KAKURE JUDO CLUB
7-9 P.M. Fri.
Special facts about us:
- We're all adults, so it's a very nice environment for adult judoka (16+.) Our members are in their 20s, 30s and above. If you are interested in enrolling your children in HSMA there are expertly taught specialized children's classes available on other nights. The Friday session is very nice for adult judoka.
- We don't do lengthy "warmups" which are really just a misuse of precious class time. You are welcome to warmup on your own time beforehand, and do muscle-building exercises at home. We don't expend class time on these things. To "warm up" we fight on the ground. So, there are no tiring exercises to go through before we get to the judo - WE DO THE JUDO RIGHT AWAY, FOR THE WHOLE CLASS!
(BJJ is available Mon&Wed 7-9, and Sat 11:30-12:30. It is a good complement to your judo, so you can train 7 hours a week at HSMA. We commonly train 7-9 Mon&Wed too as the formal BJJ class normally ends early at 8pm and there is lots of mat space for everyone who sticks around.)
Coaches:
David Malar (2nd Dan Judo.) Founder and head coach of Kakure Judo Club. 2009 Central East Region Master's Shiai Judo Champion.
Christopher Miller (1st Dan Judo.) 2009 Senior International Cup Judo Champion. 2009 Copa Ontario BJJ Champion. 2008 Joslin's Canadian Open BJJ Champion. 2008 Budokan Judo Champion. 2009 Central East Region Master's Shiai Judo Champion.
Click here to register with Judo Ontario. Registration is mandatory if you want to earn belts and fight at tourneys. Our club's name is KAKURE and our head coach is DAVID MALAR.
Click here to go to the Techniques of Judo.
Recommended textbook:
"Competitive Judo" by Ron Angus. This book explains the intricacies involved in gripping, throwing, pinning, submitting, counter-attacking, and strategizing your way to win, and covers the most effective competition moves in great detail, maximizing your abilities for victory.
The sport of Judo, a form of wrestling incorporating submissions, was created in 1882 by Jigoro Kano in Japan. It specializes in throws, submissions and takedowns from the clinch and on pins, chokes and elbow locks on the ground. Its 50-50 emphasis on standing and ground grappling make it a leading choice for self-defence and mixed martial arts due to its emphasis on positional control and its inclusion of submission moves. It is also of course a brutally effective hand to hand combat and self-defence training system. Judo is an Olympic sport and is extremely popular worldwide. It has been made famous in MMA through fighters like (to name only a very few) UFC World Champion Carlos Newton, Pride World Champion Fedor Emilianenko (widely held to be the world's best MMA fighter,) 'Minotauro' Nogueira, Dong-Hyun Kim, Hector Lombard and Karo Parisyan and through renowned MMA coaches such as Dave Camarillo. A great many of the world's top BJJ competitors train heavily in judo; twice a week is the standard recommendation for winning at high level BJJ. Besides teaching killer throws, pins and submissions, judo develops superb balance, aggression, conditioning and body control for fighting. Kakure trains in judo equally for sport, for health, for self-defence and for mixed martial arts. We believe this is the most effective and enjoyable vision for judo and we hold to it.
We are a member in good standing with:
Other good Judo Links:
Fedor Emilianenko's Official Website
Judo Canada Dan Ranks Grading Syllabus
Our Club's Submission Fighting Focus, when fighting on the ground:
In judo tournaments, ground fighting is done until a pin is established for 25 seconds or there is a tapout from a submission. At Kakure we do not stop at pins, but keep fighting until there is a tapout, similar to Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, but without counting points. It keeps the game moving along for club training and is good preparation for tournaments. Pins, however, are a key part of victory on the ground in judo, submission grappling and also in MMA and real fighting, where you can strike a pinned antagonist.
What is Judo?
Judo is an effective form of self-defence made up of two parts: wrestling on your feet and submission grappling on the ground. It is equally a form of healthy exercise for mind and body.
