Judo

Judo
Image:Judo01cropped.jpg Execution of a judo throw
Style	Grappling
Country of origin	Japan
Creator	Jigoro Kano
Parenthood	Various jujutsu schools including Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū and Kito-ryū
Olympic Sport	Since 1964 (men) and 1988 (women)

Judo (柔道, jūdō^?), meaning "gentle way", is a modern Japanese martial art (gendai budō) and combat sport, that originated in Japan in the late nineteenth century. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an opponent to submit by joint locking the elbow or applying a choke. Kicks, punches, chops and thrusts are also practiced, but only in pre-arranged forms. They are not allowed in judo competition or freestyle practice.

Ultimately, the philosophy and subsequent pedagogy developed for judo became the model for almost all modern Japanese martial arts that developed from "traditional" schools (koryū). Practitioners of judo are called jūdōka.

History and philosophy

Early life of the founder

The early history of judo is inseparable from its founder, Japanese polymath and educator Kano Jigoro (嘉納 治五郎 Kanō Jigorō, 1860–1938). Kano was born into a well-to-do Japanese family. His grandfather was a self-made man; a sake brewer from Shiga prefecture in central Japan. However, Kano's father was not the eldest son and therefore did not inherit the business. Instead, he became a Shinto priest and government official, with enough influence for his son to enter the second incoming class of Tokyo Imperial University.

The founder pursues jujutsu

Kano was a small, frail boy, who, even in his twenties, did not weigh more than a hundred pounds, and was often picked on by bullies. He first started pursuing jujutsu, at that time a flourishing art, at the age of 17, but met with little success. This was in part due to difficulties finding a teacher who would take him on as a serious student. When he went off to the University to study literature at the age of 18, he continued his martial studies, eventually gaining a referral to Fukuda Hachinosuke (c.1828–c.1880), a master of the Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū and grandfather of noted jūdōka Keiko Fukuda (Fukuda Keiko, born 1935), who is one of Kano's oldest surviving students. Fukuda Hachinosuke is said to have emphasized technique over formal exercise, sowing the seeds of Kano's emphasis of free practice (randori) in judo.

A little more than a year after Kano joined Fukuda's school, Fukuda became ill and died. Kano then became a student in another Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū school, that of Iso Masatomo (c.1820–c.1881), who put more emphasis on the practice of pre-arranged forms (kata) than Fukuda had. Through dedication, Kano quickly earned the title of master instructor (shihan) and became assistant instructor to Iso at the age of 21. Unfortunately, Iso soon took ill, and Kano, feeling that he still had much to learn, took up another style, becoming a student of Tsunetoshi Iikubo of Kitō-ryū. Like Fukuda, Iikubo placed much emphasis on free practice; on the other hand, Kitō-ryū emphasized throwing techniques to a much greater degree than Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū.

The founding of judo

By this time, Kano was devising new techniques, such as the "shoulder wheel" (kata-guruma, known as a fireman's carry to Western wrestlers who use a slightly different form of this technique) and the "floating hip" (uki goshi) throw. His thoughts were already on doing more than expanding the canons of Kitō-ryū and Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū. Full of new ideas, Kano had in mind a major reformation of jujutsu, with techniques based on sound scientific principles, and with focus on development of the body, mind and character of young men in addition to development of martial prowess. At the age of 22, when he was just about to finish his degree at the University, Kano took 9 students from Iikubo's school to study jujutsu under him at the Eisho-ji, a Buddhist temple in Kamakura, and Iikubo would come to the temple three days a week to help teach. Although two years would pass before the temple would be called by the name "Kodokan", or "place for teaching the way", and Kano had not yet been accorded the title of "master" in the Kitō-ryū, this is now regarded as the Kodokan's founding.

