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The early history of judo is inseparable from its founder, Japanese polymath and educator Jigoro Kano, (1860–1938). Kano was born into a relatively affluent family. His father, Jirosaku, was the second son of the head priest of the Shinto Hiyoshi shrine in Shiga Prefecture. He married Sadako Kano, daughter of the owner of Kiku-Masamune sake brewing company and was adopted by the family, changing his name to Kano.
Central to Kano’s vision for judo were the principles of seiryoku zen’yō (maximum efficiency, minimum effort) and jita kyōei (mutual welfare and benefit). He illustrated the application of seiryoku zen’yō with the concept of jū yoku gō o seisu (softness controls hardness).
In short, resisting a more powerful opponent will result in your defeat, whilst adjusting to and evading your opponent’s attack will cause him to lose his balance, his power will be reduced, and you will defeat him. This can apply whatever the relative values of power, thus making it possible for weaker opponents to beat significantly stronger ones. This is the theory of ju yoku go o seisu.
Contest and Randori are vitally important aspects of judo. In 1899, Kano was asked to chair a committee of the Dai Nippon Butoku Kai to draw up the first formal set of contest rules for jujutsu. These rules were intended to cover contests between different various traditional schools of jujutsu as well as practitioners of Kodokan judo. Contests were 15 minutes long and were judged on the basis of nage waza and katame waza, excluding atemi waza. Wins were by two ippons, awarded in every four-main different path of winning alternatives, by “Throwing”, where the opponent’s back strikes flat onto the mat with sufficient force, by “Pinning” them on their back for a “sufficient” amount of time, or by Submission, which could be achieved via “Shime-waza” or “Kansetsu-waza”, in which the opponent was forced to give himself or herself up or summon a referee’s or corner-judge’s stoppage. Finger, toe and ankle locks were prohibited. In 1900, these rules were adopted by the Kodokan with amendments made to prohibit all joint locks for kyu grades and added wrist locks to the prohibited kansetsu-waza for dan grades. It was also stated that the ratio of tachi-waza to ne-waza should be between 70% to 80% for kyu grades and 60% to 70% for dan grades.
In 1916, additional rulings were brought in to further limit kansetsu waza with the prohibition of ashi garami and neck locks, as well as do jime. These were further added to in 1925.
The first time judo was seen in the Olympic Games was in an informal demonstration hosted by Kano at the 1932 Games.
Judo became an Olympic sport for men in the 1964 Games in Tokyo. The Olympic Committee initially dropped judo for the 1968 Olympics, meeting protests. Dutchman Anton Geesink won the first Olympic gold medal in the open division of judo by defeating Akio Kaminaga of Japan. The women’s event was introduced at the Olympics in 1988 as a demonstration event, and an official medal event in 1992. Click here to visit Wikipedia.