Judo is the first modern martial art, founded in 1882 at the Kodokan institute in Tokyo, Japan by Jigoro Kano, to replace sword fighting as the primary martial art of Japan. Sword fighting had become obsolete since the wearing of swords was banned six years earlier, in 1876. It is a blending of Western Wrestling with Japanese Jiu-jitsu. Its theory is that actually fighting with partners (called RANDORI) trains you for real fighting more than doing pre-arranged training sequences.
The purpose of Judo is to learn to defeat opponents through cunning and cleverness, using civilized principles of leverage and positioning to win rather than through brute, barbaric force. This skill is developed through learning breakfalls, 2 stances, combative stepping, 40 throws and 29 grappling techniques, including pins, joint locks and chokes, and then figuring out how to apply them and others you think up, while fighting with various partners in class. This fighting is called randori. Experimentation and discovery for yourself are at the heart of Judo.
There are two kinds of randori: standing, called tachi-waza (or informally just "randori"), and ground, called newaza. In standing randori the objective is to throw your opponent onto his or her back. In newaza randori, which starts on the knees, the objective is to pin your opponent for 25 seconds with a recognized pin that is free of your opponent's legs, or submit your opponent with a recognized choke or elbow lock, without standing up.
Thus, Judo is a very simple thing in essence, but of course the potential strategies and manners of outwitting one another are endless, making Judo a fascinating and engaging activity for a great many people.
Judo is an Olympic sport and an excellent method of self-defence.
Judo involves a lot of gripping, and so when faced with an opponent who is trying to hit the judoka, he or she can easily take hold of that person's striking arm(s), leg(s) or body and retaliate.
Conditioning
Upper Body
The upper body is the more important part of the body for judo fighting. Every move starts with a pull using the arms. The lower body, including the hips and legs, come second. Therefore, upper body strength is key to success in judo.
For judo the pulling muscles are far more important than pushing muscles. Pushing muscles only stall the action whereas pulling muscles lead to winning throws, pins and submissions. For pulling strength and stamina, weights are to be preferred. Weights develop grip strength, which is critical to controlling your opponent in judo and in real fighting. Particularly useful weight-training for judo are the following:
- dumbbell swings (including swings, cleans and snatches)
- rows
- cleans
- deadlifts
There is no standard consensus on what the best weight lifting exercises for judo are, but you can't go wrong with cleans, since they exercise the whole body and judo uses the whole body! When using a dumbbell, swinging cleans and other swings are particularly effective for all body pulling power.
Just as boxers spend their solo training time skipping rope and punching speed and heavy bags, so judoka in their spare time develop their strength and endurance lifting weights. There is even technique to be learned from lifting weights involving correct body positioning to handle heavy loads, which resemble your opponent's body.
Interestingly, dumbbells were invented by the Ancient Greeks
specifically for wrestlers to train with. Since grappling, wrestling
and judo are all about gripping, which weights strengthen, you should
think of weights as absolutely ideal solo-training aids.
Lower Body
The best single conditioning exercise after weights is arguably running, or similar exercises like jumping or walking. Running, jumping and walking are athletic activities your body is naturally designed for, so they are the best for all-round fitness. They are also sport-specific since they strengthen your whole body and greatly increase your cardio-vascular stamina and strength, which you need to last through the intensity of your judo matches. They develop an extremely strong stance and posture, amazing dynamic balance, and give you the kind of forward-launching explosive power and the speed you need to win (especially running does so.) They also toughen up and make flexible your whole body through the repetitive shockwaves that are sent throughout your frame by the impact of the steps. There isn't anything quite like running, jumping and walking for all-over body conditioning for any sport, and judo is no exception. One problem with running and jumping, however, is that they may wear down your knees, in which case walking is the safer option of the three.
Lower and Upper Body Combined
Some interesting lower and upper body combined exercises that have been used at Olympic levels of training include things like rowing, sprinting for five minutes holding dumbbells, running on the spot with light dumbbells ("skiing") and uchikomi ('positioning for a throw' repetitions) practice using ropes tied around a pole to represent the judogi. At a more leisurely pace, walking with dumbbells is also known to produce good whole-body effects.
