A number of legends have been passed down concerning
the remote origins of Judo, but it was actually in Japan in
1882 that Dr. Jigaro Kano, along with a few disciples,
establised the first school of Judo, which they in turn
named the “Kodokan”.
Dr. Kano who was born in 1860 made an exhaustive study
of the martial arts, the best known of which is Jujitsu. This
consists of a series of fighting techniques which were very
much in style during the feudal period, and which masters
taught secretly to a privileged few.
Dr. Kano, an Oxford scholar became president of the faculty of
Physical Education at the University of Tokyo. He
established the principles of his own method, based on sports and
physical education, with rules in which the spirit end of the war, many
of them of combat was maintained, but where respect for opponent was
very important.
Before World War II, Great Britain, the United States and
Canada were about the only countries outside Japan that
practiced this mysterious sport. In 1956 the first World
Championship was held in Tokyo and in 1961 the third
World Championship was held in Paris. This seemed to
be the start of a universal acceptance of the sport,
especially since the unbelievable had already occurred:
Anton Geesinkm, the Dutch athlete, left the Coubertin
Stadium with the World Title!
Today the International
Judo Federation has 92 member countries and it is quite
possible that the mark of 100 will be passed in the near
future.
With millions of Judoka around the world, and more than Judo
50,000 in Canada, Judo has become a sport for all ages
and both sexes, both within and outside organized
competition.
Judo’s hierarchical structure and inherent discipline have
helped make it a popular activity both as a recreational
and a competitive sport. Judo is also an Olympic sport. It
was added to the program at the Tokyo Games in 1964, a
fitting tribute to its founder who as a representative of the
Japanese Olympic Committee had succeeded in having it
accepted as a demonstrator sport for the 1940 Games.
Unfortunately, those Games never took place because of the War.
In Munich in 1972, the Russians won their first gold medal
in Judo thanks to the efforts of Chochocvilil. In the same
Olympics, Ruska gave Holland it’s second gold. While
Japan remains the undisputed master of the sport, Judo
has nevertheless reached a degree of universal maturity,
the supreme goal of its found, due largely to solid national
and international structures and to youth eager for combat
sports. Judo is indeed heading in the right direction!
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History of Judo
