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Judo or Jūdō (柔道, jūdō?, meaning "gentle way") is a modern
martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Kano
Jigoro. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element,
where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent
to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent
with a grappling maneuver, or force an opponent to submit by
joint locking or by executing a strangle hold or choke.
Strikes and thrusts by hands and feet as well as weapons
defences are a part of judo, but only in pre-arranged forms (kata)
and are not allowed in judo competition or free practice (randori).
History and
philosophy
The early history of judo is inseparable from its founder,
Japanese polymath and educator Kanō Jigorō (嘉納 治五郎?,
1860–1938). Kanō was born into a relatively affulent family.
His grandfather was a self-made man, a sake brewer from Shiga
prefecture in central Japan. However, Kanō's father was not
the eldest son and therefore did not inherit the business.
Instead, he became a Shinto priest and government official,
with enough influence for his son to enter the second incoming
class of Tokyo Imperial University.
Kanō had an academic upbringing and, from age seven, he
studied English, shodō (書道?, Japanese calligraphy) and the
Shisho (四書?, the Four Confucian Texts) under a number of
tutors.[3] When he was fourteen, Kanō began boarding at an
English-medium school, Ikuei-Gijuku in Shiba, Tokyo. The
culture of bullying endemic at this school was the catalyst
that caused Kanō to seek out a jūjutsu (柔術?) dōjō (道場?,
training place) at which to train.[4]
Early attempts to find a jūjutsu teacher who was willing to
take him on met with little success. With the fall of the
Tokugawa shogunate in the Meiji Restoration of 1868, jūjutsu
had become unfashionable in an increasingly westernised Japan.
Many of those who had once taught the art had been forced out
of teaching or become so disillusioned with it that they had
simply given up. Nakai Umenari, an aquaintance of Kanō's
father and a former soldier, agreed to show him kata, but not
to teach him. The caretaker of his father's second house,
Katagiri Ryuji, also knew jūjutsu, but would not teach it as
he believed it was no longer of practical use. Another
frequent visitor Kanō's father's house, Imai Genshiro of
Kyūshin-ryū (扱心流?) school of jūjutsu also refused.[5] It was
to be several years later until he finally found a willing
teacher.
In 1877, while a student at the Tokyo-Kaisei school (soon to
become part of the newly-founded Tokyo Imperial University),
Kanō learned that many jūjutsu teachers had been forced to
pursue alternative careers, frequently opening Seikotsu-in
(整骨院?, traditional osteopathy practices).[6] After inquiring
at a number of these, Kano was referred to Fukuda Hachinosuke
(c.1828–c.1879), a teacher of the Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū (天神真楊流?)
of jūjutsu, who had a small nine mat dōjō where he taught five
students.[7] Fukuda is said to have emphasized technique over
formal exercise, sowing the seeds of Kanō's emphasis on
randori (乱取り?, free practice) in jūdō.
On Fukuda's death in August 1879, Kanō, who had become his
keenest and most able student in both randori and kata (形?,
pre-arranged forms), was given the densho (伝書?, scrolls) of
the Fukuda dōjō.[8] Kanō chose to continue his studies at
another Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū school, that of Iso Masatomo
(c.1820–1881). Iso placed more emphasis on the practice of
kata, and entrusted randori instruction to assistants,
increasingly to Kanō.[9] Iso died in June 1881 and Kanō went
on to study at the dōjō of Iikubo Tsunetoshi (1835–1889) of
Kitō-ryū (起倒流?).[10] Like Fukuda, Iikubo placed much emphasis
on randori, with Kitō-ryū having a greater focus on nage-waza
(投げ技?, throwing techniques).
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