
Lost Pictures
of
George Mehdi
By Robert Drysdale
April 28, 2021
In October 1965 (Oct. 14-17) the World Judo
Championship (世界柔道選手権大会) was held in Rio de Janeiro.
George Mehdi, also known as Mehdi Kastriget, obviously would have had a keen interest. In fact he
represented Brazil as a heavyweight (80 kg).[1] During and after he posed for
pictures with some of the competitors and other team members. They
included:
Okano Isao 岡野功
Inokuma Isao 猪熊功
Minatoya Hiroshi 湊谷弘
Matsunaga Mitsuo 松永満雄
Yamanaka Kenichi 山中圏一
Sakaguchi Sejii 坂口征二
Matsuda
Hirofumi 松田博文
Matsumoto-Kantoku (松本監督, Director
Matsumoto)
Sone Kōji
曽根康治 (coach)
Kim Eui-Tae 김의태,
金義泰 (South
Korea)
Anton
Geesink (Holland)
Doug Rogers (Canada)
Plus one
unidentified South Korean team member, possibly but probably not 朴吉淳,
박길순,
Pak Kil-Soon (based
on his size).
In January 1966 Mehdi went to Japan where he trained
with some of the Japanese competitors, other Japanese, and some foreigners
who were there doing the same thing he was doing. He also met Masahiko
Kimura. He returned to Brazil in July. Later he taught a large number of
jiu-jitsu representatives including some members of the famous Gracie
family.

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1.9763. (left to right), Matsunaga Mitsuo,
Inokuma Isao, Matsumoto-kantoku, Matsuda Hirofumi, George Mehdi,
Sone Kōji
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2.9764. George Mehdi, Minatoya Hiroshi
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3.9768. George Mehdi, Inokuma Isao
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4. 9765. X, Doug Rogers, Okano Isao, George Mehdi
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5. 9769. Okano Isao, George Mehdi,
unknown
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6. 9770. Sakaguchi Sejii,
X, George Mehdi, X, Anton Geesink
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7. 9774. Okano Isao, George
Mehdi
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8. 9762. Okano Isao, George Mehdi
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9.538. X, George Mehdi, Okano Isao
(right)
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10.539. George Mehdi (bottom row, second from right),
with 方々 (various judo practitioners, in general)
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11. 540. George Mehdi with Okano Isao and (probably
his family)
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12. 541. Okano Isao, George Mehdi, Inokuma Isao
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13. 542. Okano Isao, unknown, X, unknown, George
Mehdi in rear
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14. 543. George Mehdi, Okano Isao,
Kim
Eui-Tae |

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15. 544. Sakaguchi Sejii,
George Mehdi, unidentified member of Korean team, X
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16. 4641. George Mehdi with Masahiko Kimura. |
Below, eleven
pictures of George Mehdi, unknown time, place, and people.
(c) 2021, Robert Drysdale. All rights reserved.
1. Mehdi
was eliminated by England's Anthony Sweeny. Other Brazilian representatives were Goro Saito, Roberto David, Manabu
Kurachi, (probably Haruo) Nishimura, Lhofei Shiozawa. and Milton Lovato. For detailed
information see "The Fourth World Judo Championship" by Lance
Belville and Marcel Desert in Black Belt, Feb. 1966, pp. 10-26.
Thanks to Mehdi's student Gilson Campos for sharing the pictures above. Additional details provided by
Fukushima-sensei
(福島), Onozawa-sensei (小野沢
) Sō-sensei
(宗), and
斎院志津子五段
of Kodokan.
More articles by Robert Drysdale on
GTR:
Remembering
George Mehdi
Reflections
on the Evolution of BJJ
Who
Taught Oscar Gracie?
I was
Skeptical
Selling
Self-Defense
Rickson
Gracie is Wrong
Rev.
of book by João Alberto Barreto
Maeda
Promotes Five Brazilians
Science
and Sanity in BJJ
Jiu-Jitsu
in Cuba
Is Oswaldo
Fada Jiu-Jitsu a Non-Gracie Lineage?
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