Athletes - Donn F. Draeger

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	Athletes - Donn F. Draeger

Donn F. Draeger (April 15 1922 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin - October 20 1982 in Honolulu, Hawaii) was a major of United States Marine Corps who spent several decades of his life in Pacific area and Japan, becoming well acquainted with several classical martial arts of the region. As such he was well respected in the martial arts community and was a leading authority and subject matter expert in the West. He is a well known author with over twenty titles about martial arts and fighting systems in his bibliography. He was an early pioneer in the study and propagation of the martial arts into the Western World. Draeger began his involvement in the martial arts as a result of being stationed in the Pacific Rim during his tenure in the Marine Corps. He served as "Martial Arts Coordinator" in the James Bond film You Only Live Twice. The numerous books he authored became one of the few sources available in the western world. Prior to this most martial arts texts were written in Asian languages and required esoteric skills to absorb them.

He is also known for vitalizing the academic field of study called hoplology when he founded the International Hoplology Society (IHS) in late 1950s. Specific stories and anecdotes about Draeger can can be learned in Martial Musings a book by long time friend and co-author Robert W. Smith.

Draeger was a member of Nihon Kobudo Shinkokai, the oldest Japanese cultural organization for the study and preservation of classical martial arts. He was also the first non-Japanese practitioner of Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu, achieving instructor status (kyoshi menkyo) in that system. He also had high ranks in Shindo Muso-ryu jodo, in judo, and in kendo.

He died to cancer at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu on October 20, 1982, and he was buried at Wood National Cemetery in Milwaukee on October 25.

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