Judo and its origin

Judo is derived from the word “jujitsu”. Judo literally means gentle way. It’s a Japanese form of martial art. Judo has its roots lying in jujitsu which is a very ancient form of martial art. It can also be considered a relatively new form of art as it originated only in the late nineteenth century. It was invented by the late Prof. Jigoro Kano, towards the end of the nineteenth century. When he was young he was very weak and in order to improve his physical fitness level he joined two jujitsu schools. But he realized that it was crude and rough and both schools had their own positives and negatives. So he decided to take the positives from both the schools and added some more of his own techniques to it. His new structure is what we call judo. It emphasizes on physical and mental training. Initially he started with only nine students but very soon the popularity of this form of martial increased. It was promoted as a physical exercise.

Principles and Techniques

The most important principle of judo is to turn the enemy’s strength against himself. The objective of judo is to throw the enemy to the ground and push the opponent to surrender. The scores are based on four grades. They are ippon, koka, waza-ari and yuko. The person scoring an ippon wins the match. Yuko and koka on the other hand are used mostly during tie- breakers and they are lower grades of scoring. A waza-ari is in between an ippon and yuko and koka. It can beat any number of yuko. The two main techniques involved in judo are throwing technique (Nagewaza) and grappling technique (Katamewaza). Apart from these two techniques there are several other techniques like hand technique (Tewaza), hip technique (Koshiwaza), foot and leg technique (Ashiwaza), sacrifice technique (Sutemiwaza), etc. Under each of these techniques there are several methods. A person who practices this form of martial art is called a Jodoka and the person who teaches judo is called sensei.

Judo and The Olympics

Judo, first made its appearance at the Olympic Games in 1932 in Los Angeles. Prof. Kano and 200 students gave a demonstration. Judo was officially included as a sport during the 1964 Olympic Games at Tokyo. At this point it was only for men. In the year 1988, Judo for women was included in the Olympic Games. It has also been included as one of the sporting events of the Special Olympics. Thus we see that judo has come a long way since its inception in 1964 and is very popular.

If Judo sounds like a martial art you would be interested in, find a Judo School near you.  Or discuss Judo on the forums.