Emlenton Judo Champion: Honored As No. 1 Master Juoka for 2011 by USA Judo Inc.

On December 21st  Emlenton’s Dr. Andor Jobb received a great surprise when he called for his mail. He found that he had been paid a great honor – the certificate he held in his hand announced that he had been “#l Ranked National Master Athlete by The National Governing Body for the Sport of Judo in the United States of America as recognized by the US Olympic Committee in the M10 66kg Category.

(Photo right: Dr. Andor Jobb, is pictured here holding his most recent awards  and wearing his Championship medals.)
2011 had been a year of significant achievement for Jobb, In April of 2011, Jobb added to his long list of achievements in the sport of judo by capturing the national championship in the M10. Division (75-80 yr – under 145 lb) in Orlando,Florida. In November of 2011, Jobb won the Pennsylvania state championship. For  Jobb, winning both the state and national Judo Championships in 2011 at seventy seven years of age is a testament of his commitment to the sport. His mountain of medals, honors and awards which spans  sixty years confirms his belief, “Judo is a sport for not a brief moment in time, but for life.” His story however is not necessarily about his success but equally about his sacrifices and loss along the way.
Ironically for Jobb, it would be his first “fight” or “butt whipping” that would send him on his journey for great achievements. In his second year at Arpad high school in Budapest, Hungary Jobb was attacked and beaten by a gang. To protect himself against any future problems, Jobb began to learn the sport of judo. As Jobb states, “ judo was not taught in any public forum at that time, in order to learn Judo I had to pledge myself to the Military Academy and become part of the Military Judo Club.” Hungary in 1952 was still under the communist occupation of the Soviet Union and judo was not taught for the wide public.
In 1953 judo saw a great increase in participation as it found its way into the public. Since there was no Art program at the Military Academy, Jobb enrolled in an Art Program at the Applied Art Academy of Budapest. He joined the judo club and studied under the same instructors from the Military Academy. By 1954 he would win a national championship in the 125lb weight class. By 1956, he was a two-time Hungarian national champion and earned his first-degree black belt. In 1956 he made the Hungarian national team to compete internationally against Czechoslovakia.
In the summer of 1956, while bringing back food supplies for his family with his brother,  Jobb was hit by the Russian Military Police with their jeep. His recovery would force him to miss the international competition.
Nineteen-fifty six was a pivotal year for Jobb as the Hungarian Revolution erupted. In November of 1956 Soviet troops invaded Budapest. Jobb, now and art academy student would become involved in hand to hand combat against the Soviets and the People’s Republic of Hungary. Mass arrests shortly followed with over 200,000 refugees seeking exodus. Jobb was picked up by the Russian police and beaten because he refused to pick up a pistol that did not belong to him so that they could show his fingerprints and use it against him. Ever etched in his mind are the words spoken by the Russians, “kick his kidneys off”. To this day he still suffers from the swift hard kicks to his kidney. “I had two choices, stated Jobb, fleeing to the West via Camp Kilmer in the USA or Siberia.” Along with his brother, Jobb at the age of twenty two, fled to Austria leaving his mother and family behind. His mother would follow but not until 1966.
By February of 1957, thanks to the efforts of the National Catholic World Council, Jobb enrolled as a student at Kent State University in Ohio. Jobb graduated in 1960 with a Bachelors degree in Fine Art (cum laude) and went on to pursue and attain both his Master’s and Doctorate degrees. His love and passion for judo continued as he began to matriculate his knowledge to anyone who wanted to learn the sport. While in Ohio he would open four judo clubs.
 The beating took as a teenager in Hungary would only now serve its meaning. Judo- or “the gentle way” was beginning to be experienced for the first time by many and Jobb was the catalyst. He would not only go on to become a Master of his craft yet also a disciple who taught and spread the word of judo. And he has nearly promoted nearly 20 black-belts in judo who also have gone on to establish their own judo clubs around the country.
In 1963 Jobb accepted a position in the Fine Art’s Department at what was then called Clarion State Teachers College where he immediately founded a judo dojo – THE HUN- JUDO- DOJO. (The Dojo will celebrate its 50th Anniversary at CUP throughout 2012.) His judo program also became  one of the rare  varsity sports programs in the USA in the early 70’s.
With over twenty-eight years of dedication Jobb retired from Clarion University in 1991 but continued to lead the CUP judo dojo through the School of Continuing Education.
On December 16, 2011, his wife, Jae Brown, celebrated Jobb’s fifty-fifth year anniversary arrival to the United States with family and friends. For this celebration of  life and as a toast, a 1957 bottle of Hungarian wine - “Tokaji Essencia”, which is a concentrated distillation of the wine officially designated in Hungary as ‘for the king’ – was shared. The fifty four year old wine poured perfectly and was miraculously not foxed by age. (The wine was gifted to him Dr. Jobb Judo Master, Dr. Arthur Canario MD. from New Jersey).
His eyes can tell you and he will express to you verbally in his soft spoken voice, “ I am forever grateful for my educational advancement under freedom and I will never forget the generosity of teachers, neighbors and people that I have met and helped me along the way in the USA.”  In collaboration with his wife, Jae, they hit upon an idea of a way to connect the fine arts with the martial arts. Jobb started to produce life size oil portraits as gifts to outstanding judo masters - judo greats around the world. These twenty-one images may be seen www.pajudo.com/judogreats/index.htm. For his achievements in the sport of judo as both a competitor, teacher and clinician, he should be on the wall of Sports Hall of Fame at the Tippin Gymnasium at C.U.P.
At seventy -seven years of age  Jobb continues his “Judo for Life” mentality. He is a 7th degree black belt in judo and a 9th degree black belt in jiu-jitsu. Thursday, January 19, 2012 he will begin his 50th year as the Hun Judo Instructor at Clarion University and will mark his 60th year in judo. Jobb’s judo program is open to the public. The club meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6:30 to 8:30 pm in the Clarion University Tippin Gymnasium wrestling room. For more information you can call 814-393-2227.