The meaning of "judo"

The word "judo" shares the same root ideogram as "jujutsu": "jū" (柔, "jū"^?), which may mean "gentleness", "softness", "suppleness", and even "easy", depending on its context. Such an attempts to translate jū are deceptive, however. The use of jū in each of these words is an explicit reference to the martial arts principle of the "soft method" (柔法, jūhō^?). The soft method is characterized by the indirect application of force to defeat an opponent. More specifically, it is the principle of using one's opponent's strength against him and adapting well to changing circumstances. For example, if the attacker was to push against his opponent he would find his opponent stepping to the side and allowing (often with the aid of a foot to trip him up) his momentum to throw him forwards (the inverse being true for pulling). 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". Jujutsu techniques which relied solely on superior strength were discarded or adapted in favour of those which involved redirecting the opponent's force, off balancing the opponent, or making use of superior leverage.

The second characters of judo and jujutsu differ. Where jujutsu (柔術, jūjutsu^?) means the "art" or "science" of softness, judo (柔道, jūdō^?) means the "way" of softness. The use of "dō" (道, "dō"^?), meaning way, road or path (and is the same character as the Chinese word "tao"), has spiritual or philosophical overtones. Use of this word is a deliberate departure from ancient martial arts, whose sole purpose was for killing. Kano saw judo as a means for governing and improving oneself physically, mentally, emotionally and morally. He even extended the physical principle of maximum efficiency into daily life, evolving it into "mutual prosperity". In this respect judo is seen as a holistic approach to life extending well beyond the confines of the dojo.

Combat phases

Judo assumes that there are two main phases of combat: the standing (tachi-waza) and the ground (ne-waza) phase. Each phase requires its own mostly separate techniques, strategies, randori, conditioning and so on, although some special training is devoted to "transitional" techniques to bridge the gap. Some jūdōka may become quite skilled in one phase and be rather weak in the other, depending on where their interests most lie, although most are rather balanced between the two.

Sparring

Judo emphasizes a free-style sparring, called randori, as one of its main forms of training. A part of the combat time is spent sparring standing up, called tachi-waza, and the other part on the ground, called ne-waza. Sparring, even within safety rules, is considered to be much more effective than only practicing techniques. Using full-strength develops the muscles and cardio-vascular system on the physical side of things, and it develops strategy and reaction time on the mental side of things, and helps the practioner learn to use techniques against a resisting opponent. A common saying among judoka is, "The best training for judo is judo."

Judo's balanced approach

Judo's balance between both the standing and ground phases of combat gives judoka the ability to take down opponents who are standing up and then pin and submit them on the ground. This balanced theory of combat has made Judo a popular choice for many.

The standing phase

In the standing phase, which has primacy according to the contest rules , the opponents attempt to throw each other. Although standing joint-lock and choke/strangulation submission techniques are legal in the standing phase,^[1] they are quite rare due to the fact that they are much harder to apply standing than throws are. Some jūdōka, however, are very skilled in combining takedowns with submissions, where a submission technique is begun standing and finished on the ground. Strikes (i.e. punches, kicks, etc...) are not allowed due to their certainty of injury, but an athlete is supposed to "take them into consideration" while training by, for example, not fighting in a bent-over position for long, since this position is vulnerable to knee-strikes and other striking attacks.

The main purpose of the throwing techniques (nage waza) is to take an opponent who is standing on his feet, mobile and dangerous, down onto his back where he cannot move as effectively. Thus, the main reason for throwing the opponent is to control the opponent and to put oneself in a dominant position. In this way the practicioner has more potential to render a decisive outcome. Another reason to throw the opponent is to shock his body through smashing him forcefully onto the ground. If an exponent executes a powerful yet fully controlled throw, he can win a match outright due to the theory that he has displayed enough superiority. In actual fact, this kind of victory is very difficult to achieve if the opponents are equally matched. Therefore points are given for lesser throws in the standing phase of combat. In a real fight, throwing an opponent in itself can also shock and injure them, and the impact can potentially knock the opponent unconscious (depending on the hardness of the fighting surface).

In keeping with Kano's emphasis on scientific analysis and reasoning, the standard Kokokan judo pedagogy dictates that any throwing technique is a four phased event: off-balancing (kuzushi); body positioning (作り, tsukuri^?); execution (掛け, kake^?); and finally the finish or coup de grâce (極め, kime^?).

