There are a lot of sports deriving from Japan, that are popular in the Western Hemisphere as well. We talked about Karate before, but there’s another martial art that is equally popular as Karate and it doesn’t even include any punching or kicking. Let’s talk about the gentle way of fighting: Judo (柔道)

Judo literally means “gentle way” and was created as a physical, mental and moral pedagogy in Japan, in 1882, by Jigoro Kano. It is generally categorized as a modern martial art which later evolved into a combat and Olympic sport. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the objective is to either throw or takedown an opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue an opponent with a pin, or force an opponent to submit with a joint lock or a choke. Strikes and thrusts by hands and feet as well as weapons defenses are a part of judo, but only in pre-arranged forms and are not allowed in judo competition or free practice. A judo practitioner is called a judoka.

The philosophy and subsequent pedagogy developed for judo became the model for other modern Japanese martial arts that developed from traditional schools. The worldwide spread of judo has led to the development of a number of offshoots such as Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Judo practitioners traditionally wear white uniforms, practice clothing or special judo uniforms, sometimes abbreviated in the west as “gi”. It comprises a heavy cotton kimono-like jacket similar to traditional workers jackets, fastened by a belt, coloured to indicate rank, and cotton draw-string trousers. Early examples of keikogi had short sleeves and trouser legs and the modern long-sleeved judogi was adopted in 1906.

Judo is a fun martial art that is gentle in its execution, due to the lack of punches and kicks. If you’re interested, join a trial training!