Judo
柔道A Japanese art of throws and grappling, Olympic since 1964; its idea is to use the opponent's strength instead of your own.
Quick Facts
JapanCharacter & Origin
Training
Who It Suits
Organisation & Competition
What the style is built from
Editorial rating on a 0–3 scale, based on how much room each area gets in ordinary training.
Catalogs & Databases for Judo
About Judo
Judo was created by Jigoro Kano in 1882, when he selected from the techniques of the old jujutsu schools those that can be practised at full effort against a resisting partner and discarded the dangerous ones. The result was a system in which one can train at a hundred per cent without serious injury — and that is why judo spread worldwide faster than its predecessors. The throw is the foundation. The aim is to put the opponent on his back with control and force; such a throw (ippon) ends the contest at once. When a throw fails, the fight continues on the ground (ne-waza) — holds, chokes and elbow locks. Kicks and punches do not appear in competition at all; they exist only in the demonstration forms (kata). Judo has been an Olympic sport since 1964 (women since 1992) and has one of the most developed competitive structures of any martial art. At the same time it keeps the educational dimension Kano stressed: conduct in the dojo, bowing, and breakfall practice from the very first lesson. For a beginner judo is an exceptionally good foundation. It teaches how to fall — a skill worth having off the mat as well — and gives experience of fighting real resistance. The load on the joints, above all shoulders and elbows, is real and tells with age; a good club adapts training volume accordingly.
Styles & Branches
A branch of judo defined by its rules, arising around 1914 at Japanese technical schools. With no limit on groundwork, the emphasis shifted from throws to newaza.
A method of teaching judo for Europe: techniques in numbered series, in a fixed order. Created by Mikinosuke Kawaishi, who arrived in Paris in 1935.
A Japanese jujutsu school of the early Edo period. It rests on throws and breaking balance; from it Kano drew judo'"'"'s koshiki no kata.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.