The ground phase

In the ground phase, which is considered the secondary phase of combat, the opponents try to pin each other, or to get the opponent to submit either by using armlocks (leglocks are not allowed due to safety regulations) or by chokes and strangulations.

Hold-downs and pins

Hold-downs and pins (押さえ込み, osaekomi^?) are considered important since in a real fight the person who has control of his opponent can hit him with punches, knees, headbutts, and other strikes. If osaekomi is held for 25 seconds, the person doing the pinning wins the match. (This time requirement is said to reflect the time necessary for a samurai to reach his knife or sword and dispatch his pinned opponent. It also reflects the combat reality that a fighter must immobilize his opponent for a substantial amount of time in order to strike effectively.) In a match, a pin must be held for ten seconds to gain any score; a pin of less than 25 seconds will score, but will not win the match. A pin may result in a submission if the opponent is exhausted or cannot endure the pressure from the pin. This occasionally happens in competition, usually if the pin places pressure on an already injured part of the body, like the ribs.

If the person being held down has wrapped his legs around any part of his opponent's lower body or trunk, he is pinning his opponent as much as he is being pinned, as his opponent cannot get up and flee unless the bottom man lets go. While his legs are wrapped around his opponent, the bottom man can employ various attacking techniques, including strangles, armlocks and "body scissors" (do-jime), while tying the opponent so that he cannot effectively strike from above. In this position, often referred to as the "guard" in English, the man on top does not have enough control over his adversary for the position to be considered osaekomi. The man on top can try to pass his opponent's legs and pin or submit him, or he may try to break out of his opponent's guard and stand up. The bottom man can try to submit his opponent from his guard or roll his opponent over to get on top of him.

This section overlaps with other sections; it should be combined with the rest of the article. Please post any comments on this issue on the talk page.

Scoring in judo consists of four grades of score: ippon, waza-ari, yuko, and koka. An ippon literally means "one point" and awards the match. This is awarded for a throw that lands the throwee on his or her back, since it requires skill to do this in sparring, for a mat hold of sufficient duration (25 or 30 seconds), or for opponent submission. A waza-ari is awarded for a throw that does not quite have enough power or control to be considered ippon, or for a hold of twenty seconds. It is a half-point, and if two are scored, they constitute the full point needed for the win. Yuko and koka are lower grades of score, and are only tie-breakers that are not cumulative with one another. Scoring is lexicographic; a waza-ari beats any number of yuko, but a waza-ari and a yuko beat a waza-ari with no yuko. It is not uncommon for a match to be decided based on koka. For example, consider 1W2Y2K vs. 1W2Y1K. If scores are identical at the end of a match, the match goes to "Golden Score" in which the match clock is reset, scores are cleared, and the first to score wins.

The score for a pin is determined by how long the pin is held. A pin held for 25 seconds scores ippon, resulting in immediate victory. A score of waza-ari is given for a pin held for 20 seconds. A fifteen-second pin scores yuko and a ten-second pin scores koka. If the person pinning already has a waza-ari they only need to hold the pin for 20 seconds to score ippon by way of two waza-ari.

Joint locks

Joint locks (kansetsu-waza) are effective combat techniques because they enable a jūdōka to control his opponent through pain-compliance, or if necessary, to cause breakage of the locked joint. Joint locks on the elbow are considered safe enough to perform at nearly full-force in competition to force submission from one's opponent. Judo has, in the past, allowed leglocks, wristlocks, spinal locks and various other techniques which have since been disallowed in competition to protect athletes' safety. It was decided that attacking those other joints would result in many injuries to the athletes and would cause a gradual deterioration of these joints. Even so, some jūdōka still enjoy learning and fighting each other informally using these techniques that are banned from formal competitions, and many of these techniques are still actively used in other arts such as sambo and jujutsu.

