Despite the development
of so many types of weaponry, unarmed combat has remained a skill to be
practised by civilians and soldiers alike all over the world. Different styles
of unwarmed fighting gradually evolved throughout history. While some were
similar to others, each placed its ownemphasis upon particular powrs and
techniques, so that eventually many became recognized as specific and
individual martial art forms. Almost all martial art forms surviving today have
roots buried deep in oriental history, the exact origin of many lost in the
mists of time. Some historians have even questined whether Jujitsu, from which
Judo was evolved, actually originated in Japan, through there appears little
doubt that this was the country in which Jujitsu became really developed and
perfeted as a distinctive form of martial art. Some times referred to as
Jujitsu (or Taijutsu, or Yawara), Jujitsu was used commonly by warriors in
battle during Japan’s great feudal age. Legend recounts the chavalry of Japan’s
great knights being such that they would never take unfair advantage of an
opponent, so if an adversary became disarmed or deprived of his weapons in
battles, the gallant Japanese knight discareded his own to engage the enemy in
unarmed combat.
Many such knights soon
found themsevles in need a special training in the application of what must
have been initoially a series of random blows, kicks and wild attempts at
choking or throwing an opponent to the ground. Special training centres were
estabilshed at which knights wre taught by experts all the sophistication of
what was coming to be known as Jujitsu. By the late sixteeth century, Jujitsu
was being taught in Japan In a structured and methodical manner. For the next
250 yer=ars or so, it continued developing into an increasingly complicated art
of attack and defence, and was taught by masters of many differet schools. Among
latter day students of that era was a young man named Jigoro Kano. Born in
1860, he studied Jujitsu under several great teachers of the day while pursuing
his academic career at Tokyo Imperial University. The young Kano was forever
perplexed by the differing teaching principles of each Jujitsu teacher. It
seemed to him that, while each taught a range of techniques, none had grasped
the total concept of all Jujitsu, discovered its true essence or what lay
behind it all. Searching diligently for a simple underlying principle which was
applicable to all techniques, he was eventually able to define the common principle
as being the need to maximize the total efficiency of both mental and physical
energy in the application of all techniques.
With this somewhat broad
theory in mind, Kano carefully analyzed all Jujitsu methods of both attack and defense.
All techniques which he considered to fall short of his principle he either
rejected or substituted with his own change or modification. These, along with
Jujitsu techniques of which he did approve, became grouped together into a new
martial art which he called Judo. In Jujitsu and Judo, the first part of each
word, ‘ju’, means ‘gentleness’ or ‘giving way’. In Jujitsu, ‘jitsu means ‘art’
or ‘practice’; in Judo, ‘do’ means ‘principle’ or ‘way’. Whereas Jujitsu may be
loosely translated to mean ‘the gentle art’, Kano’s new martial art of Judo was
‘the way of gentleness,’ or ‘the gentle way’. The structure of Judo as a
martial art was categorized or graded by Kano in such a way that it could be
practiced as a competitive sport with reasonable safety from unnecessary
injury. Blows, kicks, certain types of joint locks, and other techniques
considered too dangerous for use in open competition, were removed from the
general syllabus but retained for teaching to higher grades and others qualified
to study certain forms of Judo kata. Young Kano’s devotion to the formulation
and establishment of judo did not interfere with his academic progress. He
pursued his study of literature, politics and political economy and graduated
from Tokyo Imperial University in 1881. One year later, at the age of only
twenty three Professor Kano (as he became known) founded the Kodokan School for
Judo; a memorial stone commemorating the occasion rests in the Buddhist Temple
Eishoji.
The Kodokan’s headquarters
is now a splendid modern building, the Kodakan International Judo Centre,
situated in the Bunkyo Ward of Tokyo. These multi storied premises provide
several dojos, changing and rest rooms, lodging accommodation, conference and
exhibition facilities, administrative offices and a Judo Hall of Fame. All this,
and the spread of Judo’s popularity throughout the world, remains a tribute to
the pioneering work of Professor Kano. Apart from his beloved Judo, Professor
Kano went on to enjoy an academic career as an educationalist of some
distinction. He was a member of his country’s Imperial House Department. In
1909 he became the first representative of his country to sit on the
International Olympic Committee. Two years later the Japanese Amateur Sport
Association was founded and he became its first president. Finally, a lifetime
devoted to education and sport, and to Judo in particular, was sadly ended when
professor Kano died on board ship while returning home from an IOC meeting in
Cairo in 1938.
