"Using
an opponents strength and aggressions
against him"

Prof. Jigoro Kano
"The aim of Judo is to
utilize physical and mental strength most effectively. Its
training is to understand the true meaning of life through the
mental and physical training of attack and defense. You must
develop citizen to society." Professor Jigoro Kano,
Founder of Kodokan Judo
Judo has it origin in the
ancient Japanese art of Jujitsu, which means empty
handed defense (without weapons). The object of Jujitsu
was to avoid an enemy's superior strength and then to use that
strength to the enemies disadvantage. The problem with jujitsu
was the fact that it was strictly a combat technique and a
contest could only be decided by the death or crippling of one
of the contestants. Not a good idea!!! In 1882, Dr.
Jigoro Kano, devised a way of making this deadly art of combat
into a sport. He modified or eliminated the most dangerous of
the Jujitsu techniques and created Judo, the gentle way, which
could be practiced for competition or just for good physical
conditioning.
Judo is "the gentle
way" because its end result is the accomplishment of a
goal with maximum efficiency and minimum effort. As a sport,
Judo includes a code of sportsmanship, a sense of mutual
respect, self confidence and a system of ethical and moral
development. Judo is considered both an art and a science. As
an art, Judo helps one to gain self respect, self confidence
and self expression. As a science, Judo involves a mystery of
such basic natural laws such as gravity, friction, momentum,
weight, transmission and the unity of forces.
Judo has been an Olympic sport
for men since the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and for women since the
1988 Seoul, Korea Olympics.
Kano and Judo are the authors
of the original colored belt ranking system used today by
practically every style of martial arts.