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Making Way: Part Two War, Philosophy and Sport in Japanese Judo Kevin Gray Carr Amherst College Making Way: War, Philosophy and Sport in Japanese Judo For a great many people, the name Kanô Jigorô conjures up romantic images of a man selflessly devoted to the promotion of physical, moral, and spiritual development of the world. Unlike many halfway-deified founding figures, Dr. Kanô was probably as great a man as he is generally made out to be. He was born on October 28, 1860, in Hyôgo prefecture in Japan. The new Meiji government came to power when he was eight years old. With its rise came a period of intense industrialization and modernization that laid the foundation of Japan’s current economic ascendancy. People of this time constantly kept an eye out for anything that was inefficient or antiquated. Kanô himself was no exception. In Tôkyô University’s Political Science and Economics Department (class of 1881), he studied, among other things, utilitarian thought of the West. This philosophy was to have great influence on his later reformulation of judo While Kano was committed to modernization, he firmly believed in tradition, but only where it was functional. He saw the decline of many native traditions that went with the country’s mania for and blind acceptance of things Western, This made the Japanese abandon much of what was distinctive to their culture. Within this milieu, Kano began his study of jujutsu. After a difficult search for qualified teachers, he studied at two schools, Kitô-ryu and Tenshin Shin’yo-ryü. After practicing in these schools for about four years, he came to the conclusion that no teacher had grasped the total concept of jüdó that is, the jüjutsu teachers of the time only knew “tricks” and had no appreciation of the underlying theory of the art. In order to rectify this problem, Kano founded his own school, the Kodôkan, in February of the 15th year of Meiji (1882) at the age of 23.50 This first school, in a spare room at Eishoji temple in Tokyo, was a tiny room of only 10 mats (about 1 5Oft2) in which nine trainees studied. This is in sham contrast to the present-day Kôdokan International Judô Centre, which is a modem, seven-story building, containing several practice halls, lodging, conference and exhibition facilities, administration offices, judo hail of fame, and a 500-seat viewing area. Though one would not know it from looking at this latter structure, the original Kodokan was identified with ruffian jüjutsu and the students there had to pretend that they were taking English lessons from Dr. Kano.
Despite some initial snags, the judo movement grew astonishingly rapidly. The Peers’ School (Gakushflin University) was the first to include judo in its curriculum in 1883, and the Ministry of Education made judo compulsory for middle-school students in 1911. Competing jujutsu schools were quickly quieted when Kanô’s students won easily in a contest in 1886. By 1905, the majority of the jujutsu schools had merged with the Kôdokan. The steady ascent of judo was only temporarily set back when all of the martial arts were prohibited by the Occupation after WWII. In 1951, school judo was revived and the servicemen of the occupying forces took judó back to their homes around the world. In the next year, the International Judo Federation was established with 17 participating countries, and by 1956, the first world judo championships were held in Tokyo. The outbreak of war in 1937 was heartbreaking for Kano. His hopes of making judo an Olympic sport seemed thwarted, and the international education which he had so hoped for seemed doomed. In 1938, Kanô Jigoro died of pneumonia at the age of 78, en route home from the Cairo IOC meeting. The original judo movement, as envisioned by Dr. Kano had three explicit aims: to bring Japan up to speed with the West (by overcoming the perceived military and physical inferiority), to disseminate the ideals judo internationally, and to educate the practitioners. I shall focus on this last goal. Kanô said, “Nothing under the sun is greater than education.” To this aim, he established a program of physical, moral, and philosophical development that was meant to heighten self-awareness and understanding of human interaction and inculcate the “classic values” of the bushi (such as loyalty and hard work). Physical education was an important consideration in selecting the jujutsu techniques which became a part of the judo canon. Kanô modified the jüjutsu forms “so that they fulfil the conditions necessary for the harmonious development of the body.” He eliminated or modified hazardous holds and techniques and introduced randori, or free-style wrestling, so that the students could practice hard, but would not be beset by the constant injuries that plagued the old jujutsu schools. “But Mr. Kano modified Jujitsu to such an extent as to make it more suitable for physical culture than for breaking the legs or twisting the arms of an enemy. Kano felt that the aesthetic, healthful, and practical dimensions of the techniques were equally important for judo as a viable method of physical education. Dr. Kano made