Judo as Intellectual Training

Jigoro Kano, a high-powered intellectual himself, whose English was so good that he wrote all his notes and books on judo in English, saw Judo as an ideal method to develop higher-order thinking skills.  He wrote a lot on the subject of Judo randori as training in logical thought.  In randori, you have to do a great deal of strategic-planning, probability-assessing, and intention-reading.  These kinds of thinking skills are of salient importance in our daily lives, particularly regarding our dealings with other people, both as friends and if necessary, as foes.  He also pointed out how in randori, you can only make things work if you use true scientific principles; so in life: you should only try to persuade others with sound logic and reason, and even then only if you can establish that what you are trying to persuade them of is firmly based on correct science or true fact.  In essence, this use of Judo as intellectual training could be considered as a way to achieve a "realist" mindset.  Rather than get caught up in hype, misinformation or emotional extremes, a person with a Judo mindset will try to see things as they really are, and try to come up with plans and solutions to problems that really work.  Jigoro Kano's term for this way of thinking, this philosophy of life is "maximum efficiency": doing everything in the most realistic, sensible and efficient way possible.  Although you might expect Kano's philosophical ideas to come from Zen, Confucianism or whatever, the most important influences on his thinking were from Western philosophers, and particularly to John Stuart Mill, Jigoro Kano's favourite philosopher, who was a strong advocate of free speech, reasoned judgement and logical debate.  Mill was also a proponent of Utilitarianism, which philosophy holds that the aim of society should be the greatest level of happiness for the greatest possible number of people.  Thus, Kano promoted Judo as an enjoyable, yet eminently useful and practical activity for all, a way to develop healthy bodies and logical minds both for peace and if need be also for war.  These same goals of Judo have been continuously emphasized by later experts like Kyuzo Mifune, and ever since.