Apart from having been
such a great innovator and administrator, Professor Kano was a skilled
performer on the mat. One famous story tells of a high-ranking judoka who, when
asked about his experience of having competed against Kano, is reported to have
said, ‘it was like fighting with an empty jacket!’ Certainly in Professor
Kano’s early days , relatively few outside of Japan knew much about the art of
Judo, let alone practiced the sport
perhaps Britain’s first introduction to what it all meant was in 1892
when Takashima Shidachi lectured the Japan Society in London about the history
and development of Judo. There followed several comings and goings of Japanese
masters to Britain, but they were concerned more with the doctrines of Jujitsu
than Judo. Then, in 1906, Gunji Koizumi arrived in Liverpool to teach Jujitsu. He
went on to the United States of America the following year, but returned to
Britain in 1910. Eight years later he opened Europe’s first amateur Judo club
in London’s Grosvenor Place, the still famous Budokwi, though its premises have
since changed. The Budokwai’s first senior instructor was Yukio Tani.
The year 1920 was a
memorable one for British Judo because the esteemed Professor Kano himself
visited our shores, accompanied by Hikoichi Aida (4th Dan) who was
appointed Kodokan Coach to the Budokwai. Meanwhile, in 1919, a young man who
was later to become the President of the British Judo Council, Masutaro Otani,
had arrived in England. He continued with his study of the martial arts,
particularly Judo, under Hikoichi Aida and became assistant instructor to Yukio
Tani in 1926. Apart from activity among a relatively small number of devotees,
there were perhaps no really momentous happenings so far Judo in Britain was
concerned in the years that followed. Then, during the Second World War, people
of all nations found themselves plunged into military service. They were put
through fitness routines and received varying degrees of training in what was
Judo based unarmed combat skills. Those selected for commando and special
services training often achieved a high standard of expertise.
All these and other
factors contributed towards the emergence of a post war interest in Judo, not
only in Britain but throughout the world. Masutaro Otani founded the Jubilee
Judo Club in London during 1945. The British Judo Association was founded in
1948 and the European Judo Union came into being during the same year. Otani
founded the Masutaro Otani School of Judo in 1954 and K. Abbe started the
British Judo Council in 1958. Meanwhile, the Amateur Judo Association had been
formed in 1956. By the time the MOSJ and the British Judo Council became
amalgamated in 1970, the sport was establishing a strong presence in Britain
and elsewhere at all levels of participation. Japan was host nation to the 1964
Olympics and Judo was given its first opportunity as a Games event in Tokyo.
Some indication of the global spread of the sport by that time is perhaps
reflected in the records of those Olympic Games. Of the sixteen medal awards,
Japanese competitors won only three of the four gold medals, and only one of
the four silvers. Of the remainder, the famous Dutch heavyweight Geesink took
the open category gold, and other medals were shared by competitors from the
USSR, West Germany, South Korea, Austria and the United States.
Judo was dropped from the
Mexico Games of 1968, but was reinstated for Munich in 1972. It has remained an
Olympic event ever since, though confined to male competitors only up to and
including the 1984 Games. Dave Star brook brought back Britain’s first Olympic
medal for Judo when he carried off the silver at Munich in 1972 in the 93 Kg
and under category. Britain enjoyed a double success at Montreal in 1976 with
great performances from heavyweight Keith Remfry and, again, Dave Star brook.
Still suffering from the effects of a terrible chest injury sustained in his previous
contest, Remfry bravely went on to the mat to fight Japan’s Uemura for gold in
the open category. The contest finished quickly, Remfry having to be content
with the silver medal. On that occasion, Star brook (still in the under 93s)
brought back a bronze medal.
Four
years later, Britain’s much fancied Brian Jacks had to settle for bronze in the
under 86s, but of course went on to become a TV personality and almost a
household name. Later, Neil Adams scored both Olympic and World Championship
success. The year 1980 saw Britain’s first ever World Champion when Jane Bridge
brought home the gold. However, Karen Briggs then became probably Britain’s
greatest international competitor to date, winning three consecutive World
Championship titles (in the 48 kg and under category) in 1982, 1984 and 1986.
With such strengths emerging from Britain’s female ranks, great things may
happen when Olympic Judo is opened up to include women competitors.
Masutaro
Otani (8th Dan)
late
president of the British Judo Council
0 comments:
Post a Comment