several technical modifications that were to have profound effects on later judo. Most prominent among these was the rejection of the traditional menkyo (license) system in favour of a belt system which he developed around 1867. Kano’s practice of dividing the judo practitioners into various levels was reflected by different coloured belts. His belts were originally of only three colours white, brown, and black. But by the time judo, arrived in Europe, this had become the veritable rainbow that is the present system white, yellow, orange, green, blue, brown, black, and red and white belts, This system was quickly adopted by other schools of martial arts. Despite Dr. Kanô’s efforts at modernizing the art, he did not reject the old forms completely. Up to the present day, some schools still teach atemi (striking to specific parts of the body), katsu (“resuscitation” techniques for strangled victims), and kata. The last is a very formal set of prearranged techniques which stress proper form and mental composure. Kanô placed as much or more emphasis on these kata as he did on competition. It is clear that he never wished the sportive elements to dominate, but relegated them to a clearly secondary position. One should not forget that the revolution that was judo involved far more than just changes in the outward form and technique. As one of the most important leaders of the art asserted, “To master an actual trick [waza], mental culture should come first.” Thus, a great deal of stress was placed on the mental education of the judo practitioner. From the start, Dr. Kanô identified judo with a rigorous moral culture: The training in Judo has a special moral import in Japan because Judo together with other martial exercises, was practiced by our Samurai. who had a high code of honour, the spirit of which has been bequeathed to us through the teaching of the art. Here, we see clearly how Kanö “nudged” history to lend credence to his art and glorify the nation’s martial past. Regardless, many people accepted this interpretation and sought to emulate what they thought of as the classical warrior ideal. The bushi of this time were supposed to be models of politeness, veracity, honour, and loyalty. Whether this had any significant basis in fact became immaterial. As Kano worked towards the idea of the “Way of softness,” he Voiced many concepts that quickly took hold in the popular consciousness. Again, we can turn to Shindachi for a list of the virtues of jüjutsu judo): “respect and kindness, fidelity and sincerity, calm, prudence, temperance, perseverance, presence of mind, quick discernment, decision after deliberation, self-respect and self-control, greatness of mind, obedience to duty, abhorrence of extravagance, and increased powers of memorization, attention, concentration, imagination and speculation .... . Kano and others believed that by practicing under a suitable master, one comes naturally to honour one’s temperament and foster a noble and vigorous character.” Thus, judo was seen as inherently moral and worthwhile. Akira Kurosawa’s 1942 movie, Sugata Sanshiro, chronicles the philosophic maturation of the title character under the tutelage of a judo teacher named Yano (Kano). As one of the characters states, “Yano taught him what life is.” Increasingly Sanshiro realized that physical prowess is not enough. He had to understand the depths of the philosophy of the martial arts in order to he a true practitioner. Ironically, the lotus, a Buddhist symbol of peace, became the symbol of the heart of the warrior for him. His teacher told him unequivocally, “It is nature’s rule by which we live and die Only through this truth can you die peacefully. This is the essence of any life Judô too.” Herein we see that, at least in the early years of the movement, no one could be a student of just the techniques judo the philosophy was an essential and inseparable part of the whole concept. Dr. Kanô’s philosophical additions to the art are just as innovative and sweeping as his revision of the physical and moral techniques. He strongly espoused practice of the art as an all-encompassing way of life: The object of physical training in judo is not only to develop the body but to enable a man or woman to have a perfect control over mind or body. While the ideas that Kanô developed later came to be referred to by many as “an obfuscatory aura of feudalistic mumbo-jumbo,” they remain an essential part of Kanô’s original vision. Yet, it should not be thought that the philosophic concepts necessarily were present, as Kanô and others claim. throughout Japan’s martial history. When Kanô Jigorô opened the Kôdôkan Cultural Centre in January 1922, he announced the two great principles of jüdô as “improvement through spiritual strength and the mutual benefit of oneself and others.” These two points became the centre of much of Kanô’s later philosophical and social writing: The actual facts prove that our society is lacking in something which, if brought to light and universally acknowledged, can remodel the present society and bring greater happiness and satisfaction to this world. This is the teaching of maximum efficiency and mutual welfare