The Kettlebell
The kettlebell is a heavy cannonball (often at least 16 kilograms) with a handle on it, so it looks like a round kettle without a spout. There are myriad exercises with it, which involve moving the whole body in one way or another to swing it up and down, forward and back, side to side or any kind of combination of these. The effect is that the whole body gets strengthened in a connected and cooperative way, rather than the isolated way that dumbells or barbells do. Because of the whole body being used, the heart and lungs become strongly involved, as with any whole-body exercise, and the kettlebell workout thereby becomes an excellent cardio-vascular activity in addition to a muscle building one. Also, because of the various interesting movements that are done with it, timing and focus come into play, making it not only more fun than other weight-lifting, so you can train longer without becoming bored, but thereby more sport-related, since timing and focus are important in sports.
The Stances of Judo
The most fundamental and important parts of Judo are the two stances. Each is categorized into Basic, Right and Left. They should be used strategically when fighting. Most importantly, KEEP YOUR BACK STRAIGHT. A bent over posture is very weak!!! You should keep in mind though that the whole point of categorizing these stances is simply to give names to natural postures. The "natural" stance is just an upright, normal standing posture, and YES you are supposed to fight from it, not in a bent-over, crummy, weak posture that will get you thrown all over the mat. You don't ever have to 'practice' these postures. Just be aware of them while you are fighting and practicing moves. Especially, of the two stances, try to keep yourself in the natural posture absolutely as much as possible.
Natural Stance (Shizentai)
This is the attacking posture of Judo. It is light and fluid, so it enables you to attack and move about quickly and nimbly.
Basic Natural Stance (Shizen Hontai)
Stand comfortably with your feet pointing slightly outward, with the heels about a foot apart.
Right Natural Stance (Migi Shizentai)
From the basic stance, move your right foot forward, adopting a diagonal stance.
Left Natural Stance (Hidari Shizentai)
From the basic stance, move your left foot forward, adopting a diagonal stance.
Extended Natural Stances
Widening your natural stances somewhat while keeping them narrower than the defensive stances results in the Extended Natural Stances. There are the Right Extended Stance (Migi Gamae) and the Left Extended Stance (Hidari Gamae). These are considered variations on the natural stances, and not as forming a distinct class of stances.
To develop a strong natural stance, which is the most important stance of Judo, do lots of running.
Defensive Stance (Jigotai)
This is the defending and counterattacking posture of Judo. It is essentially a dramatic widening of the natural posture to lower your centre of balance and make you very hard to throw. You must always then think of how to counterattack using your superior, lower, centre of balance and more stable wider stance to throw the opponent to the ground and pin or submit him or her there. It is THE MOST STABLE TWO-LIMBED STANCE there is for the human frame (notice that Fencing and other martial arts use the same stance), but its drawback is that it is much slower to move from than from the natural stance. It is harder to initiate attacks from it and it is very vulnerable to throws. So, it must be adopted only momentarily for defense and counterattack.
Basic Defensive Stance (Jigo Hontai)
Widen the front-facing natural stance to become very wide: about two shoulder widths or more. The feet should be pointing slightly diagonally outward as in the natural stance.
Right Defensive Stance (Migi Jigotai)
From the basic defensive stance, move your right foot forward or your left foot back, keeping your legs spread wide apart, to adopt the Right Defensive Stance.
Left Defensive Stance (Hidari Jigotai)
From the basic defensive stance, move your left foot forward or your right foot back, keeping your legs spread wide apart, to adopt the Left Defensive Stance.
STEPPING WHILE FIGHTING (SHINTAI)
Proper combative stepping is the second most important part of Judo. But, yet again, it is nothing particularly to practice. Just again be aware of it while fighting and training. The main principle is that if you jab forward to attack with your front foot, it is much faster than jabbing forward with your back foot.
