The Kano Society

Traditional Judo

 

Principles of Judo

The Kano Society believe that Judo should be viewed as more than just a sport. It should adhere to the principles laid down by Judo’s founder Jigoro Kano

· Good use of mind and body (seiryoku zenyo),

· Mutual welfare and benefit (jita kyoei)

It should have moral and educational benefits. Trevor Leggett described this as ‘A training for life’. Thus in applying Judo principles to everyday life the Judoka is enabled to achieve balance and self mastery. A spirit of generosity and mutual assistance is integral to traditional Judo.

 

 

Study of Judo

In addition to randori and contest training other areas of Judo should be adequately studied. Kata is an essential part of traditional Judo as is the preservation of Japanese terminology and etiquette including correct bowing and the use of white judogi.

Judoka should work on the whole range of Judo techniques including ukemi and avoid specialized study of a limited repertoire. The gokyo should be taught and studied and there is also a place for regulated study of specialist areas such as katsu, atemiwaza, kansetsuwaza (other than those already allowed in competition) and self-defence techniques.

 

Practice of Judo

Randori is the cornerstone of Judo practice. We support intensive training and believe that randori should be its main component involving upright Judo (shizentai) and practice which aims to throw cleanly for ippon. We deprecate over-reliance on bent posture (jigotai) and such techniques as leg grabs and holds which pull the opponent down into a crouch as being detrimental to good Judo practice. The aim is injury-free Judo especially between higher and lower grades and between stronger and weaker people

Shiai – contest- is an important aspect of training. We support experimentation with the contest rules to discover a formula for clean upright Judo.

Kangeiko (the winter training period) has a valuable role.