Chokes and strangulations

Chokes and strangulations (締め技, shime-waza^?) are judo's deadliest techniques. They enable the one applying the choke to force the adversary into unconsciousness and even death. Strangulation cuts off the blood supply to the brain via compression on the sides of the neck, while a choke blocks the airway from the front of the neck. The terms are frequently interchangeable in common usage, and a formal differentiation is not made by most jūdōka. In competition, the jūdōka wins if the opponent submits or becomes unconscious. A strangle, once properly locked in, can knock an opponent unconscious in 3 seconds. Although these are potentially lethal techniques, a properly-applied chokehold, if released promptly upon submission or unconsciousness, causes no injury or lasting discomfort.

Uniform

Judo practitioners traditionally wear white uniforms called jūdōgi, which simply means "judo uniform", for practicing judo. Sometimes the word is seen shortened simply to "gi" (uniform). The jūdōgi was created at the Kodokan, and similar uniforms were later adopted by many other martial arts.^{[citation needed]} The modern jūdōgi consists of white or blue cotton drawstring pants and a matching white or blue quilted cotton jacket, fastened by a belt (obi). The belt is often colored to indicate rank. The jacket is intended to withstand the stresses of throwing and grappling, and as a result, is much thicker than that of a karate uniform (karategi).

The modern use of the blue judogi was first suggested by Anton Geesink at the 1986 Maastricht IJF DC Meeting.^[2] Before competition, a blue jūdōgi is assigned to one of the two competitors for ease of distinction by judges, referees, and spectators. In Japan, both judoka still use a white judogi and the traditional red sash (based on the flag's colors) is affixed to the belt of one competitor. In Europe and North America, a colored sash is typically used for convenience in local competitions, while a blue jūdōgi is assigned to one competitor at the regional, national, or Olympic levels where the visibility, particularly to television cameras, is more important than tradition or convienence. Japanese practitioners and purists tend to look down on the use of blue jūdōgi.^[2]

Techniques

For a full list of Judo techniques, see Judo techniques.

See also: List of Kodokan Judo techniques

While judo includes a variety of rolls, falls, throws, pins, chokes, joint-locks, and methods of percussion, the primary focus is on throwing (投げ技, nage-waza^?), and groundwork (ne-waza). Throws are divided in two groups of techniques, standing techniques (tachi-waza), and sacrifice techniques (捨身技, sutemi-waza^?). Standing techniques are further divided into hand techniques (手技, te-waza^?), hip techniques (腰技, koshi-waza^?), and foot and leg techniques (足技, ashi-waza^?). Sacrifice techniques are divided into those in which the thrower falls directly backwards (真捨身技, ma-sutemi-waza^?), and those in which he falls onto his side (橫捨身技, yoko-sutemi-waza^?).

The ground fighting techniques are divided into attacks against the joints or joint locks (関節技, kansetsu-waza^?), strangleholds or chokeholds (絞技, shime-waza^?), and holding or pinning techniques (押込技, osaekomi-waza^?).

A kind of sparring is practiced in judo, known as randori (乱取り, randori^?), meaning "free practice". In randori, two adversaries may attack each other with any judo throw or grappling technique. Striking techniques (atemi-waza) such as kicking and punching, along with knife and sword techniques are retained in the kata. This form of pedagogy is usually reserved for higher ranking practioners (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, joint locking, and the sacrifice techniques, which can be very spectacular but often dangerous, are subject to age or rank restrictions. For example, in the United States one must be 13 or older to use chokeholds, and 16 or older, or hold the rank of shodan or higher, to use armlocks.

In randori and tournament (shiai) practice, when an opponent successfully executes a chokehold or joint lock, one submits, or "taps out", by tapping the mat or one's opponent at least twice in a manner that clearly indicates the submission. When this occurs the match is over, the tapping player has lost, and the chokehold or joint lock ceases. This allows a merciful exit to the match, and therefore injuries related to these holds are quite rare.

Forms

Forms (kata) are pre-arranged patterns of attack and defense, which in judo are practiced with a partner for the purpose of perfecting judo techniques. More specifically, their purposes include illustrating the basic principles of judo, demonstrating the correct execution of a technique, teaching the philosophical tenets upon which judo is based, allowing for the practice of techniques that are not allowed in competition, and to preseve ancient techniques that are historically important but not used anymore in contemporary judo.