Normal walking (ayumi ashi) is bad for fighting in Judo. As in all other combat sports, a combative stepping is used. Common to all combat sports is the principle that the back leg should only infrequently cross over in front of the front leg. When the back leg crosses in front, the stance becomes weak while the legs are close together. To keep the stance always strong while moving, the back foot is never allowed to cross in front of the front foot. The strongest method of stepping, leaving you the most balanced and stable at all times during the step is to move forward the FRONT FOOT FIRST, followed by the back foot. When stepping backwards, the procedure is reversed, with the back foot stepping backwards first, followed by the front foot. In Judo, the feet are preferably SLID across the floor to maintain stability. Ideally, the head should not bob up and down at all.
Judo combat stepping is called tsugi ashi, literally "STABBING STEPPING". When practicing alone or with a partner, stepping into position to throw is one of the best training methods for speed and effectiveness.
COMBAT STEPPING
This is one of the best solo exercises for judo beginners to get familiar with the kind of steps needed for throws:
From your natural stance, pretend you are winding in for a throw. Step forward and across with your right foot, then turn your body as you bring your left foot up to get in line with it. You are now facing in the opposite direction from where you were facing at the start. Add arm movements for throws in with this footwork. Repeat over and over again for speed and balance.
BREAKFALLS
Rolling and learning to fall properly are not only important for comfort and safety while training, but also improve your awareness of your surroundings and balance while fighting. There is a lot of rolling and spinning in judo. Rolling and breakfalling are absolutely necessary things to train. The basics are forward and backwards rolls, always coming back up balanced to your feet. After mastering these, you should add in handstands with your rolls, and breakfalls in all directions. Please learn these under the watchful eye of an experienced black belt coach, and do them on mats. Rolling, like combat stepping, is an excellent solo exercise that will improve your judo.
THE TECHNIQUES OF JUDO
The official randori techniques of Judo, which are the heart of Judo, are listed below; judoka are expected to create their own movements, entries and combinations to add to this basic repertoire, and to learn from other fighters and of course their coaches:
(There are another 27 "New" throws, 9 katas and a host of striking techniques but they are not normally requirements for grading before black belt level.)
Some things not widely known about Judo:
- Standing submissions ARE LEGAL.
- Bicep-slicers, considered elbow-joint attacks, ARE LEGAL.
- Crushing pins that force a tapout through suffocation of the lungs, pain or discomfort ARE LEGAL and ARE PREFERRED!!!
- Shoulder throws, the most effective throwing techniques, account for 31% of victories by throwing and 20% of all judo victories, meaning 1 in 5 judo victories is from a shoulder throw, and about 1 in 3 successful throws.
- Ground victories account for 36% of judo match wins, so more than one-third.
Randori Waza
No matter how much excellent training you do by yourself or with a partner to develop techniques and speed, nothing is better than actually fighting with opponents for developing your combat skill. Here are the official standard techniques of judo that form the basis of fight-training, which should be the major form of your training. When fighting always CHANGE GRIPS A LOT! Changing grips tricks your partner and enables you to score throws! So, CHANGE GRIPS OFTEN!!!
Gokyo No Waza (40 Throws)
Click here for videos of all the throws.
Click here for animations of all the throws.
