The Origins Of Sport Judo

3 Pages 778 Words

As nighttime students most of you work full time jobs and have loved ones that need
tended to. Like most Americans, it’s hard to find time for fitness activities, and some of
us use Sundays to rest our bodies instead of enlightening spirituality. Imagine having a
system that enabled the whole country to exercise their minds and bodies. This speech is
intended to inform you of a man who fathered such a system in his country. The founder
of modern day Judo Jigoro Kano.

Kano was born on October 28, 1860 in Mikage, Japan. Kano was the youngest of the
three sons and he had two sisters. He was physically weak in his early years and was
beaten up often by local bullies. This interested Kano in strengthening himself.

In the mid 19th century, Jiu Jitsu, a very old self defense system used by ancient
Samurai flourished in Japan. When Kano was 17, he was sent to Tokyo Imperial
University, a prestigious school for well to do Japanese and he also sought instruction in
Jiu Jitsu. Kano’s first Jiu Jitsu instructor felt that Kano was to young for serious training
and gave Kano only a few formal exercises to train. Dissatisfied with his training, Kano
sought another master in a different style of Jiu Jitsu and at age 21 had mastered this style
of Jiu Jitsu. He also graduated from Tokyo Imperial University majoring in literature,
politics and political economy. Feeling that he had more to learn he sought yet another
system if Jiu Jitsu.

While training at his DoJo(Japanese for training hall) Kano developed a rivalry with a
man twice his size. Outweighed by 100 pounds he was easily defeated by Fukushima.
Determined to defeat him, Kano studied material on different arts including Sumo and
developed a technique he felt he could use to defeat Fukushima. The next time they met
Kano wheeled the bigger Fukushima onto his shoulders and threw him to the mat. He
quickly named his throw “Kata Garuma” and Ju...