Martial Arts Of The World - Webs

216 Jûdô
styles (such as the Israeli krav maga) that descend in part from military
commando training, and sport grappling or “submission” styles, including
Brazil’s Gracie Jiu-jitsu, owe a considerable debt to jûdô. Worldwide, military
and police trainers have seen the advantages of jûdô for unarmed
hand-to-hand combat and have integrated it into their programs of instruction
almost from the beginning of the twentieth century. Jûdô movements
are not as inhibited by typical battle dress as are the techniques of
many other martial arts, while the presentation of the art in a physicaleducation
format has made it easier for military instructors to adopt (and
adapt to their own ends) than the more esoteric curricula of other styles
might have been. Wrestling or submission styles, meanwhile, profited both
from direct instruction by jûdôka and by interaction with the new jûdô
techniques and strategies they encountered. Kanô student Mitsuyo Maeda,
one of the jûdôka assigned to bring the new art to the West in the first
decade of the twentieth century, accepted both jûdô challenges and matches
as a professional wrestler, and was the original instructor of the formidable
Gracie family of Brazil (where Maeda was known as Conte Comte [also
Conde Koma], the “Count of Combat”). Renowned wrestler George Hackenschmidt,
meanwhile, declined to accept challenges from jûdôka (probably
because, as world heavyweight champion, he had nothing to win and
everything to lose in a bout with the much smaller Japanese who challenged
him) but recommended training in jûdô, as well as Greco-Roman
and freestyle wrestling, for any serious grappler. He saw the development
of excellent balance, as well as the unique “idea” of the style (by which he
probably meant the jû principle), as invaluable benefits of training.
Jûdô advocates commonly add that jûdô includes the benefits of most
traditional Asian martial arts and adds to them those of a modern, competitive,
full-contact (but safe) sport.
Dr. Kanô’s jûdô continues to enjoy a prominent place among the
world’s martial arts, and while it may not always manifest his original
ideals in practice, it remains the most successful fusion to date of Oriental
martial art with Western principles of physical education.
William J. Long
See also Japanese Martial Arts, Chinese Influences on; Wrestling and
Grappling: Japan
References
Cunningham, Steven. 1996. “A Brief Look at the Root Arts of Judo.”
Available at http://judo1.net/ju01001.htm.
Inokuma, Isao, and Nobuyuki Sato. 1987. Best Judo. Reprint, New York:
Kodansha International.
Kanô Jigorô. 1989. “The Contribution of Jiudo to Education.” In The
Overlook Martial Arts Reader. Edited by Randy Nelson. New York:
Overlook Press.