Dai Ikkyo (1st group) YELLOW BELT
1. De Ashi Harai (Advancing Foot Sweep)
2. Hiza Guruma (Knee Wheel)
3. Sasae Tsurikomi Ashi (Propping Foot Stop)
4. Uki Goshi (Floating Hip)
5. O Soto Gari (Major Outside Reap)
6. O Goshi (Major Hip)
7. O Uchi Gari (Major Inner Leg Reap)
8. Seoi Nage (Back Carry Throw)
Dai Nikyo (2nd group) ORANGE BELT
1. Ko Soto Gari (Minor Outside Ankle Reap)
2. Ko Uchi Gari (Minor Inner Foot Reap)
3. Koshi Guruma (Hip Wheel)
4. Tsuri Komi Goshi (Propping Hip)
5. Okuri Ashi Harai (Receding Foot Sweep)
6. Tai Otoshi (Body Drop)
7. Harai Goshi (Sweeping Hip)
8. Uchi Mata (Major Inner Thigh)
Sankyo (3rd group) GREEN BELT
1. Ko Soto Gake (Minor Outside Ankle Block)
2. Tsuri Goshi (Supporting Hip)
3. Yoko Otoshi (Side Drop)
4. Ashi Guruma (Foot Wheel)
5. Hane Goshi (Spring Hip)
6. Harai Tsurikomi Ashi (Propping Ankle Sweep)
7. Tomoe Nage (Catapult or circle throw)
8. Kata Guruma (Fireman's Carry)
Yonkyo (4th group) BLUE BELT
1. Sumi Gaeshi (Rear Turnover)
2. Tani Otoshi (Valley Drop)
3. Hane Makikomi (Springing Hip Roll)
4. Sukuinage (Scooping Throw)
5. Utsuri Goshi (Revolving Hip)
6. O Guruma (Major Leg Wheel)
7. Soto Maki Komi (Outside Roll)
8. Uki Otoshi (Floating Drop)
Gokyo (5th group) BROWN BELT
1. O Soto Guruma (Major Outside Wheel)
2. Uki Waza (Floating Technique)
3. Yoko Wakare (Side Lateral Separation)
4. Yoko Guruma (Side Block)
5. Ushiro Goshi (Reverse Hip)
6. Ura Nage (Rear Throw)
7. Sumi Otoshi (Corner Drop)
8. Yoko Gake (Side hook)
Katame Waza (29 Grappling Techniques)
Click here for videos of grappling techniques.
Osaekomi-waza (pins or mat holds)
Click here for images of pins.
1. kuzure kesa gatame - modified scarf hold
2. kata gatame - shoulder hold
3. kami shiho gatame - upper four corner hold
4. kuzure kami shiho gatame - modified upper four corner hold
5. yoko shiho gatame - side four corner hold
6. tate shiho gatame - straight four corner hold
7. kesa gatame - scarf hold
Shime-waza (chokes or strangles)
Click here for images of chokes.
1. nami juji jime - normal cross
2. gyaku juji jime - opposite cross
3. kata juji jime - reverse cross
4. hadaka jime - naked choke
5. okuri eri jime - collar choke
6. kata ha jime - single wing sleeper
7. do jime - trunk choke
8. sode guruma jime - sleeve wheel choke
9. kata te jime - one hand choke
10. ryo te jime - two hand choke
11. tsukkomi jime - thrusting choke
12. sankaku jime - triangle choke
Kansetsu-waza (joint locks or arm bars)
Click here for images of joint locks.
1. ude garami - arm entanglement
2. ude hishigi juji gatame - cross arm lock
3. ude hishigi ude gatame - arm arm lock
4. ude hishigi hiza gatame - knee arm lock
5. ude hishigi waki gatame - armpit arm lock
6. ude highigi hara gatame - belly arm lock
7. ashi garami - leg entanglement
8. ude hishigi ashi gatame - leg arm lock
9. ude hishigi te gatame - hand arm lock
10. ude hishigi sankaku gatame - triangle arm lock
Click here for more information on techniques.
Judo History
Judo was founded in 1882 at the Kodokan institute in Tokyo, Japan by Jigoro Kano, one of the most famous, visionary and influential educators in world history. It is a modernized and standardized form of the various styles of Jiu-jitsu that had developed in Japan through the feudal age, in particular the Kito School, which specialized in throwing techniques, and the Tenshin Shin'yo School, which emphasized grappling and striking skills. Kano lived at a time when Japan was trying to 'catch up' and emulate the great Western empires, particularly the British. He was an avid scholar of English literature, philosophy and sport, and was a high-ranking educational official in the Japanese government. As a youth he became a passionate devotee of the traditional samurai art of Jiu-jitsu, and studied a number of styles under various masters. In spite of living at a time when the Japanese were turning their backs on their own culture and aping Western ways, Kano was dedicated to preserving Jiu-jitsu. He saw in it an ideal educational programme. However, the government, caught up in modernization programmes and eager to adopt Western physical education methods such as gymnastics and ball sports, did not at first agree. Jiu-jitsu was almost entirely practiced through drilling pre-arranged self-defense routines in partners, which were known as 'kata'. This kind of activity, while having some physical merits, did not, in their eyes, match up well against Western sports. There was not enough thinking involved, for one thing, and the Jiu-jitsu kata, which had been elite samurai battlefield and police-work oriented activities, were not considered to be interesting enough to hold the attention of the Japanese people at large. Jigoro Kano, however, saw a lot of potential in Jiu-jitsu, and was sure it could be something even BETTER than any Western sport or recreational exercise. In fact, he had already adopted a free-fighting focus in his own club, making his form of Jiu-jitsu very much like a Western sport. This free-fighting is called randori and is at the heart of Judo. However, the purpose of randori is still the same as the kata training, which it grew out of, in that both partners are trying to develop their fighting skills, and even help each other to do so, and NOT to merely try to beat each other. This concept is known as "MUTUAL BENEFIT", "JITA KYOEI" in Japanese. Randori was of course around long before Kano was born. Its purpose was to experiment with different versions of the pre-arranged kata attacks. For example, what if the attacker strikes on a different angle than the kata dictates? What if instead of reacting in 'this' way, the opponent reacts in 'that' way? Randori was for discovering how to solve these kinds of problems. Kano, however, put a special emphasis on randori, making it the major part of his training method. When Kano presented his system to the educational officials again, he emphasized the THINKING nature of randori, since the participant has to think and react quickly, creating strategies and predicting the opponent's tactics. He also emphasized the INTERESTING aspect of it, since this kind of back and forth high-speed physical chess game is a lot of fun, and very exciting for the partners. His speeches and publications are still very much in existence, so we can gain an excellent understanding of his ideas and aims. Having explained his method of Jiu-jitsu in this way, he won over the governmental authorities, and Judo was adopted as an essential part of the Japanese public education system. It was also adopted by the police forces after a show-down tournament between Kano's fighters and all-comers from different Jiu-jitsu schools.
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.
Just as in the 19th Century Japan had modelled itself on the great Western empires, and in particular the British, so in the early 20th Century many Westerners were taking an interest in Japanese ways due to its astounding rise in such a short time to become a leading world power and a major world empire. Japan was considered in every way equal to Western powers. As such, Japanese culture became popular in the West. Japanese fighting arts, due to Japan's astounding military prowess, became highly respected. Already by the time of the First World War (1914-18), Western armies were training their recruits in Jiu-jitsu, which can even be seen in film reels of basic training at the time. Judo began to spread, by means of interested visitors, emigrants, adventurers and later through teachers sent by Jigoro Kano. Not only Western militaries adopted Jiu-jitsu but so did police forces. And, as one Western nation's officialdom sponsored Jiu-jitsu, so did the next. Canada's national police force, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, adopted Jiu-jitsu (called "Judo" interchangeably by Westerners) as its unarmed combat system in 1932 after challenging Shigetaka "Steve" Sasaki to all-out fights with its top boxer and wrestler. Shigetaka won both fights. The famous American president Theodore Roosevelt had his own private Judo instructor in the White House. The popular culture in all Western countries incorporated Jiu-jitsu fighting into many books, magazines, films and gymnasiums. Self-defence Jiu-jitsu classes sprung up like wildfire. Do keep in mind the respect the West developed for all things Japanese because of its immense military and economic power developed over such a relatively short span of time, seemingly out of nowhere. It had flat-out defeated Russia in 1905 and conquered most of East Asia and a large part of the Pacific shortly thereafter.
Kano, does not seem to have been comfortable with imperialism. He was, however, quite flattered by the interest the rest of the world was showing in his Judo. He even visited a number of Western nations, including Canada, to spread the art, and in fact sent out a number of instructors. Judo had come a long long way from its humble beginnings as a concept initially rejected by the Japanese government. It was now becoming an international, popular, famous, phenomenon. Kano passed away of an illness aboard a ship returning from an International Olympic Committe conference in 1938. While there is no indication that Kano thought of Judo becoming an Olympic sport, by the time of his death Judo had become a very popular competitive activity worldwide. When the Olympics came to Japan in 1964, Judo was included, and so became an Olympic sport.
The Object of Judo
The main focus of Judo is to throw your partner directly to his or her back from a standing position. This is called an Ippon throw, meaning a "full point" throw. The focus of Judo is not to take your opponent down, or to gradually improve your position over your opponent, but to achieve this kind of perfect throw. If you almost achieve this throw in the eyes of the referee, you can get a Waza-ari, which is a half point. Two of these kind of throw of course add up to a full point. A full point wins the match. There are lesser scores, which are for very weak and mostly ineffective throws, called Yuko and Koka. These are not even real scores, but are actually 'advantages', originally conceived to help with a fair decision if the score is tied at the end of the match, thus eliminating referee bias as much as possible. The best players don't actually try for these low scores, they always try for Ippon. This key principle of going for the Ippon is called "Ippon Judo", and is what Judo is really all about.
While Judo started out with precious little in the way of rules, and enormous match time lengths, Judo is now contested in matches of 5 minutes' time, and has lots of rules to stop players from stalling and force them to keep attacking. Instead of memorizing them all, all you really need to know is that you're supposed to always be on the attack. It's pretty simple really. So, things like bending down and simply holding your opponent as far away from you as you can without trying any attacks, are clearly going to be penalized. Also, keep in mind the traditional Japanese, samurai actually, attitude of all-out aggression. Judo, as a Japanese-originated sport, much prefers offense over defense.
When the fight goes to the ground, if a less than ippon throw is scored, or for some other reason, such as a non-scored takedown technique or someone slips, you can score an Ippon with a 25 second long pin, supposedly the time needed to draw out a knife or sword to finish off an enemy in war, or alternately to beat him or her into submission with fists, knees, heabutts et cetera.
Chokes and elbow locks can be employed while standing or on the ground, or can be started standing and finished on the ground as parts of combination techniques, which can sometimes be quite spectacular. Making the opponent submit by tapping or calling "maitta" is also scored as an Ippon. If the opponent does not submit, you still win if he or she is choked unconscious or is injured. Submission victories are actually less common than pin victories due to the fact that they are much easier to defend than pins. In old books, such as Mifune's "Canon of Judo", submission techniques seem to be presented most commonly as responses to opponents trying to escape from pins, or as threats or tricks as parts of combination moves in the standing stage, such as using a thrusting choke to lead to a sudden pulling throw. It is much easier to win a match with a pin than with any of the other moves.
In club fighting, you might often get stuck in a non-scoring position on the ground but gradually tire out your opponent and eventually score a pin or submission. In a Judo match, however, if you get caught in this kind of thing, and neither of you are really making any obvious progress towards scoring anything, you will both be stood up to continue the match from a standing position, allowing you both to attempt for an Ippon throw again. Part of the reason for this is the 50% throwing to 50% ground fighting emphasis of judo. However, it also has a lot to do with the fact that match time is so short, and the full 5 minutes is often not even enough time to muscle through an opponent's strong defenses on the ground. And while this aspect of Judo's rules is decried by some grappling afficionados as "unrealistic" and so forth, and perhaps justifiably so, the real culprit is the 5 minute time limit, which is unfortunately a necessary evil in these kinds of competitions: partly as a way to reduce athlete burn-out, but mostly as a way to get all the scheduled matches finished in a reasonable amount of time. Back when Judo had 20 minute and longer match-lengths, there was a lot more groundwork involved, but then tournaments took an awfully long time to complete, and some competitors might be so exhausted after one or two matches that a third, fourth and fifth would be quite ridiculous: skill and alertness would be compromized. All the same, it is possible to spend the entire 5 minutes on the ground if there is ongoing movement and at least one player is actively trying to progess his or her position. Ground fighting is an extremely important part of Judo!
