Likes Likes:  2
Results 1 to 8 of 8

Thread: Anthony Flores?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Louisiana
    Posts
    9
    Likes (received)
    0

    Default Anthony Flores?

    I've read elsewhere (e.g., forum at judoinfo) that this man appeared as Tori in the 1942 edition of FM21-150.

    I know that in the mid to late 1930s, he taught at a military school in Tenn.; before that, he taught at a YMCA in Brooklyn/Prospect Park.

    A paragraph in the FM indicates he was a member of "The New York Dojo" at one time. Googling reveals a fair amount of articles from about 1942 to 1978 -- including his ca. 1960 letter that refers to the Gracies -- but I haven't found anything about his initial grading as a shodan.

    Does anybody know who promoted him to shodan & when? Info in the Judoinfo thread indicates he was born in 1911. He started teaching at the Y ca. 1928 & stayed there until he went to Tenn. in 1936 or '37.

    So he was pretty young when he started teaching at the Y.

    I've sent out some e-mail inquiries, but so far I haven't found anybody who remembers anything about him, other than the alumni assoc. in Tenn.

    A news article from much later (the 60s or 70s) indicated he was then a 6th dan in "American Jiu-Jitsu" and a 2nd dan in Kodokan Judo.

    If anybody knows where his "Kodokan" rank came from, I'd like to hear about it.

    Jeff Slade

  2. #2
    Join Date
    May 2000
    Location
    Washington State, USA
    Posts
    3,324
    Likes (received)
    48

    Default

    My guess is somebody associated with Mrs. Foos.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2000
    Location
    Atlanta - USA
    Posts
    712
    Likes (received)
    6

    Default

    Interestingly I have either his copy of FM 21-150 (1942) or one that he signed. It is signed "Colonel Anthony R. Flores" inside the cover on the first page. "103rd Ord Co" is written on the cover above the title and there is a round stamp below the title for "Official 797th MP BN. Pittsburgh, PA."

    Otherwise it is a standard copy of FM 21-150: Unarmed Defense for the American Soldier, June 30, 1942.
    Doug Walker
    Completely cut off both heads,
    Let a single sword stand against the cold sky!

  4. #4
    Join Date
    May 2000
    Location
    Washington State, USA
    Posts
    3,324
    Likes (received)
    48

    Default

    103rd Ordnance Company was a Pennsylvania National Guard unit. Archives are in the state archives. http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/dam/rg/ys/r19ys3.htm

    For instance:

    103rd Ordnance Company, Special Troops, 28th Division, PNG, Philadelphia, 1922-1930 (folder 7)

    There was judo in Philadelphia from the 1910s. Temple University had programs. Francois D'Eliscu was there, as a football coach, in the 1920s, and he was later associated with WWII combatives in Hawaii. A photo of D'Eliscu at Fort Meade during WWII appears here. http://www.arkmilitaryheritage.com/e.../Gallery38.htm

    Philly also gets one into Biddle country.

    Bottom line is that somebody who lives in the neighborhood needs to go to Pennsylvania and read old newspapers and visit local archives.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Louisiana
    Posts
    9
    Likes (received)
    0

    Default Aau

    One article I ran across stated that he was director of the Mid-Atlantic Region for AAU Judo back in the 60s. Apparently, he was a busy man.

    In addition to wondering where & when he was first dan-graded, I'm curious about how a junior officer went from teaching at a military school to demonstrating techniques in an Army FM.

    Interesting side note: he graduated from one of health enthusiast Bernarr MacFadden's institutions, and the miltary school in Tenn. was owned by MacFadden.

    My late dad graduated from there in '39; he said the place emphasized lots of fresh air & vigorous exercise (like jiu-jitsu & wrestling) in accordance with MacFadden's teachings.

    Also, the jiu-jitsu program conferred rank; the only student belt-colors were white & brown.

    Jeff Slade

  6. #6
    Join Date
    May 2000
    Location
    Washington State, USA
    Posts
    3,324
    Likes (received)
    48

    Default

    Having high rank in a state National Guard before WWII means that you knew somebody politically prominent. Having Federally recognized rank in that same state National Guard was something else altogether. Thus, you'd need to find out whether his rank was federal or state.

    The US military had all kinds of jujutsu programs during the 1920s and 1930s, and by the late 1930s, there were police judo programs in many US states and at least one Canadian province. Instructors could be quite good. For instance, from the 1920s to the 1940s, Allan Corstorphin Smith held the state rank of major in the New York National Guard. He taught judo to the New York State Police -- and also to boys at a boys' school in the City. He was associated with the security guards hired for the New York World's Fair of 1939, too.

    To give another example, there was an actual Kodokan judo club in West Virginia in the 1930s. The instructor had been graded through New York Dojo in the 1920s. There were assorted high-dan grade Japanese associated with New York Dojo during the 1910s and 1920s -- Tomita, Kawaishi, Miyake, and so on among them.

    Also look to the elite universities -- Yale, Columbia, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Temple, and so on. These were all big football schools in the 1910s, and providing the football players with training in judo was hoped to reduce the injury rate.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jul 2017
    Location
    Rochester, NY
    Posts
    3
    Likes (received)
    2

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by wreckedlumbar View Post
    I've read elsewhere (e.g., forum at judoinfo) that this man appeared as Tori in the 1942 edition of FM21-150.

    I know that in the mid to late 1930s, he taught at a military school in Tenn.; before that, he taught at a YMCA in Brooklyn/Prospect Park.

    A paragraph in the FM indicates he was a member of "The New York Dojo" at one time. Googling reveals a fair amount of articles from about 1942 to 1978 -- including his ca. 1960 letter that refers to the Gracies -- but I haven't found anything about his initial grading as a shodan.

    Does anybody know who promoted him to shodan & when? Info in the Judoinfo thread indicates he was born in 1911. He started teaching at the Y ca. 1928 & stayed there until he went to Tenn. in 1936 or '37.

    So he was pretty young when he started teaching at the Y.

    I've sent out some e-mail inquiries, but so far I haven't found anybody who remembers anything about him, other than the alumni assoc. in Tenn.

    A news article from much later (the 60s or 70s) indicated he was then a 6th dan in "American Jiu-Jitsu" and a 2nd dan in Kodokan Judo.

    If anybody knows where his "Kodokan" rank came from, I'd like to hear about it.

    Jeff Slade

    Thats my grandfather, Brigadier General Anthony R. Flores. He was initially trained by a Japanese man named Mifumi in Nicaragua at the age of 14. They were attacked by the Sandanistas in 1928, and Mifumi died by machete strike protecting my grandfather. When he returned to New York at 17, I believe he trained at the New York Judo club, but I'm not clear on the how/where/who of his ranking. I know it was Kodokan training, and Mifumi was Kodokan trained as well. He did write the 1942 military hand to hand combat manual, and you can see him pictured throughout it, the smaller of the two men.

    Kristen Flores

  8. Likes Joseph Svinth, Brian Owens liked this post
  9. #8
    Join Date
    Jul 2017
    Location
    Rochester, NY
    Posts
    3
    Likes (received)
    2

    Default

    That is really cool that you have his copy of the FM 21-150. He's the smaller of the two men pictured throughout the manual, and he wrote the entire manual for the army in 1941. May I ask where you came across your copy? He's my grandfather and I'm just curious. I just bought a copy on eBay.

    kristen flores-fratto

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •