While the grappling aspect of Judo is and always was important, there is no doubt that the throws are equally so.  In fact, when Judo was becoming a mostly ground-oriented grappling game, by the 1920s, Jigoro Kano altered the rules with the expressed intention of reducing the grappling element to only 30% of the fighting, and keeping 70% of the fighting for throwing.  His concern was that over-specialization on the ground would reduce the combat-practicality of Judo, since staying on one's feet and therefore mobile in combat and self-defence situations is greatly to be preferred over fighting on one's back or knees, particularly if there is more than one assailant to deal with.  He also insisted that throwing be taught first to students, and standing randori be done long before starting ground work, since throwing and falling are harder and scarier to learn.  However, he did continue to see ground fighting as a legitimate area to specialize in and absolutely integral to the system.  In spite of Kano's concerns, the split is actually about 50-50% in club fighting and in tournaments. The emphasis given to ground work varies from Judo school to Judo school and from coach to coach, from very little emphasis at all to nearly full emphasis.  Excellent groundfighting skill is every bit as important for competing as having superb standing fighting skill.

As time went by and Japan became stronger and stronger, and before long ruled an enormous empire, the inferiority complex vis-a-vis the West subsided and was replaced with something of a nostalgia for traditional Japanese culture, which in many aspects had died out.  An effort began to revitalize sword fighting, long considered the basis for all weaponry arts, along the lines of Kano's modernization of Jiu-jitsu.  This led to the creation of Kendo from Ken-jutsu.  Training methods, rules, ranking and so forth were modelled on Judo's, and it was soon entered into the public school system to complement Judo as a physical education method for developing aggressive, nationalistic, military attitudes among Japan's youth.  Samurai culture, which had nearly been lost over the last two generations of Japanese, was now being resurrected from near death to instill national pride in Japanese ancestry and an imperialistic spirit.