Kosen Judo
高専柔道Judo of Japanese higher schools and universities, with unrestricted transition to ground fighting. The first tournament was held in Kyoto in 1914, and Nanatei continues it today.
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About Kosen Judo
Kosen judo is the form of judo developed by Japanese higher and technical schools at their own tournaments. According to a study by Okamoto Hiroshi (2018), the first national tournament of higher technical schools was held on 29 December 1914 in the Butokuden in Kyoto. Kyoto Imperial University organised it at the initiative of graduates who had earlier practised judo at higher schools. Kosen judo has no named founder. The rules did not restrict the transition from standing to ground fighting (hikikomi) in any way. Only ippon or a draw decided a match, and teams of fifteen members fought in a system where the winner stays on. When the Kodokan restricted ground fighting in the twenties, the schools rejected the change and wrote their own rules. Okamoto therefore calls kosen judo a separate branch relative to the Kodokan. The Ministry of Education abolished the tournament in 1941. Kosen judo is continued today by Nanatei judo, a competition of seven former imperial universities (Hokkaido, Tohoku, Tokyo, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka and Kyushu), held since 1952. According to the Hokkaido Shimbun, hikikomi is still allowed there and only ippon or two waza-ari win. A women's category has existed since 2001.
History
The first national tournament of higher technical schools in judo (Kosen taikai) was held on 29 December 1914 in the Butokuden in Kyoto. According to a study by Okamoto Hiroshi (Bulletin Toyama Prefectural University, 2018), it was organised by Kyoto Imperial University, but the initiative came from graduates who had practised judo at higher schools, not from the university, the Butokukai or the Kodokan. The Fourth (Kanazawa), Fifth (Kumamoto) and Sixth (Okayama) Higher Schools took part. Kyoto organised the tournament alone until the 11th edition, from 1925 with Tokyo and from 1926 with four imperial universities. A research report by Nakajima Tetsuya (KAKEN, Kagoshima University, 2014) explains the tournament by rules fair to all schools and the growing rivalry of the state higher schools.
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Ground fighting (newaza) came strongly to the fore at the tournaments. The Kodokan then changed the rules to restrict it, but the schools rejected the change, founded the Imperial Universities Judo Association and wrote their own rules. The sources give the year of the change differently: Nakajima 1924, Okamoto 1922 and 1925, and Syd Hoare in his overview of competition rules 1925, when according to him the Kodokan introduced strict conditions for the transition from standing to the ground and banned the body scissors choke (dojime) and all joint locks except elbow locks. The Ministry of Education abolished the tournament in 1941 and never revived it, while English Wikipedia says it ran until 1944.
How it differs
According to Okamoto, the rules of the kosen tournaments were based on the rules of the Butokukai and older Kodokan rules and did not adopt the ground-fighting restrictions the Kodokan introduced in the twenties. Okamoto therefore calls kosen judo a separate branch relative to the Kodokan, and Okubo Hideaki writes of a rivalry with the Kodokan. The difference is mainly the transition to the ground. According to Syd Hoare, the Kodokan introduced in its 1925 rules strict conditions for going from standing to the ground, banned the body scissors choke and all joint locks except elbow locks, whereas kosen rules did not restrict pulling the opponent down at all. At kosen tournaments, moreover, only ippon or a draw decided. At today's Nanatei, hikikomi remains allowed and the referee does not stop stalled ground fighting, whereas Kodokan judo bans it.
Technique
According to Okamoto, teams of fifteen members competed at the kosen tournament in a system where the winner stays on: whoever won stayed on the mat against the next opponent. Only ippon or a draw (hikiwake) decided, and there was no victory on points. The rules did not restrict the transition from standing to ground fighting by pulling the opponent down (hikikomi) in any way, a time limit applied from the eighth edition in 1921, and ankle and knee locks were banned. Syd Hoare describes kosen judo as a form with almost unrestricted ground work, which relied on newaza in the following decades too. Okamoto names the triangle choke (sankaku-jime) as a significant technical contribution of kosen judo, which according to him arose at the Sixth Higher School in Okayama.
Training
Kosen judo was practised in the judo clubs of higher schools and universities. According to the university magazine Kurenai, the judo section of Kyoto University was founded in 1900, and according to the university its techniques have been passed on without interruption. A study by Okubo Hideaki (Japan Journal of Sport Sociology, 2008) works with the diary of the judo club of the Fourth Higher School in Kanazawa, preserved from 1914 to 1946, regular yearly keeping of the diary began in 1922 after the club's defeat at the national tournament. Okubo writes that the schools created their own sports culture, different from the Kodokan. According to a newspaper clipping on its website, the Nagoya University club holds public newaza courses.
Today
Pre-war kosen judo is continued by Nanatei judo, a competition of seven former imperial universities: Hokkaido, Tohoku, Tokyo, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka and Kyushu. According to the Hokkaido Shimbun, it has been held since 1952. Teams have fifteen members and the winner stays on the mat, a match lasts six minutes, eight minutes for the fourteenth and fifteenth member. Only ippon or two waza-ari win, pulling down into ground fighting is allowed, and the referee does not stop the match when it stalls on the ground. A women's category has existed since 2001, and the 2024 edition was held on 6 and 7 July in the Aichi Budokan in Nagoya. The Kyoto University club states on its website that at Nanatei one fights as in kosen judo with a focus on newaza, not under Kodokan rules, and that hikikomi, which Kodokan judo bans, is allowed there. According to the club, the tournament is held every July and Kyoto has the most victories (26).
Did you know
The triangle choke (sankaku-jime) arose according to Okamoto at the Sixth Higher School in Okayama and is one of the technical contributions of kosen judo. The judo club of the Fourth Higher School in Kanazawa kept a diary preserved from 1914 to 1946, on which the sociological study by Okubo Hideaki draws. According to Okubo, regular keeping of the diary began after the defeat at the national tournament in 1922. According to its club, Kyoto University has the most victories in the Nanatei competition, 26. English Wikipedia lists as literature on kosen judo the book Nanatei Judo (2001) by Matsubara Ryuichiro, but in the sources we use we have not verified it. English Wikipedia mentions a similarity of kosen judo to Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and we have not found an expert source for it.
Frequently asked questions
How does kosen judo differ from ordinary judo?
Kosen rules placed no limit on going from standing to ground fighting, and only ippon or a draw decided. The Kodokan restricted ground fighting in the twenties, but the schools rejected it and wrote their own rules.
Where is kosen judo contested today?
In the Nanatei judo competition of seven former imperial universities (Hokkaido, Tohoku, Tokyo, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka and Kyushu), held since 1952. Pulling down into ground fighting (hikikomi) is allowed there, and a women's category has existed since 2001.
When did kosen judo arise?
The first national tournament of higher technical schools took place on 29 December 1914 in the Butokuden in Kyoto, organised by Kyoto Imperial University on graduates' initiative. The Ministry of Education abolished it in 1941.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.