Tuesday 22 March 2011

ABC Wednesday, J for Judo


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Judo ( meaning "gentle way") is a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Dr Kano Jigoro.

The early history of judo is inseparable from its founder, Japanese polymath and educator Jigoro Kano ( 1860–1938). Kano was born into a well-to-do Japanese family. His grandfather was a self-made man, a sake brewer from Shiga prefecture in central Japan. However, Kano'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.



Judo was very popular in my family.All our children were practising judo during a couple of years. The youngest had a yellow belt, the second youngest a green one, and the belt of my eldest child was blue. To get a new belt they needed to do an examination. They start with a white belt, which is then followed by yellow, orange, green, blue, brown and black. The black belt is divided in dans.

The first time judo was seen in the Olympics was at the 1932 Games in Los Angeles, where Kano and about 200 judo students gave a demonstration. Judo became an Olympic sport for men in the 1964 Games in Tokyo. With the persistence of Rena Kanokogi, an American, and many others, judo became an Olympic sport for women as well in 1988. It is often stated that the men's judo event in 1964 was a demonstration event, but according to the International Judo Federation (IJF) and International Olympic Committee, judo was in fact an official sport in the 1964 games. Dutchman Anton Geesink won the first Olympic gold medal in the open division of judo by defeating Akio Kaminaga of Japan. Judo then lost the image of being "Japanese only" and went on to become one of the most widely practised sports in the world.


With thanks to Denise Nesbitt, who created ABC.We started round 8 of the fascinating meme of ABC. For more interesting ABC posts click on the logo in the sidebar or Here. This week we are looking for words beginning with J.

25 comments:

Anya said...

Mijn man had de zwarte band
en mijn dochters zijn niet verder gekomen dan oranje.
(maar mijn meisjes kunnen zich tenminste verdedigen als het moet .. hoop ik!!
Het was in onze familie ook een zeer geliefde sport.
Toen wij pas getrouwd waren moest Wilfred altijd s'morgens vroeg om half 9 trainen en dat was erg vroeg voor een pasgetrouwd stel hihi...
Leuk blogje vandaag :))

The Weaver of Grass said...

I didn't know that the word Judo meant gentle way Wil - that is the good thing about Blogging - we learn new things every day.

Roger Owen Green said...

Your family knows judo? Remind me, Wil, never to mess with you!

ROG, ABC Wednesday team

Sylvia K said...

Like Roger, I can promise you that I won't mess with your family!! Terrific post for the J Day, I'm quite familiar with Judo, but learned still more today from your post! Hope your week is going well, Wil! Enjoy!

Sylvia

B i r g i t t a said...

A good choise for J-day :)

anthonynorth said...

Great info in that. Enjoyed it. I used to do karate myself, in my younger days.

photowannabe said...

Thank you for all the interesting information about Judo. I didn't know the meaning of Judo before reading this.
You always have the most interesting posts for ABC Wednesday.

Amanda said...

Interesting post, I used to do Tae Kwon Do - only a yellow belt, but very enjoyable.

Leslie: said...

Fascinating about judo. Lots of kids around here learn judo or other types of martial arts. I think it's great as it keeps them fit and especially for girls, teaches them how to protect themselves. Have a jolly good week, Will,

Leslie
ABCW Team

Tumblewords: said...

Lots of good information in this post! I was aware of judo in the vaguest sense.

Arkansas Patti said...

Very interesting Wil. My father was versed in Judo and taught all of us kids. I do believe I was the only one of us that used what we learned. I once had to tame a bully.

J.Rylie.C said...

Very interesting J and so pretty too.

Please come and meet the J's in my Family, hope to see you around, thanks!

George said...

Thanks for a very interesting post about the history of judo. I think it's neat that all your children practice judo.

Anonymous said...

Judo And Karate-The major difference?
I read your post and I remember Bruce Lee - He was excellent and fastest maybe but I guess he was a Karate champion. Who is all time Judo champion as similar as Bruce Lee

Hildred said...

Half a dozen of my grandchildren have been involved with Judo and I always felt it added a lot to their lives.

Paula Scott Molokai Girl Studio said...

Judo and all the martial arts is something I think that every chold should experienc e if anything, at least for a few months. Builds cahracter! Kudos to those who study with it long enough to acquire all the belts!

Kay said...

Thanks for that information, Wil. I didn't know any of that. My brother took karate and I'm taking Tai Chi. The only thing I knew about judo from long ago was that judo is more defensive. Sounds like a wonderful, but difficult thing to learn.

Indrani said...

What a interesting read about this art! I know so many sports just by name. :P I like the way you explained about this. Great take on 'J'.

Anonymous said...

I once knew someone who did judo,
I could get a hold of him during play fights.
LOL

MERYL JAFFE, PhD - parent, psychologist, teacher, author... said...

Thanks for the neat facts and cool photo! I just love learning at all these different blog posts.

Meryl
http://departingthetext.blogspot.com

SandyCarlson said...

That was an interesting post. Thanks for the history. I am a big time origami fan, and I am intrigued by the more physical of the Japanese arts.

Linda Bob Grifins Korbetis Hall said...

wow.
you are smart folks..
Glad to know something about judo.

Nydia said...

Judo is such a great martial art. I dind't know either about the word meaning! :)

Thanks for the post, loved it.

Kisses from Nydia.

Dina said...

Jolly good post, Wil. I learned a lot.
My kids and now their kids do karate. Each new color belt is a big deal.

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

my son did karate which I suppose is similar. Did realise it means gentle way. My son told never to use his skill to fight.