Judo In Helping The Mind And Body Develop With Power And Coordination – Find Out More
An Overview On Judo
The Japanese term Judo is derived from “Jujutsu”. This was created by a professor from Japan - Dr. Jigoro Kano who lived his lifetime promoting Judo. He is the man behind the modern sports principles of Judo - which he developed and created into a system based on the different styles he mastered during his youth, namely the Tenjin-shinyo Ryu and Kito-Ryu. Kano then founded the Kodokan Judo Institute in 1882, where he starting teaching Judo. Today, Kano’s created system is still the international authority for Judo.
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Judo is a modern Japanese combat sport and martial art interpreted as the “yielding way”. Ju stands for “mild” while Do means “art” or “way”. Therefore, Judo denotes “the way of gentleness” or “way of peace”. The implication of Judo is to first give away so as to ultimately achieve victory.
How Judo Works
The main objective of Judo is to immobilize or subdue an opponent through a grappling maneuver; to throw the opponent to the ground; or to win an opponent by submission through a choke or elbow joint lock.
There are primary categories where Judo techniques are divided, these are:
- Joint Locking (Kansetsu-waza)
- Throwing (Nage-waza)
- Grappling (Katame-waza)
- Pinning (Osaekomi-waza)
- Choking t(Shime-waza)
- Striking (Atemi-waza) - used in Randori
The Two Types Of Practicing Judo
In Judo, two types of training and practice - where the rules greatly differ. Randori is the free play Judo training that is not structured and does not involve drills, while Kata is the one which involves formal demonstration of principles and techniques. To further learn how the differ, here are more information:
Randori Judo - This is comparable to sparring in boxing as the participants are allowed to freely move around the mat and find an opportunity to throw each other. In this competitive framework, a different kind of open-ended skill practice is observed.
The term “ran” means chaos in Japanese, where the sense of unlimited possibilities and freedom are conveyed. This is the main reason why many Judo participants prefer to continue doing Judo - as there is no referee involved plus it’s space permitting where a club can do their practices altogether.
A good Randori Judo practice is distinguished by the frequent exchanging of defense and attacks alongside freedom of movement - and would normally end by ippon scoring throws. The exchange of attacks and defenses would flow as one attack that would lead to another utilizing changes in tempo and rhythm - to look for an opportunity to pin down a resisting opponent in a competitive manner. Such flow of actions would depend on a list of factors such as the relative strengths of the players, the proximity of forthcoming competitions, the temperature, among others.
Kata Judo - Kata is a part of most examination syllabuses and are compulsory. It is a prerequisite to be able to demonstrate the Kata or also known as Nage-No-Kata for the first dan grade.
However, this kind of Judo training may be the least popular type that exists in today’s Judo - as it is rarely practiced. The necessary spirit and dedication, more often than not, are not applied is such Judo practice since the real benefits are not directly implied as compared to the Randori. The modern Judo players prefer to have the throw for throw practice rather than the systemized training where their skills and freedom are constrained.
For Kata enthusiasts, there are Kata championships made for the enjoyment of the participants. Seven Katas or forms are available namely:
- Throwing techniques or nage-no-kata
- Ground work techniques or katame-no-kata
- Counter throw forms or gonosen-no-kata
- Antique form or koshiki-no-kata
- Self-defense form or kime-no-kata
- Form of five principles or itsutsu-no-kata
- Form of gentleness or ju-no-kata
* Another self-defense form conformed to the modern world’s needs is devised by Kodakan - which is the goshin-jitsu-no-kata.
There are many interested participants of Judo who receives it for different purposes. Some students train for the traditional art and form of Judo; a number train to be able to join competitions and tournaments; some train for self-defense; while others train for the fun and recreation of it.
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For whatever purpose it may be, Judo comes in handy and beneficial for all participants in general. This is because Judo reinforces a practical approach to life - where fine balance, complete body control and fast reflexive action are developed. Not to mention, that Judo promotes a keen coordination of the mind and body - enhancing flexibility, power and physical coordination.




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