SENSEI DIANE MANGANARO
6th Degree Red/White Belt
Diane started Judo at the age of 10 under the direction of Sensei Harold Forshey Sr, 7th Degree Red & White Belt, in Miami, Fl. She quickly advanced to Black Belt in 1978, at age 15. While living in Florida, Diane won many local, state, & regional tournaments.
She placed 2nd at the Jr. Olympic National Tournament three years in a row 1978, 1979, & 1980. In 1986, she was asked to train on Full Scholarship at the National Judo Institute in Colorado Springs and part-time at The Olympic Training Center under Ed Liddie (Bronze Medal Olympian) and Phil Porter (10th Degree Red Belt). While there, Diane placed 5th at the US Open, 2nd at the National Ladder Tournament, 1st at the Canadian Exhibtion Open, 2nd 87 & 88 at the Pacific NW International Championships and 5th at US SR Nationals to name a few.
After taking a short break, in 2002 Diane began to train and teach under the direction of Sensei Ricardo Tuero of Miami, Fl. While there Diane placed 1st at the 2003 Senior Nationals in the Masters division, 1st at the 2003 Liberty Bell in the Masters division, 1st in the Masters Division at the 2003 Louisiana Swamp Tournament and 1st at the Eastern Collegiate Championships. During the Eastern Collegiate tournament, Diane sustained a broken collarbone and shoulder injury forcing her to briefly stop competing.
In 2008, after moving to Southern Mississippi, Diane began to teach and compete again. While in Mississippi, she has quickly become the 2009-10 Mississippi State Champion, the 2009-11 Louisiana State Open Champion, the 2009-11 Gulf Coast Open Champion, the 2009-10, & 2012 Masters National Champion, 2010 & 2012 Masters US Open Champion, 2010 Masters Pan AM Champion, the 2009 World Masters Champion, 2012 World Masters Silver medalist and Gold World Team Medalist. In 2010 , 2011, & 2012 Diane was voted the Outstanding Female Master Athlete of the Year for the United States Judo Association (2010) and USA JUDO (2010, 2011, 2012,2013).
In November of 2015, Diane successfully passed her PJC examination for Pan American Confederation Referee, in Montreal, Canada. In April of 2017, Diane was presented with her IJF Continental B Referee License.
On November of 2022, was promoted by USA JUDO to the rank of ROKUDAN, 6th Degree Red and White Belt. In addition, on May 24th, 2023, she was promoted by the PJC to Rokudan, 6th Degree Red and White Belt. Then on October 6th, 2023, Diane was promoted by the International Judo Federation, to 6th Dan, Rokudan.
