Sterling’s Robert Brink has been inducted into the U.S. Judo Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2020 after a unanimous vote of the Hall of Fame committee.
According to a press release from the Hall of Fame, Brink was inducted for his many years of service to the judo world as a pioneer, administrator and major supporter. Brink also has been nominated for the Hall of Fame award for Decade of the 1990s.
Brink has a history in judo that dots across the United States and the world, but is centered in Alaska.
The press release said Brink spent many years in Anchorage establishing and operating free judo programs, starting in 1970. The programs were a program serving Fort Richardson, the Olympic Judo Club of Alaska and the Anchorage Dojo on Tudor Road.
In 2010, Brink retired from his law office in Anchorage, but did not retire from judo. He moved to Sterling and, with a dedicated group of local residents, started 49th State Judo and Self-Defense, better known as the Sterling Judo Club. According to the release, the club has free classes for judo instruction, self-defense and competition.
Brink got his start in judo at a young age. In January 1962, Brink, who was born in Elmira, New York, joined the Navy two months after his 17th birthday and was eventually stationed on a ship in Yososuka, Japan. Japan is the birthplace of judo, so Brink tried out for the Seahawk Navy-Marine Judo Team at the Navy Base in Yokosuka.
According to the release, Brink and his shipmates spent time in the South China Sea in the area of Vietnam in 1964 and 1965, earning various honors.
Brink came to Anchorage in 1970, but he still spread judo many places, including founding the Valdez Judo Club in 1975. As a law student, Brink spent time at both Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, and the University of Miami, teaching judo in both cities.
According to the release, Brink is now a retired tax attorney who still enjoys fly fishing, woodturning, snake wrangling and traveling the world for judo and fun.
Four Sterling Judo Club blackbelts, Paul McConnell, Clayton Holland, Bob Ermold and Robert Brink, are pictured on the Kenai River in August 2018. (Photo provided by Robert Brink)
Sensei Robert Brink at the Sterling Elementary School gym during promotion awards in May 2019. (Photo provided by Robert Brink)
New Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Superintendent Clayton Holland after winning the Alaska State Championships, defeating a 4th degree blackbelt two times out of three in May 2018. He received his blackbelt the same day. (Photo provided by Robert Brink)
