began his martial arts education under his father (standing in photo), Professor John Cahill Sr., who founded Cahill's Judo Academy in Daly City, California, in 1948. Professor Cahill was one of the most highly respected instructors ever to come out of Professor Henry S. Okazaki's (shown seated) Kodenkan System of Jujitsu in Hawaii. In 1962, Professor Cahill passed away at a very young 50 years of age. In 1963, Willy built the new dojo in San Bruno, California, in his father's honor. At this club, Cahill set new standards and goals for himself and his students. In 1970, students from this dojo won the first of nine consecutive California State Judo Championships and the first of five consecutive United States Judo Association National Championships.
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From 1963 to 1999, Willy Cahill has coached nearly 1000 National and International medal winners. His Elite Athletes have represented the United States at numerous international events. While he was judo coach at both San Francisco State and Stanford University, the women's judo team at San Francisco State won the Collegiate National Championships. |
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Brett Barron |
In 1975, Cahill was inducted into the Black Belt Hall of Fame as Judo Instructor of the Year. In 1976, Mike Kessler won a bronze medal at the Junior World Championships in Madrid, Spain. The women's World Judo Championships were held for the first time in 1980. Monica Emmerson represented the United States at these championships, which were held in New York. In 1983, Brett Barron won the gold medal at the Pan American Games in Caracas, Venezuela. One year later, Brett represented the United States at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles. John Matsuoka won a bronze medal at the World University Games in Belgium in 1990. (Pictured below) |
| But one of the brightest achievements in Willy's career was seeing his student, Corinne Shigemoto (pictured below), named to the coaching staff of the 1992 women's U.S. Olympic judo team, then named head coach of the 1996 women's U.S. Olympic judo team. The achievement was symbolic of handing over the reigns to the next generation, for after serving as assistant coach for the 1984 and 1988 mens U.S. Olympic judo teams, Willy declined the position of head coach for the 1992 men's U.S. Olympic judo team. | |
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Women's Olympic Judo coach Corinne Shigemoto discussing training with World Champion and movie actress Hillary Wolf in preparation for the '96 Olympic Games in Atlanta. |
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Willy coached his first International team in 1976 when he traveled with the U.S. team to Mexico City for the Junior Pan American Championships. He eventually coached the U.S. Team at the 1983 and 1987 Pan American Games, the 1983 and 1985 Pacific Rim Championships, and the 1986 and 1990 Goodwill Games. He also coached the World Championship teams in 1981,'85,'87,'89 and '91. He has taken U.S. judo teams to Europe and the former Eastern Block countries, including East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union. And he has taken U.S. judo teams to Japan, Korea and Hong Kong several times.
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| Coach Cahill has produced a set of three videotapes titled "Willy Cahill's Judo Training Series." Several of Willy's students demonstrated the techniques in the videos, which provide an overview of judo from beginning basics to advanced moves. |
In addition to the consecutive State and National Team Championships, several of Cahill's students have achieved individual success. This began in 1967 when George Golda won a bronze medal at the U.S. Junior National Championships in Miami. In 1968, Golda won a silver medal in Long Beach, and in 1969 he won a gold medal in Denver. He thus became the first student from Cahill's Judo Academy to win a National Championship.
Two years later, in 1971, Cahill's baby - sitter Devi Nelson became his first senior National Champion, winning a gold medal in Los Angeles.