Randori (fighting time at the club)
When you are doing randori at the club the main thing to do is to KEEP CHANGING GRIPS. If you get stuck in one grip and don't change it, you will never trick your partner, and you will normally just get stuck in the position forever and learn absolutely NOTHING! Keep changing your grips, and trying all sorts of different throws. This makes you a very good, skilled, tricky fighter, the kind of fighter who wins tournaments!
The Difference Between Competitions ("Shiai") and In-club Fight Training ("Randori")
In competitions, you are supposed to try to win, using your physical and mental abilities to their limits. While doing randori in a club, you are helping each other get better at fighting. Even though randori is by nature a 'competitive' activity of sorts, since you are trying moves on each other, it is really more of a learning activity for both of you, where you can freely test techniques on each other. In randori you are NOT trying your best to win, you are instead trying to challenge your partner, have fun, get exercise, and test out or even come up with new strategies in the middle of it. Randori is the life blood of Judo. It is what enables people of a great many ages and sizes to enjoy and profit from Judo through most of their lives. Competition, called "Shiai" in Japanese, is definitely NOT the same thing. Shiai is NOT randori.
The Match
At the start of the match, you are supposed to walk straight out to the edge of the match and bow before stepping in-bounds. You go and stand behind a little red line near the middle of the mat, and you will see your opponent standing behind his or hers a few meters in front of you. The referee will call "hajime", or make some kind of grunting noise that sounds something like this, and you start to play. You are supposed to try to throw your partner flat onto his or her back to win, as explained above. Simply keep trying to do this. If you both end up on the ground without a match-ending throw happening, then try for a pin, and even submissions. The referee will call out various things to the time-keepers and score-keepers, which don't involve you much. Just keep fighting until you very clearly hear the referee call "matte", which means "stop". He or she will call this if there is no-progress on the ground, or there are penalties to be given, or after the match is declared over, either through Ippon score, or through running out of time. You don't need to worry youself with 'why' he or she calls "matte", you just need to know that it means "stop", that's it. You will hear "hajime" if you are to continue fighting. Besides the common sense fact that you shouldn't intentionally go out of bounds, there is not much more you really need to know in order to fight in a Judo tournament. If you want, you can look up at the score board to see how many Waza-aris and Yukos each of you have. Since you can win at any time though, with an Ippon throw, pin or submission, the scores don't always matter all that much. You'll have seen quite a few other matches already before you end up getting your chance that day anyways, so you'll 'get it' by just seeing what everyone else has been doing.
Judo as Self-Defence Training
Judo grew out of the no-nonsense schools of Jiu-jitsu, which were methods of fighting to the death against enemies and arresting criminals. Jigoro Kano's major contribution to Jiu-jitsu was the focus he put on randori. Randori, however, was not supposed to be seen as a 'sport', but as a way to train for handling the unpredictable elements of real fighting. Randori was kept as realistic as possible, as close to real combat as could be, while at the same time being safe. Kano, quite regrettably according to those who were close to him, had to eliminate striking techniques from randori, since these can commonly cause injury. He also gradually and reluctantly reduced the kinds of joint locks allowed in randori until only elbow locks remained. Leg locks, for example, were once a common part of Judo randori. However, the great importance of what is left is proved again and again in real fights and also in Mixed Martial Arts competitions, such as UFC and Pride. Throws, pins and submissions are key elements in winning these almost real fights. Kano preserved the striking techniques of Jiu-jitsu in kata form. He recommends daily training in striking techniques. He believed that the movements involved in randori also create awareness for dealing with kicking and punching attacks. His revamping of Judo's rules to re-emphasize the standing aspect of fighting was from a self-defence perspective. There is no doubt that Judo is an excellent preparation for self-defence fighting, and it accomplishes this with a very low risk of injury, much lower than most ball sports even. Judo, essentially, teaches you how to knock other people down, and if necessary, finish them off on the ground. That is a pretty powerful skill-set for self-defence.
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.