Today we’d like to introduce you to Philippe Morotti.
Hi Philippe, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Born and raised in Stockholm, Sweden, from a French mother and an Italian father, I left home at age 14 to travel around Europe and to learn a physical art form called Judo. I began practicing Judo at age 12 in the suburbs of Stockholm, where I grew up. Judo was love at first sight for me. Not just because Judo is an Olympic sport. I was drawn to the Japanese tradition and the moral code that judo instills in its practitioners. The Judo community also provided a home away from home and resulted in many friendships that I still preserve till this day. The values and the discipline that I learned from Judo have many times saved my life. The combination of physical exhaustion and mental training in Judo was very helpful in my young life and still is.
From Sweden, I moved to Italy and then to France. I’m fluent in Swedish, Italian, French, and English, so communicating with people was easy for me. Wherever I went, I always carried my Judo Gi with me, and I ended up practicing Judo with the best in the world and learning from many great masters that are no longer with us.
In 1989 I moved to Los Angeles, and I became a personal fitness trainer at In Training Private Fitness on Beverly Boulevard, where I still today train my private fitness clients. I physically prepare actors for movies, and many of my clients are older and just want to maintain their best physical condition for longevity.
I have always enjoyed helping people in any way that I can. I’m a humanitarian at heart, and I always believe in the best in people. I see each fitness client as an opportunity to improve someone’s life and to replace bad habits with a healthy lifestyle…
In 2010, I stumbled upon Hollywood Judo Dojo in East Hollywood at the Japanese Cultural Institute.
The Judo Club was founded in 1932, and the Sensei (Head Instructor) at that time was Frank Emi. He was in his mid-90s and one of the pioneers of Judo in California. He had also been imprisoned in California by the US government in Japanese detention camps during World War 2.
Sensei Emi liked my way of teaching Judo. He made me an Instructor and Head Coach,
Hollywood Judo enjoyed great success in the 1930s up to the 1980s, but what I found was a dormant, if not dying, club. The mats were old and full of holes, and there were very few members left.
The neighbored had changed after WW2. No longer dominant Japanese, now Koreans, and Latinos were the dominant groups.
We slowly started to advertising on social media. We got new mats; we built a small gym next to the mat area, and we started signing up new members. Our schedule now offered classes 4 days per week, and I managed to get a yearly contribution from the Ahmanson Foundation. We started competing at local and national tournaments again, and we were on our way. Hollywood Judo was coming back from the past.
It’s now 2024, and Hollywood Judo has 120 members.
We have a beginner’s kids and a beginner’s adults program, a kids and adults’ intermediate program, and an advanced competitor’s class. We won the California State Team Championships 5 years in a row. Our Dojo now provide classes 6 days per week. We also host our own in-house tournaments, and all our instructors are certified and background-checked.
I am the Head Instructor, and I have great help from a number of other instructors who are all homegrown. Hollywood Judo is not just a Judo club; we are a family. A family that consists of 22 different nationalities, different ethnicities, and a diversity rarely seen anywhere else. Hollywood Judo’s mission statement says that we are all-inclusive of people of all backgrounds, that we aim to develop their physical and mental abilities, and that we aim to benefit our community.
I also trained and prepared 2 actresses in Judo for the movie TATAMI, directed by Academy Award winner Guy Nattiv, Arienne Mandi, and Zar Amir Ebrahimi. It’s a great movie about injustice in the world of sports. I was fortunate to be part of this unique project.
Hollywood Judo Dojo is an inspirational story and also a place where our new members can find friendships while learning a set of skills, physical as well as spiritual.
You can find us at hollywoodjudodojo.com or email me at philippemorotti@gmail.com
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Judo is not a big sport in the USA. Some 25.000 members nationwide, in a country of 330 million people, compared to Sweden with 10 million people having also 25.000 judo practitioners. Judo in the USA competes for attention with traditional American sports like baseball, basketball, and football.
Judo also has almost no University programs or scholarships, and therefore, there is little incentive for teens to dedicate themselves to judo, no matter how noble of a sport it is. Wrestling has University programs, and many of our judo teens switch to wrestling for this reason.
JuJutsu has also become a very popular combat sport in the USA. Similar to judo but more concentrated on the groundwork and submissions. The fact that judo is an 80% a stand-up game with trows makes it spectacular, but it is also physically harder on the body.
Judo is also per tradition a non-profit sport, dedicated to serve on an idealistic and philosophical platform, to be available and affordable to all. A mentality that is slowly changing after observing the financial success and all the internet publicity of the JuJutsu community.
A monthly membership in a judo club is less that $100, while a JuJutsu monthly membership is $200-400.
Judo in the USA must get into schools and after-school programs, which is the foundation of France’s success in Judo. France now has 1 million Judo practitioners. This has resulted in top international level competitors and financial sponsorships in French Judo from corporations. And judo instructors that make a full-time living on a schoolteacher’s salary.
The Judo Community in the USA is catching up and knows what need to be done. There are 3 Judo organizations in the USA. The United States Judo Federation, The United States Judo Association, and USA JUDO (The Olympic National Governing Body). These organizations are in constant battle with each other for dominance, control, and power, which doesn’t help the progress of judo in the USA.
We also live in a time when many young people are super internet-dependent and addicted. Judo is a physically demanding sport where you are present with a group of people, learning a skill hands-on.
Kids that used to play in a sandbox now watch TikTok. It’s a different world that we live in altogether,
As far as Hollywood Judo, I always felt that we can do a lot in our community at a local level. We got new mats, many new members, we built a gym area in the dojo, and we built a club full of new friends within the community. Hollywood judo has also recently become its own in-profit organization, and we can start having fun raising events. What you can do on a local level is amazing.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m the Head Instructor of Hollywood Judo Dojo in Los Angeles. We are part of the Japanese Cultural Institute of East Hollywood. I am also a personal fitness instructor at In Training Private Fitness on Beverly Boulevard. I’m Italian /French, born and raised in Stockholm, Sweden. I’m an American citizen and fluent in 4 languages.
In fitness- I prepare actors physically for a movie part, and I also train elderly for longevity.
In Judo- I train advanced judo players, black belt, preparing them for competition.
I also hold coaching seminars for the Judo Organizations, promoting coaches on a national level.
I’m proud of the fact that I landed in this country with one suitcase and very little money, and I managed to pull through hardship, and I was able to create a life for myself that enables me to teach and to help others.
What sets me apart from others? I have my own unconventional way of thinking and how I see the world. I’m a loner with a big personality and a sense of humor who tries to help everyone. I have empty and passion and I’m an incurable romantic. Therefore, not adapting easily to today’s world.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the COVID-19 crisis?
Covid was an eye-opener and a reality check for all of us. The uncertainty of the outcome created stress on all of us. People that already had mental issues before covid, went over the edge during covid. Job loss, homelessness, financial issues, it was like a war situation. The saying; what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. This was covid.
As far as Hollywood Judo Dojo, we had to close for 14 months. During that time, we continued paying our rent to the Japanese Cultural Institute, knowing that their survival was crucial to ours. We wanted a place to come back to when all this was over.
In the meantime, our judo members met in Pan Pacific Park on Beverly Boulevard 3 times per week. I brought exercise equipment in my pick-up truck, and we managed the best that we could. We did judo on the grass while wearing masks. It was weird, but it gave us a sense of hope and continuity.
We were together. We were doing judo. Not as we were used to. But it would hold us over.
Contact Info:
- Website: hollywoodjudo.com
