So why did Jigaro Kano develop Kodokan Judo? There where many reasons why he created Kodokan Judo. First you must realize the time, it was the end of fuedal rule and the reestablishment of emperial rule. With this the ban against carring swords on the streets and this inturn caused the decline in martial arts. This was not the only reason. As a student, Jigaro Kano studied many styles (kyus) of jujutsu. In different styles the same technique was taught but in different ways, this puzzled the young Jigaro Kano. Also, in the jujutsu dojos higher ranking students would pick fights with the lower ranking students just for fun. This abuse of knoledge and rank disgusted Kano. With all of this the young Jigaro Kano saught out to find an underlying understanding of all this. Jigaro Kano then came to a conclusion, and this conclusion is what we now know as the main principle in Kodokan Judo, Maximum Efficency. With this main principle he began picking through all the techniques he knew and if it did not fit into his principle he would make it fit or else eliminated it from his new martial "way", Judo.
After he had devised his new martial way, Jigaro Kano founded the Kodokan, or the school for studing the way. But even with this new school, no one was really interested. Atleast not until 1886, this is when Kodokan Judo was either going to sink or swim. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Board was trying to revive jujutsu. In doing so a keen rivalry devoloped between them and the Kodokan. As a result, a tournament was arranged between the two school to see which method was better. Each school sent 15 of their best students to the tournament. The result were devastating to the Police board. Out of the fifteen matches, the Kodokan won thirteen and the other two were tied. As a result, Kodokan Judo was established as the supreme in theory and in practice. This lead to a huge popularity of judo and now is seen practiced today as a sport, a self-defence,and a way to stay fit.
