What is judo?Judo is a tremendous and dynamic combat sport that demands both physical prowess and great mental discipline. From a standing position, it involves techniques that allow you to lift and throw your opponents onto their backs. On the ground, it includes techniques that allow you to pin your opponents down to the ground, control them, and apply various chokeholds or joint locks until submission.
Unlike karate, judo does not involve kicking, punching, or striking techniques of any kind. Judo involves no equipment or weapons of any sort. Instead, judo simply involves using the forces of balance, power, and movement to attempt to subdue your opponent. In its simplicity, lies its complexity, and mastery of even the most basic of judo techniques that often take considerable time, effort, and energy, involving rigorous physical and mental training. Judo is unique in that all age groups, both sexes, and individuals with a range of abilities can participate together in learning and practicing the sport. Judo is a strenuous and demanding physical activity. The practice of judo techniques helps people develop basic and fundamental physical fitness in a number of ways, such as the development of strength, flexibility, agility, speed, dynamic and static balance, explosive power, and endurance. The practice of active attack and defense helps develop reaction time, coordination, and overall physical self-confidence. Judo students become physically bigger, stronger, and faster through their practice of judo. But beyond the development of physical prowess and athletic ability, judo students learn much more. They learn how to control their feelings, emotions, and impulses. They learn about values of perseverance, respect, loyalty, and discipline. Judo students develop an outstanding work ethic, as well as important social manners and etiquette. They learn to overcome their fears, and to show courage under pressure. Through competition and the rigors of daily practice, they learn about justice and fairness. Overall, Judo is a system of physical, intellectual, and moral education. Judo gives its students a code of ethics, a way of living, and a way of being. |
Popularity of judo...
Now the most popular martial art in the world, judo attracts 13 million participants in 111 countries. **Source In terms of sheer numbers of participants, judo is the second most popular sport of any sport; soccer being number one. In terms of national organizations worldwide, judo is the largest sport in the world, with the greatest number of member nations in the International Judo Federation. It is a part of the physical education systems of many countries, and practiced in local clubs, junior high and high schools, colleges, regional and national training centers, and in many other areas in this country and across the world. At the Olympic level, Judo's popularity is so great that it's usually the first sport to completely sell out.**Source
History of judo
Judo was derived in Tokyo, Japan in 1532 from Jujitsu, the art for either attacking others or defending oneself with nothing but one’s own body. In 1882, Dr. Jigoro Kano made a comprehensive study of the ancient self-defense forms and integrated the best of these forms into a sport which is known as Kodokan Judo. The term Kodokan breaks down into ko (lecture, study, method), do (way or path), and kan (hall or place). Thus it means “a place to study the way”. Similarly judo breaks down into ju (gentle) and do (way or path) or “the gentle way”. The Kodokan had three broad aims: physical education, contest proficiency and mental training.