Recreational Judo of Oklahoma | 2917 Bart Conner Ct. Norman, OK 73072 | 405-779-8872 | www.recreationaljudo.com

How Does Judo Differ from Other Martial Arts?

One of my assistant coaches contacted a recreation center near her home and approached the director about having Judo program there. The director responded, they already had martial arts there--they had Tae Kwan Do. "Is that different?" the director asked. My assistant was somewhat taken aback and was at a loss to explain. Sometimes the level of ignorance about martial arts in general is so profound, it's hard to know where to start answering a question like that. It's like, "We already have a basketball program; why do we need volleyball?" After all, both sports involve a court, a net, and a ball! To a parent with a child interested in martial arts, there is a bewildering catalog of exotic names: Tae Kwon Do, Muay Thai, Kung Fu, Capoeira, Kendo, Hapkido, Aikido, Iado, Jodo, Sambo, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Judo, a couple dozen variants of Karate, and many, many more. There are Chinese martial arts, Japanese martial arts, Korean, Filipino, Russian, and a bunch of others. Boxing and wrestling are martial arts, too. What's the difference? How is Judo different from the others? Rather than begin with technical comparisons between grappling arts and striking arts, the best place to start with Judo is the intent of its founder, Dr. Jigoro Kano. Kano established his first school of Judo in 1882 and called it Kodokan. Kano had mastered several forms of Japanese Jujutsu and had begun to introduce innovations that were very effective. His innovation was the application of "Ju," which can be roughly translated as "flexible" or "gentle." Instead of meeting strength with strength, Kano perfected a system whereby yielding to and redirecting an adversary's attack helped one gain advantage and win a fight. As Kano developed these things, he saw a broader vision of Judo's application beyond combat to life in general. The two concepts that underpinned his way of thinking were "Mutual Welfare and Benefit" and "Most Efficient Use of Energy." These principles could be applied broadly to business, education, government, and to all facets of human endeavor. Thus, Judo became more than a fighting art. The "Do" part of "Ju-Do" means a "path" or "way." Kano saw Judo as a way of life--a philosophy for living. Thus, the name Judo, means "the Gentle Way." That's kind of a misnomer. A retired police chief who studied with me said, after seeing his first judo tournament, "I haven't seen guys going for it like that since they were actually going for it!" A karate student who joined my club went to his first tournament and said afterward, "Those guys were really fighting in there!" Anyone who has experienced a powerful Judo throw knows it's like being punched in every square inch of your body simultaneously. An engineer once calculated the amount of force of a particular Judo throw and determined that the impact was the equivalent of falling off an eight-story building. Someone once described Judo as the art of hitting a person with a planet. One venerable sensei once said with a heavy Japanese accent, "Why hit with

Recreational Judo of Oklahoma | 2917 Bart Conner Ct. Norman, OK 73072 | 405-779-8872 | www.recreationaljudo.com

hand? Hit with ground!" Kano lived in a period as Japan transitioned out of the Meiji Era. Martial arts had fallen into disfavor. Jujutsu had become something associated with a crude past. It had become the realm of shady fight clubs, gangsters, and the lower classes. Japan was opening up to the West and wanted to embrace new ideas. Kano was an educator and he saw the way to blend the old traditions with the new. He framed Judo, not as a martial art, but as a system of physical education. Kano understood that youth, in particular, enjoyed sports and competition. He successfully turned a potentially lethal fighting system into a sport.

Kano modified lethal or crippling techniques so they could be practiced with relative safety, while retaining their effectiveness. For example, a student of Jujutsu was taught to break the elbow of an opponent before executing a one-arm shoulder throw (ippon seioinage). Kano's modification involved rotating the opponent's elbow slightly upon entry to the same throw. The throw still worked, but the opponent's elbow remained intact. Another common technique, the major outer reaping throw (osotogari) was also a crippling technique in traditional Jujutsu. When executing the throw, the attacker stomped on the back of the calf, tearing loose the muscles from the back of the knee down to the Achilles tendon, disabling an adversary. Instead, Kano's innovation reaped the leg upward, lifting the opponent's feet off the ground before slamming them into the tatami. The result was an effective form of self-defense that could be

practiced against a fully-resisting opponent and scored like a sport. In other traditional arts, it was always necessary to stop short of executing a technique. In martial arts contests, it was typical for serious, permanently disabling injuries to occur. Kano's Judo allowed contestants to have an all-out fight and still get up to go to work the next day. This is why many police departments and the military train in Judo for hand-to-hand fighting. The ability to train at full-force prepares one for the real thing. Judo is widely regarded as a grappling art, but it does include striking (atemi-waza) as well. Consistent with Kano's philosophy, he wanted to be able to train atemi-waza at full force, something that would be impossible to do in regular randori. Thus, the striking techniques in judo are practiced only in form exercises, or kata. The partners practicing kata perform attacks and defense at full force once the form is mastered. In general, the average judo student begins to learn the various kata of judo as he enters the brown belt ranks, in preparation for his black belt. This may seem odd to practitioners of Karate or other arts who learn forms from the very beginning of their training. The first kata learned in judo is usually the Nage No Kata (Throwing Forms). It involves 15 throwing techniques performed on the left and right sides. The "Uke" or receiver of these throws must have the physical conditioning and break-fall (ukemi) skills to be able to endure being slammed to the mat 30 times in quick succession. Beginners can't withstand that. They have to condition the body to take that kind of impact. Whereas the forms in some martial arts may last from a few seconds to a few minutes, it takes approximately 10 minutes to execute the Nage No Kata. It takes years to perfect it.

Recreational Judo of Oklahoma | 2917 Bart Conner Ct. Norman, OK 73072 | 405-779-8872 | www.recreationaljudo.com

Thus, most spectators who are familiar with Judo have usually seen sparring (randori) and tournament play (shiai), where only throwing and ground fighting techniques are permitted. They see judoka grapple with a partner, throw him to the ground, and struggle to immobilize him with a hold, choke, or arm lock. However, this is not all of Judo. Wrist locks, leg locks, kicking, and striking are all part of the judo syllabus. They just can't be safely practiced at full force without risking serious injury. Jigoro Kano dreamed of having Judo become an Olympic Sport. He was very much an idealist and he saw that the Olympics' high ideals matched his own vision for Judo. Kano's intent was that Judo become a means for the development of character. He described Judo as a system of physical education with a moral component. The ultimate goal of judo was to perfect one's character so the individual could make a positive contribution to society. In a way, Kano's Judo, his innovations, and his philosophy saved all Japanese martial arts from disappearing as Japan transitioned out of the Meiji Era. He made Judo something respectable. He brought martial arts back into the educated, cultured classes of Japan. He originated the system of colored belts to indicate one's progress, which appealed to European culture. He sent out "missionaries" of Judo to the world to popularize it. Approximately 28 million people practice Judo worldwide, which makes it the second most popular sport in the world behind football (soccer). The spread of Judo throughout the world after WWII paved the way for other martial arts to enter the global consciousness. In the United States, Judo is enjoying a resurgence of interest due to the popularity of mixed martial arts. Rhonda Rousey and others have used Judo techniques in the octagon and demonstrated its effectiveness in a real fight. Nevertheless, the central purpose of Judo remains Kano's vision of Judo as a means to improve oneself, physically, mentally, and morally. It is a fun sport and a great way to stay physically fit. Thanks for reading. If you live near Norman, Oklahoma, please reach out to us if you’d like to know more about practicing judo with us.

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