and benefit. The first of these two concepts is jita kyoei (“self perfection and mutual welfare and benefit”). Kanô felt it involved a perfectly natural progression: from perfection of the self, to bettering individual human relations, to an improvement of society at large. Through the study of judo, Kanô claimed that one not only raises one’s own moral and spiritual state, but one also. contributes to happiness of mankind and its peaceful development to add to the welfare of the world,”7’ Thus, Kano linked his conception of the dc5 to social as well as personal development. The second principle, seiryoku-zen ‘yo (“maximum efficiency’), guided much of Kanô’s innovative development of technique. Drawing on pragmatic utilitarianism, he saw the “flexibility” of ju (in judo and jujutsu) as making sense because it minimizes the expenditure of force by not meeting the force head on, but strategically directing it. Every element of every technique was clearly analyzed—”The true feature of Judo is to show justice through reason that no action is to be done without reason is most important. Thus, judo, like other modern sports reflects an interest in rationality and constant scientific improvement. While the principle of seiryoku-zen ‘yo has many applications in the physical realm, Kanô said it could and must also be applied to situations in everyday life: Thus Judo is not merely a technique for competition, but became a “way” which incorporated method and the new purpose of education. It was at this time when Kanô most clearly stated his conception of the “way.” One does not simply practice jüdô on the mat: the way of dealing with others and the values which the practice inculcates must be carried over into every aspect of one’s life. Otherwise, Kanô says, one is not doing judo. The warrior that is the judo practitioner seeks true spiritual perfection through his study and, according to Kanô, is one of a long and distinguished line who practiced the martial arts with the pure, unclouded mind of Zen. Many modern judo players only pay lip service to Kano’s ideas and some, such as Bruce Tegner, take issue with the whole concept of ethics, Tegner feels that judo should be divorced from the mysticism that has been built up around it: By encouraging players of moderate ability, by encouraging players who would not accept Judo as a Way of Life, by encouraging Judo play in the same way we encourage weekly bowling, tennis, and swimming . . . [this will] gain for Judo in America the popularity it deserves. While this may be a classically American reaction to the sometimes oppressively pervading aspect of the ethics, it echoes the sentiments of perhaps the majority of modern judo, practitioners. The ethics is, by and large, considered an unimportant part of modern, tournament-oriented judo. No matter how far the practice of the sport strays from Kanô’s original notion, the faction represented by Tegner has become a necessary and essential aspect of the modern sport of judo. The other assertion with which Tegner takes issue is that a judo player naturally become more morally and spiritually enriched by his or her study. The idea of automatic value inculcation can easily be shown empirically false. For if it were true, all judo players would be, “as Dr. Kanô says, “earnest, sincere, thoughtful, cautious, deliberate in all dealings, [would have] a high degree of mental composure [and would have developed] to a high degree the exercise of the power of imagination, of reasoning, and of judgment applied at all times to the activities of daily life.” Clearly this has never been the case for the population of judo practitioners. Even from the start of the judo movement, there was a fairly large gap between theory and practice for many studying the art. As E. J. Harrison cautions, “ ... we may still arrogate to ourselves freedom to doubt whether the typical heavyweight Japanese or Western Jüdô champion of today could pass an examination in the alleged philosophy of the art.” Herein, we can witness the slow death of the inner spirituality of judo (in mainstream society) under the crushing progress of that unstoppable force called modernization. It is ironic that judo, a creation meant to represent modernized, forward-thinking ideas of physical and mental culture, is constantly criticized as being too antiquated and bound up in tradition. Almost as soon as Kano founded the art, there were people, Westerners and Easterners alike, who wanted to pare off all of the “philosophical malarkey” so that nothing but pure sport would remain. These people seem to have seen nothing sacred about the original conception of the founder: A sport that resists change dies Judoka [judo players] cannot be content to rest on their traditions and dogmas what is now needed is not an approach to Judo as a stylized form of Japanese wrestling nor as unarmed combat nor as a twentieth century alternative to the ‘noble art of self defence’ , , The players of the sport of judo as it is now practiced have little time to devote to perfection of character, for everyone now needs to spend all his/her time practicing for the stiffer tournament competition on all levels. In