09. The Origins of Judo
Modern judo has its origins in jujitsu, a fighting art that can be
traced back over a thousand years in Japanese history. Judo itself, however, is
a relatively recent synthesis and owes it existence
to the genius of one man: Dr. Jigoro Kano.
Jigoro Kano was born in the seaside
town of Mikage in 1860. He and his family moved to
Tokyo in 1871. Mr. Kano studied politics and literature at Tokyo Imperial
University. He became an instructor of the Gakushuin
in 1882 and eleven years later, he was appointed the Headmaster of the Koto Shihan, a teachers' training school. In 1909, Professor
Kano became the first Japanese member of the International Olympic Committee
and two years later, he founded the Japanese Athletic Association and became
its first president. Because of his many contributions in the field of
athletics, Professor Kano is called the "Father of Physical Education and
Sport" in Japan.
Professor Kano is internationally known for the development of
judo. Until he was 18 years of age, Jigoro Kano was
physically weak. He resolved to improve himself by studying at two jujitsu
schools. He soon realized that each school had its strengths and weaknesses.
Because there was unnecessary roughness and crudeness in the jujitsu
techniques, and because it was difficult to practice without injury he began to
reconstruct jujitsu. As he states in his own words: "...so by taking
together all the good points I had learned from the various schools and adding
thereto my own devices and inventions, I founded a new system for physical
culture and mental training." Kano called his new system Kodokan Judo to differentiate it from the jujitsu forms.
"Judo" means "the gentle way" and "kodokan"
generally means "a school for studying the way", "the way"
being the concept of life itself.
Again, in Kano's words: "There are two reasons why I avoided
the term 'jujitsu'. One is that there were jujitsu schools which often indulged
in violent and dangerous techniques in throwing or twisting arms and legs.
Seeing these things, many people came to believe jujitsu was harmful. Again, in
an exercise hall where supervision was inadequate, the senior pupils would
wantonly throw down juniors or pick quarrels, so that jujitsu was despised as
something that made rowdies of young men. I wished to show that what I taught
was not a dangerous thing, and would not needlessly injure any person, that it
was not the jujitsu as it was taught by some people , and that it was
"judo", an entirely different thing.
"The second reason was that, when I began to teach, jujitsu
had fallen into disrepute. Some jujitsu masters made their living by organizing
groups composed of their followers, and putting on exhibition matches to which
admission fees were charged. Some went so far to stage bouts between
professional sumo wrestlers and jujitsu men. Such degrading practices of
prostitution of martial arts were repugnant to me, so I avoided the term
jujitsu and adopted judo in its stead."
The Kodokan was first established in
1882 with only nine students the first year. Soon, the new Kodokan
Judo became the center of public attention. But its practical merits were
looked upon with contempt by most old jujitsu men, including master Hikosuke Totsuka. A keen rivalry soon developed between the
Kodokan and the Totsuka School. Things came to a head
in 1886. In Kano's words: "Under the auspices of the Chief of Metropolitan
Police, a grand tournament was arranged between both schools. This was a
decisive battle. Defeat would have been fatal to the Kodokan.
But in that tournament, to which each school sent 15 picked men, the Kodokan won all the bouts excepting two, which ended in a
draw. That brilliant victory established once and for all the supremacy of Kodokan Judo over all jujitsu schools."
One of the principles of judo is that a stronger opponent can be
defeated by turning his strength against himself. Professor Kano explains how
in yielding there is strength: "Suppose we estimate the strength of a man
in units of one. Let us say that the strength of this man is 10 units, whereas
my strength, less than his, is 7 units. Then if he pushes me with all his
force, I shall certainly be pushed back or thrown down, even if I use all my
strength against him. This would happen from opposing strength to strength. But
if instead of opposing him, I leave him unresisted,
withdrawing my body just as much as he pushes, at the same time keeping my
balance, he will naturally lean forward and lose his balance. In this new
position, he may become weak (not in actual physical strength, but because of
his awkward position) as to reduce his strength for the moment, say to 3 units
only instead of 10 units. But meanwhile I, by keeping my balance, retain my
full strength, as originally represented by 7 units. Here then, I am
momentarily in a superior position, and I can defeat my opponent by using only
half of my strength, or 3 1/2 units against his 3 units. This leaves one-half
of my strength available for any other purpose. If I had greater strength than
my opponent, I could of course push him back. But even if I wished to and had
the power to do so, it would still be better for me first to give way, because
by so doing, I should have greatly saved my energy and exhausted my
opponent's."
Jigoro Kano died in May 1938 while
returning from the Cairo International Olympic Conference. Men's judo was first
included in the Olympic Games in 1964 and became a permanent part of the Games
in 1972. In 1992, women's judo became part of the Olympic Games as well. Kano
defined the two principles of Kodokan Judo as
"Maximum Efficiency with Minimum Effort" and "Mutual Welfare and
Benefit". He said that "physical education should train the body to
be strong, healthy and useful in actual life and also make a contribution to
the culture of the mind." His system of judo is just that.