Judo

Judo was the brainchild of one of the true giants of budo: Jigoro Kano (we use this way of writing, even though the correct thing in Japan would be to put the family name first - Kano Jigoro).

 Kano (1860-1938) was well versed in several of the older jujutsu styles, such as Kito ryu, Tenshin Shinyo ryu, Sekiguchi ryu and Seigo ryu. In 1875 he formulated a style - or a whole new idea really - based on many of these old schools. Kano called his new art jiu-do.

At the basis of the art was a set of guiding principles; 'Jita kyoei' (mutual welfare and benefit) and 'seiryoku zenyo' (maximum efficiency) are probably the ones that are most commonly known.

Judo people would like to think that the name of the art was something that Kano came up with. However, the name jiu-do was in use by Jikkishin-ryu, and had been so for a hundred years. Consequently, in order to distinguish his school, Kano added Kodokan to the name.

The Kodokan Institute was founded in Tokyo in 1882, and by 1885 the art was widely recognized as a low-risk system of physical health and education.

Kano focused on the educational value of training so that it could be a path or way of life for all people to participate in and benefit from. He eliminated many of the traditional techniques that were considered dangerous or harmful. He also changed training methods. His goal was a combat system where the moves could be done with force to create a decisive victory without injury.

The old style of Kodokan jiu-do was very different from the Olympic sport that we see today. By reading old books and manuscripts you can see that the art was much closer to the older styles of jujutsu. One particular book that you really ought to read is: "The Complete Kano Jiu-Jitsu - Judo", by H. Irving. Hancock and Katsukuma Higashi. This is a huge book with lots of fascinating techniques inside!

Some say that Kano sensei probably would be very unhappy if he saw the direction his art has taken. Be that as it may - today the art is a major International sport with Olympic status.

It was in 1928, after attending the Olympic Games of Amsterdam, that Jigoro Kano got the idea to get his art into the Olympics. However, due to the war, the art had to wait until 1964 before men's competition finally became a part of the games. This was the first Asian martial art to be an official medal sport. Women's judo competition was added in 1992.

Unlike many (if not to say, most) other martial arts, the rules of competition, rank system and methods are pretty uniform throughout the world. Speaking of rank system - it is Jigoro Kano who developed the dan-rank system (colored belts leading up to levels of black belts) that we know today.

The primary "building blocks" of judo are katame-waza (grappling techniques) and nage-waza (throwing techniques). The grappling methods includes kansetsu-waza (joint locks), osaekomi-waza (pins), and shime-waza (chokes). In the judo kata (forms) you will find additional techniques, such as atemi-waza (striking), weapons, self defense and various joint locks.

A judo kata is a set of pre-arranged movements done with a partner, and as such it resembles more of the older Japanese arts than say, karate.

There seems to be a division between the judoka that train kata on a regular basis, and those who don't. Even some of the leading exponents of the art points to the fact that the it is fighting aspect of judo most people do. Some even claim that judo is getting further away from what Kano wanted because of this fact.

Regular training does not involve any weapons. You will find tanto (a knife), being used in kime no kata - one of the old kata (forms), as well as in Kodokan goshin jutsu - a more modern self-defense kata, developed in 1956. This kata also have defenses against stick and gun attacks