the early years of judo ‘s interaction with the West, the foreign practitioners tended to be attracted to the art for its philosophical undertones, such as the concept of the Zen-influenced do. This has given way to a new generation of practitioners far less concerned with any sort of mental education, and almost exclusively focused on competition, especially at the international level. It is significant that the British, who introduced the expanded system of coloured belts in 1927, were having tournament matches by 1929. The first international competition took place in Frankfurt am Main in 1932, while the Japanese-sponsored, first World Championships came only in 1956. As Draeger asserts, these two approaches are basically antithetical to each other: “It is patent that no sport can ever be a true classical do form; no classical do can ever house a sport entity. Thus we can perceive a clear break, as significant as the division between judo and jujutsu the traditional judo has given way to a new form of modern sport judo that sees competition as an end in itself For the majority of today’s judo players, then, “. .. there is little indication that Judo is experienced as sacred or that any interest in Zen Buddhism evolves from it. Sports science is a far more important “religion” than Zen for this new brand of athlete. Thus, for many judo practitioners, we can bid a summary farewell to all of Kano’s high-minded concepts of crafting morally and spiritually strong men and women. Some very interesting parallels can be drawn between Pierre de Coubertin’s Olympics and Kanô Jigorô’s judo. Basically contemporaneous, both movements were based in nineteenth-century liberalism. As Shigeyoshi Matsumae tells us, “Judo is a representative Japanese sport which has an international character. Forming a culture in itself, Judo is contributing enormously to friendship and peace among the nations of the world today Judo is helping to promote the happiness and prosperity of all mankind. This is Judo’s mission and there can be no loftier goal.” Thus, we can see that jüdo and the Olympics shared goals of world peace and internationalism. Moreover, both movements harken back to a classical past (ancient Greece or early bushi culture), while espousing a doctrine of constant rational improvement (cf Cidus, Altius, Fortius , seiryoku zen ‘yo). There are further parallels between judo and various other Olympic sports. Norbert Elias sees the violent nature of ancient Olympic sport as being closely related to the “fighting ethos of a warrior aristocracy.” Likewise, Kano modified his techniques to be safer and more effective while maintaining this ethos. The modernization of judo is also analogous to the process by which pankration (which used strangle holds, joint techniques, trips, and strikes) was turned into. Kano strongly supported the Olympic movement from its inception. In 1912, he took two athletes to the Stockholm Olympics, thus bringing Japan into the Olympics for the first time. He made eight subsequent trips to the Olympic Games. Kano was the first Japanese member of the OC, and he held his post for nearly 30 years. He “always likened the ideals of Judo to those of the Olympic Games.” Thus, his promotion of Coubertin’s mission was simply an outgrowth of his own personal mission of world education. peace, and morality. As the Japanese were very eager to “catch up” in all aspects of the modern world, the Olympics were seen as an optimal outlet for them—the wins of the Japanese swimmers in 1932 showed clearly that the nation was rather successful in this aim. However, during the very same Olympiad in Los Angeles, Kanô said the following while speaking at the University of Southern California: What I teach is not technique (jujutsu) but a “way” (Judo) . . . The principle of a “way” is that it is applicable to other aspects of a person’s life the true meaning of Judo is the study and practice of mind and body. It is, at the same time, the model for daily life and work. At least while Kano was alive, Judo still held fast to these ideas. Ironically, it was with the realization of his goal of making judo an Olympic sport that many of his initial philosophic formulations of the art fell by the wayside. On October 20, 1964, judo made its debut at the games of the eighteenth Olympiad in Tokyo. Choosing judo, over other nations’ forms of native wrestling, the IOC gave the sport a golden opportunity to make its international spread complete. Already the sport was clearly not just confined to Japan. The Dutchman Anton Geesink shocked the judo world by taking a gold medal in the open category at this first Olympic meeting. Geesink continued the tradition of a strong judo presence in the Olympic movement when he became an IOC member in 1987. Other judo, medals at those games were taken by the USSR, West Germany, South Korea, Austria, and the United States. Indubitably, continuing Olympic exposure has given a profound boost to interest in sport judo (and other combat sports) in all parts of the world. Making Way—War, Philosophy and Sport in Japanese Judo - Continues in the next issue.
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