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What is Judo
Judo is a tremendous and dynamic Olympic 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 back. On the ground, it includes techniques that allow you to pin your opponents down to the ground, control them, and apply various strangles or joint locks until submission (adults only). Judo does not involve kicking, punching or striking.
Olympic and Paralmpics
Judo was first introduced to the Olympic Games in 1964 which was held at the home of Judo, Tokyo. There were 74 male participants from 27 Countries who competed in only 3 weight categories and a open weight category. Womens Olympic Judo was introduced in 1992 along with Paralympic Judo. Since then, Judo now has 14 weight divisions (7 male, 7 female) and had more than 385 Judokas from 135 countries take part in the 2012 London Games.
For the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Judo will also have a team event consisting of 6 athletes. 3 Men and 3 Women.
Jigoro Kano
Judo was created by Professor Jigoro Kano. Mastering several styles of jujitsu including Kito-Ryu and Tenjin-Shinyo Ryu in his youth he began to develop his own system based on modern sports principles. In 1882 he founded the Kodokan Judo Institute in Tokyo where he began teaching and which still is the international authority for Judo.
The name Judo was chosen because it means the "gentle or yielding way". Kano emphasized the larger educational value of training in attack and defense so that it could be a path or way of life that all people could participate in and benefit from. He eliminated some of the traditional jujitsu techniques and changed training methods so that most of the moves could be done with full force to create a decisive victory without injury. The popularity of Judo increased dramatically after a famous contest hosted by the Tokyo police in 1886 where the Judo team defeated the most well-known jujitsu school of the time. It then became a part of the Japanese physical education system and began to spread across the world.
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