Judo

Judo (柔道) is a martial art, a sport and a philosophy which originated in Japan. Judo was developed from Jujutsu, and was founded by Jigoro Kano (嘉納治五郎) in 1882. The sport became the model of the modern Japanese martial arts, gendai budo, developed from old koryu schools.

History and philosophy

Judo literally means "gentle way" or "gentle art" in Japanese. Judo takes from jujutsu ("gentle art") the principle of using one's opponent's strength against him. Kano saw jujutsu as a disconnected bag of tricks, and sought to unify it according to some principle: he found it in the notion of "maximum efficiency". With that, he renamed his art "Kodokan Judo", to indicate his view of it as a means of physical and spiritual development, as well as self-defense.

Techniques

The focus in judo is on throwing techniques (nage-waza), with groundwork (katame-waza) also a major component. Nage-waza is divided in two groups of techniques, standing techniques (tachi-waza) and sacrifice techniques (sutemi-waza). Standing techniques are divided in hand techniques (te-waza), hip techniques (koshi-waza) and foot/leg techniques (ashi-waza). Sacrifice techniques are divided into those in which the thrower falls directly backwards (ma-sutemi-waza) and those in which he falls onto his side (yoko-sutemi-waza). The groundwork techniques are divided into: attacks against the joints (kansetsu-waza), stranglehold (shime-waza), and holding techniques (osaekomi-waza).

A kind of sparring is practiced in judo, known as randori, meaning "free practice". In randori, players (known as judoka) may attack each other with any judo throw or grappling technique. Striking techniques (called atemi-waza) such as kicking and punching, along with knife and sword techniques are retained in the katas taught to higher ranking judoka (for instance, in the kime-no-kata), but are forbidden in contest (and usually prohibited in randori), for reasons of safety. Also for reasons of safety, chokeholds, jointlocking - and the sacrifice (sutemi) techniques, which can be very spectacular, are often subject to age and/or rank restrictions.

Grading

Judoka are ranked according to skill and knowledge of judo, that grade being reflected in the color of his belt: There are two divisions of grades, the student grades (kyu), and the master grades (dan). In the west, the kyu colors run from white through yellow, orange, green, blue, and brown. Some European countries additionally use a red belt to signify a complete beginner. In Japan, all adult kyu grades wear either white or brown belts. All dan grades may wear the Black Belt; sixth- through eighth- dans may alternately wear a red-and-white belt, while those ranked ninth- dan and above may wear a solid red belt. Protocol provides for a double-width white belt to be worn by someone who achieves the twelfth-"dan" but so far no one has been promoted beyond the tenth-"dan." Jigoro Kano was the inventor of the kyu - dan grading system, that soon got adapted by other martial arts such as karate.

In matches, one usually sees one competitor wearing a white sash and the other a blue sash. This does not indicate their rank, but is to enable the judges to tell the opponents apart during a fight. They may wear these belts over their regular belts. Points are also awarded to white or blue. Assistant judges on the corners of the mat also have a white and blue flag to indicate to which competitor a point should go when it is unclear who it should be awarded to.

In most Western countries, grades up to the brown belt are awarded by the dojo where the student trains, while the first dan (black belt) is awarded after doing an exam supervised by independent judges of the national judo association. Second to fifth dan can be achieved by taking similar exams, but also a minimum of points scored during official matches is necessary. Because of this, many people get stuck at the first dan level. Anything above fifth (sometimes even third) dan is usually awarded for general achievements for the sports, such as promotion of the sport or winning an Olympic medal.

Styles

Jigoro Kano's Kodokan Judo (講道館) is the most widespread style of judo. A sub-style of Kodokan Judo that developed in Japanese inter-scholastic competition is known as Kosen judo, with the same range of techniques but greater latitude permitted for Ne-waza (ground techniques).

Sport

Although a fully-featured martial art, judo has also developed as a sport. Judo became an Olympic sport for men in 1964 and, with the persistence of a woman by the name of Rusty Kanokogi, a sport for women as well in 1992. In the west, the sport aspect of judo probably is the most commonly taught. Men and women compete separately (although they often train together), and there are several weight divisions including an open-weight category which anyone may enter.

The object in a judo-match is to throw your opponent to the ground so that he lands flat on this back. This will score an ippon, a full point that wins the match. Anything else, such as landing your opponent on the hip or shoulder, will be waza-ari , yuko or koka (waza-ari being the highest of the 3, koka the lowest) or even no score. The fight can be continued on the ground. If you are able to pin your opponent down with both shoulders on the mat for 25 seconds (20 if you previously scored a waza-ari) or get a submission you win the match by ippon. If there is no ippon or submission, the one with the most points wins. Groundfights are of relatively short duration in most high-level competition. The referee normally stops it when no clear progress is being made. Penalties may be given by the judges for being inactive during the match or using illegal techniques and fighting must be stopped if both of the participants are outside the designated area on the mat (tatami).

Despite the literal meaning of the name judo, competition judo is one the roughest and most demanding sports. A World Championship or Olympic match lasts only 5 minutes, but will leave participants exhausted. Without kicking and punching, to some judo looks friendlier than, for instance, Thai boxing. Proponents believe this makes judo underrated as a method of self-defense. They point out that, for example, there is nothing gentle about being thrown to the ground with a hipthrow followed by being crashed into by one's opponent with his or her full weight.