Judo History

Judo is a traditional Japanese wrestling sport. The word ju-do means the "gentle way." The term first appears in the 1st century chronicles of Chinese emperor Kuang Wu. The first part of the word, ju, means gentleness or pliancy, and reflects the fact that judo emphasises yielding to an opponent's strength to overcome them, rather than attempting to defeat them by force. Do is a Japanese term meaning "the way" and is similar to the Chinese tao.

Jigoro Kano invented judo and in his later years, he had hoped to see the sport make its debut at the 1940 Olympics in Tokyo, only for those Games to be cancelled because of World War Two.

Kano did not live to see the sport become Olympic at Tokyo in 1964, when Japan won three of the four titles. The fourth, the prestigious heavyweight title, went to the Dutchman Anton Geesink and the Japanese have revered him ever since.

Judo was not included on the programme of the 1968 Olympic Games but returned to the Olympic fold in 1972, and women's judo was added to the programme at the 1992 Olympics.

The sport, not surprisingly, has been dominated by the Japanese, followed by the French, and the Koreans have also won many medals. The most iconic figure in the sport is heavyweight, Yasuhiro Yamashita. For seven years Yamashita was unbeaten, his victories including the 1984 Olympic title.

Technical

There are now seven weight divisions for each sex, and judo bouts last for five minutes unless an ippon is scored and the referee puts his arm straight up, which ends the contest.

An ippon is a single throw which lands your opponent on his or her back.

You can also win a fight by scoring two waza-ari (almost an ippon), pinning your opponent down for 25 seconds, making them concede, or if the referee decides that a serious violation (hansoku-make) has been committed.

If a fight goes the distance, the minor scores – the yuko and koka (the lowest) and penalty scores – keikoku, chui and shido – come into play.

One higher score always beat lots of lower scores.

The Major Players

The Japanese continue to be the dominant nation and, with 35 gold medals, have won more than a third of the Olympic titles awarded since 1964 and they again topped the table at the 2008 Beijing Games with seven medals, four of which were gold. Asian rivals South Korea and China are also proficient at the sport while France are the power house in Europe and currently rank second on the all-time Olympic list having 10 medals. Surprisingly, neither Britain or the United States have ever won a gold medal in the sport.

Beginners’ guide

Judo has formed the basis for many military combatives and defensive tactics training around the world. The Japanese police have trained in judo since 1886, when the sport (at the time known merely as Kano Jujitsu) defeated several other established schools of Jujitsu in a tournament

Useless Information

Hollywood actor James Cagney was a judo black belt. In a fight sequence in Blood On The Sun (1945) his ogoshi throw is effective.