Malvernite receives black belt from judo legend

This past Sunday, after 11 years of judo training at the West Hempstead PAL dojo classroom on Hempstead Avenue, 15-year old Gianna Casini Lendino put her impressive martial arts skills to the test and was bestowed her black belt — the highest belt attainable in judo.

What she didn’t expect, however, was to become the recipient of the black belt owned by the deceased Keiko Fukuda, the highest-ranking woman in the world of judo, and a legend among those who practice martial arts. How did she come to attain such a coveted item? “You never know what’s going to happen when you pick up the phone,” said Gianna’s mom Therese.

A few years ago, Gianna’s mother contacted a world famous dojo in San Francisco to see if they sold tee shirts because she thought it would be a nice gift for Gianna. The sensei — or martial arts teacher — of that dojo was Keiko Fukuda. “She was in her late 90’s at the time and still practicing and teaching,” said Laura Casini, Gianna’s mom. “She lectured and traveled and was very much in demand. The last thing we expected was for her to take an interest in Gianna,” she added.

The next thing Casini knew, Gianna became pen pals with the Fukuda. “She started sending Gianna her own shirts, cards, notes, books. They had a connection,” said Casini.

When Fukuda died in February 2013, Gianna became close to Fukuda’s associate and friend, Dr. Shelly Fernandez who still runs the San Francisco dojo and the international charity, the Keiko Fukuda Judo Foundation, in her honor.

“My wife is now on the board of that charity, and it is opening dojos in India for women’s self defense due to the high rate of sexual assault there,” said Casini.  

Dr. Fernandez, who was planning on presenting Fukuda’s black belt to Gianna, was unable to make the ceremony because she had fallen a few days before and had broken her pelvis. She did, however, watch Gianna do her skills test via Facetime. “Gianna is the future of judo,” said Fernandez, who spoke to the Herald from San Francisco. “I was amazed at her skills and her knowledge of judo when she came to our summer camp. “She has a centralization of mind, body and spirit, and is in balance, in harmony with judo. She reminded me so much of Keiko Fukuda when she was here,” she added.