Judo is a tremendous and dynamic combat sport that demands both physical prowess and great mental discipline. From a standing position, it involves techniques that allow you to lift and throw your opponents onto their backs. On the ground, it includes techniques that allow you to pin your opponent’s down to the ground, control them, and apply various chokeholds or joint locks until submission.
The word judo consists of two Japanese characters, ju, which means "gentle", and do, which means "the way". Judo, therefore, literally means the way of gentleness.
But beyond the development of physical prowess and athletic ability, judo students learn much more. They learn how to control their feelings, emotions, and impulses through the judo moral code. They learn about values of perseverance, respect, loyalty, and discipline. Through their experience, they learn about politeness, modesty, and many other wonderful values that contribute to their development as successful citizens of society.
The combat sport with no punching and no kicking. Judo has the same benefits as other martial arts such as Karate and TaeKwonDo by providing confidence and discipline but without the punching or kicking. Judo is all about having control, not about being the strongest. While size and strength help, Judo is all about using your opponents’ movements against them.
Judo is many things to different people. It is a fun sport, an art, a discipline, a recreational and social activity, a fitness program, a means of self-defence and combat, and a way of life. It is all of these and more.
The Judo Moral Code is a set of ethics created by the sport’s founder Jigoro Kano. He believed they were vital in the development of judo players and individuals both on and off the mat. The code itself is made up of 8 parts:
Here is a great video by former world Champion Neil Adams, often called the face of modern Judo!
Neil lives in Great Britain and is married to Niki (Jenkins) Adams a Canadian, originally from Selkirk, Manitoba, and former Canadian National Champion, you can follow them both on Facebook or Instagram
Unbalancing an Opponent (Kuzushi), Making an Opening (Tsukuri), and Applying a Throw (Kake) Kuzushi in Judo means forcing the opponent into an unbalanced position. This is an important factor in executing effective nage waza (throwing techniques), for when the opponent is off balance and unable to use their strength aggressively and is virtually under your control. Kuzushi can be performed in eight different directions.
Tsukuri is the entry and proper fitting of your body into the position taken just before the moment required for completion of your throwing technique. Necessarily, the off-balancing (kuzushi) of your opponent takes place at the same time as tsukuri so that they are helpless and easily controlled.
Kake is the completing movement of your technique. Tsukuri and Kake can also be called technical principles of Judo.
Judo techniques work best when these three elements work together almost instantaneously to become a single entity. If anyone of them is inadequate or late in coming, your attempt to throw the opponent will most likely fail.