Knowledge of different kata is a requirement for the attainment of a higher rank.

There are seven kata that are recognized by the Kodokan today:

• Free practice forms (Randori no Kata), comprising two kata:
  • Throwing forms (Nage no Kata)
  • Grappling forms (Katame no Kata)
• Old style self-defence forms (Kime no Kata)
• Modern self-defence forms (Kodokan Goshin Jutsu)
• Forms of "gentleness" (Ju no Kata)
• The five forms (Itsutsu no Kata)
• Ancient forms (Koshiki no Kata)
• Maximum-efficiency national physical education kata (Seiryoku Zen'yō Kokumin Taiiku no Kata)

Rank and grading

Jūdōka are ranked according to skill and knowledge of judo, and their rank is reflected by their belt color. There are two divisions of rank, below black-belt "grades" (kyū), and black belt "degrees" (dan). This ranking system of was introduced into the martial arts by Kano and has since been widely adopted by modern martial arts. As initially designed, there were six student grades which were numerically ranked in decending order, with 1st kyū being the last before promotion to first degree black belt (shodan). There are ordinarily 10 dan ranks are in ascending numerical order. For dan ranks the first five are coloured black, 5th, 6th, and 7th dan have alternating red and white panels, and for 10th dan or above the belts were to be solid red.

The tenth degree black belt (jūdan) and those above it have no formal requirements. The president of the Kodokan, currently Kano Jigoro's grandson Yukimitsu Kano (Kano Yukimitsu), decides on individuals for promotion. Only 15 individuals have been promoted to this rank by the Kodokan. On January 6, 2006, three individuals were promoted to 10th dan simultaneously: Toshiro Daigo, Ichiro Abe, and Yoshimi Osawa. This is the most ever at the same time, and the first in 22 years. No one has ever been promoted to a rank higher than 10th dan, but,

Theoretically the Judo rank system is not limited to 10 degrees of black belt. The original English language copy (1955) of Illustrated Kodokan Judo, by Jigoro Kano, says: "There is no limit...on the grade one can receive. Therefore if one does reach a stage above 10th dan... there is no reason why he should not be promoted to 11th dan." However, since there has never been any promotion to a rank above 10th dan, the Kodokan Judo promotion system effectively has only 10 dans. There have only been 15 10th dans awarded by the Kodokan in the history of Judo.^[3]

Although dan ranks tend to be consistent between national organizations there is more variation in the kyū grades, with some countries having more kyū grades. Although initially kyū grade belt colors were uniformly white, today a wide variety of colors can be seen.

Belt colors

In Japan, the use of belt colors is conversely related to the age of the student. Some clubs will only have black and white, others will include a brown belt for advanced kyū grades and at the elementary school level it is common to see a green belt for intermediate levels.

Some countries also use colored tips on belts, to indicate junior age groups, and historically, women's belts had a white stripe along the centre.

Examination requirements vary depending on country, age group and of course the grade being attempted. The examination itself may include competition and forms. The kyū ranks are normally awarded by local instructors (sensei), but dan ranks are usually awarded only after an exam supervised by independent judges from a national judo association. For a rank to be recognized it must be registered with the national judo organization or the Kodokan.

Europe

In the UK, most of Europe, and Canada, the belt colours in ascending order are white, yellow, orange, green, blue, brown and finally black. Some European countries additionally use a red belt to signify a complete beginner, whereas other European countries such as Scotland use a red belt as the belt one grade above a beginner.

Brazil

Brazilian belt rankings are somewhat different, using white, blue, yellow, orange, green, purple, brown and black. This is also consistent with the belt colors from Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Competitors are organized into two categories depending on grading; the first is from white to green, and the second is purple through black.

United States

Only "senior" players (adults, usually those age 16 and over) are allowed to earn dan levels, signified by wearing a black belt. Advanced kyū levels can be earned by both seniors and juniors (children under the age of about 16) and are signified by wearing belts of various colors other than black.