInfo.com, and a judo discussion forum at JudoForum.com. These sites became the largest, most popular, and most comprehensive source of judo information in the world, helping over 15 million visitors learn about judo and bringing new students to dojos all over the world during the 17 years he developed it.
Neil Ohlenkamp also authored the first full-color judo instructional book covering all of the judo techniques recognized by the Kodokan. Published in 2006, Judo Unleashed was a worldwide hit. An expanded version, Judo Unleashed!, was published in 2024.
Check out his new expanded book Judo Unleashed!
In Judo, as in life, when something blocks your path, step aside and move around it.
Encino Judo Club