What is Judo?

What is Judo?


What is Judo?

Judo is generally categorized as a modern Japanese martial art, which has since evolved into a combat and Olympic sport. The sport was created in 1882 by Jigoro Kano as a physical, mental, and moral pedagogy in Japan. With its origins coming from jujutsu, judo's most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the objective is to either throw or take down an opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue an opponent with a pin, or force an opponent to submit with a joint lock or a choke. Strikes and thrusts by hands and feet as well as weapons defences are a part of judo, but only in pre-arranged forms (kata) and are not allowed in judo competition or (randori) also known as free practice. It was also referred to as Kanō Jiu-Jitsu until the introduction to the Olympic Games. A judo practitioner is called a "judoka", and the judo uniform is called "judogi".

The philosophy and subsequent pedagogy developed for judo became the model for other modern Japanese martial arts that developed from koryū (traditional schools). Judo also spawned a number of derivative martial arts across the world, such as Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Krav Maga, Sambo and ARB. Judo also influenced other combat styles such as close-quarters combat (CQC), mixed martial arts (MMA), shoot wrestling and submission wrestling.

Pedagogy

Randori (free practice)

Judo pedagogy emphasizes randori (乱取り, literally "taking chaos", but meaning "free practice"). This term covers a variety of forms of practice, and the intensity at which it is carried out varies depending on intent and the level of expertise of the participants. At one extreme, is a compliant style of randori, known as Yakusoku geiko (約束稽古, prearranged practice), in which neither participant offers resistance to their partner's attempts to throw. A related concept is that of Sute geiko (捨稽古, throw-away practice), in which an experienced judoka allows himself to be thrown by his less-experienced partner. At the opposite extreme from yakusoku geiko is the hard style of randori that seeks to emulate the style of judo seen in competition. While hard randori is the cornerstone of judo, over-emphasis of the competitive aspect is seen as undesirable by traditionalists if the intent of the randori is to "win" rather than to learn.

Kata (forms)

Kata (形, kata, forms) are pre-arranged patterns of techniques and in judo, with the exception of the Seiryoku-Zen'yō Kokumin-Taiiku, they are all practised with a partner. Their purposes include illustrating the basic principles of judo, demonstrating the correct execution of a technique, teaching the philosophical tenets upon which judo is based, allowing for the practice of techniques that are not allowed in randori, and to preserve ancient techniques that are historically important but are no longer used in contemporary judo.

Judoka (practitioner)

A practitioner of judo is known as a judoka (柔道家). The modern meaning of "judoka" in English is a judo practitioner of any level of expertise, but traditionally those below the rank of 4th dan were called kenkyu-sei (研究生, trainees); and only those of 4th dan or higher were called "judoka". (The suffix -ka (家), when added to a noun, means a person with expertise or special knowledge on that subject).

A judo teacher is called sensei (先生). The word sensei comes from sen or saki (before) and sei (life) – i.e. one who has preceded you. In Western dōjō, it is common to call an instructor of any dan grade sensei. Traditionally, that title was reserved for instructors of 4th dan and above.

End of transmission.

Special Thanks to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This video's script and images are derived from Wikipedia's articles "Judo", "Kanō Jigorō" and "Jujutsu" at Wikipedia.com

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