World Judo Championships

The 2017 World Judo Championships will be held between August 28 and September 3 in Budapest, Hungary. Because judo is considered to be one of the most popular sports in the world, many eyes will be focused on Budapest during the championship period. 

Judokas are people who are experts in judo. The International Judo Federation reported that there are more than 2 million judokas worldwide, with Europe having the most color belts and Asia boasting the highest number of black belts. 

Judo, which means gentle way, was created in Japan around 1882 as a mental, moral, and physical pursuit. Its creator was Jigoro Kano. It was considered a modern martial art and later evolved into a combat and Olympic sport. It has a very competitive element with the objective of throwing or taking down an opponent to the ground. Competitors seek to immobilize or subdue the competitor with a pin or a choke or joint lock. Judo includes strikes and hand or foot thrusts, including weapons defenses that are pre-arranged in form. 

The history of judo cannot be separated from its creator – Jigoro Kano. Kano had a good academic upbringing. He began boarding at an English school in Shiba, Tokyo where he was bullied. The mistreatment drove Kano to seek training in self-defense. He sought out, but was unable to find, a teacher specializing in jujutsu, a Japanese martial art that features close combat for defeating an armed adversary. 

When the Tokugawa shogunate fell in 1868, jujutsu became unpopular as Japan became westernized. Nakai Umenari, a friend of Kano’s father, showed him kata, the choreographed patterns of movements, but did not teach him. Former jujutsu practitioners refused to instruct him as well. He learned later that many former jujutsu teachers were forced to pursue alternative careers. He then met Fukuda Hachinosuke who showed Kano the importance of technique over formal exercises. This gave Kano an idea for random, free practice, which underlies the sport of judo. 

When Fukuda died, Kano continued his studies, with emphasis on the practice of kata. In February 1882, Kano founded a school at a Buddhist temple in the Shitaya ward of Tokyo. After two years, the temple was named Kodokan, or a place for expounding the way, and became the birthplace of judo as a martial art. 

Just like in any other martial art, judokas use martial arts dummies during their training. Today, you can buy a martial art dummy from Robbins Sports.