Richland Dojo History

History 

The Richland School of Judo was founded in the late 1950s.  In 1967 six of the Richland School of Judo instructors bought property, and salvaged, moved, and rebuilt the current building/(Dojo) at 1930 Saint. The building was the 2nd floor of a nurse's dormitory originally located near the current Richland Federal Building.  The building is roughly 35’ wide by 140’ long, and was separated from the first floor, cut into two pieces and moved on big trailers down Jadwin Avenue. 

 

The ROKU corporation was created to allow for the instructors of the Richland School of Judo to manage the building (the Richland Dojo) There were originally 6 directors involved in the ROKU organization, (Roku means six in Japanese).  They were Francis Stein, Jack Dawson, Don Ray, Jim Agar, Bill Seeburger, and Terry Cassidy. In 1990 the building was no longer being used, and so the original ROKU group was ready to sell the property when the operation of the building was handed over to Bruce Lang, John Dawson, and Gael Gettleman.  Lang grew up doing judo in the sixties and seventies with the Richland School of judo. and was a second-degree black belt at that time.  John Dawson, the son of Jack Dawson, (one of the original judo instructors in Roku), had a brown belt in judo and a black belt in Aiki-jitsu, which he studied with Francis Stein, (another one of the original 6 judo instructors).  Gael Gettleman was a brown belt at judo at the time, with his training being done at the Columbia Dojo in Kennewick and before that in Michigan.  Lang, Dawson, and Gettleman have been involved with the management, modifications and upkeep of the building since.  

 

The Japanese word “dojo” translates to “place of the way”.  It can refer to a training hall or school where people learn and practice martial arts, meditation, or other physical practices, but also can include the organization behind the building.  In 1990, the “Richland Dojo” was established as a nonprofit organization to promote and make accessible martial art training for all types of martial arts to the community, as well as to manage the everyday affairs of owning and maintaining the Richland Dojo property. 

 

Today

Currently several schools practice under the roof at the Dojo.  We build  a community spirit at the dojo, with Dojo work parties to constantly improve our building, and events that are aimed at fostering cooperation and collaboration between martial art schools.