An Introduction to Judo

The word Judo translates to “the gentle way” in Japanese and it is a derivative of jujutsu – a hand to hand combat technique of ancient Samurai warriors. Judo was founded by the late Dr Jigoro Kano who after mastering several styles of Jujistsu including Kito-Ryu and Tenjin-shinyo Ryu began to develop his own system based on modern sport 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 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 jujutsu school of the time. It then became a part of the Japanese physical education system and began its spread around the world.

The sport was introduced into the Olympic Games in 1964 at Tokyo, Japan. The host country could add one sport, and they would chose judo. Four weight classes were established, and the Japanese entrants won three. However, in the fourth, the open class, a 6 ft 6 in Dutchman named Antonius “Anton” Johannes Geesink defeated three-time Japanese national champion Kaminaga Akio at the Nippon Budokan Hall in front of a 15,000-strong home crowd. This was no flash in the pan. It followed Anton’s victories earlier in the year over other top Japanese opponents, this debunking the theory that a skilled judoka could defeat any opponent of any size.

Women’s judo was added to the Olympic programme in 1992 in Barcelona.

Competition
The object in a judo match is to throw the opponent to the ground on his shoulder; to pin him to the ground principally on his back; or to force him to submit to a choke, strangle or an arm lock. It is a grappling sport, where both attack and defense skills are tested. To win the fight a ‘judoka’ (competitor) must score an ‘Ippon’ (10 points) by successfully executing one of the techniques. If neither Judoka scores an Ippon, points for the lesser scores are added up to decide who the winner is. For men fights last for 5 minutes, for women 4 minutes and they take place on a mat known as the ‘tatami’. Any contestant is entitled to rest between contests for a period of 10 minutes.

Judo rules require competitors to bow when entering and leaving the mat, and also at the start and end of a fight.

The strangest Judo rule requires competitors to “be free from body odour.”

Judoka compete in a single-elimination tournament after being divided into two pools by a draw. Two bronze medals are awarded. To determine the bronze, all judoka who lose to one of the two pools’ semi-finalists fall into a further single-elimination bracket within the same groups. The winner in each of those groups faces the runner-up of the opposite group in the matches for bronze.

Events

• <60 kg Men
• 60-66 kg (half-lightweight) Men
• 66-73 kg (lightweight) Men
• 73-81 kg (half-middleweight) Men
• 81-90 kg (middleweight) Men
• 90-100 kg (half-heavyweight) Men
• >100 kg (heavyweight) Men
• <48 kg (extra-lightweight) Women
• 48-52 kg (half-lightweight) Women
• 52-57 kg (lightweight) Women
• 57-63 kg (half-middleweight) Women
• 63-70 kg (middleweight) Women
• 70-78 kg (half-heavyweight) Women
• >78 kg (heavyweight) Women

Jargon Buster

• Rei: Bow.
• Hajime: The referee’s command to start a Judo fight.
• Soremade: The referee’s command to end a Judo fight.
• Obi: A judoka’s belt.
• Matte: A command to wait or stop.
• Sono-mama: The referee’s command to freeze, with the judoka stopping all action and holding their positions.
• Yoshi: The referee’s command to continue a bout after a stoppage.
• Dan: A grade of black belt.

Related Websites:
International Judo Federation (IJF)
Wikipedia: Wrestling at the Summer Olympics