Tags: Martial Artist.
Rena Rusty Kanokogi (July 30 1935 – November 21 2009) née Glickman was a renowned Jewish-American judo expert from Brooklyn New York. In 1959 disguised as a man she won a medal at a YMCA judo tournament but had to return it after acknowledging that she was a woman. Traveling to Japan to continue her judo training Kanokogi became the first woman allowed to train in the men’s group at the Kodokan. She is perhaps best known for pioneering women’s judo competition at the Olympic Games.