A Brief History of Judo
A brief history of Judo
Judo is an exciting unarmed combat sport that originated in the Orient as a means of self-defence which has since grown into an international competitive sport.
Judo developed out of ju-juitsu, a form of unarmed combat beleived to have been introduced into Japan by a Chinese monk, Chen Yuan-ping in the early seventeenth century. Various ju-juitsu schools developed and young samuri were instructed in the art. This was in the days of chivalry among Japanese knights.
Samuri Warriors carried swords as a form of armed combat and also used ju-juitsu with lethal effect. However, in 1871 the samuri were forbidden to carry swords but they continued to use ju-juitsu lethally and it brought the art in disrepute.
The skills of unarmed combat were saved by Dr. Jigaro Kano (see right) who studied at various ju-juitsu schools. He brought together the best techniques of each to devleop his own style, introducing it at his school. He called the style Kodokan Judo. He formed a principle which ju-juitsu had also earlier discovered - tsuri-komi, the art of getting a fighter off balance before throwing him, Kano descirbed the difference between judo and ju-juitsu as "the elevation of an art to a principle".
In studying judo he felt it was necessary to train the body, essential in all forms of martial arts. But just as importantly, he saw th eneed to develop the mind. `Maximum efficiency with minimun effort`, was a Kano beleif.
The Kodokan was founded in 1882 but was slow to establish itself as one of the leading schools because there still remained an interest in ju-juitsu. But, in 1886, the Kodokan and the Totsuka, the biggest ju-juitsu school, took part in a competition organised by the Metropolitan Police Board. Each school fielded a 15-man team and the Kodokan won 13 contests with th eother two being drawn. From that day, the popularity of judo increased while that of ju-juitsu declined.
However, Kano wanted to spread the word of judo beyond Japan and
Judo is an exciting unarmed combat sport that originated in the Orient as a means of self-defence which has since grown into an international competitive sport.
Judo developed out of ju-juitsu, a form of unarmed combat beleived to have been introduced into Japan by a Chinese monk, Chen Yuan-ping in the early seventeenth century. Various ju-juitsu schools developed and young samuri were instructed in the art. This was in the days of chivalry among Japanese knights.
Samuri Warriors carried swords as a form of armed combat and also used ju-juitsu with lethal effect. However, in 1871 the samuri were forbidden to carry swords but they continued to use ju-juitsu lethally and it brought the art in disrepute.
The skills of unarmed combat were saved by Dr. Jigaro Kano (see right) who studied at various ju-juitsu schools. He brought together the best techniques of each to devleop his own style, introducing it at his school. He called the style Kodokan Judo. He formed a principle which ju-juitsu had also earlier discovered - tsuri-komi, the art of getting a fighter off balance before throwing him, Kano descirbed the difference between judo and ju-juitsu as "the elevation of an art to a principle".
In studying judo he felt it was necessary to train the body, essential in all forms of martial arts. But just as importantly, he saw th eneed to develop the mind. `Maximum efficiency with minimun effort`, was a Kano beleif.
The Kodokan was founded in 1882 but was slow to establish itself as one of the leading schools because there still remained an interest in ju-juitsu. But, in 1886, the Kodokan and the Totsuka, the biggest ju-juitsu school, took part in a competition organised by the Metropolitan Police Board. Each school fielded a 15-man team and the Kodokan won 13 contests with th eother two being drawn. From that day, the popularity of judo increased while that of ju-juitsu declined.
However, Kano wanted to spread the word of judo beyond Japan and