Sensei Louis LaPila (1943-2018)
Louis LaPila started judo training in 1961 with the Middletown Judo Club under Sensei Ruben Figeroa, John Yaglowski and Sid Kelly. He became president of the Judo Club in 1967 and in 1969 was awarded his Shodan Rank (First Degree Black Belt). He became sensei of the club in 1973.
In both 1965 and 1966, he won the New England YMCA Middleweight Championship, and in 1968 he won first place at the Norwalk, Conn. Heavyweights Invitational. LaPila fought at 185 pounds against 245 pound heavywaights. In 1967, he won a gold medal at the AAU Olympic Development Program and silver medal at the Connecticut Championship 165-185 pound Tournament.
Over the years, LaPila has won numerous trophies and tournaments. He is listed in the Who Is Who in Martial Arts. In 1996, LaPila was inducted into the World Martial Arts Hall of Fame as a Sixth Degree Black Belt in Judo and a Fifth Degree Black Belt in Jujitsu. He is a registered Black Belt in the United States Judo Association, United States Judo International, Kodokan Judo in Japan and Korean Yudo College in Korea. In 2006, LaPila was inducted into the Middletown Sports Hall of Fame.
During his 50 years of teaching judo, LaPila has touched thousands of lives of students and their children, helping them win trophies and medals and the many who use their martial art talent in their professions as FBI agents and policemen.
