Teddy Roosevelt was always energetic and liked fighting. When he was younger, he boxed until he took a heavy blow that damaged his retina. After that, he focused on wrestling.

Teddy wasn't shy, and he was known to storm around and assert himself. As police commissioner in New York City, he wasn't afraid to walk the city and make sure the cops were awake and doing their jobs. He was willing to go to Cuba and take his Rough Riders into battle. He even took on big corporations and broke up monopolies and fought to limit workers' hours and raise their wages.

Teddy was adventuresome, and when he saw a demonstration of Judo by famed Japanese Judo master Yamashita Yoshiaki, he had to try it out. While training, Roosevelt remarked that though he was getting old, his instructors could throw him around without hurting him. They were so controlled and skilled at their art. Teddy achieved the rank of 3rd Brown in Judo, no small feat.

An interesting aside: Theodore's cousin, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, received healing massage therapy from famous Dan Zan Ryu Jiu-Jitsu master Henry Okazaki. As part of the discipline's curriculum, students are required to learn healing massage. I have long known that Dan Zan Ryu practitioners also practice healing massage through my exposure to them through my martial arts training in Kenpo, an art closely connected to Dan Zan Ryu. Then, when I was training in the Filipino martial art of Decuerdas Eskrima, my instructor, who is also an expert in Kenpo and Dan Zan Ryu, told me about FDR's connection to Okazaki.

So, it seems the Roosevelts are an adventuresome lot.