Introduction to Judo

Judo was founded in 1882 by Jigoro Kano in Japan. The name means “the gentle way” — which is deceptive, because Judo involves throwing a person to the ground with full force. The “gentleness” refers to the principle of using minimum effort for maximum efficiency — leveraging an opponent’s weight and momentum rather than fighting against it.

The concept

Judo is primarily defensive and reactive. The core idea: when pushed, pull; when pulled, push. Use the opponent’s force against them. Judo teaches throws (nage-waza), groundwork including pins, chokes, and joint locks (ne-waza), and falling safely (ukemi).

Two key principles

1. Seiryoku zenyo: maximum efficiency, minimum effort
2. Jita kyoei: mutual welfare and benefit — both training partners should improve

What a typical class looks like

1. Warm-up and ukemi (breakfalls) — learning to fall safely is the first and most important skill (10 min)
2. Technique practice (uchi-komi): repeating throws with a cooperative partner (15 min)
3. Randori (free practice): live grappling where both partners try techniques (15 min)
4. Groundwork (ne-waza): pins, escapes, and (for older students) chokes and arm locks (10 min)
5. Cool-down (5 min)

Olympic sport

Judo has been an Olympic sport since 1964 (Tokyo). It is one of the most widely practiced martial arts globally with over 40 million practitioners.