Passing of Dieter Born

With sadness I confirm the passing of Dieter Born, who was a member here and also a contributor to the old forum.

Dieter was very active and important for judo in Germany, by translating and publishing superb books - for example the full version of Daigo- sensei´s work about nage-waza - and by organizing high-level kata-training for german practitioners in japan.

I wrote some lines in german, which are published on the homepage of the german judo-federation:
http://www.judobund.de/aktuelles/details/2348

I am deeply shocked to hear about the premature passing of Dieter.

Although we have never met in person, I corresponded with him several times and some of you did on this forum too. Dieter was one of those few Westerners with a profound knowledge of the historic, philosophical and theoretical writings of jûdô. He was fluent in Japanese and knew what he was talking about. Knowing how much time and effort one needs to invest to achieve that level, I respected him and appreciated his interventions on this forum and the German judo forum. As Wolfgang said, he worked tirelessly to publish jûdô books and texts in German, and he did so with great expertise. It is very hard to believe he is no longer there.

I offer my condolences to wdax who was a close friend of Dieter, and to Dieter's family and other friends. This is yet another painful reminder of the short time we have here, and I wish it would be different.

I saw 2012 Dieter perform Kime-no-kata with his partner Roman Jäger. I was deeply impressed with him and discussed later with a kata judge friend of mine about scoring. "Unfortunately you can not give extra points for somebody that shows deep understanding, you only take points for minor faults.." was his comment of their performance.
Good Judoka and will be missed.

Very sad to hear of the passing of this fine fine judoman.

I am completely shocked to find out that Dieter Born has passed away and at the young age of 52.

I did not know him well but had met him on a few occasions when in Bonn or at a German competition to discuss book projects.

He was truly committed to spreading Japanese culture in Germany along with judo. He even translated Jigoro Kano's "Kodakan Judo" republishing it in hardback and regularly produced high quality judo magazines and books with his friend and 7th dan, Ulrich Klocke, the last book to my knowledge being "Judo meistern" in 2012. A really good book that is part of a comprehensive series and endorsed by the Deutschen Judo-Bundes (DJB).

His quality website is here:
http://www.verlag-dieter-born.de/index.php

And Judo Pages here.

A truly sad loss for his family and friends. Please accept my sympathy and sincere condolences.
David Finch

A not very good Google Translate translation of obituary for Dieter Born:

"Mourning Dieter Born
Surprisingly deceased: the judoka and Japanese studies
Publisher Dieter Born On 3 June 2013 is out of the blue judoka,
Japanese studies and publisher Dieter Born in Bonn in
Age of 52 years died. Born about himself
Decades for the development and promotion of Judo
involved, which for him is not just a sport, but at the same time
Culture and philosophy was. As a young student he moved
him for several years in Japan, where he attended Waseda
Japanese Studies in the University and local Judo
Club trained at the dojo of the police and the Kodokan. To
His teachers at that time included masters such as Kotani, Osawa
and Abe (all 10th Dan). In later years he learned
especially when Daigo (10th Dan) and Yamamoto (9th Dan).
Peak of the career as a competitor was the participation
at the final round of the championship Alljapanische
the university teams.

Back in Germany, was a native of Düsseldorf
in Bonn and founded a publishing company, in the
Budo-books and the "Japan Magazine" published.
By - as chairman of the German-Japanese
Society in Bonn - Japan tirelessly topics in the
Was public, he made a great contribution to the
intercultural exchange and promoted through cooperation
with the University of Bonn scientific
Offspring.

The German Judo practitioner he performed great services
by the German-language publication of standard works
as "Kodokan Judo" and "throwing techniques
of Kodokan Judo "by Toshiro Daigo. In addition, set
He is an interpreter available if Japanese
Judo teacher training in Germany prevented. Borns
Lectures on historical and philosophical backgrounds
at events were repeatedly highlights
just as he organized the training rides
for Kataexperten and other interested parties to Japan.
Dieter Born was also active themselves, body and soul. So
He took another mid-May at the Kata Championships in Malta in
Kime and the Koshiki-no-kata part. WDR"

My condolences to his family and friends. RIP.